DOCUMENT EVALUATION

By Dylan Koolman

Questionnaire

• The use of a questionnaire, as our Primary research into our audience, proved to be very helpful when creating our media production.

• Through the questionnaire, which we analysed and make edits to our original script where applicable, allowed us to gain a greater understanding of the needs of the audience, therefore allowing us to have a greater idea of the success for the opening.

• This gave us a prospective idea as to whether the idea we had was worth making, however due to the majorly positive response we continued with the idea.

• One of the major things that was shown to be something that the audience wanted to see would be the broken jars. This is a symbolic genre convention as the connotations of the broken jar shows destruction and creates an element of fear

Story Board

• The story board proved to be a useful tool.

• Firstly, it made the planning of shots that we had to do much easier, by showing us where the opening was going and which scenes we needed to shoot.

• Additionally for me as editor it helps massively as I was able to follow along with the story board in conjunction with the camera shot list in order to have a schedule to stick by and create the opening.

• Having the story board allowed the group to visualize what the story was going to be about and how it was going to look.

Camera Shot List

• On the day of shooting and all through out the editing process the camera shot list was very important.

• Similarly to the story board, this helped me during the piecing together of the video, however this document helped a lot due to the fact that the editing that needed to happen to each shot are outlined on the document, making it easier to figure out what needed to happen when.

Talent Release

• This document was very important for the producer’s job.

• This document ensures that participants understand that they do not have the rights to the footage that is produced as a result of their involvement.

• In the movie business this is very important as people could try to sue companies for unlawful selling of products that they are involved in in order to get money from the company.

Personal Release

• The personal release is needed so that those involved do not make additional demands other than that which is agreed once the film has been made.

• This relates to the talent release whereby there is a need to protect the company from those who could have mal-intentions.

• If the participant is under the age of 18 there is a requirement to have the signature of a parent or guardian. This is in order to comply with child protection laws that apply to all those under 18 and allows the clarity to be shown that no usage of any participant will occur without the consent of the parent or guardian.

Location Contract

• The location contract states the time and place that the production will occur.

• This is a very important document as it ensures that the location that the production will occur at will be agreed upon and available for use during an agreed time.

• This also ensures that the location owner as well as the production company both stick to their time slots available to them.

• This in the movie business is critical. Those who do not stick to their time slots, at Warner Bros. Studios for example, are heavily fined due to the need for another production company to use the studios. Likewise, those who miss their slot not only miss out on their production time but on a lot of money that has now been wasted. Therefore the location contact is very important.

Location Release

• The location release determines how much should be paid to the owner of the location in order to use it.

• This in addition with the location contract both prevent outside sources from intervening during the production process which gives the production company the freedom to shoot.

Risk Assessment

• This is one of the most important documents needed during the production process. It outlines the possible risks that might occur during production and ways in which the risk can be lowered as a risk to those involved.

• An example of this could be the trip hazard created from the wires needed to power the lights in the production space. A solution to limit the risk of this could be to tape the cables together and tape them to the floor as well as putting up a sign and telling people to be cautious of the cables on the floor.

Budget Proposal

• This document is important for companies that are using a budget and are aiming to make the most profit from the movie that they can. It ensures that the movie doesn’t go over budget and sticks to the budget they have.

• An example where this hasn’t happened is within the movie Hugo.

• It was created for the purpose of being artistic, not a movie that is intended to make money. However, as a result of the director wanting the artist potential of the film to shine through above all else, they went over budget, didn’t sell as much to make it up at box office and ended up making -4% profit.

• This, for a major movie production, has rarely happened before, but it shows the importance of a good budget proposal.

Edit Log

• During the editing process the edit log allowed me to spot patterns within the editing sequence which for certain clips needed to be repeated, therefore showing me what needed to be kept the same.

• Additionally, the editing process took place over a number of weeks, therefore it was very useful to have a log to refer to tell me where I left off and where I have to carry on from.

Call Sheet

• The call sheet is used, in major productions, by the producer and the runner. It enables them to know who is meant to where, what with and when.

• This is very important when dealing with massive movies due to the amount of people that are needing to be kept track of being very big, therefore, a sheet outlining where everyone is meant to be in crucial in ensuring that the production process runs smoothly.

Evaluation of Documents

■ At times, there were moments where the documents no longer needed to serve their purpose. For example, the story board was loosely used during the editing process as the camera shot list proved more useful.

■ Additionally, there were parts that were added last minute during the editing process that weren’t in the original plan but were things that we thought would enhance the movie opening and give it a sense of verisimilitude.

■ Apart from this, the documents served their purpose well and the importance of them in the wider movie industry is clear.