So, as expected, the film didn’t go down well. Most of the criticisms were entirely fair as well. The things that I could have improved are discussed below.
The group agreed that Geoff’s role was unclear. Most people assumed he was Jo’s boyfriend. I had intended for his role to come across more through body language, but it was suggested that some additional dialogue at the start would solve this problem.
A big criticism for the film was that it is too soap opera-like. I entirely agree with this, unfortunately. I do think a lot of that comes down to bad acting and lazy directing, however the entire focus of the film was not one I was interested in. I had originally written a crime film, but because of other people’s preferences, it just got push further and further from the material I liked.
Jo was criticised for being too passive. I can sort of see where they are coming from with this, because she doesn’t really do much as this criminal is just coming and going, however again better acting would have solved this problem.
They said that they really liked that the end of the conversation was in the stairwell. This was actually a detail that was in the very first draft of the script, back when it was a 30s detective noir.
At the end of the day, I’m very disappointed in this film. I should have stayed my ground and fought to make a film that I would actually care about, however my bad experiences with my hands being forced last term put me off and I just conformed to what everyone else wanted.
Last term I directed but didn’t write. This term I wrote, but didn’t direct. If I’m being honest, while I learnt a lot from both experiences, I hated both. In future, I need to return to writing and directing my own films. When I don’t, I can’t make the film my own and when the film isn’t very personal to me, it falls apart. I was struck in the crit how similar everyones films were. In future, I need to push the boat out. I need to make my own films and do it my way. I haven’t made a film I can call my own since I started university, but that needs to change. Next term I need to fight to have my voice heard. I want to make something personal. Something different from anything anyone else on the course is doing. What will that be? Well that just remains to be seen.
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