Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Maltese Falcon

Jobs list:

• Script: Harriet Harrison
• Storyboard: Hollie Andrews
• Costume director:Harriet Harrison
• Props director: Harriet Harrison
• Editor: Hollie, Harriet, Hollie, Chloe and Jasmine
• Director: Chloe
• Producer:
• Camera work:
• Cast: Joshua Wright, Jasmine Davies and Chloe

Locations:

• Oak 36 (first location)
• Oak 4 (second location)
• Oak 37 (third location)

Props:

• Two black suits (Spade and Archer)
• Toy gun
• Blazer and fur scarf (Miss Wonderly)
• Old black telephone
• Bowler hat 
• Desk props: pens, paper, books etc.
• Desk and chairs
• Cigarette

Locations for Maltese Falcon:

Oak 37- This location was used as our first location was taken up for a lesson. For our scene we had to hide the computer and use the window in far wall to represent the 'Spade and Archer' window. We also had to arrange a desk in the corner to represent Spade's desk and move the other chairs and tables out the way.

Maltese Falcon Evaluation

For my deconstruction and reconstruction of Maltese Falcon as a group we all faced challenges which we had to overcome together and resolve as a team in order to meet our deadline.

The first challenged we faced was the fact that we were an all girl group therefore two of the members of the group were willing to dress up as Spade and Archer to overcome the problem, however another group were also struggling with casting and decided to use two of our girls for there project and we used two of there boys. The first challenge was overcome easily but it did teach me that casting is important and should be thought of in the planning and research stage so problems like this do not occur.

The second challenged we faced was that we lacked a storyboard. Initially we decided to go against making a storyboard as we believed that it would save us time if one wasn't made. This proved to be the wrong decision and ended up taking us more time as we had to keep stopping to replay the clip of Maltese Falcon to see the different shots that were used and to also consider mise-en-scene, editing, sound and cinematography. From this mistake I learnt just how time saving and how crucial storyboards were to production, they make sure that shooting runs more smoothly and that all cast and crew knows that is asked of them.

The third challenge we faced was with the continuity of the reconstruction. Initially we decided upon Oak 36 for our main location however that proved a problem when the room was already book out and therefore we had to make a change of location to Oak 4 which didn't have the characteristics as Oak 36 and made the filming a lot more challenging to try and replicate the old set, this proved to difficult and the continuity failed because of this. 

On the second day of production/ filming our third problem occurred which was that not all the crew turned up for filming and therefore footage was lost temporarily. Because of this problem we lost vital filming time and decided we would have to resume filming for another day, so this put us back a day in production. From this mistake I learnt that production schedules are important and finding reliable cast and crew is essential to making a successful end product and to sticking to deadlines in the allotted time given from production. If time isn't managed properly then other aspects of production will fault such as editing.

The third day of filming went without hitch but afterwards we all realised that the continuity had again been broken as the clothes we wore for each day of shooting were different and therefore I learnt that it was vital to consider everything from previous days of filming if production lasts more then a day.

Overall I have learnt that post-production is a vital part of the production process as it helps make sure production runs smoothly and that time is spent wisely to meet deadlines. Also continuity has to be kept in mind as the production process evolves.