‘Living is easy with eyes closed’ – John Lennon
This project was pulled together from various different aspects, aspects in which over the course of this module and over the last few years I have grown to become passionate about. The first is photography and as a Media Production student, it is probably one of my strongest areas. Initially I didn’t want to undertake a photography project as I wanted a challenge; to test my skills and my creative and the result of this is After She Left. A film that utilises photography stills but is ultimately still a film. At University, I have never undertaken or taken part in a Professional film, I have mainly focused on Photography and Radio Broadcast and therefore I am failing outside of my comfort zone. I knew about the process of film-making of course, but have never actually put it to practise. My personal aims for this project were to do so and identify my position within the film Industry.
We wanted to create a larger body of work that supported the film which included Posters, a graphic novel, photographic prints and website. He have been true to this with the exception of the prints and have a create a body that is consistent with on another and has enables to branch off into the realms of photo editing/manipulation and web design, not just photography and moving image.
The research and Pre-Production stages of this process have evidently been the longest and has revealed another aspect in which I enjoy. I have never really paid much attention to Film Noir prior to this module and it has probably become one of my favourite film genres. The cinematography, the use of lighting to create shadows and highlights and the hard-boiled has revolutionised the way I think creatively and has enabled me to try something different within the realms of photography. Thanks to Luke Ryder, I was introduced to part of photography, underexposing shots whilst lighting them (I’ll get to this in detail later.) Thanks to this research, I have been able to broaden my creative horizons.
The beginning of Pre-Production also proved to be a very creative process. The inspirational photographs and films I have seen as well as the books I have read really drove me to write a cracking story. I constantly found myself referring to as many film noir texts as possible in order to do the genre and my film justice. Not just film noir texts but I found I was pulling things from everywhere. I found that I was borrowing ideas from songs and the themes they convey. I used to be so narrow-minded with regards to ideas; by simply opening myself to new things my creative input has increased tenfold.
Although there was all this creativeness and inspiration flying around it had to end at some point and this brings me to the title of this evaluation, Living is easy with eyes closed. DeeJay and I both assumed that everything was going to go swimmingly and that was our downfall. Once we got to the auditioning stages and sorting out locations it went downhill. Our casting calls went out far too late and as a result we suffered. Due to the time scale of this project we wanted to get actors and start shooting straight away so the casting call period was very short and as a result we had a small pool of actors to choose from. This resulted in us only auditioning two actors which was nowhere near enough. DeeJay’s decision to use friends as actors wasn’t a wise choice either. It may have been easier on us but ultimately it would affect the film because it has that student vibe.
Without being too critical of DeeJay his attitude was ‘let’s do it later’ and as a result things backed up and time was short. This may have been his fault but it was also mine for not pushing to get things done sooner. As I have said, we were too relaxed about the whole thing; we thought it would be easy as this is the worse attribute to have. Hindsight is a wonderful thing because I now know I will never do this again. In all stages of production, I have been mega stressed out about the status of the film, especially with regards to not having locations sorted and whether or not it will be completed on time. I bucked my ideas up during production in order to get things sorted as I came to realise that everything needs to be done well in advance in order to ensure things to flow fluidly and efficient. It didn’t help that we didn’t have a definitive schedule to adhere and this is a major contribution as to why we were so unorganised. Pre-production was considered a little too boring by the pair of us which again is the wrong attitude to take. We were all too eager to start production without doing the important stuff first.
During production was probably where I was most comfortable (other than at the research and at the beginning of pre-production) as I was able to put those creative juices to use and produce a selection of high quality photographs. I also noticed that I thrive under the pressure. Filming presents a time scale in which shots need to be complete by specific times. I felt that I efficiently organised my time and was also vigilant to the time we had left. I never rushed my shots either, wanting to produce the best pictures possible. This stage also furthered my skills as a photographer. Due to the style of shot we were creating I had to give careful consideration to ISO, Shutter Speeds and Aperture and as a result have learnt a thing or two.
Post Production has been where I have been the most stressed but yet again I thrived under the pressure. I spent 34 hours editing the film, spending the majority of two days getting it sorted. I loved getting up early and going to bed late because it was bringing me that much closer to completing the film. Using Premier Pro made it that much more easier but unfortunately is a disappointing choice of editing software as it is not industry standard. I encountered little problems which enable me to fly through the edit. Ultimately I did make so spelling mistakes but these weren’t too much of a problem to replace.
Nevertheless, this process has made me realise what people will do when they are passionate about what they were doing. You can say the passion was somewhat lacking during the vast part of pre-production as it was not what we’re used. DeeJay and I are practical people; we like to get behind the camera and this project has proved that neither of us would make it as a producer.
The film as a final product is not as I originally has envisaged. I am annoyed at DeeJay’s insistence at using friends as it gives the film a student feel which is not what I wanted. I don’t blame him for that, it’s my own fault too and as I keep stating, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Nevertheless I am pleased with the outcome of the film. Although it’s not how I imagined it to be it does do one thing and that is set out to do what we originally wanted to do; change the style in which graphic novels are presented in format of film. As far as I am aware, we are the only ones to have done so. The film also makes for a great graphic novel.
The downfall of this project perhaps laid within the delegations of roles. As Script Writer, Producer, Cinematographer, Director and Editor, it was probably to many roles to take on and to summarise, I think our project was a little too much for two people to handle, especially when you consider that neither of us has undertaken a project like it before. We bit of more than we could chew and we were evidently unprepared for what lay ahead. It would have been far more suitable in we had a larger crew to work with us and it probably would have been easier on me.
Good things have come from this project though. My thought process and creativeness has changed drastically and ideas often come to me thanks to the slightest of things. I have also broadened my photographic eye as well as areas of photography I had never explored. All these things have inspired me and are driving me to do new things every day. I also find that I want to be part of a vast number of projects in order to but my skills to use.
Every stage is as important as the next and thanks to some of the failures and misgivings that we have had, I now realise this. If I had a time machine I know what I would go back in time and change and in future I will make sure that I never make the same mistakes twice. I will take so much away from this project and is a steep learning curve. The one thing I regret is that I have never previously experience a professional project on this scale before. Perhaps if I had undertaken the Video Production module, my attitude to this module would have changed radically.
One final note before I sign off, I enjoyed this project because it has made me realise what I need to do and has given me a slap in the face as to how I need to handle myself in the future. I would love to remake this film, to give it another shot in order for it to become what it should have been.
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