Production Evaluation

The positive aspects were far and few between, lost between the stress and procrastination of the majority of the process. An aspect that was positive about the whole process was slowly building knowledge about how to use Premiere Pro. I say this as the first day i used it I could have thrown a brick at the screen. But I'm not into destroying things before I've even paid them off, so I came back the next day and over the week of editing and clip manipulation I managed to make some things easier, while some of the more complex edits such as getting both clips on the screen at the same time for my walking and the tower at Dreamworld took much playing around to get something that worked. Also the fitting of the clip transitions (of the montage) to the beats of the music. It was important for the tower clip to start when the snare kicked in and then, besides the boat clips, change to the beats. It took a lot of editing of clip lengths and also eidting of the music to get it to work. I also enjoyed trying to fix the sound throughout the video. Mainly the talking. I am someone that while gets absolutely stressed at the whole editing process is quite happy when things eventually work and a masterpiece comes to fruition.

Steps that could have been done better are the original scripting. Looking back if I had have actually sat down and tried to get a solid script it could have been better. My favourite is the last scene with my mother 'and touch everyone.' how awkwardly amusing. The fact I went to Australia wasn't the most helpful of things that could have happened. I was supposed to film a lot more over there which would have made the montage better however I was purely in holiday mode. Then I got sick. So some of my original ideas had to be thrown out the window. Again, mainly the montage. It looks a bit cheap now.
My sound recording could have been severely improved. Having to try and dub the tracks to an acceptable level was just about impossible. Waveforms of my voice everywhere and having to put up with listening to my own voice. I pity other people.

To achieve these things I could have gone with my original idea of using separate microphones attached to the people top record the sound. Even if these were visibly attached to the front of the people's tops like on talk shows it would have been fine as it is a reality show. And in saying that it's also not Jersey Shore boom miked 'reality,' it is reality. It's not a movie where every little imperfection needs to be hidden. Overall re: the scripting and any planning, a more solid plan that I was sure could be gold would have been better. The feeling that everything I was doing was just a little bit average put me off fully investing myself in the project and putting things off. I can see now that even with what I did do that it isn't a bad film. But it could have been box office smashing level.
The fact I also used so much different technology at different stages of the production process was also an issue with the quality of the final output. I used a different camera in Australia to the one I used back home. I actually used two. One for the hotel room and also the establishing shot. I then used one on the boat which I borrowed off the people I stayed with in the second week. Then I used one for the majority back home which was supposed to be an upgrade. But as far as sound goes that is hugely debatable. Then I used a fourth one for the reshoot of the scene of me walking along the bridge going into the montage. I should have invested in a quality video camera. I just was a cheap production manager back then and wasn't going to spend more than a flat $100 and what can you get with that? Nothing.

Well, all in all these changes could have positively affected the media product. What is already a fairly good idea could have been better executed and the quality of the footage could have been better so that the editing stage wasn't such a pain. There was unnecessary stress when other subject departments, namely English, are throwing a mass amount of work at us. Also internals in 2 subjects during the final editing week. So, also, the clichely cited time management could have been better which may have meant a better edited project.

Focusing for a moment on the actual scenes. The footage of Mum - 'get that f--king camera out of my face' through until the door slam was my favourite single piece of footage. It brilliantly portrayed my Mother as an unhappy, vile character. It would set you up going through the rest of the film as someone who could change into this mood at the drop of a hat. Making the trip horrible for everyone else. The establishing shot was taken to go right across to the sea more, however due to a smudge on the window and sun glare this was not possible. Removing the smudge proved out of my technical ability as it blended in to the rest of the image a bit much. But I think it does still portray a lovely little city where you would want to holiday. high rises,beach, sun. Eden's section does show a broken, deprived boy. So all is well there. Ahh montage is as mentioned throughout and the day:1 activity is fine with me as it shows the stess before they have even left. You have to leave on a positive note or it can set the tone for the whole trip.