Production roles - Miss Miller

People need to be allocated specific roles when creating a film as it enables every member of the production to contribute especially towards one area, making every member of the production team to have a significant role in production. As individuals we have qualities better than the other group members, as the same applies for them therefore focusing on specific areas can result in more profession production. The main roles that are necessary for creating a film consists of;

- Producers
- Directors
- Actors
- Director of photography
- Music producers
- Screenplay writer
- Editor

We decided upon who was going to do what by allocating people to roles based upon what there best qualities are and how well they would contribute towards the group when taking upon that role. The main actor of the sequence is Samantha Apperley as she studies drama as is the most significant character in the narrative, Mikaeel  Khaliq and myself still have acting roles within the sequence.

The editor of the production is myself as I edited the preliminary task my group and I produced, and I have prior experience using editing software programs and editing clips. My role of editor will consist of cropping clips which we have filmed and collating them together onto the film timeline within final cut pro (chosen editing software used), during which I also have to add low key filters to the film and have to do others things, such as speeding and decreasing the speed of the clip so that the visuals fitted with what we intended to film. Throughout my role I also had to add in additions sounds gathered by the music producers of the group, in doing so having to spending up the speed of certain sounds once again so that they fitted the norms of the genre, making the audio conventional to the thriller genre, contributing further towards the realism of the product produced. My role as editor assisted with the filming, as rather than having to repeat certain shots doing actions such as screaming , crying or anything along the lines, it can be edited in at a later stage (diegetic) rather than having to put a strain on the actors. It also helps with filming also as factors such as the time of day and lighting and trying to achieve the perfect lighting which fits the narrative and the common conventions of the thriller genre could simply be achieved by editing in filters and such, therefore taking a strain off the group as a whole. As when editing you can chose and crop between clips, it enabled us to film certain clips and scenes as many times and possibly and we could pick and decide which ones to edit in after woulds, making it easier for the actors within said scenes as one of the clips chosen will be appropriate and can be improved upon at a later stage, by that editing the sound within, the lighting on individual visuals such a focusing on certain parts in the scene for example (shallow focus). I done well with my job as editor as editing was finished within the time given, and the final product produced was of a good quality, as the effects used, the timing of clips and additional sounds added in alongside the visuals on screen fit very nicely and the overall product has come out very well after the editing period. Beforehand, my group and I were worried as the clips we had produced did not look very conventional to a thriller film while they were raw clips however, once they were edited everything fell into place nicely. The editing done allowed for the final product to follow the conventions of the thriller genre easier and contributed towards the realism of the film in general.  I could have done better in my role of the editor if I didn't have to get assistance on certain features on the editing software and done everything independently, as the editing was finished near the very later end of the time allocated, which would have been the case if I was better with the program itself. I could have improved upon how efficient I was with the time given also, as I did manage to complete things within the time given, however I could have completed it quicker and used my time is class better and taken a strain off one of my other group members who assisted me with some parts of the editing due to this (in return I played a big role with assisting with the photography).

The music producers are Mikaeel Khaliq and Samantha Apperley, as gathering audio and editing will take place during lesson time, therefore it is more logical for them to find sounds for the production while I edit, fully utilising the time available to us. There roles will consist of looking online for various different types of music which would be suitable for a thriller sequence, including examples such as heartbeats, heavy breathing, dark eerie music and such. This will make filming easier as sounds such as heavy breathing and screams can be found online and edited in at a later stage, taking a strain off the actors as they wouldn't have to do multiple shots while doing things such as screaming, as it can simply be edited in at a later stage. This helps with editing as those in charge of finding the sounds can send it to me to incorporate into the sequence, rather than myself having to find the sounds also, fully utilising time and making the editing process quicker and easier. I did well in there roles, as the final product wouldn't be the same without the addition music added in afterwards, making it the film that it is. They found very good pieces of sounds that are conventional with the thriller genre, an example being heart beats for the victim of the film, and heathy breathing for the antagonist. All sounds needed were gathered and were later added in during the editing process, making the editing easier as the sounds were easily accessible and for the editor, speaking up the process and enabling to me finish such within the time given. As they were the ones that found the sound, my other group member assisted me in adding the sounds onto the film timeline while I took part in completed other tasks, which was helpful as they gathered the audio therefore they had a better mental image as to where the particular sounds would fit in and to what affect, from helping with the editing also took the strain off everyone as individuals as I would have a look on various different websites in the search for other sounds to potentially add into the sequence, contributing further towards the final product. They could have done better within there role by gathering the sounds quicker and being more efficient with time, as some lessons were spent gathering one or two sounds at most, which resulted in our group being put on a tight schedule, slowing down the editing process and putting some strain on the editor at times, possibly affecting the final product as some segments within the film were rushed because of this. Although they did find good sounds, apart from the background audio found (which plays throughout the entire sequence as the music progresses at the same time as the narrative), therefore they had to be edited faster so that they sound more realistic as to what the audience would expect in a thriller sequence of our nature, therefore stretching the editing process even further and not fully utilising sound, although changes would have most probably been made regardless as to what sounds were found, to fully fit the sequence and to make it more conventional to the thriller genre.

The director of photography (cameraman) will be Mikaeel Khaliq. This is because he is the member in the group which has the least amount of screen time, only being seen in the opening part of the sequence during the argument segment. His role consists of telling the actors within the scene what to do and where they should be placed, as he will proceed to film the scene. This will make it easier to film as he is the hub of the filming process, as he has to organise everything accordingly, making it easier for the actors as we will get directed as to what to do, establishing what location filming should take place in and where objects within the frame should be placed. This assisted with the editing period, as organising what ways the shots are going to be and the placement of characters and things within the frame enables the editor to not have to add anything thing after woulds, an example being rather than having to edited in a zoom in affect, this will already be done with the raw film, in which we did do and incorporate into the final piece, rather than editing it in. He also done well in choosing the locations in which we would film in, as he found locations which fit with the narrative, therefore making the film look more conventional to the thriller genre as the locations follow that of typical thriller films. What he could have done better in his role however is to control his role and give firm instructions 100% of the time throughout the filming period, as I had to assist a lot of the time when it came to what shots we were going to film, essentially informing him what type of shot I believe will suit the scene, at times causing confusion as the role was essentially split between each other. Because of this, so every group member felt as if they were contributing equally towards the production, he assisted me in editing because of my part in terms of assisting with the photography.

Evaluation

Each group member for the most part done well in each of our individual allocated roles. On some occasions certain roles were not done to a suitable standard, an example being the producer roles as when we went to film, they did not always take charge of preceding and there was complications when filming on certain days due to not establishing what we intended to film before doing so. Not much could have been done differently apart from minor things within the individuals roles, and the producers knowing what we intend to film beforehand. Overall, I believe the roles were taken upon to a good standard. Filming overall did not go too badly, nor did it go particularly well either, due to complications mentioned previously into relation as to the other group members being unaware as to what we were going to film. We did not gather many back up clips and only filmed shots a maximum of 2-3 times and had to settle for which ones came out best, resulting in some clips not being of a quality that I and my group would have liked. Although, saying this the final product produced does look conventional to the thriller genre and seems reasonably realistic, as after editing everything feel into place nicely. At time things went well and at others not so much, often due to confusion, lack of communication or due to people not doing there role very well however, as we are all reasonably happy with the final product, not much would be changed if were given the opportunity to film again, apart from improving the quality of clips because of improved camera skills, and minor changes to certain scenes. In hindsight, we would allocate different roles to different people, or allocate roles in which two members work on it together, as during the period in which we completed the production, we established who was best at what, an example of which being Mikaeel being a good editor and myself being a good head of photography (cameraman), so officially changing members roles (as we did not always follow this precisely at times) could have result in individuals receiving credit for what job that actually passed out.