Directions Unit: Finished Product and Critical Reflections

After 13 weeks of preparation, planning, filming and editing the finished product is finally here! I apologize for the lateness of the upload as recently I have been having issues with my internet connection and uploading onto my blog, also some issues with uploading on to YouTube. However 'The Amour' is finally complete and it is safe to say that I learnt a lot and greatly enjoyed the entire process and being a Director is something I would definitely love to work toward in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=290LGlT88eI

Critical Reflections

I in no way regret choosing Martin Scorsese as my Director but I do feel that I should have looked into some of his less famous work, just to help me get a broader knowledge of what he has tried and perhaps failed at doing.

I particularly struggled using music which was royalty free. I love music, especially when it matches well with a scene. So when I had a particular famous song in mind it really put a block between me and choosing the right song. Something which i felt took too much time and could be spent planning my shots and getting a lot more stylish shots that flowed well with the rest.

I felt that my strongest part was the first and I am particularly pleased with the opening shot as I aimed to mimic the opening of Raging Bull. However I greatly underestimated how hard it is to film believable fighting scenes. To get the framing and make up correct to make the characters actually look like they are hitting each other proved really hard. However, saying that by no means did I dislike it. By the end we were getting some really good shots and with a little more preparation and production time I ma have got more but I am still fairly happy with the way they turned out for a first attempt at filming violence.

The weakest part I felt was the third and final part. The conversation seemed flat and boring, the framing was poor and it was a shame as we had such a good location. The scenery was perfect but it has become abundantly clear that I need to really plan my shot lists before I even think of picking up a camera.

My final point is that from this point on I will use legitimate actors. Jack, Ryan and Charlotte did brilliantly but at the end of the day they aren't actors and I cannot help but feel some shots may have looked possibly better if the characters were played by actors instead. They did help me hugely and I am sincerely grateful for them helping me.

With the Directions Unit over I cannot wait to try my hand at Documentary.