Today is the day my project is due in, and I have spent the day uploading my work onto One Drive. I thought I would do an evaluation on this project to see how much I have learnt/enjoyed it, as well as things I think went well and things I think could have been improved.
It is my first time making a film that is of a heartfelt and thoughtful genre, so it was fun to work on something different that is a bit more out of my comfort zone. I usually tend to create horror films, as they are the films I watch most, and films I have made in the past, so I know a lot about what makes an effective one.
Watching the Contextual Studies Lecture 4 was an important moment throughout this project, as it has definitely influenced the way I have viewed my work/processes. In the lecture David mentions that it’s important to step out of your comfort zone as although there is a possibility of being embarrassed of your work, there’s also a possibility of finding something which could be yours. So I am glad that I stepped out of my usual bubble and tried something new. What he said was very true as I was embarrassed by my first draft of the film. The colour grading really didn’t work out which was annoying and a bit sad actually, because I had such high hopes for it. Maybe I just misjudged my ability. However, from that failure stemmed a new idea that I didn’t even consider at the start of this project, and it turned out pretty well.
I think the thing I have learnt the most from this hurdle I came across, is to keep my options open from the very start, and to not have my thoughts set on one specific outcome and try to work on the process of creating. This also links to David’s way of working, as he works off of improvisation, and never has an end goal in his mind for his paintings.
I don’t tend to watch mind-bending psychological thrillers, or heartfelt films that will deliberately make you sad, and before this project I wouldn’t have been able to tell you what makes an effective one, nor probably even been able to name an example of one. However, I’m glad that this project opened up a world of interesting films to me, that I would have never considered watching if it wasn’t for research.
Memento especially was an interesting film that intrigued me and I would definitely watch it again, just to understand and pick up on more details in the plot fully. Researching about the film, and seeing different peoples opinions/views on it, was very interesting to read up about.
My favourite thing i did during this project was the filming, and coming up with ideas for my film. As the films I watched for research were very interesting with narrative and storytelling, I wish I had more time to be able to think of a clever, innovative way of filming/editing.
I also really enjoyed researching about memories/dementia and how it links with your identity. I read many different articles/extracts from books/essays on the effects of dementia on identity. (You can find it on my ‘Memory and Identity 2/2/22’ blog post). A lot of the reading was complicated stuff, and I had to re-read some paragraphs over and over again to make it sink in, but although i spent hours just reading up on this one subject, it was so interesting.
Going into depth about a certain subject opens up your world to different ideas and it’s almost like your brain expands, or a different section in your brain is opened up. I definitely had to search up what lots of words meant, but it was one of my favourite things I have done this project, which is strange because usually research is tedious.
I think time restraint was definitely the thing that held me back a bit during this project, or perhaps I just need to get better at time management and create a plan for each day and write down what I need to achieve at the end of every day. This thought is definitely something I will be bringing into my FMP, which will be starting in a few weeks.
Overall, project Memento has expanded my mind to different ideas/ways of looking, in a way I never thought it would or could. It has improved my knowledge and understanding of different things, and I am really happy with how this project has turned out.
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