From Geoffrey himself...

So I wondered if I was actually any use at all on set as a director. So I asked Andrew Heard, who plays Geoffrey in Four Walls, if he could give me his opinion on what I was like on set and what he found it like working with me. This is what he had to say;

"Working on set with Ben was really straight forward; he knew exactly what shot he needed from all the angles before we'd started and had obviously planned in advance. He told me exactly what to do, even for a very small part, which I'd perceived as insignificant, and there was very little question as what was needed to be done. He'd planned the shots, some in and out of focus for effect, he'd planned the style of how the character ran and told me the emotions the character was feeling, even if I couldn't perform them to his standard. Overall it was a very informative experience, with the man that is Ben, and a great insight into his project and the amount of effort which is put in, not only by Ben, but obviously anyone in that business. It wouldn't have been as easy without his planning."

Well, I was rather flustered when I read what Andy had to say. I didn't think that I planned it that much, in fact I thought the project wasn't planned as much as it could have been. I thank Andy for his work, and for his small, but great performance in the production.

Audience Feedback

So we showed most of people's work to the class last and here's the feedback I got from it;



"Really effective narration - good choice of varied shots. Good ident logo! :)"

"OMG- I really love it. It's amazing. Jake's acting is very convincing. Ident is very professional. Well done dear."

"Cool Ident. Really good shot selection, framing. (Steady and flowing) Love the way it flashes back. Good narration and awesome titling. Like how Jake is allways in focus and the lady opposite was out of focus. It's so good, well done! :)"

"Jake's character is scary but I like him! Love the plotline, very intriguing, keeps the audience guessing. Very effective dialogue. Love it! :)"

"The dialogue was really effective. The close up of Jake's eyes was really good, daunting."

"I didn't watch this because I have an aversion to my face and voice, but what I can say is that the script is masterfully written and assumes the voice of a real hollywood film. Titles are really slick."

"Good range of shots - the extreme close ups were especially effective. Got the audience asking lots of questions. Good use of make-up. Want to watch rest of film to find out why he's covered in blood. End was a little sudden."

"Oooh the ambience! Very enigmatic. Your protagonist is very mystic. Ok, it's really good, like the fast shots & the lighting, everything gits really well, other than some of the dubbing needs a little syncing & some noise."

"It was poo! I joke, twas very good! I think the voiceover was really effective especially over the title credits. Really want to find out what happens next! Liked the ident - looked really professional Well done!"

"Intriguing! Wants to make me watch more. Only thing is that the sound dubbing is a bit obvious. Other than that, I liked it. Well done."

"Really good. Love it :D Blood was pink!"

"I love yours. I like the eye close ups and how you didn't show everything. Is it 2 minutes? It seemed shorter but maybe because I was enjoying i! Is it you blurred in the background over the head? I liked that effect. Could you of had the title at the end after it goes black? Anyway I loved it."



I also got some feedback from a film night the Media department held at the school to show work of Yr 11 diploma students and also Yr 12 work.



"Jake has nice eyes. It was well good."

"Really good close-ups - Draws you in too with a good story."

"I was really good."



Overall I'm really happy with the feedback. Everyone seemed happy with it. The constructive comments like the dubbing being out of sync I agree with, but couldn't change them because of time constraints. People seemed to really like the idents, which I found quite surprising, as I created three different versions after the original as they were deleted off my computer all the time for some unknown reason and therefore the remakes became gradually worse and worse, but I was still happy with the final one, and especially happy that it pleased so many people.

The comments about people wanting to watch more, for me, means that I've done my work well in creating a compelling and interesting introduction to a movie. Which is what the introduction of a movie is all about, surely? All in all; I think my work is done here.

Editazzling

I have recently discovered that technology sucks. The computer was using crashed every 5 minutes because the footage I shot in was apparently too big to render. Even though I edited it down from full 1080p down to 720p. But throughout all this shanigans I got through it and got to my eventual final cut.

The audio wasn't the best quality, so me and Jake Brownbill had a dubbing sesh where we covered the audio for both of our work. The only things that I'm not happy with are;

• The first Geoffrey shot covers some of the narration of Jason, which was because the audio messed up between us recording it and me placing it into the final project. I don't know why, but it still worked okay.
• The dubbing isn't on the right lines for the first shot of Jason's mouth, which was also to with the audio messing up.
• The chest shot is a bit wobbly, but I can live with it.

I haven't changed these because of time constraints, and would be incredibly fiddly, or add more stress in AS life.

Overall I love my intro. And it loves me too.