This supports the overall theme that if one continues to fight for what they believe in, they will be successful. I feel like what Camilla does and says follows a consistent tone of mischief after the conflict is established, until she is with the boy at the end. The only things that changed from our original plan were the bully, the boy, and the second classroom scene, which ended up being in the library.
I wrote the original treatment, but all three members of the group worked to revise it (and there was a lot of revision to be done). We wanted to have a character that could relate to Amelie, such as when we show her breaking the 4th wall.
We did this by creating a mischievous character and a quirky guy to go with her.
As co-writer, one challenge we had was trying to fit everything into our 2 to 5-minute time slot while still having an ending that wraps everything up. I don't think it ended up being a problem, however, because we were able to show the bully's reaction as well as what happened with Camilla and the boy. Another problem that I just discovered was that at the end of the banana scene, we catch the bully's reaction, but we never see what happens to Camilla. We may have done this because she was supposed to be out of sight so the bully can't see her, but even then we should've returned to her to see her reaction. Also, I noticed that we never show the boy's reactions until the last two scenes. That is quite a problem because the point of Camilla getting revenge is to make things right for the boy. Still, a reaction at the end is better than none, I suppose.
As cinematographer, I also took on the role of writing the 2-column script. We had some good ideas for the film, such as a rack focus for the scene with the PA announcement, but it didn't pan out because we didn't know how to do that. After all, it was my first time using the fancy camera. Now that I think of it, I should've asked how to do it, but I suppose I didn't because of our tight schedule. One shot that I liked, and always like when I see it elsewhere, is the over-the-shoulder shot of Camilla while the bully is introduced to the scene. I just like it's set up so that Camilla is off to the side working on her sketch, while the bully is in the middle with his hood on. It's here that we realize she's going to do something else to get revenge.
One cool thing that we added as a prop was a cartoon sketch of the bully slipping, just to give Camilla something to do before the bully/gum action. It ended up being rather funny when Camilla improvised by adding the bully's dialogue to the sketch. I'm glad I didn't stop recording that shot because it was a great idea.
We had to re-shoot the shot where Camilla winks because we noticed as we transferred the footage onto the computer that the shot was blurry. We also had a slight error in the banana scene where the bully is standing in the shot while Camilla puts the banana peel onto the ground, but we fixed that in time. Thank goodness for a patient actress. Overall, I wish I could have been more creative with my filming, but what's done is done. I'll just have to think about being more creative next time.
I probably had one of my easiest times editing with this project. Either my editing skills have improved, or I'm improving with my filming. One reason why it was easy was because Camilla was good at her gestures and positions for the sake of match-action-cuts. Also, for the ending, I thought it would be a cute thing to make a circle of the shot gradually get smaller. It just seemed like something that could add to the genre of romantic comedy.
To add a more humiliating effect on the bully in the banana scene, I made the laughs echo a bit.
One problem was during the last scene because when we filmed the shot when Camilla and the boy skip away, we forgot to have Camilla stop for a second to have the winking shot. When the skipping shot resumes it looks like they were never stopped. Luckily she turned her head anyway, so we could squeeze the winking shot in. I hope it isn't too noticeable. Another problem with editing was with the banana scene. We had trouble making a realistic fall, so to try to make it seem less fake, I made one shot in slow motion.
The next thing we know, he is on the ground. It doesn't look as polished as I would like, but I hope the viewers understand what's going on. In the same scene, we needed it to seem realistic that there is enough time for Camilla to place the banana peel on the ground without the bully being too close. To solve this, I made the bully's motions in slow motion as well. I thought it worked out well because the bully has his hood on, which quite frankly made him look like thug, and it works well with the hip-hop music I added in. Another thing I had trouble with was capturing the sounds of the mouse clicking and the clock ticking, so I added them in afterward using findsounds.com. Speaking of sounds, to create a more comedic scene, I added some cartoon-like sounds when the bully falls. I feel these sounds make the whole thing much more uplifting and cheerful. During the scene when Camilla speaks over the PA, we had to shoot it three times. One was at the angle below. The next was an extreme close-up. The last was just a voice over in the bathroom to make it sound like an echo. We used the last one outside as the bully and the boy listened.
Overall, a couple of problems we had were that on our re-shooting day, we failed to warn the boy until that day, so he is wearing different pants. Also, one major problem we had was in casting. It was a day of panic because our original bully went home sick that day, and we really had to shoot. Luckily we had another tall and willing candidate to save us. We originally wanted a short boy like Camilla to play the bullied person, but that didn't pan out, so we settled for someone that could be very nerdy. It turned out great because it really added to the quirky and comedic effect we were going for in the end.
I think all three members were a big help. The only issue I picked up on was that Jenevieve had to miss a couple of shooting days. At that point I tried to work with Isabella in the role of director. However, I'm definitely not blaming Jenevieve because it's not as though she wasn't dependable or contributing. She only missed those days for medical reasons. It was merely unfortunate that they landed on our shooting days. I feel like Isabella was an important contributor, but I wish we could've given a bigger job to her. We assigned her to work on set design and sound, but, because of the simplicity of our sets and little dialogue, there wasn't much do do. However, she really became an important contributor on the days Jenevieve couldn't make it. Lastly, I think Jenevieve's directing skills are a work in progress, but I think stepping into those big shoes taught her a lot of skills that can help her in the future.
A CRITICAL EVALUATION
The extreme close-up of the first shot is interesting because it comes before an establishing shot. The two boys leaving when the bell rings are unrealistic because, for example, where are their backpacks? I like how the girl shows genuine emotion as she says bye back to the boy, but if she is feeling dejected, then why would she go the toward him with her head down instead of in the opposite direction? The music seems appropriate because it is sad.
The close-up of the girl's face is dark, so it is hard to see her expression. However, when I can make out her smile, the darkness adds to a mischievous effect. The bully and the boy are magically gone when Camilla turns and walks away. Also, the lens looks dirty, unless it was just the sun.
The next scene is good up until the bully falls. It is very unrealistic, but the sound effects do add to the humor of it. There are people standing in the shot when the bully sits up, but everyone already walked away. What happened to Camilla? We never saw what happened to her, and the boy never saw the humiliating effect on the bully.
The sketch is a nice touch. The acting of Camilla is good and realistic. The changes in music are a humorous addition. Why didn't Camilla just go to the bully's table once, so she could get out of there faster? This made the scene drag on a little. The gum part was funny-- good sound effect.
It's very easy to understand that she is sneaking into an office. Good point-of-view shot and then over-the-shoulder shot of her. The audio matches very well as she is in close-up, extreme close-up, and then we hear her outside. PA sound is fairly realistic. The bully's reaction is great, and it's good that we see a reaction from the bully. The music in the end is cute, which is good because Camilla and the boy are cute. The effect in the last, slow-motion shot is corny, but gives a satisfying end.
