For our first production task, we were given the aim of creating a short film in the space of 48 hours. We were placed into a group of originally 7, which then grew to a production group of 10. Each production member chose a role that they believed would best suit them in this limited time task. Within the task, where specific requirements that needed to be achieved. Included within the production had the to be prop of an almost empty bottle, the character type of an over confident expert, the dialogue line of “take this, you might need it” and they all had to be under the genre of either mockumentary or coming of age. We chose to put these specific requirements under the genre of coming of age. We also used “Making short films: the complete guide from script to screen” (Clifford Thurlow, Max Thurlow, 2013) to gain an understanding of the conventions within a short film as well as casting and location advice (page 105-116).

Due to the time constraint of only 48 hours, the planning period had to be as thorough as possible. We knew during the pre-production stage that we would be having specific requirements, so when planning tried to create a plot that could be easily changed and adapted. This worked well for our production group, as we all agreed on a plot quickly and all inputted on the ideas within the production. We then agreed on a statement of intent (appendix 1) that would be a guideline for the production. This included audience and outlet and the theme of the film. It also would give an indication of cinematography, sound design, editing and story/ structure. During this stage, roles were also assigned by each member of the production crew. I chose the role of a production manager for this task, as previously I have been director and wanted to fulfil a different role. These roles chosen, however, became unclear during the production stage. Roles became merged together by certain members and other roles became absent altogether.

When it came to filming the production one issue that became clear was that all members did not turn up when scheduled. Due to commitments from jobs and other commitments it became difficult for all members to be available at the same time especially with the 48 hour time constraint. With this also came the issue of trying to find actors for our production due to the limited time of planning and availability for filming. This meant members of the production crew had to double up as our actors. This however made things difficult as our director chose to become one of the actors as well as another production manager. As well as this, other members did not follow their role that was previously given to them and tried to input into other people’s roles. This caused roles to be abandoned and everyone simply helped out when necessary. This could have failed, however due to us working well together, everyone was able to help create the production successfully and I changed my role and took over a role of the assistant director.

The three constraints of a project that appear within the quality triangle are time, cost and quality. The triangle shows that you cannot have all three of these aspects within a production and it is only possible for you to have two at most. We were constrained in this task by time, due to only having 48 hours. We made up for this constraint with the use of our location. We used the location of house where two members of the crew lived. This also gave us easy access at all times without having to ask for permission. Any exterior locations used, were located within a short distance of the house meaning time wasn’t wasted on travelling between locations. Another positive impact of having the location being within a member of the crew’s house, we were able to save time during the post production stage as the editor was able to edit shots in between scenes on site due to having editing software on hand.

The one factor that worked the best during this production was the level of experience we all had. Despite certain roles becoming abandoned we all had a clear understanding of what needed to be done to make this production a success. We also all had a good level of understanding for all of the equipment that we used, meaning that everyone was able to help out in all aspects when members were present.

The success of this challenge rested on the closeness of the crew working together and their ability to develop to a different role when necessary.