Unit 9: Characteristics and Contexts in Media and Communication - Task 3: Evaluation - Hallmark Christmas Film
The Hallmark style Christmas film I wrote and directed is called 'Holly, Jolly Christmas', which was released on Friday 18th December 2020 (one week before Christmas).
Pre-Production
Starting to create a story for this style of programming was actually quite difficult at first, as there are a lot of restrictions to what is appropriate and acceptable on the Hallmark Channel and the certain stories and styles, they allow filmmakers to involve in their films, as well as the strict codes and conventions that filmmakers must present in Hallmark's Christmas films.
I did really struggle, in the beginning, when Kelly first set the challenge of creating a Christmas film, specifically, in the style of a Hallmark Channel Christmas film as, I mentioned previously, I wasn't very familiar with their films as I have never watched anything the channel has released. As we had only just come back to college after the long, nationwide lockdown and the summer holidays, I had been lacking in creativity for a while, not being able to write or create any scripts during my time off (which I would have liked to have spent it). I also wasn't really in the spirit to write a Christmas film as it was only the beginning of September. Of course, I do love Christmas, I'm not a Scrooge or a Grinch, but September was way too early for me to start thinking about decorations, festivities and the number of times every radio station in the country would be playing 'All I Want For Christmas Is You ' by Mariah Carey. So, the lack of creativity started to mix with the disinterest to this year's Christmas event.
Although, everything seemed to change once Kelly asked us about the project again, as originally she would have liked many of the students in our year, and on our course, to write a Christmas film for everyone to work on and be a part of, but the only person who had written a film was Sam (although his script wasn't as Christmassy as Kelly would have liked it to have been, though it did sound very interesting, it didn't relate to the original brief of a Hallmark Channel style Christmas film). Once Kelly said about the project again and doing Christmas short films that are all set in one location (as we weren't able to film outside of college because of the new restrictions and guidelines the government had enforced at that recent moment in time), the idea for the film then came very easily to me. I found it really strange how as soon as Kelly said about keeping the film to one location, something that we would be able to create or replicate within the college, caused an idea to spark in my head right there and then. I was still unsure what the exact story would be, as I still needed time to do some research on Hallmark Christmas films and time to think what the specifics and meaning of the film would be, but I knew the exact location I wanted to set the film in, as well as would it could, potentially, look like and what the certain events and outcomes would be presented in this location. That idea being the Christmas film set in a Christmas shop (that we could construct in the theatre), late on Christmas Eve, and a sudden snowstorm trapping the main characters (whoever they may be) in the shop and causing them open up to one another about hidden feelings they have been bottling up within themselves (again, whatever their situations and predicaments may be).
At first, I did think about writing the story exactly like a Hallmark Channel Christmas film, following a romantic couple and seeing the trials and tribulations that arise for them and how they overcome those problems together and strengthen their romance and relationship. As I am not a big fan of films that are solely based around lovey-dovey romances, the creation of the story did become a problem for me. I have always been told to "write what you know" and what I know, that is very important to me and involves Christmas, is the importance of family. During these hard and troubling times, my family have been everything to me and have helped me along the way to not be so frightened about the chaos of the world and to continue what I love doing. So, with family in mind, I then wanted to base the film around the importance of family, particularly siblings (sisters in my case, and the films case), especially when it comes to the Christmas holidays, as Christmas is an important day to spend with all of your family and this year, especially, it hasn't been easy to do that.
Once I had the new idea, involving two sisters, in mind, and the meanings and messages that I wanted to bring across in the film, the story for the film became much easier for me to conjure up and write down. A story about two sisters who don't get along and, eventually, reconcile and become sisters again, sounds pretty simple (also sounds a bit like 'Frozen' (2013)), but it did take me some time to even be able to start somewhere, then continue the story all the way to the end and have a sentimental and heart-warming story play throughout it until the very end. I had been wanting to make an emotive and uplifting for a while as I think people need a good, cheerful story at the moment. I was really happy with my script, well at first, I wasn't as I didn't think I had written it very well and that I had made the dialogue really hefty which would be, pretty much, impossible for an actor to even remember. I originally wanted to make the film around fifteen-minutes long and ended up writing a twenty-five-page script, meaning I had packed it full of dialogue, whether it was good or not. Luckily, my teacher, Kelly, loved the script and was very adamant about developing it as soon as I got the great feedback from her. This made me feel much better as a writer, and personally, as it was a story, I was very proud of, the only thing I didn't feel confident about how affective it would be, emotionally, and I think I hit the mark once Kelly said it was "beautiful".
Pre-production paperwork was one of my biggest fears, originally, when thinking about developing and creating my own Christmas film as I have already had many troubles in the past with trying to get through pre-production work on my own, causing me to not enjoy the task as much as I should as a filmmaker. I also feared doing pre-production work as everything had, and still has, been constantly changing due to the chaotic state of the world because of the pandemic. So, when it came to planning and prepping for the production of the film, day after day it was scary to hear about the new changes to restrictions and laws the government were enforcing, so everyday became a gamble on whether we were going to be able to do the film or not. Luckily, nothing interfered with college and we were still allowed to do the film. My main problem with paperwork was figuring out what was the most important to work on, continuously, as I now didn't have much time to create and work on each individual aspect of paperwork that helps bring a production onto its feet. My main focus was to get all the artistic paperwork and aspects (set design, props, costume, hair and make-up) sorted as one of my main worries was what the film was going to look like and how were we going to produce and develop that successfully. I think my planning went really well, I feel like I could have done more to ensure the project was going to be successful throughout production by doing more important paperwork such as shot lists, storyboards, shooting schedules, etc. Though this would have helped the strengthen my preparation for the film, I felt like I had done enough planning and that it was helpful and suitable for the production.
One of my main achievements during pre-production, and throughout all three stages of production, was the influx of actors who took an interest in the film. This boosted my confidence instantly when actors, from both year groups, were reaching out to me, via email and text, wanting to know more about the film and how they could be involved with the project. I felt even more confident about the project because of the actors who took an interest in my film, as the actors who contacted me are some of the most talented aspiring actors that I've seen and had the absolute pleasure to cast in the film. As I was confident about the cast, I was also very confident with the crew members who would help me during production. I was mostly happy about getting to work with Amiliyah again, recruiting her as the Director of Photography, as we have worked on every project together and it had been a while since we got to work together, in person, due to the nationwide lockdown at the beginning of the year. So, working with someone I was comfortable with and who I worked well with was very comforting and made me feel at ease as I have a lot of faith in Amiliyah and she always delivers and does and absolutely amazing job.
Production
I wish I could say I felt relaxed and at ease during the filming of the 'Holly, Jolly Christmas' but, throughout the production, I felt anything other than "jolly". I found it very stressful, not just because we had to keep to social-distancing guidelines and restrictions, that was the least of my worries as we were in a bubble with everyone who was on-set and everyone understand what we needed to do to keep safe, so having to distance from one another was something normal to us now and no one really gave it a second thought. I think what I found so stressful about filming was the fact we had a lot of time restraints, specifically our first shoot day where we were using the theatre and couldn't use the space for as long as we would have liked to as Musical Theatre needed it earlier to rehearse and film some Christmas performances they were uploading online. Without time restrictions I would have been much more relaxed and calmer, which I think I did as well as I could on-set, trying to keep myself composed and professional as I also didn't want to worry the cast and crew.
I think time was my worst enemy during production, as well as delays due to actors getting their hair and make-up done (this was understandable as there were many actors who needed to get ready and it was a pretty hefty task to put on three make-up students from the first year Make-Up course, who all did amazing job on make-up) and equipment important to the production of the film being used by other members of the Film and TV course (as we only have a limited number of equipment). Although this was stressful, we were able to film, almost, everything we wanted, but I did still feel very underwhelmed with what we had. I think because there were a lot of issues with time, continuity and technical problems on-camera (due to lighting), all I could see were the faults of the film, rather than the story that significantly shone throughout the film and the amazing talent we had on-screen, especially the connection between Sophie and Kate as the two sisters, Holly and Grace.
Though, I felt disappointed with filming, (again) I think this was due to the amount of stress put on the cast and crew to get everything done in a limited amount of time, I was very impressed with the cast and crew for being patient with me and the professionalism of everyone whilst we working. It was one of the first times on a set where I felt like people were actually listening to me and now, because we have known each other for a while now, we all felt comfortable to work with one another and get the job done. This made me feel much more confident and grow as a Director as, throughout filming, I constantly felt like I was making blunders and not knowing what I was doing most of the time, but everyone knew what they were meant to be doing, whether it was the way they were meant to act in a scene or the specific job role they had on-set, and took direction very well. Although the cast and crew did an amazing job on the film and I can't thank them enough for their involvement, I was still very unsure about the outcome of the film, whether it was going to be successful or it was going to look rushed with loads of errors and faults.
Post-Production
I also wish I could say editing the film was much easier than the filming process but, personally, it felt just as stressful as the production of the film, maybe even worse than the production. My main issue with editing that I was only able to see the imperfections and errors in the film, rather than the triumphs and achievements we were able to capture throughout filming, as well as being amazed at what we were able to achieve after a long time of being away from college and not being able to develop and create films in this capacity.
Editing was an absolute nightmare and, truthfully, I couldn't wait to complete editing the film as I couldn't bear to look at the film anymore. I don't think I am the worst editor as I was able to expand my skills throughout our time in lockdown, but my editing in this film was just shocking. There are shots in the film that don't transition from one to the other well, making it look jumpy, as well as a few shots that are so quick that they look out of place, as many of the shots in the film were quite lengthy and to have a random quick shot (mainly placed in between shots as cutaways) made them look out of place. The main issue I had when watching back on the film was the continuity errors! Specifically, in Scene 2 where the audience is introduced to Noelle and Holly expresses her feelings about her sister, Grace, to her, compelling Noelle to help the sisters be sisters again. Although it is quite an emotional scene, I could never keep my eyes off the many continuity errors in the scene. It is something me and Amiliyah were unable to fix in the film, doing our very best to do so, but there was no way to disguise the number of mistakes with props and the positioning of the actors in that scene.
Although, I struggled with the continuity errors in the film, we were able to edit the film to what it is known now as 'Holly, Jolly Christmas', adding copyright free Christmas music to successfully create an emotive and Christmassy atmosphere throughout the film.
The response for the film was, personally, very surprising as there was nothing but praise for the film, even a few tears were shed by some viewers. Even before the film was finished, I was very nervous about people seeing it as I didn't know if they'd be very critical, mainly towards, the continuity errors in the film, and that they may not like or understand the story. Luckily, the feedback I got was all positive, with audiences saying it was emotional and moving. I was mainly worried about one particular person to watch the film and that was my teacher, Kelly. The reason I was so nervous and worried for her to watch it was because I wanted her to like it as much as she liked the original script, and she really believed in me to get this project up on its feet and to improve my filmmaking skills. Even once we'd finished editing and exporting the film, the nerves didn't go away as we then watched the film together in the classroom, as she put it on the interactive whiteboard at the front of the classroom. It was so nerve-wrecking to sit there, for a whole eighteen-minutes, waiting for her feedback at the end of the film. Most of the time, I was just staring down at my hands as I didn't want to see her reactions whilst the film was playing. I was more than relieved when she said she loved it as I really wanted to make her proud of my work, even if I was still unsure about it, and she loved the film so much that she actually cried. She also said that I had successfully create a Hallmark Channel style Christmas film which was the outcome I was hoping for and had done well. I felt more than overwhelmed that she enjoyed it and she thought it was ready for audiences to watch, and I was more than overwhelmed that I now felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
Although, I still don't feel like this is my best piece of work, to date, I still thought that there were many aspects of the filmmaking process to be very proud of.
I was very proud that I was able to improve my scriptwriting skills, being able to write a successful, heartfelt and emotive story that could, potentially, be distributed and released on the Hallmark Channel. Scriptwriting is one of my passions when it comes to filmmaking, so being able to improve and expand my writing skills, being able to create and write a story that translates well on-screen is a huge success and improvement for me. I was also very overwhelmed by the responses of my fellow classmates and actors interested in the project after reading the script, saying they really enjoyed it and found it emotional. I was also very pleased that I was able to create a heart-warming story as the only script I had written before, that had dialogue, was for a film about a fame obsessed psychopath (and even then, I didn't think it was a good script), so I was happy I was able to believe in myself to write something that I find important, as well as something that feels very personal to me that, hopefully, many who watch the film could also relate to.
I was also very proud of the outcome of the film, even though I, personally, didn't like what I had created as I still had many issues with the faults and errors seen throughout the film. What I was mainly happy about was the audience's reactions to the film, it didn't really matter what I thought myself as, at the end of the day, a filmmaker creates and tells their stories for audiences to observe and listen to. So, for audiences to watch the film, understand the messages and meanings, as well as enjoy it, was a very proud moment for me.
Lastly, what I was mostly proud of throughout all three stages of production was teamwork. On the past few projects, we have done at college, there have been quite a few issues when it comes to working as a team, whether there are creative differences, a lack of communication between one another or someone deciding they are the leader of a project and taking control of everything. Luckily, that did not happen during the development of 'Holly, Jolly Christmas'. Compared to all of the projects I have been on, this was the best when it came to teamwork (as well as working on Tom's Christmas film, 'Belief'). I was so proud of how well everyone communicated with one another and helped and supported each other to get the job done to create a film, whether it be bad or good. I was so happy with how professional and patient everyone was on-set, as well as how well we all worked in a socially-distanced environment. I can't thank my peers enough for the help and support they offered me throughout each stage of production on the film and I am really proud to be able to call them my friends.
Even though there were a lot of positives that came out of the development and creation of the film, there were still some negatives and possible improvements with the film, in my opinion.
Of course, what would have been better on the set of the film (which is impossible at this moment in time) is if we weren't restricted to only filming college, due to the pandemic. I had to create a second draft of the script, which I didn't mind as I preferred the second draft to the first, as I was unable to film much of the plot, mainly the technical elements, as we weren't able to film on-location (in a real Christmas shop). This was something Kelly had mentioned previously, saying if we weren't in this situation, as the whole of the North East was in Tier 3, we could have filmed in the shop at the museum in Preston Park (which we had worked in, previously, on 'Christmas Carol'). Although, I would have loved to have filmed in an actual shop, it just wasn't possible.
Another improvement on the film would be if we had more time on each shoot day. Time was not on my side whilst filming, as we had time restrictions set in place to use certain locations within college, as well as a set time we had to leave college by. This was one of my biggest nightmares as I didn't think we would be able to get everything finished in those set times. Luckily, we were able to get all the shots we needed but it would have been better if we had more time to do more takes of certain shots, as well as having time to fix continuity errors so that it wouldn't become a huge problem during post-production. Another improvement, based on continuity errors, was if we were able to have a multiple-camera setup to film conversation scenes much easier and not have to worry about the problems with continuity.
I mentioned a lot about improving my editing skills on the film before as I was unhappy with the way I had pieced together and structured the film. It also would have been better if we were able to find a magical fairy dust special effect for Premiere Pro to be able to advance my editing skills but also to improve the part when Noelle uses her magical powers to lock Holly and Grace in the stockroom, as when she uses her powers, we only had to rely on sound effects and it made the scene quite bare and boring to watch.
Lastly, I think something I could have improved on, and I am still trying to, is my confidence and handling of a project. I feel a lot of the time when I am under a lot of pressure, mainly due to the amount of time I have to work on a project, whether it be writing a script or filming, I end up crumbling and lose faith in not only the film, but myself as a filmmaker. This is a horrible trait to have and it is something I need to conquer, as this will help me to believe I can develop, produce and create a good piece of work or a great film and not become anxious about it and end up hating it. Filmmaking is so much fun and it is a way I can express myself, have my voice heard and tell stories that I think are enjoyable and worth telling, but it stops being fun when I become a worrying and panicked mess who is unable to see past anything that isn't perfect. As a filmmaker, I need to have more faith in both myself and my work and show people that I have the strength and willpower to do so.
In conclusion, there were many highs and lows throughout the three stages of production on 'Holly, Jolly Christmas', and although I wasn't the biggest fan of the film (again, something I need to improve on and see the significance of the film), I am really proud with what I was able to achieve and that I was able to work through tough obstacles and barriers with the help of my peers.
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