Summative: Self Evaluation

Name: Antonette Nolan

Class: Media arts class A

Group members: Myself

Briefly describe some pre-production work you did for the final project

i.e. storyboard, rough notes, sketches, typed ideas out, researched online (YouTube). Write down as much as possible.

The pre-production work I did consisted of several steps. First, I brainstormed what genre the film should be given the materials I had to work with. Because I do not enjoy working within groups of classmates, I decided to cast my three little brothers (who have friends their own age and size) as actors in the production. Thus, I felt obligated to choose a theme that encompassed something my little brothers themselves were passionate about. This, of course, was World War II. The second step I took in preparation for filming was figuring out a plotline. I had recently read a book about two brothers separated in childhood who had, in adulthood, actually fought on opposite sides in the Second World War. I, finding this concept fascinating, told my little brothers about it and received a fairly enthusiastic response. I then realized that I could not do justice to the story within a four-minute timeframe, so I changed my original plans in order to make a trailer rather than a movie. Finally, I drew some rough thumbnail sketches of shots I wished to include in the trailer, as well as key words to convey the story’s emotion. These, of course, were only to be flexible guidelines; I knew that filming my younger brothers was going to be unpredictable.

Production

What issues came up when filming or producing your final project? What didn't go according to plan? How would you do things differently if you had another chance?

Numerous issues occurred while I was filming this trailer. Firstly, the two weeks I had planned on dedicating solely to filming were interrupted by my sister’s wedding preparation. Her fiancé, his parents, and his seven siblings had driven from Alberta to our house—my film set—to stay for over a week. Despite being wonderful people, they took an enormous amount of my time and space in regards to producing videos. Secondly, my little brothers could only meet up with their friends—who I needed to act as additional soldiers—on certain dates, many of which did not work for me. Thirdly, my little brothers soon got tired of acting and began complaining in order to get out of being filmed. Lastly, the only digital camera to which I had access was my own, which is unfortunately very cheap. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed with the quality the videos (especially the ones I had to crop). If I had another chance, I would try to obtain a better video camera, plan ahead to avoid disappointment in regards to when my younger brothers’ friends could come over, and plan out a more cohesive plotline.

Post-Production

Using Premier can be tricky at times. What were some things you liked about editing your film in Premier? What were the challenges? What would have made your film better?

I actually used iMovie on my Mac to edit my film. I enjoyed its simplicity most. I could effortlessly change the sound levels, clip length and speed, and transitions and the like. However, I believe its simplicity was also its downfall. It would not permit me to crop videos to the extent that I wished, change image quality, or layer the sound in a smooth manner. I believe that if I had had these options the final product would be far less choppy-looking and the sound would not be uneven/cut out in some parts.

Rate yourself

Give yourself a mark, based on the amount of work you did, and how happy you are with

your final project.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

This is going to sound lame, but.. ‘A for effort!’ Haha. Creating a World War II trailer by oneself was a lot harder than I expected.

Rate others that worked with you on this project.

Write down the names of people in your group, if any, and give them a mark, 1 being the lowest,

and 10 the highest. Let me know if someone went above and beyond.

I was the only person in this group.