Evaluation

Overall, out of the "This is me" film and the 90 second short film; I prefer the short film that we made. I had much more fun letting my creative juices flow and also being able to act in this film. The genre of a western has always had elements of comedy and action with its outrageous plots and happenings which we managed to present in our short film. It was better to make up our own western world and create our own rules than to explain who I am as I would much rather show how creative and capable I am in the filming world. This is me wasn't as fun to do as it was just a retelling of what's already happened. Although I did enjoy the editing process of This is me much more than I did the 90 second short film as there were a lot more new elements of editing I needed to learn for my short film. What disappointed me about my short film is the audio as we had requested a shotgun mic with a boom pole for filming weeks prior and yet still were given the wrong microphone. Therefore in our short film the wild is very loud and it can sometimes be hard to understand what the characters are saying. Something that disappointed me about my This is me project is that I started off with a fancy transition into a drone shot but the rest of the film was just cut away shots with a voice over. I feel if I had enough time and if I could go back I would add more transitions and maybe talk in the video instead of doing a voice over.

Feedback

Positive

After screening Luke's edit of our 90 second short film, "Texas Trails of Justice" we received a round of applause and the audience started to write their feedback of our film.

In this feedback, five people commenting on our standoff scene and saying that it was very intense, this was good to hear as that was what we were aiming for in our standoff. Three people said that the camera shots that we had chosen worked perfectly with the setting and brought more tension and intrigue. The director Luke had meticulously chosen these specific shots to convey the tension in the moment and the vastness of the surroundings so was happy that these decisions were correct. Four people in the audience had said that the soundtrack that I had chosen was excellent in building tension and was what they expect to hear in a western setting. The song that I had chosen for the standoff was "Bean's secret cider cellar" by Alexandre Desplat that was originally used in Wes Anderson's 2009 block buster Fantastic Mr. Fox. This track had all the elements of a classic western with its use of different instruments and playing techniques that almost payed homage to the original westerns like "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (1966) directed by Sergio Leone.

Two viewers had said that the sound effects in the edit worked very well and the harshness of the explosive bullets and screeching eagle was perfect for the setting of the "Wild West." This was good to hear as we had taken inspiration from spaghetti westerns with the sound effects like the bullet ricochet and bull whip; two classic sounds to hear in a 1960s western. Four people had commented on the camera techniques used in our film saying the close ups and extreme close ups worked very well in the standoff but the long shots and over the shoulder shots helped to show the vastness of our surrounding. Luke and Jes had worked together to choose the best camera angles and shot types for each scene and they were pleased to hear that their choices were perfect. Our choices of costume were also praised and the use of symbolism within these choices too. Santiago was wearing a fully black outfit to signify he is the villain whereas Lucas was wearing a poncho and jeans much like Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. I was glad this was notice as I had chosen the outfits for the characters to show there personality and role in this world; Santiago: the baddy and Lucas: The goody just like Clint Eastwood being the bounty hunter, stopping evil in the Good the Bad and the Ugly. The use of practical effects were also praised in our film. I had chosen to use fake blood and tomato juice for blood/vomit and I was happy to see that these items worked well and were realistic in the setting of our film. Overall, all of the audience said that our film was well filmed and well edited so the main view on the film was good for the audience.

Negative

Some of the constructive criticism for our film was that the wind was very prominent and loud. I agree with this as the audio for our film was not the clearest, this was due to the equipment we ordered weeks before being changed and we did not receive the correct microphone. One other piece of feedback we were given is that the dialogue was too long, I partly agree with this statement as Santiago exclaims the exact reason why he is wanted and Lucas exclaims that he has a 5000$ bounty on his head. This leaves nothing to the imagination and explains the story completely, although some of this dialogue adds to the characters personality and helps you to understand the characters more. Someone said the standoff could have been shorter in our film, I disagree with this as these clips are just long enough to build up tension and line up perfectly with the soundtrack. Another audience member said that the cloudy weather was not suit for a western film, personally I would disagree as this weather is a good example of pathetic fallacy and foreshadows the death of Santiago therefore it is suitable.

Research and Planning

For our primary research, we had chosen to do a questionnaire with our class and I had collected the results, most people rated the western genre as 6-7 stars while others rated the western as low as a 2. The average rating of the western genre between a total of 10 people is a 6.10.​

We also asked what peoples favourite western themed movie is. Some answers included; Rango (2011), Django Unchained (2012), Back to Future 3 (1990) and True Grit (2010). Another response said, "Once Upon a Time in the West because it pioneers lots of film techniques."​

When asked "When watching a Western, what would you expect to see?", 50% of people said guns and 30% said cowboy outfits and hats. We took this into consideration, and they were featured in our film. 8/10 people said the colour palette worked very well and is suitable for a western themed film.​

​We also added some clips from our inspirations to ask if they would make a good influence on our film. 9/10 people said yes, with one person saying, "it's a very classic style of western film with many aspects that should be expected from this style of film", and another said, "yeah cos it has standoffs with close ups on both the face and the gun to add more tension to the scene to show how important it is."​ This form of primary research helped us a lot in telling us what the people would like to see in a western and what would make a good western. The fact that the influences that we posted were also liked by our class showed us that they were helpful influences and suitable for our short film.

For our secondary research, Luke had researched genre, audience and context. He had discovered that the Wild West was a short period in time but captured the interest of so many filmmakers. The Western genre portrays this period in America as a vast, untamed wilderness where people had to rely on their wits and strength to survive. The genre explores multiple themes such as justice, morality, revenge, and redemption. Westerns are often characterized by their iconic visual and narrative elements, including cowboys, gunslingers, bounty hunters, saloons, horseback riding, stand offs, and the vast, rugged landscapes of the American West. Westerns usually portray interesting and memorable characters, from lawful bounty hunters to evil outlaws. These characters have become crucial to the iconography of westerns. A lot of westerns use sound and cinematography to tell the story, instead of it being heavy on dialogue. They have rich visuals full of dramatic landscapes and distinctive clothing. This research into genre was helpful as it showed us that in our film we had to include classic tropes such as gun fights, a frontier setting and outlaws and lawmen. The ones that we included are Cowboys and Gunslingers, a Frontier Setting, Stand Offs, Outlaws and The Lone Hero. In the film we made both the characters skilled gunslingers with traditional cowboy outfits and having them on their own instead of in a group of cowboys. We found a nearby location which fits the trope of Frontier setting, it’s a vast and open plain were some westerns were set. The main trope seen in our film is a standoff, it will serve as the climax of our story and it will provide as a test for both the main character's strength and skill. Another trope that features in our film is an outlaw. The villain in the story, Santiago, is a skilled and experienced outlaw. And the final trope featured in the film is A Lone Hero. Our main character in the film, Lucas, is a lone hero who stands up for justice and fights for what is right, even in the face of great danger, such as the villain Santiago. We have based him of the well known character of The Man with No Name portrayed by Clint Eastwood, who also follows the same trope of A Lone Hero.

For our secondary research into audience, we had learned ​that the target audience would have to be more adult and mature as the western genre is worn and old and more exciting for older audiences due to how popular westerns were in older years in the 70's and 80's. Older audiences might also like the gritty tone and suspense that is seen in most typical western films.​

Although the western genre would be suitable for most audience, we decided that the adult audience would be more desirable due to the tone of our film and because younger audiences would prefer more action and fast paced type of content while ours is slow paced allowing to build suspense and tension for the climax of the story. We also believe that adult audiences would accept the build-up of western tension more than other audiences.​​

The context of our film was seen as typically violent, in this time cowboys and gunslingers were also notorious for being criminals such as Jesse James who was known for leading the James-younger gang (a gang of outlaws) and robbing multiple banks or Billy the Kid who was a gunslinger and murderer. As a result of cowboy outlaws, it triggered the creation of sheriffs. They were paid to protect towns and to keep order if outlaws decided to come by, one of the earliest representations of an officer of the law. Although, the representation of cowboys will be taken a bit out of proportion since outlaws such as Billy the Kid and Jesse James were some of the most notorious and infamous criminals during this time which would not represent the entirety of how cowboys were truly like back then.​

The theme will be about cowboys/outlaws/bounty hunters and how violent they were during the early 19th century in North America. This is to show the brutality of the Wild West and what the people in the early 19th century had to live with.​

This secondary research influenced our short film as it helped us get into the mindset of someone from this time. It was very important to us to capture the ruthless and disturbing reality of the "Wild West" in the 1870s. Overall, I think that primary research was more effective as we learned exactly what our audience wanted to see so this helped us to create the best film we could for our audience. If I were to do the project again, I would give a questionnaire to the indented age group for our film instead of the rest of our class as it would've given better results that relate to our indented audience.

Our influences were very effective in helping to develop our idea. For example, the costume design for Lucas was heavily inspired by Blondie from The Good, the Bad and Ugly with his poncho.

And Santiago was heavily based on Angel Eyes with his full black attire and ominous atmosphere.

These influences proved purposeful and we had accurately researched these influences to make our film as western as it could be. They were therefore helpful as they assisted us to meet the requirements of a western.

Professional Practice

I believe that we could have improved on this project in terms of time management. I had allocated only one day to film on the production timeline and originally this worked out fine and we managed to film all of our clips by the end of the day, however when in post production we noticed that there was a smudge on the camera that Jes had missed causing us to scrap the ending of our film. If I had allocated contingency time then we would have been able to re film this scene but unfortunately not. Either than that, I believe that our communication and project management skills were good and we were able to collaboratively work on the film in a efficient way.

During our project, I believe that I worked well. I had displayed a good level of acting skills and were able to produce my own edit of this film that was of high quality. Our teacher Lee said I had produced a excellent location recce and even though we needed contingency time , I believe that my production schedule could be easily followed and worked well within our time scales.

Whilst using the editing software, I constantly had problems with the internet and the system kept on freezing and crashing on the other hand, I was able to use the features of Adobe Premier Pro efficiently and managed to produced a well edited "This is me" and short film. While filming the "This is me" project I found the cameras easy to use and to export my clips onto the software, I also used a drone shot in my "This is me" and I found it very inspiring as I began to think of other ways I could use this technique in my future projects. I think that to improve my technical skills I would have to continue to use all the different types of equipment and familiarise myself with it all. I feel as though I have been learning all of the correct skills to enter into the film business and thrive but in the future I would like to learn how to use a more efficient camera such as a TV camera they would use on the set of a live show.

Looking Forward

For the next project, I would like to further peruse acting like I did in the short film project. I would also like to try my hand at directing and my future ambitions include creative writing aspects such as script writing. In the next project, I hope to produce another great film that can be enjoyed by everyone and can be related to. I would like to be able to create my own story and vison and then put it on film exactly as I see it in my mind and eventually have a project that I am happy with and am exited by.