Evaluation – unit 8 final major project

For my final major project, I chose to do a short period-drama titled ‘Murderous

makeup’ based on a true crime story I found interesting. I decided to do this
because it is something that I am passionate about and I thought it would be a
good challenge for my final major project. The story is about a woman named Maria
who goes to Juliane, a woman who owns a small cosmetics store, to buy her secret
poison disguised as a makeup product. Maria does this out of desperation in order
to escape her abusive marriage, as in the 17th century men were controlling and
women didn’t have rights, so she was trapped. My goal for this production was to
inform the audience on what life was like for women in these times by using a real
story that actually happened. However, my version isn’t an exact replica of the real
thing as I have changed things like names and made up my own storyline, but I
hope it shows a good representation of what these women went through. To show
an accurate representation I researched what marriage was like for women in the
1600s just like I mentioned I would in my brief at the start of this project.

For this production I have worked on my own since we have been in isolation due to
covid-19. If we were to go ahead with filming, I would have worked with a small cast
consisting of three actors and two stand-ins. I would have also worked with a peer
who would have acted as a second camera operator and helped with sound,
lighting and anything else to do with behind-the-scenes. My role was as producer,
and if we were to film I would be camera operator, director and editor too, as this is
my production and my idea I’d want it to come across as I envisioned it.

The genre I chose, as mentioned earlier, is period-drama. Some of the secondary

research I completed was about this genres codes and conventions, I also watched
other examples of productions in the same genre. I learnt that mise en scene is a big
aspect of this genre and is very important to emphasise the time period the story is
set in. This was done very well in the examples I watched.

For example, in ‘The Hun’ the costumes and location

as well as the colour grading made it clear from the
start that the film is set in wartime without even
having to mention it.

In ‘Herring Road’ the natural lighting, era-

appropriate costumes and dull colour grading
makes it clear that this is not a modern story.

I took this all into consideration when doing my test shoots, where I mainly focused
on colour grading because if I were to film, this would be a priority in editing.
Costumes would also be a big priority and if we were filming, I would hire some time-
accurate outfits for my characters. Other codes and conventions I have used in my
short film, which can be seen in the script, include the following: the use of only a
few characters. My cast consists of only three characters. I also have involved a
twist; I have tried to make it seem as though the main character, Maria, won’t get
away with poisoning her husband at the end by using sound effects, such as a rapid
heartbeat, to create tension. However, the man falls and Maria remains appearing
innocent. Lastly, I have taken into consideration length, and my short film should
come to be between 10 – 15 minutes long.

The primary research I conducted was in the form of a survey to find out about my
target audience and their interests in order to make my production as appealing as
possible to them. I started by asking for their age and gender to find out who my
target audience was. The gender was exactly even, half being male and the
other half being female, meaning I had to appeal to both genders in my
production. The age ranges between under 16 years olds and 20 year olds,
which are people around my age so I hoped to have an idea of what will
interest them since we are around the same age group. I then asked questions
about their interests relevant to short films. The most popular genre was comedy
with drama coming in second most popular. My production is a drama, but I
tried to incorporate some humour into it in order to make it more appealing to
those who favour comedy.

One of the questions I asked was

about which idea the respondents
would find more interesting out of the
ones I had listed. The second idea, the
one about a woman who sold poison
disguised as makeup in the 17th century
turned out most popular, as shown in
the picture to the right, so that is the
idea I went with.

I think I have met the needs of my

target audience by having a cast of
both female actors and a male actor
so that both genders are included.
However, one thing I would improve on would be to add another male character so
that the cast was even and also so that men aren’t only represented as villains in my
production. If I were to re-write my script, I would include a kind male character so
that the gender would have a fair representation and not be seen as all bad.
Another way I think I have met the needs of my target audience is by making the
last scene have a funny element to it. I think that the quick and exaggerated
camera movements, such as repeatedly flipping back and forth from a close up on
Marias shocked face to a medium shot of the whole scene where her husband lies
dead on the floor adds slight humour to the overall seriousness of the film. I also think
that the main characters actions, such as an overdramatic sigh of relief, actually
stepping over her husbands body and then finishing by drinking her tea
nonchalantly as her husbands body is being taken away by sirens adds slight
comedy to my production.
I think my planning materials were effective as I tried to make everything as detailed
as possible. I feel that my production schedule covers everything, and that I had
enough time to complete each section, however I could have been more specific
about things like what I was filming and who it was with. I think that my research
prepared me well for writing the script because I could go more into detail about
what the character might be thinking and why she’s doing what she’s doing. I also
felt pretty educated on life and marriage for a woman in the 1600s too, so that
helped as well. I believe that both my script and my story boards are to a fairly
professional standard as I think the story line is clear and easy to understand. I know
that if I were to film I would have put lots of effort in to making sure the production is
executed well and comes out as I envisioned it.

One thing I did not do very well was organising the cast early enough because we
weren’t filming I feel that I slacked off a bit, but if I were filming it would have been
very stressful and rushed to get a cast in time for filming. I know that next time I will
definitely be more prepared.

Pre-production is a weakness for me and I need to spend more time on it in the

future, working outside of class, going into more detail and just being more
organised in general. This is something I will try hard to improve on for my second
year on this course.