The brief of my project is to produce a short film for the BFI (British Film Institute). My intentions for this project is to present my film and to show others my film making skills and to entertain people with my film.

​

I got my inspiration for my idea from a Trailer of a film called ‘Free Guy’, which is based upon video games which includes people on ziplines, Rocket Launchers and things you will mainly find in video games. I also got inspiration from another Short Film called ‘Real GTA’ which was uploaded onto YouTube. The film is shot in real life but filmed in the style of the video game POV. It combines real life with the game and makes the video look like a video game or makes a video game look like real life. The film was also shot in the same location as the game as the game is based in the city of Los Angeles, California and this short film was also filmed in Los Angeles, covering locations also found in the game. Another short film I got my inspiration from is called ‘Ultimate Gun Game’ which is based on a game called ‘Call of Duty’ but filmed in real life as the players POV. There are also effects added on the video to make it look like the actual game. All these films inspired me to add overlays of games to my short film.

These are the title of the videos I got inspiration from:

 

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got my inspiration of the editing techniques I used from various YouTubers such as the use of colour grading, the editing cuts and also making the film in a high resolution such as 4K.

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The primary research that I did involved testing different camera equipment to try out various camera angles and also recording B-rolls to see how I can make my short film perfect. For my secondary research I watched several short films so I could get inspiration on what to include into my short film. I carried out some research on reviews on the films and how successful they were. 

​

Looking back at the primary research, there was a lot more I could have done like gathering ideas from other people in the form of surveys and questionnaires online.

​

When I began to plan my FMP, at first I wanted to make a film about Growing up British and during my research, I changed my plans and decided I wanted to create a short film related to gaming.

​

The change of plan from the initial idea for the film from growing up British to making a film about gaming was due to the research that showed the movies which had the gaming and action themes were very popular and attracted large audiences. 

​

The decisions I made after the research is that I then finally decided I was going to create a film about a person who is playing and streaming a game, then the neighbour who is watching the stream decides to pull a prank and calls the police and then they show up at the gamer’s property.

 The issues which I have come across during production is that I could not find the actors that I needed in my film. I needed a policeman in my film but he was not present in the college at the time so I tried to get the college’s security to be in my film instead but they were too busy act for my film so I got students in the college to be in my film instead.

 

One of the college’s securities:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

​

​

 

Here are links of videos which helped me with my film production.
Real GTA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZZquVylLEo
Top 10 Gamers Swatted on Live Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gedVHbgIt7c

​

How these videos research helped me with this production is that it gave me inspiration of how I can make my film more related to gaming. The video that inspired my main idea of this short film is ‘Top 10 Gamers Swatted on Live Stream’. This video is about streamers who stream gameplays but one of the viewers of the stream decides to prank the streamer by calling the police claiming that they have committed a serious crime and the FBI would show up at the streamers house. This is known as ‘Swatting’. This video inspired me to create my film based on a swatting of a boy doing a gaming live-stream but his neighbour calls the police claiming he hears gunshots from his neighbour’s house.

​

 

The target audience thought my short film was very interesting to watch and the acting is great. What some people say they liked least about the film was the location I filmed it in or the actors were smiling in serious situations. What people say I can change about the film is to include a title for the movie or change the location where it’s filmed. People also liked how I directed the film and how I got other students in the boxing ring to act in my film. Some students said that the colour grading is pretty good but some students say it is dark in some bits of the film. Some people said that the audio that I have added to the film is great but some say the audio is a little too quiet and could have made it louder. People thought the gameplay overlay that I added to the start of the film is pretty good but some say it is a bit too small. The average number of how people rated my short film is a 6.4. People’s overall thoughts about my film is that it is enjoyable to watch but some say the ending could have been more "funny and more comedic."

​

The people's responses:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

I am still awaiting on the feedback from the BFI.

​

What I thought about my final production is that it turned out great because of the whole story of the film and how it is shown and how I added the colour grading into the film and how I added gameplay footage as an overlay in the start of my short film. I also think my music selection fit well with the situation in the film, from the start where chill music is being played and when the neighbour calls the police, I then change it to a tense music to let the audience know that tension is building up.

​

What I enjoyed most about the project was filming the short film and also editing the film. 

The strengths of my final production is my filming, directing and editing. I directed the people in my film to tell them what they needed to do in my film and I think I did that pretty well. I was also steady with the camera and my final edit was great.

 

The weakness of my final production is that I could have filmed it in a more suitable environment such as a bedroom or a gaming room where most gamers game/stream instead of filming it in a gym.

​

I could have also showed more of the neighbour’s action such as watching the stream and getting out his phone and calling 999 and having the conversation to the police.

​

What I have learned from doing this project is time management and better planning on doing each stage of the project. The video could have been longer and I could have added more visual effects into the film.
 

​

I think I met the project brief as the brief was to make a short film on what you like and I created a nice short film.

​

I could have also been more organised with planning the actors in advance of filming and making sure that they were available, also it would have been better to have more time so I could get feedback and improve the production.

 

I should have taken more time to perfect the video as it felt like a rushed process at the time of filming.

 

I should have taken more direction in the video creation ensuring actors showed the right emotion and tone when speaking and acting and also asking for the scenes to be shot again if I was not satisfied with the outcome.

​

Conclusion
In conclusion, I think I met the project brief as the brief was to “make a short film on what you like” and I created a nice short film.

​

This was a very good experience in producing such a film, and I got to apply my skills and interest in Video creation and editing.

​

This was also a very good learning experience as  I have learnt that more could have been done next time in different stages of the project especially during initial stages such as research and also during production.

​