Evaluation - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I think that my knowledge of film has improved greatly since we created our preliminary task. Both my knowledge of film as a whole, as well as my approach to the film making process has allowed myself and my group to create a far better final product for our main task.

When we created our preliminary task, we were very new to the film making process, and as it is evident in the film itself, and knowledge of shot types was very basic, and I feel we were slightly scared of experimenting too much with our shots, in case it was ‘wrong’. In our preliminary task, we used a simple idea of shot-reverse-shot, whereas in our main task, we were far more experimental, our tracking shot being a prime example of this, as I feel that by this point, we felt a lot more comfortable with the cameras.

We took very little time doing pre-production, choosing to film in a classroom that didn’t dress to make a believable restaurant. Also, we didn’t think very much about costume, as it was simply something we had found in the costume cupboard of the drama studio. Whereas, during our main task, we took much longer doing pre-production, as we had several different storyboards in case the tracking shot didn’t work.

Overall, I feel that when we did the preliminary task, we had no idea just how much planning would go in to a professional piece of work, but I feel that after creating our film opening, we are far more aware of the time and resources that goes into creating a film, no matter what it’s budget is.

Evaluation - Who will be the audience of your film, and how did you attract your audience?

I feel that the audience for our film would be young adults, preferably 16 years and over, due to the fact that the protagonist would be of a similar age to the target audience. Also, because the film is based around high school culture, teenagers would be able to relate to this, making the film more appealing to them. 

From looking at the BBFC classifications for film, I feel our film would have a 15 rating. As our film opening is based on a book, I felt like both the opening and the rest of the novel fit best with the components of a 15 certificate, as can be seen on the BBFC website - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/15. For example, the rest of the film would contain strong violence, such as the high school shooting, and Peter’s suicide towards the end of the film, the kind of scenes that wouldn’t be allowed in a 12 certificated film. In the book, there is some reference to the taking of drugs, which can only be shown in a 15.

Dependent on how graphic the high school shooting scenes are, the film could be certificated an 18, as strong blood and gore is prohibited from a 15, as can be seen here - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/18. However, when the rest of the film would be produced, we would try to make sure that the film wasn’t too graphic, as the people that would need to see it most – 15-17 year olds who could most easily relate – wouldn’t be able to see it at all.


‘Nineteen Minutes’ would mainly appeal to an American based audience, some parts of the film would only be relatable to people who live or have lived in America. Throughout the film, there will be a lot of reference to products that are only available in America, such as ‘Butterfinger’ chocolate bars. The film is set in America, and although not all of it would be filmed in America, the sets would be dressed in such a way that it would appear to have been filmed in America. All members of the cast would be speaking in an American accent, and the soundtrack to the film will have been created by American artists, overall making the film more appealing to Americans.

Evaluation - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I learnt about two main areas of technology through the process of constructing this product: editing and the cameras. In order to construct our film opening we used a Canon 550D camera and a selection of three different lenses. Through the process of filming the opening of our movie, I have learnt that the 35mm is most suitable for wide shots, 50mm for mid-shots, and 75mm for close ups. Whilst filming, we tended to experiment with the different lenses to find the right lens to create our imagined shot. Also, something that took a while to get right was the focusing of the lens on the camera. Quite a few of our shots we had to re-do, as it was ever so slightly out of focus, and we soon came to understand that it takes very small movements to get the focus right.

We also learnt a lot during post-production, using the editing software ‘Final Cut Pro’. From the footage we had created, we knew it would take quite a lot of editing to create something that would make sense to an audience watching it on a screen. One aspect of editing that we learnt a lot about was the sound editing. Throughout the opening, the sound levels change dependent on how close to the laptop the shot is, due to the fact that the music needed to appear to be diegetic. When we started editing, we weren’t sure how we would be able to do this, however it was easy to find out the information we wanted simply by googling it. It turns out that this was far simpler to do that we first imagined, as we just had to cut the music to each shot, and then edit the sound levels accordingly.

Another thing we learnt on Final Cut Pro was how to add titles, and have them animated. We needed to learn this as we wanted each title to be typed as it appeared on screen. We were worried that this would be very difficult to achieve, and probably be quite a time consuming process. However, it turns out that there is a setting called ‘typewriter’ on Final Cut Pro when you create a title that types it out on the screen for you, and then you are able to adjust the speed as you wish.

Once we were happy with the sequence of shots we had produced, we sent our opening over to a colour grading programme, simply called ‘Colour’. This was a very simple programme to use as all you had to do was change the levels of colour in order to achieve the appearance of the shot that you wanted. The only difficult part of the programme was the fact that you had to render the entire sequence before you were able to send it back to Final Cut Pro, which although once we understood it, it wasn’t too difficult, it was very time consuming, and quite a boring process of waiting.

Evaluation - What kind of media institutions might distribute your film, and why?

Our film would not be classified as a British film, according to the classification by the BFI. This is mainly due to the fact that although the cast are British, and it is filmed in Britain, the main themes of the film are American. Due to this, our film would initially be distributed in America, prior to it being distributed anywhere else. It would be distributed by a small media institution in America, as our film was independently produced, so doesn’t have a lot of money behind it when it comes to distribution. It would potentially be shown at film festivals such as ‘Sundance’ and ‘Toronto’ in order to get funding to distribute, as the film itself would have been small budget, so there would be very little money to spend on marketing and distribution after production has occurred. The film festivals could be used as a form of marketing, as when the film is distributed, if it has won any awards at the festivals, these can be used as a selling point for the film.

If the film was successful in America, it would then be distributed in other countries, particularly the UK, because although the themes are completely relatable for a British audience, there is still a large audience in Britain that inevitably love Hollywood blockbusters, so there is definitely a mass market in the UK for American film.

Due to the fact that our film was independently produced, it would be a good plan to get our film onto Netflix, post cinematic exhibition. This is because there is a lot of independent content on Netflix, making independently produced content more easily accessible. If it isn’t put on Netflix, it could become difficult for the audience to access it, which was a major problem for films such as ‘This is England’, hence why audiences resort to pirated content.

Evaluation - How does your film represent particular social groups?

Our film has a particular focus on the representation of teenagers, as the main basis of the story is the teenager who is involved in a high school shooting. In our film opening, Peter, whom is a 17 year old American teen, is made to seem distant and unnerved. Stereotypically, teenagers are thought of as being very unsociable, which we wanted to clearly communicate with the character of Peter. The fact that Peter appears to spend all of his day sat at a laptop in his bedroom conforms to this stereotype. With the pressures of school and parents, over the past couple of years, a link between teenagers and depression seems to have come about. Peter definitely appears troubled in the opening of the film, due to the fact he has a pin board covered in newspaper articles about American shooting, clearly showing he has an obsession with them. Also, he is writing a letter on his laptop discussing the fact that ‘by the time you read this, [he hopes] to be dead’, conveying to the audience that he is having suicidal thoughts.

Although the film mainly focuses on the representation on teenagers, the latter parts of the film also focus on the idea of parenthood, and how parents can become so determined to look after their children, that they can miss simple signs of change. Peter’s mother Lacey is a midwife, so her job is a very important part of her life, but the film explores the idea that life can get in the way of things, and can cause us to miss things, no matter how important they are. Throughout the book, and therefore the film, Lacey wouldn’t be represented as a completely bad person, simply because her job was of such importance to her. However, she would be represented in such a way that it would cause all parents to have a hard think about whether they would notice if their child was depressed or troubled. Lacey would be portrayed in such a way that she would appear relatable to the adult audience of the movie, as every parent has moments where they wonder if they really know their children.