1.1 Describe areas for development in your current knowledge, understanding and skills
At this moment in time I am very interested in the directing side of film making, as I have previous experience of acting, so I would be interested in directing actors on their performance. I would see myself taking on this role while working with the academy. Some of the areas that I have identified for improvement are editing and working with the technical equipment, as I have minimal experience in this side of the film industry. I would like to be able to learn more about editing, as I know it is an important skill for post-production. I hope to learn more about editing on this course, and furthering my knowledge myself by researching more about it from home. In the future I would like to advance my knowledge in the film industry by both studying film production at university, or finding an apprenticeship that involves learning about and being involved in film making.
1.2 Take a Role in a short film production:
Within my team for the short film production, I have taken on the role of the director. For my role I have the responsibility of working with the actors and guiding them about their performance in the scene. I will also have the responsibility of developing the visual look of the film, in pre-production, production and post production and guiding my team in order to achieve the look that we were originally after. In order to prepare for my role, I will be taking a keen interest when we have our directing master class with Richard Heap. I plan to take as many notes as possible on the advice he gives us, and to ask questions regarding the subject, to further my knowledge. Skills I will need in order to execute my role will be good communication and team work when guiding my group.
2.2 Describe a range of key job roles and responsibilities in the film industry
Producer: The role of a producer involves planning and organising everyone involved with the film. This includes selecting a script, finding the cast and crew, organising how to receive funding for the film, planning the budget, taking care of the legal issues and overseeing the marketing and advertising. The producer is involved in pre-production, production and post production and is attached to the film first. The producer also works very closely with the director, who is responsible for the creative vision of the film.
Script Writer: A script writer is responsible for creating the story of the film and writing the script. This will include the dialogue of the characters and a description of what will happen in each scene, where the scene is set and a description of what the location will look like.
Cinematographer: A cinematographer is responsible for how each shot is filmed, considering the lighting, colours and camera angles. In big budget films the cinematographer would most likely instruct the camera crew on how they would like each shot to be filmed, but on a low budget film they would most likely have the responsibility of also being a camera operator.
Editor: The editor will work in the post production of a film, putting each individual scene together, making cuts to scenes and adding additional elements to the scenes like music, voice overs, text and then credits at the end of the film
5.1 Spring Clean, by Ed Clifton, Ed Daggett and Michael Strann, UK 2013
A funny story of a regular man who discovers that he has the gift of making things vanish with his cleaning polish which results in everyone he hates being stuck in the cupboard under his stairs. The man realises he has this power when he goes to clean his jam stained tie with his cleaning polish and it vanishes right in front of him. He begins to start making all of his house hold rubbish disappear, including a used pizza box. His power is then taken to the extreme when he starts to make people he doesn’t like vanish, starting with the annoying MP on his door step. The short film ends with the man realising that he hadn’t made everyone disappear, they were instead all stuck in his cupboard along with all of his vanishing items, like his tie from the very begging.
The genre of the film was a comedy, which was very light hearted and the purpose was to entertain. I think that the film achieved this as I did find it funny and enjoyable to watch.
Another impressive part of the film, was the use of sound. When the MP was talking his voice started to become distorted and mumbled, to show the audience that he is a boring character and to show the perspective from the main character, giving reason to why he is later vanished. The non-diegetic music, helped to show the change in atmosphere as the slow paced music at the beginning contrasted with the fast paced one towards the end when the action had picked up. The diegetic sounds throughout the films had been enhanced, which I think made the film seem more professional.
As well as finding the plot enjoyable, I also found the cinematography impressive as a range of creative shots were used to keep the audience interested and showed a high level of skill. Close ups were used on the items and the cleaning spray to show the significance of them later vanishing and the importance of the spray.
The editing was another element of the film that I believe was used successfully. At the begging of the films the shots were quite long which created a slow pace and a calm atmosphere. When the man started to get carried away with making things disappear, quick cuts were used to create a fast pace and manic atmosphere, which contrasted to the beginning of the film. Another part of the editing that I liked was when text was added in when the man was making notes, to allow the audience to know what he was writing. This was an effective technique which quickly allowed the audience to better understand the character.
All of the film was set inside the main characters house. The opening scene where the man is stood in his eating his toast, you can see that his kitchen is just black and white, very plain looking. The dullness of his kitchen could reflect a lack of excitement in the man’s life, which makes the fun he has with his cleaning spray, significant.
Natasha Fieldsend 
Hi Natasha, thanks for this.
Please can you copy your answers across onto the module pages, e.g. Technical Skills Development, Working Relationships, etc. My feedback is as follows
1.1 Describe areas for development in your current knowledge, understanding and skills
The answer you gave covered some of these areas, but if you could be more specific, that would be great. Do you have specific areas of interest or skills in filmmaking? What role(s) would you see yourself taking on your Academy film? What do you hope to gain from the BFI Film Academy? How would you like to improve your skills or knowledge of film? Give reasons. Do you have plans to further study and work in film?
This answer should focus on the current gaps in your knowledge about the film industry, and how you hope to develop both your knowledge and confidence when working in film through your learning with the BFI Film Academy. Could you talk about roles in the film industry that intrigue you, and the skills you hope to gain over the duration of the course. Please could you also give some reasons on how you would like to develop your existing and new skills in terms of filmmaking and what this will help you achieve.
1.2 Take a role in the production of a short film
Again, this answer discusses your role, but in order to achieve the criteria to a high level, you need to make sure you cover all areas in the prompt questions which are there to guide you. What is your production role? What planning will you do? What will you do in pre-production, production and post-production? What specific skills do you need? What equipment will you use? What documents will you use and how? What other resources are needed in your film production? (For example locations, actors and anything else you will need) You need to talk about how you will plan your time, and the skills you will need as a director when liaising with a team of people who are all responsible for the delivery of your short film. It’s okay if you don’t know the exact equipment you will use, but it’s good to show some initiative and research into this area at this stage in pre-production.
2.2 Describe a range of key job roles and responsibilities in the film industry
Research 5 different roles in the production department and summarise them.
Explain how the roles work together.
You have made a good start on this objective but covering five roles and discussing the ways in which these roles can crossover and share the workload with each other help you to achieve this criteria to a higher level. What is the relationship between the producer and the director? Could you tell me at which point during the production is each of the roles you outlined needed, for example, whether the producer or the editor is attached to the film first. If it makes it easier, you can work with your group for this question and each research one role and share your research between you.
5.1 Review and critique at least one short film production
LikeLike
Sorry, I think my feedback was too long to fit into one comment!
LikeLike
Continued:
5.1 Review and critique at least one short film production
This is a good review, but by covering all the areas mentioned in the questions you will make sure that you present an objective view of the film. Please could you layout your film review with the format specified in the question. You have discussed the music and sound with great knowledge, but it would be even better if you could talk about genre and camera-work. Please also watch your spelling!
As a guide, here’s how you should be laying out your review:
Film Title, Director, Country, Year.
Story outline (1 or 2 sentence summary)
What is the film about, is there a theme or message?
Describe the genre (if fiction film), or style (if documentary).
How was sound used?
How were camera techniques used?
What was the editing style?
Describe the setting/ location/ mise-en-scene.
Who is the film aimed at?
How did the film make you feel? Did it work well?
Would you recommend it?
If you could try and do all this (sorry it’s a big ask, but it’ll really make a difference to the qualification you gain!) by the next session 18/12 that would be great! Let me know if you need more time.
Nora
LikeLike