Film Genre - Critical Reflection Report
This module has definitely provided some much needed learning opportunities and I’m extremely grateful for that. It’s been difficult at times but ultimately I’ve really enjoyed it and produced some decent work.
My group was given Euan Brockie’s script “Natalie” to produce, a story about a girl graduating high school who attempts to get evidence of her teacher’s sexual abuse towards her recording him. I was really excited to work on this script as I felt there was an interesting (and creepy) character relationship to explore. I wanted to challenge myself by tackling the script’s darker dynamic and tone.
I chose to be the editor of the script. I was really keen to implement some techniques I’ve learned from watching films with a lot of suspense and see if I could elevate our film with them. As much as it doesn’t occur until later in production, editing is vital in making sure the narrative comes across so I wanted to make sure I did it justice.
During pre-production we struggled to find a location to suit our needs. We initially travelled to Lyceum Theatre as the director, Lauren Prince, liked the look of one of the back entrances to maybe use for the first scene. It quickly became very clear, however, that it would be near impossible to get decent shots here as there was basically no room for our dolly track. Finlay wouldn’t have been able to be creative with the shots at all, not the mention we were very much in pedestrians way. After struggling for a while we decided to pack everything up and scout out Merchiston for somewhere closer to home. Thankfully, we found locations for both of our scenes there; one being the back of Merchiston tower and the other a side alley round the corner. Finlay tested some shots with our lights and we were very pleased with them. Overall, despite some hiccups our pre-production went well and I think it’s a testament to both producer Klaudia keeping everyone on track, and Lauren and Finlay’s shared creative vision.
The main shoot was long but productive. I hoped Hollie set up her chosen production design, which was lovely. I also kept an eye on the script to make sure we didn’t miss any dialogue. The dolly shot took a very long time to complete and so we became very pushed for time. The dolly shot was the only shot we had for the first lines of dialogue, which meant we didn’t have nearly enough coverage. It didn’t occur to any of us to say something, so we’ve definitely learned a lot from this error. That being said, as much as there was a lack of coverage I think the shots Finlay captured are very good. Director Lauren was very clear in how she wanted each shot to look and I think that comes across.
When it came to the edit, the lack of coverage posed a huge problem. It was extremely hard to create a sense of narrative without more shots and I was struggling to create the suspense I wanted to achieve. Thankfully though, with advice from Catriona and Zoe, I cut together the footage in a non-linear fashion. By placing footage from the second scene over the first scene, I think I managed to create a sense of unease and let the audience know right away that the teacher was dodgy. As much as our group’s error in coverage meant that our film is far from perfect, I’m proud of how far the edit came and I think the narrative was slightly clearer in the end. Anne Marie’s sound design over my picture lock also elevated it to a higher standard, I think she did some really good work.
In the crit, our main feedback was that there wasn’t enough coverage and that they were struggling to get a wider sense of narrative, which I completely understand. As much as the edit came leaps and bounds, it was impossible to get around the mistake we made in shooting. Furthermore, we hadn’t captured any of the performance breaks between the dialogue which meant the film seemed very rushed. Again, we’d been so focused on getting the dolly shot done that we forgot to capture to story beyond the dialogue and a lot of nuance was lost. Taking all of this into account, however, the final film still came a very long way from the mess it was initially in after shooting and I’m very pleased with what we managed to achieve. It’s safe to say we’ve definitely learned to always make sure you have enough coverage, and remember that the scripts story isn’t just about the dialogue.