Remember your answer to this from week 1?

“Throughout this course i am primarily hoping to improve my writing abilities in relation to stories and ideas for film/tv. this includes becoming more familiar with different aspects of the story such out outlines, synopses, plots, character, events and problems and script writing, and improving on how to combine all these separate elements to create on cohesive and interesting story.

the other goal which i am trying to accomplish is to be able to effectively take these story ideas which i or or my group have created and be able to adapt that to a film that is enjoyable and coherent and in doing so to further enhance my abilities in being a part of the film production process. a major part of this is learning how to work well together collaboratively as a group to explore all possible story ideas and and overcoming intergroup difficulties to be able to produce the best possible film.”

i really enjoyed this course. looking back on my two answers from week one, i feel as though i have successfully accomplished, but, i completely left out the other. however, the part that i did not really achieve, the answer about improving my writing skills, i did try with it, back in the first few weeks when we were thinking of story ideas and synopsises. so i did give it my best effort. but, i have come to realise that writing is not my strongest ability but rather that i am far more suited to adapting a script or screenplay to film.

what i really loved about this semester was getting the chance, as the director of our film, to take the script and work with it, create a story board and a shot list, to mark up the script how i would like it done. to work with the actors and the writer to try and get the most out of the story that i could. my major goal of the semester was that i wanted to make a film that i was proud of and i am really proud of the film that we made as a group. i think we all worked well together and despite some hiccoughs along the way still pulled through and learnt how to manage issues and still produce a great film. i learned a great deal from the over all production process, especially about how much thought and planning and time goes into pre production.

what surprised me about the course was the way we were simply thrust into the project from the get go. dropped right off in the deep end and told to swim and i think that was a great way to do it. we had limited time and just had to move with it with no time for doubts and second guessings and i think that was a really great way to experience making a film.

what excited (and terrified) me was the prospect of directing. i had never done it before (except in high school) and i felt there was a lot of pressure on me to produce something great. luckily i had a great team supporting me so working together as a group to get the project done really was a brilliant learning experience.

what disappointed me was that i couldn’t help out on any other group film shoots. the shoots were all done on weekends which was when i work so i couldn’t help out on any others but my own and i feel as though this would have helped my learning of different experiences in different roles on set more.

what the staff could have done better was group formation. i don’t really know how they could change it but there needs to be a better way to sort out the groups. there was very little thought or effort put into the groups regarding peoples skills or interests in roles, suitability or friendships or who was even present in class at that time. i ended up in a completely unfeasible group that needed to be disbanded because it had been carelessly put together. luckily, this was handled very well by the staff and i ended up in a great group so not all bad 😀

what i could have done better. i think i could have tried a little harder in the concept stage of this semester. i didn’t really take the idea generating tasks seriously as i didn’t think they were going to be used for anything and i feel like i really wasted this opportunity, especially considering it was one of my goals to improve my writing i feel like i really let my self down there. i am also upset that i have come out of this and still know very little about lighting. i was interstate for the lighting week and i should have taken it upon myself to catch up but i didn’t because i was preoccupied with getting ready to direct and i feel that i have missed that opportunity.

on the whole, i really enjoyed this whole semester and have really learnt a lot from it and had some great experiences that will surely help me in the future.