Virulence evokes emotions of empathy and anticipation but also appeals and challenges the audiences personal ideologies surrounding climate change. We have done this through extrapolating and showing the audience the possibility of what can happen to the planet and the air we breathe if nothing is done about the current climate emergency. This is shown through the spores in the air and the effects that it has on a bandit once he inhales them.

We engage the audience by getting them to follow our protagonist Naya as she searches for her brother through her old childhood home. Upon reflection I feel like we could of made this clearer through dressing the set with more family type props, or showing the picture of her and her brother on camera instead of leaving it open ended. We also could of made this clearer to the audience through maybe adding dialogue or flashback scenes when Naya reached certain parts of the house. This could then invoke a more emotional response as audiences would relate it back to their own lives and it turn think about the over-arching issue of climate change that we are addressing in the film.

If we had the chance to re-do this project I would definitely change (or strongly advocate) that we do a day shoot to avoid problems with lighting. I’d also like to possibly convey our issue in a more prominent way than worrying about issues with continuity and the storyline. I’d also strongly advise that the footage be reviewed as we shoot so we ensure that it’s framed correctly and in focus to save a lot of issues in post-production. This film definitely tested my skills and knowledge in premiere and with editing because as Alan said a film can be re-made in post and to the most part I think I achieved that. I spent probably a cumulative total of 40 hours trying to get the the cut including re-framing, colouring, masking and cutting footage. Probably half of this time could of been slashed if filming was completed correctly and takes were reviewed, however this is a lesson to take into future projects. I had a help and company in the suites through Isaac and Pat who helped me make the final cut what you see today.

I’ve learnt a lot about group work in this project, especially the importance of roles in a group. The workload should be shared equally despite roles and in this case I don’t feel as if the group has worked equally as hard across the project, that may be because I spent so much time in post. And I saw first hand the sheer amount of work that Isaac and Pat put into pre-production to ensure the production went smoothly. Theres no doubt in my mind that no one in this group worked harder than Isaac, writing and directing his vision, dressing the set, writing out a shot list and working extremely hard on sound in post-production. For this I know our group is grateful for his hard work and contribution. However, these lessons and ideas about roles, workload and group work can be taken into future projects to make sure they are even bigger and better than ever.

Besides this I believe we made a strong sci-fi horror short that conveys issues about the climate through appealing to the audiences empathy and through the struggle of the protagonist Naya.

Thanks for a great semester, see you soon!