LO4: Project Evaluation

Project Evaluation

Introduction
During this unit I was asked to carry some research into television productions which use a single camera. After this I joined a group to plan, prepare and produce a five minute long single camera production. This evaluation will outline the benefits, problems and outcomes of this project. Following this I will also be writing about the feedback we received from our audience and if I were to produce a similar project in the future, how I will go about doing it to produce a fine piece near professional standards.

Planning
Benefits of Planning
My group worked most effectively during the planning process of this single camera, as I delegated certain tasks to individual members of my group; taking the responsibility of being project leader. All the tasks were divided and assigned to members whom then completed each task and we were able to assemble the paperwork for planning together.

The planning process for this project was particularly useful because it enabled us to budget our money properly, as well as film accordingly to actors’ flexibility. The storyboard allowed us to exactly know what we had to film and what shots and angles to record at; making it easier on shoot. Also the treatment and synopsis allowed the actors to clearly understand their roles within the production and act like the description. 

Problems During Planning
In the planning process we as a group did not face many problems however there were slight hitches. The problems which occurred during the planning process was that we had school closures hence couldn’t complete the tasks we needed to, for the date set. This meant that we had to make up the missing time quickly as it would reflect upon the poor quality of the production. We managed to make up for the missing time quickly and were back on track. We did this by technological communication outside of school hours.

Outcome
There was a positive outcome of our efficient planning as we had everything planned in time for our production shooting and were able film despite the hours we had missed. We logged all of our meetings, as well as having a constructive storyboard at hand and we also carried out risk assessments to make sure that our actor’s and crew members were safe while out on locations, filming.

Production
Benefits of Production
During the production of this project we as a group faced many difficulties however we still managed to produce a trailer length video which consisted of elements from our original idea. As we had days of breaks between each filming schedule we still managed to create a piece of production which contains elements of near professional standard shots and angles. We used a silhouette effect within the production as well as using various shots from establishing shots, to medium shot and close ups. Also this short video contained bird eye view shots, freeze frames, subtitles and text.

Problems During Production
At first we were doing really well, until members of my group began to slack. I had got to a point where I had edited 45 seconds of the single drama and I had to return to the filming locations to shoot. A few weeks later when I returned to the saved project I realised that an error had occurred and hence I had to restart the editing process again. This took up a lot of my time whereas I could have been using it to shoot other aspects of the drama. After this many other problems arose.

The problems we faced during production were that our actors were not always available when we needed them hence it delayed our production work. Also while we were on shoot as well as in the edit room, I realised that I had a large amount of input in the filming and editing process. This made it difficult for me as I could not complete both tasks together as one required being outdoors and the other indoors.

I had to assort my time accordingly so that I could film and edit both outside of lesson hours. The pressure built up onto me when I realised that my group were unable to film properly without me. I had to take the responsibility of making sure that we were filming correctly, abiding by the rules and regulations for television standards. I was aware of this problem when I had asked my group to use the green screen to film without me whilst I was editing and when they returned with the footage I noticed that the green screen has been misused and the camera setup was poor, therefore we had to scrap the footage.

Also another problem which could have easily been solved was that the main female actress taking Maaria’s role within our production had gone on holiday and therefore as we needed her in the particular scenes we could not film and had to wait for her return. However in this meanwhile I edited the clips we previously had. If we had filmed according to our schedule and original plan, we would have been editing at the point of the actress’s absence hence this problem wouldn’t have occurred, but due to lack of teamwork it took too long to complete even a minutes worth of footage.

Outcome
The outcome for our production work was poor. I had only created a piece of single drama which was 1 minute and 15 seconds long (approximation), whereas the specification required a five minute long single drama production. Although being in a group I was working as an individual to produce, edit and complete this project. I had hardly any support from my group members within the production of this project. The excused I would receive from them quite often would be that they do not know how to work the camera or they do not have free hours to film. This was the consequence of working in a friendship group and the result of me being lenient towards them.

Teamwork
Benefits of Teamwork
The benefits of teamwork were that we were able to carry out some tasks quickly and were able to move ahead with some tasks very fast. Our most effective teamwork was during the planning stages where we understood what needed to be done and work to accomplish each task to a high standard.

Problems With Teamwork
Our group dealt with problems during the production stages regarding teamwork. This is when as a group we had a poor performance and it caused distances and problems within the group. The problems have been outlined above under the production heading.

Outcome
Despite the lack of teamwork during the production stage, I was still able to produce a short piece for the examiners body even though they had asked for a single drama which needed to be 5 minutes long.

Conclusion
Areas for Improvements

Suggestions for improvements for this project overall are that the planning should be completed quickly, taking up minimum time so that the group can spend more time on the production, editing and final touches to the production. There should be a Gantt chart in place to specify the tasks which need to be completed and when by so that there is no slacking and delay. This will help produce a finer piece of production and allow the group to make tweaks of re-shoot some scenes of the script if it is inadequate.

Also I have learnt from this project, not to work within a friendship group and if I do work in a friendship group then do not behave too leniently with the group members. If I were to replicate a similar project to this in the future I would make sure that my group has knowledge and training of how to work with cameras, as well as knowing how to use different angles and equipment such as the green screen.

In conclusion, this project became hard to handle during production however on average it was exciting and innovative. This is because the idea itself was new and original and it was not stereotypical. The whole concept is fresh and ideal to the target audience which we wanted to aim it at. It also caught the attention of our audience which proved that it created a contract with the target audience, within the first minute of the opening of this video. I am quite pleased with my individual effort within this production, however I do believe that this idea has a lot more potential and can easily be developed to meet the requirements of the examining body.