Final evaluation of performance

EVALUATION

I showed the final version to our group today. Overall, the editing received very positive feedback (mostly). I am very satisfied with the final product, including my own performance and the general product. One area I excelled in was creating enough energy, despite being TV acting. It is a common belief that TV acting is always more naturalistic and less exaggerated than stage acting, however, this isn't always the case. As our piece was a comedy, the stereotypes are still very prominent. Dylan (my character) is a stereotypical teenager, crushing on a girl, very cocky and has a lot of attitude towards his parents. I feel I delivered his cockiness through lines such as, "I'm a lifeguard, I'm guarding her", as I acted very defensive when my 'sister' suggested I was an embarrassment for not 'making a move' on Zoe yet.

One thing I wish I could improve on was my acting under the mask. Most of the sitcom was done without masks, however, when we had all our extras in, we had to wear our masks (kept it realistic though, as this was only for the party scene). It is quite hard to let the mask impact your general energy, as well as your facial expressions. I would have liked to do it again to emphasise my emotions through posture and body language. Another thing I would change about my performance would be obtaining the same energy in all my scenes. Although I feel as though I always generated energy, I feel as though there was a clear contrast between when I was completely in character and when I wasn't. An example would be at the start of Ken's office scene (the first scene we shot). I took some time to get into character, and my voice hadn't reached the way I had been rehearsing it.

When it comes to directing (and filming), I feel as though I could have improved. I was consistent with my directing, often finding good angles and effective shots following the 180% rule and understand the connotations of each shot. Despite this, my filming was pretty poor, clearly being the shakiest out of all the footage. All the other actors were assigned a pre-production task, but I was assigned the task of editing. I was happy with the edit, after facing a lot of issues, however there were still some audio issues in the final edit.

Overall, I got a lot of positive feedback for the similarities between my acting and Dylan. This meant I was portraying the same character traits as him, so I am happy with my performance. The research into Dylan's given and implied circumstances helped significantly into understanding the character, as well as all the improvisation exercises. This wasn't just important in understanding our characters, but it meant we understood how all the characters interact and how they react to your character. The sitcom came out very funny, although I can acknowledge how challenging film and TV acting can be, especially with the set, costume, and energy challenges we faced.

Film and TV - rehearsal unit - WEEK 11

VOTING

This was a very fun scene to film, however became quite challenging as we didn't want to break 2-metre distance unless we had masks on. Some shots, some actors have masks on to avoid this issue. It is clear that as we filmed more and more scenes, the directing and shot variation became a lot more unique and varied from the original show a lot more, adding our own spin to it. This shot gives me a lot of scope to create comedy from the editing.

This marks the end of our filming. it was generally very successful. I will edit the video and show the group a first draft. After this, I will apply any changes and create the final version.

Film and TV - rehearsal unit - WEEK 10

BED SCENES

Today we filmed the 3 bed scenes. Originally we had planned to film in the conference room, but we adapted to film in the auditorium due to a mess up with a booking. I directed 2 of the 3 bed scenes filmed, and filmed 1. We adjusted the script, having Hugo sit at the bed instead of on the kitchen counter. This then meant we changed the scene up and had it between Lorna and Cuckoo. We also had a look through the costume cupboard to find Hugo some sunglasses. We had some issues with lighting but used a lamp to make it better.

BREAKFAST

This afternoon, we filmed in the conference room. This scene is the scene where the family begin to plan the party until Dylan enters, and starts squabbling with his sister. The dad then announces they will have a family meeting. We set up flats sofa etc and mise-en-scene to have clear continuation. This was always my favourite scene, as I deliver the line, "I'm a lifeguard, I'm guarding her". I feel as though I generate great energy when I say this line, and I have had positive feedback with my accent.

Film and TV - rehearsal unit - WEEK 9

FINAL GARAGE SCENE

Although this is our last scene, we felt it would make more sense to film it today, as we had all the props and costumes with us. It was quite difficult to film because there were caretakers going in and out of the room, meaning the garage door was opening and closing (changing the audio). We brought a bench into the garage, and had Cuckoo approach Ken. We managed to have the characters 2m apart so they could have their masks off. At the end of the scene, Ken and Cuckoo are meant to hug, but we adapted this to being Cuckoo bowing to Ken for an excessive amount of time.

FAMILY MEETING

Ms Williams was not here for this filming, but it still went well. One main issue was we forgot to get footage of Cuckoo for a long time, which means it might be awkward in the edit. We assessed the option of refilming but felt it wouldn't be necessary. We are hoping this will be one of the funniest scenes we have, because there are some moments that have great timing.

POTATO WASHING

This was a very short scene, which was quite problematic. I was directing and filming this scene, and I felt the actors weren't in role enough to emphasise the humour of this scene. In the end, we didn't really get the shots we wanted, so I will have to work around with them while editing.

Film and TV - rehearsal unit - WEEK 8

PARTY

This was the main shoot of our whole episode, as we had all our extras for 2 hours. This was a very intense filming session. Some challenges we faced included:

• Keeping all the extras quiet
• Directing such a large group of people
• Getting the lines right in front of a crowd
• Being efficient
• Preparing the set, and preventing it from getting kicked or destroyed

We were able to get everything (and more) that we wanted to film today, therefore overall it was a very successful shoot. The year 12's were very cooperative, and (mostly) got into character well. As a media student, I enjoy taking charge of camera angles, and I enjoy directing, so I took a lead role alongside Emma today. After we had finished with the year 12's, we continued to shoot some other scenes.

PREPARING FOR PARTY

This was slightly difficult to finish, as we were struggling to get into character after a long day of filming with our extras. In the end, we managed to get enough footage to make it work.

KENS STUDY

While filming was still going on in the conference room, myself, James, Tristan and Olivia (Y12) went down to the library to film Ken's study. There was no desk or chair in the room we wanted to film in, so we grabbed these from the drama hall. After we set up the set, we were very efficient with filming. One criticism was that we didn't get enough variation in shot types, and some of the footage was shaky.