DIRECTIONS: Critical Evaluation

 Initially I'd say this unit has been most productive as a learning exercise, helping me pinpoint aspects of my directorial approach that can be improved on and helping me to better appreciate how much a director has to consider.
 My primary objective was to direct an episode of The Office to look like a documentary, using continuous shots and minimalist editing to give an alternative, spontaneous approach to the show. Whilst I think using continuous shots was effective in making the episode look more like a documentary, I had to sacrifice cut-aways which The Office usually most effectively uses to pick out reactions, bringing subtle comedy to the forefront of an otherwise occasionally melodramatic show. However, I do not think this has too dramatically impacted my piece as it forced me to search for other chances and ways to let those reactions be seen.
 Losing the chance for comedic reactions, I became very aware that I would have to replace this element through another aspect of the show and, influenced by Otto Bathurst, decided to experiment with using non-diagetic sound effects to highlight certain moments in the film. Although this could be argued to contradict my creative vision, I think that the added elements of sound design add a surprising twist to the piece that achieves the comical effect I was hoping for.
 A major aspect of my film I found very effective was leading what would usually be two seperate scenes into one another. Slightly inspired by Edgar Wright's usage of people passing in front of the screen to wipe, I used Jan pulling Michael in front of the camera to move the focus onto them and away from Jim and Karen. I think it was effective at highlight the connection between the two plots instead of showing them as unconnected scenes happening under one roof.
 One of the major downfalls of my production is my obvious issue with daylight continuity and the effect this has on the believability of my film. This is an obvious oversight on my part as the director and by choosing to shoot in chronological order I could have gained a more chronological movement of time and not jumped confusingly between day and night. Given more time I would have liked to attempt to fix this issue with colour correcting software but did not feel I had the necessary skills to attempt this with my minimal schedule.