Evaluating past coursework projects

I decided to evaluate some past coursework projects in order to get more ideas for mine and to pick out weak areas so that I can hopefully improve them in my project. All of the projects which I looked at are from the crime genre (so are relevant to my project) as this was specified in the past brief. The coursework projects which I have evaluated were, however, based on a different brief which involved making the opening to a crime drama, so I will have to think about how the ideas could tie into my project whilst also sticking to the brief. Most of them include both a 'previously' section and an opening title sequence, neither of which are a requirement in my coursework and neither of which I plan to include in my coursework.



http://online.clickview.co.uk/libraries/categories/f6b652a2-0389-0ead-4cf4-07fa4c61bd14/2011?sort=productionyear

Wake up call

Good points: some good mise-en-scene (particularly makeup and some of the lighting).

Bad points: very confusing, makes very little sense, too fast-paced, poor choices of music, camerawork is quite bland.

Deception

Good points: decent camerawork, good mise-en-scene, good title sequence

Bad points: doesn't feel like a 'previously' segment in a crime drama - should have quick cross cutting and a fast pace instead of showing whole scenes.

Top secret

Good points: has lots of crime clichés, feels vaguely like a previously section in a crime drama.

Bad points: poor title sequence, reused shots, bland camerawork, acting is (too) over the top, could have used mise en scene better.

Actus Reus

Good points: good first half in terms of camerawork, mise-en-scene and editing.

Bad points: very bizarre title sequence, tries to use visual effects but they are very poor, poor choice of music (why is it always dubstep???), hard to follow.

Cold blood

Good points: decent camerawork, editing and sound, good title sequence.

Bad points: could make more use of mise-en-scene and crime clichés.

Hidden meanings

Good points: decent editing, camerawork and sound, good 'previously' section, good title sequence, makes use of crime clichés well, good use of locations.

Bad points: scene transitions are very sudden.

Games of murder

Good points: lighting is good (in comparison to other projects), title sequence is interesting (although too slow-paced).

Bad points: very odd choices of music (why rage against the machine?), camerawork is a bit too flashy, poorly edited conversations, doesn't make much use of mise-en-scene or crime stereotypes.

Detective Roberts

Good points: Decent camerawork, makes good use of different locations, editing is ok

Bad points: Poor sound recording, shaky camerawork, hard to follow/badly structured, could have made better use of mise-en-scene and genre clichés.

Convict

Good points: good use of camerawork (not too flashy but still makes use of different angles and lengths), good sound and mise-en-scene, well-paced, makes good use of locations, music is well-incorporated, good visual storytelling (there is no dialogue).

Bad points: could have used more genre clichés, title sequence could have been better.

Summary: overall I have to say I was a little underwhelmed by the coursework projects. Although lots of them had clearly put effort into mise-en-scene, camerawork, etc., none of them felt at all like an actual crime drama. A lot of this, I would say, is due to the production values, performances and over-use of clichés. Too many of the films used Hills Road as a location without making it look like a different place. None of the films seemed to use any kind of artificial lighting (although obviously not everyone has access to this) in order to improve the image, which led to a lot of the interior scenes, in particular, looking very noisy and ugly. A lot of the conversations also felt awkward which is due to a mixture of the script, performance and editing. The acting in all of them was very bad; it's hard to blame them for this as the exam board doesn't seem to care much about acting and not everyone has access to great actors, however I will definitely try to find friends who do drama or are good at acting to star in my project. The sound recording was also poor in a lot of the projects as I imagine a lot of people didn't pay much attention to it and just used auto settings with the on-camera mic. For my project, I will definitely find a person to use as a dedicated sound recordist and will get them to use a boom mic with an external audio recorder.

Side note: why do they all use the same font?

Extra side note: how amazing is it to see a time when there wasn't a Co-Op opposite Hills Road?