Final thoughts on our film and the module...

I forgot to mention in my last post that we tried to take into account what was said in the commments left on Minerva about our rough cut. Mike mentioned that our black and white stills were slightly confusing because it wasn't clear whether we were seeing Luke's POV or a real POV. We had managed to stage the park scene to look like a 'real' POV but had unsuccesfully done this with the office shots. Myles and I tried to correct this as best we could. We didn't have a lot of shots to choose from but we did add a picture of the post boy looking shocked, in order to signify that Luke's behaviour is out of order. We want Luke's voice over the top of the images to clash with what were seeing on screen, so that the audience can tell what Luke is saying is clearly his schizophrenia and not reality.

I agree with Mike that we didn't emphasise the coke bottles enough throughout the film. If I could re shoot then I would make this more obvious so that at the end when Detective Stansfield opens the can of coke it would be a lot more funny. Someone else commented on it saying that they thought the coke bottle was uncecessary at the end but I disgagree as it is meant to be bring humour and tie the film together. Luke has been talking to the detectives the whole time explaining how coke is dangerous so when Detective Stanfield goes and drinks a can anyway, it confirms that Luke has been talking nonsense the whole time and it's down to his schizophrenia. The film is meant to be a comment on how our society is intolerant to schizophrenics but it is only meant to be light hearted and comical short. The comedy is supposed to derive from the confusion created between reality and what Luke's created in his own mind. I think the problem is that we have stayed rather neutral between the detetives and Luke, but because we haven't taken sides, the viewer feels no empathy to either character.

In regards to the other comments, Mike has mentioned that he seems to be more concerned about a job. This is meant to be the case as Luke thinks he's at a job interview so he is trying to impress them, part of this involves him explaining the reasons behind his actions. However, perhaps we haven't made this clear enough to the viewer. It is difficult to correct this at this late stage in the edit. I think it is perhaps a flaw with the story rather than anything we can do now.

I know what Mike means about the film feeling like an opening of a film and the ending of a scene. I think again the story is the problem and there is little we can do now but I do also like this about the film because when I watch it, it makes me want to watch more.

I am happy with the techincal side of things. I think our film looks very nice visually. I'm really pleased we decided to go with the 7d instead of the z1 because I think you can really tell the difference. If I was to make the film again or I could go back an alter anything I think I would rethink whether to use the stills. Although I like the black and white element, I'm not sure if it is the most effective way to tell the story. However, for practical reasons it made our film easier to shoot in the 48 hour time frame which we had.