Our (Flawed) Proposals

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 We presented our project proposal to our teacher, and his feedback opened our eyes on how unprepared we were. It was only through his feedback that I learned how important thorough planning is for these particular projects.

He expressed his concerns for our weak script, plot, shot list, and storyboard, as well as complications with the location we chose for our film. To start, our script read like "an advertisement for Barnes and Noble, not like a film" in his words, and in review we all understood what he meant. We were attempting to use the books in the store to hint towards the meaning behind the film (we would be filming in the romance section, having the characters look through various romance books), but our script didn't match our vision. 


Additionally, our shot list was so short that it felt as if we didn't have a plot at all. Our film felt more like a simple interaction between an employee and a customer rather than two potential love interests. 

Our "official" shot list
My typed notes while writing the shot list

Our storyboard was supposed to be a visual aid that explained the story more thoroughly, but it didn't contribute much to our vision either. This is the final version, and as you can see, it's still a very rough draft and needs a lot of revision.


The location we were filming in was also called into question, as it wasn't sure whether we'd get permission from staff to record in the store. There were also copyright concerns in the very first frame, where we show the name of the store (Barnes and Noble is where we intend to film). We didn't have many alternatives, so we were relying on pure luck to be allowed to film there. That's what most of this planning period has been so far:  relying on luck. I hope we can use this criticism to improve or change the plot of our film so it's desirable.

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