My 1-minute Film: https://vimeo.com/647557689

My Written Script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XApZbjJJUKWT5Jjl1S2qzqq6namGMlk0VUyIdxWrcB8/edit

Bus Stop Script (One I had chosen): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LhrFLWRP7jTAMTW_juj5ZUfG-lOnTefaSsmEaYNB4u8/edit

Script Reflection:

Upon reading over 2o scripts and comparing people’s one minute script ideas, I enjoy mine and the creative opportunity it possesses. However, throughout my 3 years at RMIT completing this course, I have encountered what my strengths are, whilst potentially more importantly, what my weaknesses are. I have never been strong at the written and verbal aspects of film and media, as it has also been an issue for me to express my thoughts in well-articulated language. Nonetheless, from the scripts I read, they were all unique in their own way. It shows the disparity of thoughts and ideas that come from a group of creative individuals that allows lots of exciting and interesting ideas to be showcased. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was a few of them were created with difficult sets, costumes or characters for something that had to be filmed and created within roughly 72 hours. I had to find a script that perhaps was not my favourite creatively, but the most accessible for me to create. That was the most frustrating aspect.

Reflecting on my script, I think mine is a good quality 1-minute script due to the fact that it is creative, unique and exciting for someone who shoots it, but also realistic in the sense that it can be created without any crazy locations, props or costume designs. The script is more focused on the ability of the filmmaker to create tension, whether that be through the acting, sound, cinematography or any other means they are able to incorporate tension. Although my script isn’t anything incredibly unique, it definitely allows the opportunity for creativity which I felt was by far the most important aspect of the script for us to be able to create exciting work.

Reflection and Practise:

When reflecting on the pre-production stage of the assignment, it was definitely a lot more time-restricted than other pieces of work I have created, mainly because all the work I have created in the past, at least the ones that yielded a high-quality outcome, were not rushed into a 72 hour period from draft to completion. I haven’t done a large amount of 1-minute films in my degree nor in my high school media studies, so even after years of Media work this is a newfound skill for me, so a new challenge is definitely exciting and welcomed. As mentioned, the time restraint on this film was 3-4 days, which is a short amount of time, with only a couple of hours to shoot due to having to meet with classmates in order to make the film. Due to this, the pre-production was also limited, with storyboarding, scriptwriting, shot-lists and film schedules all tools that can take a long time to create for the most part. Due to this, a lot of the filming was following off the script and being spontaneous and creative in terms of visualising what shots to make and how they would look in post-production. It does take a particular brain to know how your film will look before you have shot it, but luckily over the course of a few short films created I was able to visualise what I was going to create in a spontaneous matter.

The most important part of the pre-production process was the film schedule, as we only had groups assigned on Monday, with the only day we were all available being Wednesday. Hence we had to film all 3 scripts on Wednesday, meaning the process was a bit rushed when compared to other pieces of work, but it has given us an insight into how to work on a tight schedule, a skill that is important in many businesses. Once we had assigned times for each person to shoot on Wednesday, allocated 1 hour for each individual to shoot their film, the only other piece of work that I used to help guide me was the shot list I created, linked above. This helped me to remember what I had visualised for my film and how it was going to take place, seeing as 60 seconds is not a long time for a film, it was important to make use of every second that was filmed. It was a challenging assignment upon reflection.

Film Reflection:

Upon reflecting on my 60-second film, there are aspects I can dissect both from a positive perspective and one that is largely critical of my own work. Whilst everyone is usually never perfectly happy with their work, as I am a perfectionist, it is important to remember the short period of time we had to complete this task and was more a representation of how well we could work under a tight deadline. I am totally aware that no means of work within a 72-96 period is meant to be a piece of art or the piece content anyone has ever created, it did still pose a challenge to see how well we could work creatively due to the nature of the assignment.

Starting off with the positives, I felt I created something incredibly experimental to what I usually create. I usually tend to create content that aligns with my passions and what I like to create, being travel and music videos. Those two things are pieces of work I like to create so I am susceptible to staying in my content ‘comfort zone’ and not shying away from my strengths as much as I probably should. However, this assignment definitely challenged me and my group members to create content we probably wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for this assignment, so that was definitely a positive experience within itself. I tried to create something a bit avant-garde by removing the dialogue and just using subtitles for a dramatic effect. I’m not sure it works but I did try something new and that was a positive regardless.

I think my understanding of genre is pretty well versed due to watching a lot of films, especially during the pandemic, gaining a newfound interest in psychological thriller and horror films, with a love for films that use horror as a vehicle for storytelling rather than a way of frightening audiences. ‘Black Swan’ (2010) and ‘Get Out’ (2017) are films that do this exceptionally and I want to try and replicate that form of thriller in the short film that we create during this course. This assignment was definitely a great way to practise this exercise and get me thinking about how I can create something that expresses what genre of film I am passionate about.

Regarding what I didn’t think I did well, I think I definitely need to improve on my ability to create tension through my cinematography skills. I have a thorough understanding of how to create the thriller/horror genre tension through sound, lighting and colour grading however I do struggle to create this tension through the actual shots and content that I create. This is something that I will attempt to rectify in my Assignment 4 project, as I want my short film to be a well-rounded representation of the genre, showcasing my ability to utilise the genre’s reception in all facets that occur when watching full-length feature films. Nevertheless, this was an interesting assignment that definitely provoked thought and challenges that I am glad I was apart of.