For my choice of final major project I decided to focus on my performance and production skills by making a short film, with this I aimed to work efficiently producing the best quality of work I could in a short time frame, which is a key skill within the industry I want to progress in,  especially when it comes to working on a set with a multitude of people and shooting in a non linear way. When developing this project I researched Many topics which included the punk era in the 80's along with the lifestyle of band members in that time period, I was able to watch documentaries and read news article archives many of which where based on the sex pistols and their controversial outlooks on society  and the monarchy. In the original script we written it contained a lot of bad language which we realized needed changing as we did this it made us think to ourselves 'what are peoples views on swearing in films' so we formed a survey which we posted online and luckily enough we got a lot of responses which helped.

 

A practical problem we had was, finding a location for our closing scene, we knew we wanted both characters silhouettes against the sunset and originally we where going to do it at a lake at a camping ground we where staying at for a few days, however within the shot you could see tents and people so we decided to do it up some local hills of mine which as a plus meant there was a view of teesides landscape. Furthermore A technical problem we had was audio, especially in our argument scene as in the room we where using to film there was a fan which sounded very noisy when  watching it back and in certain moments you can hear the camera moving, after playing around with some editing tricks I was able to isolate the actors voices. A theoretical problem we had was, I couldn't quite get into the movement of Brie and I just felt like myself, so I decided to try out Lee Strasberg's animal exercise and discovered that taking some characteristics of  a dog made me tap into Brie's mind set as I felt the separation anxiety to my loved ones and her short temper making her act out recklessly. To keep my project on track and ensure its completed within the time frame I made an organized timetable which included what would be done on different days of the week and as I was working on multiple films at the time not just my own I had to work around different filming schedules so having a marked down calendar meant I was able to prepare  when it came to learning lines and sorting costumes, as well as this we had a production company group chat and one for my film which included cast and crew.

 

The demands on an actor when adapting from stage to screen work is the clear difference in atmosphere, for example in stage you have a theatre full with a live audience and a one take shot to get everything right, however in screenwork you are still surrounded by a lot of people but they are there to work and get the production to a highs standard and you also have the chance to do multiple takes if needed and take more risks. I especially enjoyed working on this screen production and loved this style of acting, it was a valuable experience.

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When undertaking character development I applied acting theories such as Magic if and animal studies which was very effective when it came to making a natural performance and understanding my character a lot more. When rehearsing a main consideration was always hitting the marker and in the right angel of the camera as when on stage you don't have to worry about about having the camera around.

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My understanding of production developed throughout the project  when working with lighting, in the gig scene we wanted a dimly lit room but with added strobe lighting, when it came to rehearsing we only where able to work with one light and we needed to figure a way to light us all on stage whilst still being able to see glimpses of our audience, We realized our camera operator was going to have to stand at  higher ground from the rest of us and the light would need positioning in 2 different places.

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Professionalism was demonstrated throughout the whole project by constant communication, making sure everyone was well aware of what would be happening and no one was left in the dark, as well as this time management was a key factor as we had to keep everything on track as one of our cast needed to be back at their college for certain times and we could have no lateness from any of our cast or crew.

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My work is made to enlighten and entertain, i want audiences to see my work and feel moved by the story, but also educated in the way that the story has a meaning and shows that you need to value your friendships and loved ones.

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I  achieved my aims from my project proposal as i was able to take producing to the next level on this project and feel proud of the work i made, dedicating time and effort with things like making costumes and editing. Areas i would like to improve on however are having more screen time and putting myself Infront of the camera more, breaking my comfort zones.