post thirty one - narnia evaluation

( POST THIRTY ONE )

NARNIA EVALUATION

1.A) DECISIONS MADE AND THEIR OUTCOMES

From previous research we wanted to make sure that the shots were only a few seconds each before the camera angle changed again, this is to keep the audience interested, especially through quite a long piece of dialogue which would normally be quite tedious and boring. We wanted to use a range of different camera angles for instance, high angle, low angle, over the shoulder and close-up. To do this we used different equipment to ensure that the camera was still and was in focus, we had decided to use unipods and tripods to get the best angles.

Once we had annotated and discussed the script as a group, we were able to turn the annotations into camera work, using the different camera angles that we had previously talked about. We used the unipod for the high angles shots, and the tripod for the closeups because the camera was stable and didn’t need to be moved. I think the camera shots and angles all work together because it broke up the dialogue a little and made it less boring for the audience. Although, we had limited space in the Wendy house, which meant there were only so many angles that we could film, and even they were limited because of the amount of time we had. To improve our camera shots and angles further, we could have filmed with more than two cameras to speed up the process so that we had more footage for the editing stage. The photos below show some of the different angles that we used, including: close-up, over the shoulder and high angle shot.

Within our group we all had our own roles, and mine was not the costume and makeup, but as a whole group we worked together and decided what we wanted the make up to look like on both characters : Lucy Pevensie and Mr Tumnus. We looked at the script and pulled out each bit of information around the costume and makeup, and we worked from that. We had Beth do the make-up for Mr Tumnus and Lucy Pevensie, so she tried it our prior to filming to ensure that it was how we had all imagined it, it also meant that we were more prepared on the day of filming. Beth and Raygen drew a few designs of what they had in mind for both the costume and make-up and we all agreed with what they had come with, although some parts had to be altered because we were restricted financially. Isabel, who played Lucy, had a dress that was almost identical to the one used in the original movie, so we knew immediately that it was the costume that she should wear. 

The props were very simple, because as we read through the script, we ruled the ones that we knew wouldn’t be possible or accessible to use, like the snow for example. Lewis, who was in charge of the props, researched how to make fake snow, but because of the setting and its vastness we felt that it would be too difficult to completely cover it with snow, so we didn’t use snow in the end. Although, we did keep other props like the parcels, the fire pit, flute and the photo frame, which we thought were subtle but necessary. We decided against the use of an umbrella also, because there wouldn’t be snow so it would have been pointless. 

Beth, who was in charge of the location and setting, did research into the different places that could be our own Narnia, she came up with a few including Kett’s park, and the plantation gardens, but in the end we decided that the first outdoor part of the script should be filmed in a small forest just outside of Wymondham. We came to this conclusion because we felt that the plantation gardens would have been a huge inconvenience as it is in the centre of Norwich and it would have been quite busy so there would have been a lot of background noise, and people wandering in the background leading to inconsistencies in the final edited cut. In the end, I think that the filming location was perfect for what we were hoping to achieve, and how we wanted the final thing to look. As well as this, because it was being filmed in winter, the day was a lot shorter so we had a lot less time to film in the natural light, For the inside part of the script we used Ben’s Wendy House because we thought it was quirky and it is what we imagined when we read the script, again I think this location was successful, although we were limited with space which made the filming part more difficult. 

I think the lighting was the most difficult part to control and consider when planning and organising the film. Because half of the scenes were filmed outside, and the sun was setting, it was very difficult to work around it, so instead we used it as our take on the script, using the sun instead of the snow. In the second half we were able to use artificial light because we had electricity and we could position them however we wanted so that they complemented the actors and the positions that they were sitting in. Although, I liked the final outcome, this was probably the least successful part of the filming because the lighting was very different as we moved from outside to inside. 

As a group, we decided that casting was one of the most important parts of the task, because we wanted to find actors that could portray the perfect Lucy Pevensie and Mr Tumnus that we see in the original film, so we auditioned three actors for each part to see who we thought best suited the role, in the end we chose Isabel and Raygen to play the parts. Almost immediately after we met Isobel we knew that she would be perfect for the role because her mannerisms were so similar to how we imagined her, after this we had to find a perfect Mr Tumnus. We chose Raygen after the first round of auditions because we felt that he would work well with Isabel an that together they could really show the instant connection they have as soon as they meet in the script. After having the two of them reading lines from the script together, we thought it worked really well and their chemistry onscreen and offscreen was perfect. 

After studying the script in depth together, the director and a few others annotated the script and looked at the parts that we thought should really be expressed through the characters movement not just the dialogue. For example the character used different body language and hand gestures to really emphasis their points, like in the forest scene when they are first introduced to each other, Mr Tumnus is skittish and seems quite close, whereas Lucy is a lot more open and welcoming. The director had already planned how they wanted the characters to move and express themselves through expression and movement but she found that the indoor section was a lot harder because the space was very restricted and the actors had no room to more, so they had to make up of the lack of movement through expression, which was particularly difficult. I think the way the actors have portrayed themselves in our short film works very well and their performance is strong, although I think if we had left more time for filming the result could have been a lot smoother and seamless. 

I didn’t take a huge part in the editing stage because I didn’t have much experience in that area, however we did all share our ideas with the editors so that they could work with our ideas and the footage that we had filmed, and create a final piece. We ended up with . The storyboards that we had drawn out really helped with this stage because when putting all of the footage together, it also meant that we were prepared and the process would be a lot quicker. We ended up with two different cuts, the director’s and editor’s because we felt that if there were two, the different ideas could be expressed and then we would chose which one worked best with the script. To improve the editing process, we could have filmed more footage so that the editors had more to work with, we would have also been able to film at different angles, making a more interesting final cut. 

1.b) THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF OUR GROUP

We spent quite a long time planning because we felt that if we planned as much as we could, all of the other parts would happen a lot quicker, it also meant that we could focus on smaller details mentioned in the script. As a group, we read through the script annotating it as we went along, it allowed us to share ideas at the end and we could begin to plan what we were going to do individually inside our roles. We discussed all the different camera angles we wanted to use, and the different locations we thought would best portray our idea of Narnia, we had a few places to choose from and in the end we chose to film in a small forest just outside of Wymondham, and a Wendy house for the second part of the script, because it was more accessible, cheaper and easier to change the aesthetics. Although only one person filled each role, we tried to help each other as much as possible by listening to each others ideas and then giving feedback to help them with decisions. 

Overall there was good communication throughout the task because we were all certain with our roles, and what we needed to do, and if there were any issues we could easily contact each other and sort them out. Although, I think at the beginning we didn’t communicate as well as we could have done because there were times that we were not sharing our ideas and some people got a little frustrated with the lack of communication because it meant that we weren’t creating work to the best of our abilities. There were also a few problems on the days of filming because we had one less cameraperson than we had planned, which meant we were less focused on the task as we were trying to get as much filming as possible. I think our communication could have been better, but through each process we did make sure that we shared our opinions and thoughts if we thought it was necessary.  

In the end, I think we were quite organised because we had left enough time to film and used a good amount of time planning what we were going to film. The planning process was longer than the filming because we felt that if we had prepared everything beforehand, the filming would be a lot easier and quicker. However, if we did it again, I think we would leave more time for the filming and less time for the planning so that we would get more footage and their would be more to work with at the editing stage. 

We found it quite difficult to sort out the different roles at the very beginning because only a few people were certain on the role they actually wanted to take. However, in the end each person in the group had an important role and we were all happy with our positions. The roles, I think, were distributed evenly and fairly because when we were first given our script we all read it with our own ideas in our minds, because we all have our own styles and ideas we tried to make sure that the most important decisions to make were shared between two or more people, because of this we all shared our different ideas with each other and the director tried to put them together to create one final idea. Most of us contributed to the props because the parcels were simply cardboard boxes and newspaper wrapped with string, and because we filmed the second part in Ben’s Wendy house, we used his cups and saucers, as well as his woodburner because they were easily accessible and it was more logical. During the filming some of us changed roles and helped with the cameras so that there wasn’t just one camera woman, I think that this really sped up the filming process because it meant we had twice the amount of footage than we would have had with only one camera.