Drama  Project  Report

Each co-producer of the Drama Project team is required to submit a separate Drama Project Report typed in this format.  DO NOT submit reports in plastic binders, covers, or sleeves!!!  Naked paper and a staple will suffice.  To save paper, use no more than an 11pt Font, single spaced with half inch margins top, bottom, left and right.  Use this document as a template to type your actual report.  Describe your role in each of the following aspects of the project.  Rather than providing just a list of events, you should include a narrative description of each event.  Make sure you list the date, time, and hours for each event and then the sum Total Hours for each of the following headings below:

   1.  Project Concept - discuss your input in the original idea/development of the project concept.  (List Total Sum).

   2.  Writing - discuss your involvement in the writing of the script/screenplay for the Drama Project.  (List Total Sum).

   3.  Pre-Production Coordination - list the dates, times, and hours you spent on the following pre-production activities:  (Make sure to list a Total Sum for all Pre-Production hours).

A) Casting or Pre-Interviewing Talent -
B) Location Scouting or Location Clearances -
C) Facilities, Equipment, or Crew Scheduling -
D) Craft Services (food), Lodging, or Transportation Arrangements -

   4.  Production - list the dates, times, and hours for each location shoot along with the function that you, your co-producers, and each crew member performed. (List a Total Sum for all Production hours on the project).
	
	Wed  July 14th  “Beach Scene Shoot “ (8am-6pm)  10hrs
	Director – Joe Blow
Camera – Suzie Q
Boom – Bob Blow
Grips – Tom Blow, Jane Doe

We arrived at the location 2 hours before the talent in order to set up our gear and dress the set.  Suzie was supposed to bring the props, but forgot to load them in the car.  We had to send Tom to pick them up which delayed our lighting setup, so when the talent arrived, we were not ready and the talent had to wait.  This made us look kind of unprofessional, but we were able to start shooting by 11am after schmoozing the talent and keeping her comfortable.  On our first take, the camera…………

Fri  July 20th  “Doctor’s Office Scene Shoot “ (5pm-2am)  9hrs
	Director – Suzie Q 
Camera – Joe Blow
Boom – Jane Doe
Continuity – John Doe
Grips – Bob Blow 

We arrived at the location 3 hours before the talent in order to set up our gear and dress the set.  There wasn’t much room to spread the electrical load for the lights, so unfortunately, we ended up tripping a circuit.  It took three hours to get the building maintenance supervisor to open the breaker box and click the circuit back on.  This time we ran two of the lights to another office across the hallway.  We hoped this would solve the problem but weren’t sure because no one on our crew remembered that little formula for figuring out how many amps each of the lights pulls.  On our first take, the boom mic…………

Total Sum = 19 hrs

   5.  Budget - report all of your financial expenditures.  Make sure you provide a Total Sum for all expenses at the end:
A) SDHC Cards or Blank Tape -
B) Craft Services (food/beverages) -
C) Props/Costumes/Make Up -
D) Transportation/Fuel -
E) Misc. Expenses such as Equipment Rental or Insurance Liability Bond –

   6.  Personal Contributions - discuss your personal involvement in the following aspects of the project:	

Director – discuss the scenes you personally directed the actors in the project.

Camera Operator  - discuss the shots you personally performed as camera operator:

	DP Lighting – discuss the scenes you personally staged, composed, and designed the lighting:
	
	Video Editor – discuss which parts and how much of the final sequence you personally edited on the Avid or FCP:

  7.  Post Production - list the dates, times, and hours you spent on any post production activities:  (List Total Sum).
	A)  Window Dubbing, Tape Logging, and EDL Selection -
B)  CG Titling, Motion Graphics, or Special Effects -
C)  Video Editing of rough cuts or final sequence scenes -
D)  Audio Mixing, VO Narration, Music, sfx -

  8.   Project Quality - discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your project’s: 1) Production Value (technical quality – how professional does it look/sound); 2) Entertainment Value (how well does it hold the attention of the audience). 
	
	Production Value – the strengths of our project are definitely in the lighting, art direction, and shot composition.  Compared to other drama projects, ours really looked professional because of the…….and specifically………  The shots from our drama that I’d put on my demo reel would be……..because……..However, we did have some weaknesses, namely our …….  Many of our shots such as the…… lacked ……. and our………… was difficult to ………… because………..
	
	Audio Quality – discuss the quality of your actors’ dialogue audio (strong and clear or weak and noisy), consistency of audio levels (too loud or too soft in some parts), and the quality of the composite mix (does the music or sfx ever mask the dialogue).

	Entertainment Value – the strengths of our project are definitely in the acting, action, storyline, humor, emotional peaks, mood?  Compared to other drama projects, ours really had……… because of the…….and specifically………  The highlights or best parts of our drama that get the best reaction from the audience are……..because……..However, we did have some weaknesses and slow parts, namely our……………..
	
	Hindsight – if I were able to start this project all over again, I would do the following things differently……………...because………. and I would definitely change……………because………….  The biggest lesson I learned from doing this project was……………
DP Shot Checklist mistakes we made consisted of…………  Drama Shot Checklist mistakes we made consisted of…………

   9.  Your Grade - discuss what grade you believe you deserve for what you achieved on this DP project and why this particular grade would be appropriate.  Base your assessment on what is actually reflected in the final product, rather than on the amount of time or effort you put forth.  Also, assess your professional image.
	
	My Grade – I know it doesn’t matter how many hours you put into a project, or how hard you worked to make things turn out right.  All that matters is what’s actually on the screen, so taking that into consideration, I think my main strengths on the project were…………..because……………My weaknesses or areas for improvement include……….because…………………………….
………….so taking all of this into consideration……… I believe that I deserve the grade of B- for this project.

 10.  Co-Producers’ Grades - evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your co-producers along the same criteria.  Discuss what final grade each of your co-producers deserves for his or her contribution, achievement, and professional image on the project.  It is confidential, so be honest.

	Joe Blow’s Grade – if you want someone who really knows how to work a camera, Joe is the guy.  His camera moves, framing, and shot composition are very professional; unfortunately his behavior is not.  He showed up late for most of our shoots and was unresponsive when it came to the numerous e-mails, texts, and phone calls we made to him throughout the project.  He was also AWOL throughout most of the editing phase.  He did perform some window dubbing, but didn’t seem very involved in the project as a whole.  Although I admire his skill on a camera, I would not want to work with him on future projects……… I believe that he deserves the grade of C- for this project. 

	Suzie Q’s Grade – without Suzie we never would have been able to complete this project on time.  She handled everything from writing, casting, location scouting, and craft services to equipment rental, insurance bonds, and transportation.  In addition, she is a good director who seemed to get great performances out of each of our actors.  I learned so much from her just watching how she motivated the talent.  Although she’s not that familiar with most of the editing software programs, she was present at every editing session giving her opinion on the best shots to use and watching for continuity errors.  She seemed to keep our whole team motivated and on task.  I definitely would be willing to work with her again anywhere and anytime on any future projects.       I believe that she deserves the grade of A for this project.