The question in section A may also be worded in a way that asks how our creativity had improved and changed throughout the course, therefore we have put together a mind map from which we can gather ideas and draft answers to the question we may get in our exam.
Plan
- Pre-Production
-Storyboards – When story boarding I was aware of which shots in my previous work looked good and what it was about them that worked. Therefore I was able to draw the shots in my storyboard with this in mind and what pieces of equipment I would use to achieve this.
-Limitations and opportunities – Throughout the AS year I’ve become more confident using Final Cut, however I have also become more aware of it’s limitations, therefore I was able to be ambitious in planning to create a shot through walls and floorboards. On the other hand there are aspects of my planning that I knew not to include such as panning, because from experience these are very shaky with our tripods, instead I know to use a dolly shot. - Feedback
-Screenings – At A2 we had screenings every week or so as opposed to the one screening we had during the AS year, this helped us to improve and through class discussion we were able to solve our problems in more creative ways. - Inspiration
-Research – Use of vimeo and YouTube to find similar short films and ideas for shot types and especially settings.
-Genre Features – I was more aware of what to put in my film to
Describe how your creative skills have developed and improved over time. [25 marks]
Version 1
When storyboarding my A2 film, ‘Familiar’, I was more aware of which types of shots in my previous work looked good and what about them that worked well. Therefore I was able to draw out my storyboards more creatively with this in mind and plan for more varied shots using different pieces of equipment. I have also become more confident using Final Cut, however I have also become more aware of it’s limitations, therefore I was able to be ambitious when planning to create shots that appeared to move through walls and floorboards. On the other hand there were aspects of my planning that I knew not to include from experience, such as panning because the tripods are very shaky, instead I planned to use dolly shots.
As a result of this experience, my planning was more accurate for my short film and more parallel with my finished film. This meant that my planning was more effective and I was able to stick to it better than I did at AS because I didn’t have to find ways around things I had planned for but not known how to execute. I knew I was able to shoot and edit certain things that I planned for, which meant I had a more visually interesting and unique final scene.
Last year for AS, I worked in a pair to create our film opening of ‘Blackhaven’. This had both benefits and negatives, because I had someone else contributing ideas and noticing faults. Whilst I had someone to help me, I also had ideas in my mind that I was unable to convey to my partner. Working alone this year has meant that I am able to create a film as I picture it in my mind and how I want it to look. This has been especially beneficial as we have done more pitching and screening this year and therefore I have not lost the peer input side of planning.
During the A2 year we did more pitching and screening as opposed to the one pitch we did at AS. This helped me to gather ideas from others and use them to improve my work. Through class discussion I was able to solve problems and make things work more smoothly. This was most useful when discussing my storyline because whilst I would understand what I was trying to say, others may not think my ideas were very clear. By pitching to others I was able to perfect my narrative and produce a film that makes sense, whereas for my AS production of ‘Blackhaven’, I may have left something to my audience to try and understand.
I made much more use of Vimeo and Youtube to find existing short films to take inspiration from whilst planning for ‘Familiar’. I found out how easy it was to find similar products from different genres and directors. I made use of this much more at A2 because I started to pick out aspects of the films that I liked and incorporate them into my film. Last year I might have watched something and thought ‘I like that’ rather than picking out specific shots or props that worked well. From this I was able to develop more of a style to my work, unlike my rather generic mental asylum story I did at AS, which I felt worked really well.
I also did a lot more research into aspects of my film that would improve the mise-en-scene. For example, the costume that our murderer wore in our LAFTAs production ‘Uninvited’, after the AS year, didn’t really work at all for the colour palette of the film. Therefore, having a sinister character again in ‘Familiar’, I wanted to make sure that the costume represented his character well. I looked at existing films with similar characters such as ‘Friday 13th’, and picked out costumes that worked well. I feel that picking out more specific costumes has improved the look of my work and definitely gives the male figure in ‘Familiar’ a much stronger presence.
The way I used my survey results differed greatly from AS. For my film opening, I felt that I needed to adapt my storyline to fit the responses that I got on Surveymonkey, whereas this year I had a clear idea of what I wanted to achieve and simply used my survey to find out who my audience was. As a result I feel that my film is much more unique and creative because I wrote my own storyline, incorporated a few main horror genre features and then pitched it to my audience instead of allowing my audience to tell me what they wanted from a film.
When editing ‘Blackhaven’, I felt that I was being a little too creative with filters and transitions and that I needed to tone this down when I edited ‘Familiar’ together. I previously would have used vignette and all sorts of filters, whereas now I realise that this doesn’t necessarily make a cinematic looking film. At A2 all I used was letter boxing, a few cool tones and saturation. My experience with being a little over creative has allowed me to become aware of what works and what doesn’t and therefore how to make a cinematic looking film.
Version 2
Jess Marshall's A2 Media Studies Blog 
