“In 200 words or less please outline your goals, desires – what you want to get out of this semester. You will review this later in the course. Many will rethink this dramatically by the end of the course – this is a good thing.” No? Go back and have a look.

Now we’d love you to do the same at this end. Please reflect on how you feel about the course. What surprised you, what excited you, what disappointed you. What we could have done better. What you could have done better.

Week 1 Film/TV 1 Anticipations

Looking back at my Week 1 aspirations for Film/TV 1 I believe I achieved them. One thing I wanted to do was “improve technical, creative and organisational skills as [the group] share knowledge and experiences.” This element alone was paramount to the production and what surprised me was just how well our group did get along, a part from a few minor bumps along the way mainly from stress and probably sleep deprivation, we all worked together really well. It made the process so much better that we had the ability to voice our opinions and concerns freely. When you’re undertaking something that requires everyone to put in you need everyone’s presence in the group, and I’m happy to say everyone lifted their weight which helped in the sheer volume of the processes required. And working with people that were passionate in different areas of the production making process “improve[d] technical, creative and organisational skills as we share[d] knowledge and experiences.” It was also great to work with people I had never talked to before the production, the people you see around because you’re in their course but have never spoken to.

Another element I wanted to achieve was an “enjoyable film… something that you’re not only proud of but that will be well received by others.” I was proud of our film by the end and all the work we put in as a group to make those little things, like the blocking of Oliver’s moves in Zoe’s house, payed off. The most exciting part was probably the shoot day, a day where all your energy, thought and organisation has been leading, and where anything could go right or wrong. You have no idea what’s going to happen when you wake up that morning, but you just have to be organised that you can plan from what does happen.To watch it all unfold in front of you is an amazing thing and that was exciting on it’sown.

It was really refreshing to be prompted to go outside our classes and really get to know the people in our course. In supergrouping and helping fellow students the course formed a little community and it was nice to know if we ever needed help we could always email Robin and Paul. I think the lectures where great, with some the moments and key knowledge I remember most being the theatrical presentations, with Robin up the front constructing a lighting set or students role playing scenes from films, it was here that I appreciated the creativeness of teaching and remember the most.

The only constructive comment would be to perhaps timetable the Analysis/Reflection tasks so that students are aware when they are due. I think the emailing is great but if it was documented at the start of the semester I think I would have been better prepared to submit them, as I would do them on my blog and when I came back to paste it into the Blackboard Test it was taken down. I remember being confused with the whole process in the beginning, especially when it’s the start of semester and you’re just getting into the process of things, and it wasn’t until a couple of weeks in I started to get into the process of things. In saying this, I could have kept up better with the work at the beginning of the course, I always did it but as I’m a perfectionist always spent more time drafting the product than actually getting on with it, and I saw this change over the semester.

At the beginning of the semester, I wanted “to develop more of an awareness of the processes it takes to produce such things as film and television, and then understand how to apply that knowledge not only to my own creations but the analysis of others as well.” This course put in perspective just how much work it is to make a film, there is so much you can do and bring upon yourself to perfect. And the film making process is as much a personal as collaborative process. The course in teaching all the different elements of film allowed a greater knowledge to apply to the analysis of work, and I believe this is invaluable with my future studies in both Film/TV 2 and other courses.

“Lastly and most importantly I want to be able to enjoy the whole process.” Film/TV 1 was a really enjoyable course this semester, it was a course that gave me the opportunity to learn things that can not be taught, but that require trial and error, and experience in order to be understood. In this respect the course gave a platform for me to learn invaluable skills for the future, for example I had never conducted a casting call before we had to get actors for our film which not only required a professional attitude, but also asked for social skills. And just the sheer organisation needed to produce a film, or anything where you have certain deadlines put in perspective all the elements you need to fulfill to get it done, and then more importantly to get it done well.

Please write constructive comments/reviews of the films you saw. It can be just those you loved the most or intrigued you the most.

Budgerigar

It was clear that every detail was technically and creatively thought out in Budgerigar, from the crisp focus of the images to the lighting. The settings were aesthetically pleasing, the dining room sequence playing out in front of the artistic mountain looking background – I mean who even has a dining room like that. The acting by both the main boys was perfect, with the brother capturing his annoyingness perfectly. Directing the choice of shots was made well with such shots as the close up of the brother eating the chicken wing eliciting the exact grossness required from the audience. The juxtaposition of lighting from the real well lit dining room of reality, to the darkly lit table of the main character’s thoughts was achieved really well.

My only criticism would be to make the title a bit more understandable for the audience, the first time I watched the film I thought what does that mean, and the director explained to me it was to do with how budgies are obsessed with their reflection, like the main character. For example, there’s a moment where the main character is in the midst of confusion outside and perhaps there could have a budgie outside, and a shot of it in its cage looking in the mirror. However I’m sure if the audience is intrigued enough they will go search it themselves and work out the link, and that’s probably better as you’ve given them stimulus to think about your film after they’ve left the theater.

MILK

Loved Milk. The whole concept was brilliant and the point is it’s not a complex story it’s just a guy that has to get to the Milk bar before it closes. Therefore what the story is driven on is character, and the group did a great job in casting to get a main character with his every move having the potential to be comedic. The film was full of little creative choices that added to the finished product, like the change of screen to have black blocking similar to an action film when the main guy is given the ultimatum of the shop closing and the chase down the alley way on the scooter was genius. Because it’s not a long film the little moments have to have resonance, and they did, like when the main guy is on the scooter and the jogger passes him with the choice of music adding an overall pace and a playful quality to the film. The only constructive comment I can give is that perhaps the title credits were a couple of seconds too long, I understand the comedic reference being achieved but I remember looking away from the screen at something and then looking back and was like wow they’re still on.

Cursed

Really smart concept to have a guy who can only rap to talk. The rapping part kept authentic and had some really funny parts, and appropriated how different rap is to normal speech. I liked that the whole scene took place in the house environment which helped with the comedy of the piece, but felt it ended a bit awkwardly with the main character on the phone while he sat in the kitchen; perhaps he could have gone to check the mail box or something to get into a different space where he could have received the phone call.

THE HOLE

The beginning of the film in black and white created an art house aesthetic. The main character was great, and the costume of him in swim trunks on the beach was good comedy. The concept was awesome, and the ending was really well tied off with another hole being dug to capture another potential love interest.

Granny Theft Auto

Being in the same class as the Granny Theft Auto group I kind of watched the whole process of the production as it unfolded and have to say the whole film turned out great. The casting was perfect, with the Italian Nonna old enough to get confused by the cars, but also young enough to allow her to have this authority over the other characters and the screen. The three male actors articulated their rascal, ill-behaved boy characters greatly with a fair amount of language but also in the mannerisms they conducted themselves with. The comparison between cars scene juxtaposing the boys car to the Italian Nonna’s car was well done, and that pan from the boys car to the Nonna’s with the realisation of what’s happened was aided with the sticker with ‘I love Italy’ on the back. Sometimes the audio from characters gets a bit hard to hear with the surrounding noise taking prime, but this is a minute criticism that could be excused with, “its flour for the pasta!”

The Chase

Having seen the rough cut of The Chase, I couldn’t help but think of the alternative ending when viewing the film in the theater. In the rough cut ending we see the man approach the girl to give her the necklace she dropped before she started to be ‘chased’. The group had a big decision on whether to make the film end on the girl getting the necklace to realise it was a misunderstanding, or to finish in the crucial moment when the man spots her and leave the ending ambiguous. At the time I believed the ambiguous ending was the way to go, as the drama build up calls for something more than a misunderstanding, however watching the film in the theater I wonder whether having the ending of the shown film then showing the title and credits, and then the original ending of the man giving the girl the necklace would have been an option. That way the audience assumes the end of the film and has the credits to think about what happened, but the final scene shows how majority of the time fear is built up in our minds when there is in fact no danger. 

‘Sliced’

To re-work an addiction through the everyday and mundane product of bread was really smart, by doing this it allowed the audience’s pre-existing knowledge of that spongey white bread (I’m sure many of us remember squishing with our hands at school lunch) as an innocent ideal, to be contrasted in the hands of an obsessed main character. In doing this the group achieved an alternative approach to the well covered issue of addiction. The scene where the  main characters in the alleyway with his little glad bag of white bread was great, with the dark costume and lighting adding to the ideal he is doing something wrong. The scene where he goes to visit his mum was good to show his isolation in the midst of obsession, and how he was pushing the ones he loved away in the process, but I just found the shot a little awkward. Thought the scrunched up bread packet slowly unraveling at the end to metaphorically show the slow takeover of bread on the characters life was clever.

Coffee & Pi

Really cute film that achieved it’s aesthetic through little mathematical comments on screen and music that mimics the steps and pacing of solving a maths equation. The moment where the main character flies the paper airplane towards the table for the male waiter to pick it up was great, adding some good comedic breadth in the midst of the main character’s confusion of the maths equation and plight for the girl. The end was kind of predictable, but that just could be because I’ve watched way too many relationship movies, but in saying that I don’t think another ending would have surpassed.

Shelter

One element that influences the reception context of a film is the audience that surrounds the individual, and this was a big impact for me in Shelter as I didn’t get why everyone was laughing when the guy had the gun until I realised it was a vacuum cleaner wand. The fact that people were laughing made me search for what they were laughing at in the film, and honestly I would not have noticed otherwise, but what it did do was make me appreciate the creativeness of the group. They also did a great job with confining the filming into that small room achieving a vast array of camera shots and angles in the process.