Friday 6 May 2016

Documentary: Project Evaluation


DOCUMENTARY PROJECT EVALUATION

PRE-PRODUCTION

 I started this unit with a bad vibe. I really didn't want to do it. I'm a fan of documentaries, but I know they can be difficult to make, and this put me off a little. Because of this attitude I had, it made getting started a little harder than usual. I spent the first few weeks just researching a few topics, ready for our pitch. After our pitch feedback we, as a group, settled on the Veg box story, and from that point I knew I had some work to do over the easter break, as I lived near our filming location.

I spent my easter doing some research on allotments. After completing the research process, I contacted the allotments we wanted to film at, and I arranged to meet with some contacts on site. To prepare for the meetings I created a few documents that can be found here.

After my initial meeting with the contacts, I met with the rest of my group and told them about the allotments and the people that were there. I then arranged for the entire group to visit the location, everyone could meet the characters. After this second meeting, I started working on a first draft of the script. Unfortunately, after a script meeting, it was clear there were issues with our story, so our group sat down and worked on a new story outline. I then used this outline to create a second draft of the script.

Next I began working on pre-production for the script, which included creating a shot list, call sheet and schedule, and a list of questions for our characters. Once all of this was complete, we were ready to start filming our documentary.

Overall, I think my pre-production process was effective in aiding the final product. A lot of the work I completed played an important part in the creation of this documentary. However, I do beleive I should have involved the rest of the group more in the pre-production process, as occasionally they were too sure what I was doing. I think all of the research I carried out, helped aid my vision for this documentary. And finally, I beleive the pre-production documents I created, are the reason filming went as smoothly as it did.

PRODUCTION

 To see more about the filming days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3

During the filming process, I was the A camera op and the director. I spend pretty much all of my time on location standing behind the camera. I beleive that across the three filming days I filmed some really good footage.

For day one of filming, I spent some time on the allotment, on my own, capturing as many GVs as possible, as I knew they were going to be very important when it came to editing. I split the allotment up into sections in my head and worked my way through each section, filming anything and everything. I also managed to capture some good Bee footage on this day, which, after viewing it back, I was really proud of. Finally, I filmed some shots for the opening sequence, which involved tilting the camera down from the sky to reveal the allotment.

For day two of filming, Saskia and I spent some time filming on the 'bottom plot'. Whilst there we filmed a few interviews with our secondary character, Martina. After completing her interview, we spent some time filming some GVs of the 'bottom plot', knowing we needed some to cover any cuts we made. Once this was completed, we moved up to the top plot, and began filming some shots of Jamie and his volunteers. Whilst there we also filmed Jamie's introductory shots, and a few additional interviews with him and Sue, the bag packer. By the end of the day, I was happy we had shot as much footage as we possibly could.

For day three of filming, Cheyenne, Saskia, and I spent some time filming on the 'top plot'. We started the day off by filming some more interviews with Jamie. After this we filmed some more GVs of the area, before moving on to film another interview with Sue. Next, we filmed some more GVs, before moving on to filming Jamie and his volunteers packing the van up. Finally, we finished off by filming an interview with Jamie whilst he was tending to his beehives. Once again, by the end of the day, I was confident we had filmed all of the footage we possibly could.

Overall I think the three filming days were a complete success. We filmed almost four hours worth of footage, and didn't encounter a single technical issues. I think we pretty much got every shot we needed as no stone was left unturned. I think the pre-production documents, like the call sheet/schedule, shot list, and list of questions, came in handy and made the filming process a lot smoother than I expected. To summarise, I am really happy with how the three filming days worked out.

 POST-PRODUCTION

 To see more about the editing process see here and here.

During the post-production process, I took the lead in the edit, with assistance from Cheyenne and Saskia when I needed it. I began this process by watching back all of the footage with the rest of the group, and keeping notes on what could and couldn't be used. After this I began editing by viewing back, and cutting down, the interview clips.

Next I began to work on each section of the documentary, starting with the opening titles, and ending with the closing titles. Once I had assembled everything, I began to work on fine tuning all of the edits I had made. During this process I had to use the Warp Stablisation tool to stabilse some of the shaky shots.

After this I began to work on the sound design. I started this process by fine tuning, and cleaning up all of the sound levels. To do this I used the track, and clip mixing tools. Once I was happy with all the sound levels, I began adding music. Throughout this process, the music levels kept coming up as an issue, so I was constantly working on them, and trying to improve them. I think by the time the fine cut was complete, they were at a good level.

Finally, I did a quick sweep over the edit, fixing any other issues. I also used After Effects to add in any on screen graphics. Once all of this was done, the edit was complete.

Overall I think my editing abilities were really tested during this unit. I had to sift through, and edit together almost four hours worth of footage. I learnt a lot about how much work it takes to edit together a documentary of this kind. I think the footage viewing sessions with the rest of the group really helped when it came to making edit decisions with nobody else around. To summarise, I think editing was my main strongpoint in this unit.

 OVERALL EVALUATION: CRITICAL REFLECTIONS

 Strengths-

  • My good organisation skills made pre-production process very easy. I was able to carefully organise meetings with contacts and the three important shoot days. My call sheets and schedules were clear but detailed and I think this made life easier for the rest of the crew. I was able to sort everything out ahead of time, allowing this to run smoothly on the day. My organisation came in handy when filming. I was able to keep everything on track and we didn't miss a single potential shot. Across the three days, we had more than enough time to film, finishing ahead of schedule consistently. And finally, my organisation skills came in handy during the post-production process, especially considering there was almost four hours of footage to sift through. I was able to keep the edit organised and tidy, making it easy to work through lots footage.
  • My editing skills made editing this documentary very easy. At no point was I stressed out or worried that something was wrong with the edit because I knew what I was doing and had it all planned out in my head. It came out exactly as I thought it would. Over the past year I have really honed in my editing skills and this means I can now edit together good, clean cuts, with ease. Editing was very important with this documentary because there was a lot of interview footage that had to be cut down by a lot, and blended together well.
  • I think my directing skills were good to a point. I was able to direct this in the vision I had in my head, hence why it has come out exactly as I thought it would. Every shot has a clear direction, and ultimately the final edit shows a consistent theme, as a result of my directing skills. I am very happy with how I directed this documentary.
  • I think my communication skills came in handy. I had to communicate with complete strangers and convince them to take part in the documentary. I found that just being as friendly as possible really helped. I was able to find some great characters and form a relationship with them quickly, which was important, especially considering the tight deadlines we had.
  • I think my overall production skills were a strength. I carried out every task in a professional manner. I conducted myself in a professional manner when working in front of our contacts. I was able to keep everything organised and on track, and as a director, camera op, and editor, I think I did a good job.
Weaknesses-
  • My main weaknesses on this project was my ability to work within a group. At first I found it difficult to share the workload, taking on tasks without telling others in the group. I beleive I have since worked on this however, and now I think I can work much better within a group. I think the reason for this weakness was that I was just so used to being a one man band, with no help from anyone. I needed to understand that this was their documentary as much as it was mine.
  • I need to work on my sound editing skills. During every viewing, the music levels were brought up. It was always just a little too loud. I need to think about the way I edit sound, to ensure I hear it the same way everyone else does.
Possible Development- What did I learn?
  • If I were to do this again:
    • I would think more about the others in my group, and not just myself.
    • I would think more about how I tell others what my vision is. I noticed the other members of my group found it difficult to understand my vision.
    • I would try to focus on something that is a little harder to film, like animals, instead of people.
    • I need to try and step out of my comfort zone more.
CONCLUSION

Overall, I am extremely happy with the final product. It's everything I hoped for and I'm proud to say I was part of it. When starting this unit I wasn't very confident about the topic, however I have since realised that actually this may have been my favourite unit. Apart from the fact that I don't think it fits the suggested timeslot and channel, I think it is a great piece of work, and a very entertain documentary. To summarise, I think it is something our group should be very proud of and I think it is something I might think about doing again in the future.

Documentary: Fine Cut Viewing

As part of the post-production process, our group had a fine cut viewing with Helen.

FINE CUT VIEWING

 By this point in the process, the documentary was pretty much finished. I had made all of the suggested changes from the rough cut viewing, and most importantly, we as a group had added almost all of the GVs we needed.

After the viewing, these were the points that we received:
- Switch the opening shots around so that when the narrator talks about sand, we as an audience see it.
- Check if the characters are okay with the titles we have given them.
- Adjust the music levels just a little bit more. Cut some down a bit too.
- Show the fact qoute for longer (approx 10-30 seconds)
- Remove Jamie's second title.
- Use wides/exteriors when Jamie travels.

To fix these problems I will:
- Swap the opening shot around.
- Contact the characters and ask about their titles.
- Work on adjusting the sound levels.
- Extend the quote facts length on screen.
- Remove Jamie's second title.
- Check that whenever Jamie travels to a different location, an establishing shot is present.

Documentary: Group Edit

As part of the post-production process, we sat down as a group, just before the fine cut viewing, to edit some of the GVs into the documentary.

GROUP EDIT

Prior to starting, I set up shop in one of the production rooms. I decided to hook my mac up to a television so the other two could see what I could see whilst we were inserting GVs. I set it up so on my screen I could see the timeline, and on the TV they could see the bins, source preview and program preview.

Our edit set up
We started by filling the gaps in section 1 of the documentary, going through and adding GVs that matched what was being said on screen. We had to listen to what both the narrator and the characters were saying, to ensure the GVs were a good fit and didn't look out of place. Because we had a lot of GVs, I don't think there was a point where we couldn't cover what was being said.

After a short break we moved on to section 2, filling the gaps with GVs. We also now had a chance to start using some of the GoPro footage that Cheyenne filmed on day 3. A little while after starting, Helen asked if she could see the fine cut, so we had to pause for a second.

Not long after finishing the fine cut viewing, we decided to stop there, and now that I had an idea of the types of GVs the rest of the group liked, I decided I would finish the documentary at home.

Overall, it was good to sit down as a group and collaborate on this part of the project, as I finally got an idea of how the others wanted this documentary to look, and what kind of shots they liked. Also the set up, using the TV, made this process a lot easier than I thought it'd be.

Documentary: Editing- Fine Cut

After the rough cut viewing, I had a few changes to make to create the fine cut.

EDITING- FINE CUT

 I started by saving a new copy of the document, so all the changes I made wouldn't affect the first rough cut. Then I began to edit.

I still didn't want to focus on GVs too much, as we were going to edit those in as a group, so instead I only worked on the things suggested to me during the rough cut viewing. My first step was to change the title card graphic. To do this I opened it up in After Effects and changed the text in the text composition. I then reanimated the text so it came on screen in a manner that better represented the new title.

Next I went through the beginning of section 2, and replaced all of the London stock footage, with footage of Margate seafront. After replacing the footage, I went through and fine tuned all of the new edits, still ensuring the footage worked with what the narrator was saying.

Then I began to work on the sound levels, which needed to be adjusted because they were too loud at certain points. To do this I used the clip, and track mixers, and the audio adjustments in the effects panel. Once I was happy with the new sound levels, I moved on to the next step.

Some more edits I made included-
- Adding a few additional GVs.
- Stabilising some more shots.
- Changing some music

Finally, I used Adobe After Effects to created some lower thirds that would display each character's name and role in the story. To do this I used the opening title graphic as a template. I removed the background and centred the text. I used the same animation and font. All I had to do was change what the text said. I then added motion blur and inserted the lower thirds into their respective sections of the fine cut in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Creating the lower thirds in Adobe Premiere Pro
(UPDATE) POST FINE CUT VIEWING EDITS

 After the fine cut viewing, and group editing session, I had to work towards complete a final cut of the documentary.

I started by going through and adding in the rest of the required GVs. I then fine tuned the edits and fixed any further sound issues. After this I looked through the entire edit and checked every cut, making sure it was as tight and clean as possible.

I also:
- Swapped the opening shots around.
- Adjusted the sound levels again.
- Adjusted the length of the quote graphic.
- Change one of Jamie's lower thirds.

My final step is a complete colour correction process. To do this I used the colour correction tools built in to Premiere Pro. Not every shot needed to be adjusted, mostly just the GoPro footage, and any over exposed shots.

And once all this was done, the final edit was complete, and I couldn't be happier with it! It's taken a while, and I've put in a lot of work but overall it's been worth it.

Documentary: Rough Cut Viewing

As part of the post-production process, our group had a rough cut viewing with Helen.

ROUGH CUT VIEWING

 By this point, the documentary was more fine than rough, however, a lot of GVs were missing. This cut consisted mostly of interviews, music, narration, and a few sequences. The GVs and titles still need to be added.

After Helen had viewed the rough cut, she gave us some feedback-

- The story structure and order is good.
- The music is good.
- The narration is good.
- The title could be changed.
- The music levels need to be lowered a little.
- The aerials of London should be replaced with GVs of Margate.
- GVs: change an establishing shot during the opening. Add in a GV of a drop off point.

And some feedback from the rest of the group-

- Think about changing the music during Martina's initial interview.
- Adjust the music levels.
- Stabilise some of the shots.
- Colour correct GoPro footage

To fix these issues I will:

- Change the title to something that sounds better and fits better.
- Either film or get hold of some GVs of Margate seafront.
- Adjust the music levels so the narrator and interviewees are more audible.
- Change the establishing shot so something that fits better.
- Add in a GV of one of the Veg box drop off points.

One of these issues was fixed on the day. After the viewing we sat as a group and came up with a new name: Soil, Sheds and Rows Of Veg.

Documentary: Editing- Rough Cut

All the footage has been filmed, it's now time to start editing together a rough cut. I always find it hard to explain every step of my process but I'll try my best. Before editing anything, I set up my workspace with a dual screen layout, to make editing lots of footage a lot easier. This is my favourite and preferred way to edit.

My workspace set up
EDITING: ROUGH CUT

 I began the edit by importing all of my footage into Adobe Premiere Pro. I then used bins to organise everything and make it easier to find. For example, I had a bin for all of the interviews, and a bin for all of the GVs from day 1 of filming. I also created 11 sequences: Rough cut, opening titles, section 1, section 2, section 3, closing titles, credits, Jamie's IVs, Sue's IVs, Martina's IVs, and additional IVs.

My bins
My sequences
Next I began watching all of the interviews and keeping a note of any sections I would like to use in the final cut. I used to script to guide my choices, and to ensure I picked all the correct information, and cut out the irrelevant stuff. Once I had watched all of the interviews, I inserted the clips into their respective sequences. I then went through each sequence, cutting the interviews down to what I needed. I then went through and started working on the cuts I had made. I worked on the audio as that was the important part, the visual cuts will be hidden later on. I used the mixing tools to hide all of the audible cuts in the sound. I continued to do this until I was happy that every single interview clip was ready to be placed into the final cut.

All of Jamie's unedited interview clips
Step 1: Assembly

For this part, I only focused on the interview clips, and the opening and closing scenes. Anything else with GVs was going to be left until the fine cut edit.

I started by working on the opening scenes. I began assembling the footage on the timeline in the order I wanted, not worrying about sound just yet. I inserted the narration, to help guide my cuts and shot choices. 

I then moved on to section 1, where I started to insert the interview clips I needed. Again, I used the narration to guide the edit, and help with the timing of the piece. To help more with timing, I did fill a few gaps with some GVs I knew I definitely wanted to use. Once again, I didn't focus too much on sound because I would be coming back to that later on. I then moved onto section's 2 and 3, follow the same steps, using the script and narration to guide the edits.

Finally, I assembled the closing scenes. I used the narration as a guide and inserted all of the footage, and additional interview clips that I needed. This section was mostly built up of additional footage, shot away from the allotment, that related to what was being said. Basically, the premise for all of my edits during the assembly cut was to match pictures with sound. The narrator says something, and then we see it.

Step 2: Fine Tuning

My next step was to start fine tuning the edits, fixing any mistakes I had made during the assembly process. During this step I started to insert only a few more GVs to help with the timing. I also started to insert some music tracks, as I wanted some shots to cut in time with the beat. I spent a little while working through each section, fine tuning the cuts and making the edits just a little bit cleaner. I found using the ripple delete and rolling edit tools made this process a lot easier than usual.

During my fine tuning process, I also had to stabilise a few shaky shots. To do this I used the Warp Stablisation tool. I let it analyse the footage and then I set the stablisation level to 25%, so it didn't affect the quality of the footage too much. I was very happy with the results of this tool.

Warp Stabilisation Tool
Step 3: Sound and Music

Next, I began working on the sound, something I had ignored up to this point. I had already inserted music and narration to help with the timing of the edit. Now I just needed to work on the levels and blend everything together.

I started by first going through my interview clips once more and fine tuning all of the audio adjustments I had made prior to assembly. Then I started to work on the music levels. The levels varied depending on which part of the documentary I was working on. When a character was speaking they had to be very low, when the narrator was speaking they could be a little higher, and when there was nobody speaking, they could be just below their normal level. To work on the sound I used the track, and clip mixers to ensure there were no mistakes.

Track mixer
Finally, I went through the interviews and narration and adjust the levels so they matched that of a normal talking voice. I also ensured they were all audible and at a similar level throughout. And last of all, I went through all the audio and used the 'constant power' audio transistion to help blend audio clips together and hide audible cuts.

Step 4: Graphics

My final stage in preparing the rough cut was to work on three on screen graphics: the title card, an on screen quote, and the credits.

To create the title card, I opened the background shot I wanted in Adobe After Effects. I then set up a two new compositions, one for the text and one for the background. In the text composition, I added the title, which at the time was 'Pledge For Veg', and I then animated it so it faded on screen in a linear manner, from left to right, whilst scaling up a little too. I then went into the background layer and inserted the text composition so it overlaid the background. Finally, I repositioned it to a spot I liked, added motion blur and inserted the final edit into the rough cut in Premiere Pro.

Creating the title card in Adobe After Effects
The next graphic I created was the on screen quote. In this part of the documentary, a quote from an online article appears on screen and I needed to animate in in After Effects. I started by inserting the background, quote, and a text box. In the text box, I wrote the source. I then changed the font and positioned it at the bottom of the screen. Next I animated the quote so it slowly scaled up throughout the duration of the clip. Then I blurred the background so it was easier to focus on the quote. And finally, I added a drop shadow to the quote and text box, added motion blur and inserted the final edit into the rough cut in Premiere Pro.

Creating the quote graphic in Adobe After Effects
Last of all I created the credits. Although Premiere Pro has a built in effect for credits, I prefer to do it in After Effects. I began by opening up a new document in Adobe Photoshop, so I could create the text that would make up the credits. After adding all the text, I insert the Photoshop document into After Effects and animated it so it scrolled up the screen. Once I found a good pace, I inserted the final edit into Premiere Pro.

Creating the text in Adobe Photoshop
Editing the credits in Adobe After Effects
And that was it, with a bit more fine tuning, the rough cut was complete. A lot more work was put in to bring it up to the standard it was at but as they were only tiny adjustments, I have not mentioned them. Overall it took maybe more than 12 hours to put the rough cut together.

Thursday 5 May 2016

Documentary: Narration Recording

As part of the post-production process for this documentary, I had to record all of my narration.

NARRATION RECORDING

 To record the narration I set up a project in Audacity, and hooked a microphone up to my mac. I set up a dual screen system so I could view the Audacity project on one screen, and the script on another. Once everything was set up, I began recording the narration. For everything section of narration, I recorded it a couple of different times, in different ways, each time keeping a note of which take was the best. Occasionally I did change a few lines if they didn't sound right whilst I was recording them, or I would record a few different takes of me saying different lines so I had more to work with in the final edit.

Overall it took a few hours to record all of the narration, but I was really happy with the way it sounded and I think it will fit in with the documentary really nicely.

My setup in Audacity

Documentary: Edit Workshop With Tim Bentham

As part of the pre-production for the documentary unit, I took part in an edit workshop with a professional picture editor, Tim Bentham.

EDITING WORKSHOP

 To start the day off, Tim spent some time telling us about the sort of work he normally does. He also told us about how we ended up working in television, and it was interesting to hear that he didn't study a television based degree. He ended this part of the workshop by showing us a film he had recently edited for Channel 4.

THE EDIT

 First I imported all of the footage into Adobe Premiere Pro, and organised it into bins. I then viewed all of the interview clips and cut them down to what was needed, based on the highlighted transcript we were given. After I had cut the clips down, I used the audio and cutting tools to blend all the clips together all the cuts were hidden, and the clips sounded like full sentences, with no bits taken out.

Some of my bins
Editing the interview clips
Once I had fine tuned all of the interview clips, I began to put together a final edit. I started by putting all of my final edit clips into a new sequence. I then went through and started using GVs to cover all the edits, also ensuring the GVs matched what was being said on screen. Next I created a small opening sequence using some exterior shots of the Cathedral.

Next I began to work on the sound. I added a music track and went through the edit, raising and lower the levels when the man was and wasn't speaking. After I had fine tuned all of the sound, I added some titles and then the edit was complete.

Editing the interview clips
My workspace set up
The feedback I got from Tim was all positive, in fact after the viewings he came and spoke to me to find out how I edited it together because he thought it was perfectly executed. Overall I am happy with the final edit and if there was one thing I can take away from this workshop it is that having a transcript of the interviews makes editing the final cut much easier and quicker.


Documentary: Script- Draft 3

After reviewing the footage, and cutting the interviews down to what would end up in the final edit, I decided to rewrite the script.

SCRIPT: DRAFT 3

 Because the characters hadn't said exactly what we thought they'd say, the script, and the narration needed to be rewritten, and the ending had to be changed slightly.

These are the changes I made:

- A wrote a few different versions of the narration, so I had a few options for the edit.
- I changed Jamie's introduction to include the fact that he is a chef.
- I changed the 'visuals' section of the script to match the actual visuals we had filmed.
- I changed the ending to fit the packing the bags into the van ending we had actually filmed, not the following the bag to a customer ending we had initially planned.
- I changed Martina's section as we didn't want to include the gardening club anymore.
- I changed the ending so it fitted with some suggestions the characters had made about how people can still grow their own fresh fruit and veg.

I will now use this script to direct the edit of the rough cut.

The first page of draft 3

Documentary: Filming- Additional Footage

As part of the production process, we needed some footage of someone gardening in their back garden, so I spent a day in my garden, filming the shots we needed.

FILMING: ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE

 I still had the camera I booked out so I thought I use it to film some additional footage for the documentary. That day I spent some time shooting some footage for the end sequence, where the narrator starts talking about how you should go out into your garden and start growing your own fresh veg. I needed a few shots of someone gardening, and as nobody was around, I appeared on camera as well. I didn't want people to see it was me so most of the shots are just of the tools, with just a hand in view operating it. I also filmed some shots of the tools being taken out of the shed, and I filmed a few GVs of my garden.

Overall I think it was an afternoon well spent. I feel as though we definitely have enough footage to fill all the gaps in the documentary.

Documentary: Footage Viewing Meeting

As part of the post-production process, our group met at the studios to watch back all of the footage we had shot across the three shooting days.

FOOTAGE VIEWING MEETING

 In preparation for the meeting I organised all of the footage into folders so it was easier to locate on my hard drive. In total we had almost four hours of footage to watch, which took 9 hours each day to transfer onto the hard drive. The point of this meeting was mostly to watch the interviews and decide what should and shouldn't be left in.

Before the viewing began, I hooked my Mac up to a television so we could watch the footage back in a high quality. I then set up a document in word that would allow me to take notes for each individual piece of footage.

The first three pages of the Post-Filming Shot List
We started by watching the footage from day one, keeping a note of anything we liked. I kept the script on the desk so we could attach certain clips to certain parts of the story structure. After watching all the footage from day one, which consisted entirely of GVs only, everything was looking pretty positive.

Next we began to watch the footage from day two, which included some interviews with our main characters. This was when things started to not look so good. It was noted that all of the interviews were shot handheld, which, as the director, was my intention. However, whilst viewing the footage it was becoming clear that maybe some of this footage would not be usable, and so we began discussing the possibility of some re-shoots. I found it difficult to explain to the rest of the group that I intended for the footage to be handheld, and that it was all part of the theme of the documentary. In the end, we agreed as a group to carry out some re-shoots.

As a result of these discussions, we never got a chance to watch the footage from day three as a group, however after the meeting I did get a chance to view it myself, and make some notes.

The next stage is the rough cut edit. I will use the notes taken during this meeting to help me edit the documentary together.

 In the end some re-shoots were arranged but they never happened, instead the handheld footage was still used in the edit, and ultimately looked very good anyway.


Documentary: Filming- Day 3

Days one and two were complete, it was now time for day three.

FILMING: DAY 3

 Prior to day three, I spent some time reviewing the footage from days one and two. I then create a list of shots that needed to be filmed, and questions that needed to be asked on our final day, to ensure we had everything we needed. I also grabbed a second camera, so we could get twice as much footage. For this day both Saskia and Cheyenne were on site to aid with the filming.

The two cameras we filmed with:
A Sony PMW and a Canon EOS M
Upon my arrival, I explained to Saskia and Cheyenne what I wanted to get out of the day. I also explained that I had brought a second camera so we could film even more footage. For this day, Saskia did sound, Cheyenne operated the B camera, and I operated the A camera. I told Cheyenne and Saskia what we needed to film that day and after a bit of discussion, we got started. Cheyenne went off with the B camera to capture some more GVs and some more actuality.

Saskia and I started by interviewing Jamie for a second time, to gather more clips of him talking about the project. Same as before, I filmed, and Saskia asked the questions whilst operating the boom mic. After this we then went and filmed some more interviews with Sue. Once this was done we knew we pretty much had all we needed in terms of interviews, so we continued by filming some more actuality and GVs.


Once all the bags were packed, we ask Jamie and his volunteers if they wouldn't mind having a break together, and pretending it was the end of the day. We then filmed them as though the bags had already been sent off for delivery. Whilst filming we ask Jamie a few more questions, mostly about his day, and one about how he thinks we should fix the problem we are presenting in the documentary.

After this, it was time for them to pack the bags into the van. We didn't want to get in their way so we let them get on with it whilst I moved around with the camera, filming it from as many angles as possible. I already had an idea in my head of how I wanted this sequence to play out so I ensure I got all the angles I needed.

Finally, we asked Jamie to come down to the beehives so we could ask him a few questions about it and get a few additional shots of the Bees. He was very happy to do so and ensured we didn't get too close for our own safety.

Filming the Bees with Jamie
Before leaving the site, we asked our contacts to sign consent forms, and contact forms so we could use them in the final edit.





And that was it. We had finished filming, and ran out of space on the card, again. Overall I think the day was another success, and Saskia and Cheyenne did a brilliant job. We'd got everything we needed to make this a very good documentary. I look forward to the edit, I just need to do another 10 hours worth of transferring first.

Documentary: Filming- Day 2

Day one was complete, it was now time for day two!

FILMING: DAY 2

 Before heading to the sight, I spent some time setting all the equipment up so we wouldn't have to waste time doing it on site. I set up all the camera settings, and set the audio levels to ensure we wouldn't have any sound issues.

 For day two, Saskia joined me to help record the sound. On our way up to the site I explained to her what had happened on day one and laid out my intentions for day two. For this day I stuck with the same policy as before, film anything and everything.

We started the day off by following Martina, one of our characters. We started off by filming a sequence of her coming onto site in the morning and getting ready for a day of gardening. Then we moved on to filming some interviews with her. We started off on foot, filming her in actuality and asking her a couple of questions as she was working. We asked her to show us the on site pond but unfortunately the gate was locked and she didn't know the code. However, whilst we were by the pond, we did manage to get a few shots of some Bees so that was a bonus. Finally, we sat down and filmed an interview with Martina, asking her questions that would help aid the development of the story. As I was filming, Saskia asked the questions, however occasionally I did ask one too.

Interviewing Martina
Once we had finished with Martina, we went around the 'bottom plot' and filmed some GVs that we could use to fill gaps in her interview. We started by the gate and moved our way through the allotment, filming it in sections. I continued to filming everything I possibly could, and Saskia kept an eye out for any good shots. Whilst on the bottom plot, we also filmed the opening shot, which would be used when our title appears. I already had an idea of what I wanted this shot to be, so we set it up and filmed it in a couple of different frame sizes, so I had choices in the edit.

After we had finished on the bottom plot, we moved up to the top plot to film some stuff with Jamie and his volunteers. We started by filming an interview with Sue, who packs the bags. She was willing to take part and was very confident talking on camera. We knew we'd need to film more with her on day three. Next we went and filmed Jamie's opening shot, of him walking onto site in the morning. This was one of the only sequences we needed to film for the documentary. And finally, we shot an interview with Jamie whilst he was working inside the polytunnel. Unfortunately, we soon ran out of space and so we had to stop filming. Luckily we still had one more filming day left, so we still had time to film more interviews with Jamie and Sue.

Filming Jamie's opening shots
Overall day two was a success. Once again there were no problems what so ever, all the equipment worked perfectly and Saskia did a great job capturing the audio. We got a lot of great footage, and after another 10 hours of transferring, I could see that everything came out as I expected it too.

Now onto day three!

Documentary: Filming- Day 1

The script was complete, the characters were ready, and the equipment was booked. It was time to begin filming: day 1.

 FILMING: DAY 1

 Prior to day one I went over to the studios to pick up the equipment. For the three filming days I booked out a PMW, a clip mic, and a boom mic. I didn't book out a tripod because I had one at home and wasn't planning on using it much anyway. I also printed out all of the documents I needed for the filming day which included the script, shot list, and questions sheet.

Documents for filming
For the first filming day, it was only me who went to site to film with our characters. On my way to the allotments I received a phone call letting me know that unfortunately none of the characters were going to be on site that day. However, this wasn't a problem because it meant I would have the allotment to myself, meaning I could spend the day filming GVs.

Upon my arrival to the site, I met with Jules Ellis, who is in charge of the allotments. She told me that I had access to the allotment for as long as I needed. Two of the volunteers took me up to the growing site. I set the camera up and began filming. My policy for the day was film anything and everything. I began by filming some shots of the volunteers who stayed for a little while to water the plants. I filmed a few shots with them inside the polytunnel. Once they left, I was on my own.

I decided, because there was so much to film, that I would film the allotment in sections, starting by the polytunnel and working my way down the plot to the beehives at the end. I set the camera up on the tripod and spent some time walking around the picking area, filming everything I could see. I knew we needed a lot of GVs for this documentary and I didn't want to miss anything.

After spending some time in the picking area, I moved onto the field and began working my way down, filming all the rows of veg. I stayed on one side so the point of view was the same for every GV. For each shot I would start on a wide and then move the camera around a little, zooming in and out to get a few different frames of the same subject. This would allow more options in the final edit. Whilst filming on the field, I ended up getting a few good shots of some Bees which I knew would come in handy as there is a section about Bees in the documentary.

Finally, I moved to the end of the plot and filmed a few wide shots of the entire area, including a few where the camera panned down from the sky, as I knew I needed one for the opening. Then before leaving I headed over to a nearby bridge than ran over some train lines to get some shots of the trains that pass the allotments every so often.

Filming the trains
In total I spent about 4 hours on the allotments, on my own, filming as many GVs as possible. I ended up filling up the card and using all the battery life, so I had no choice but to stop filming. I really enjoyed spending time there. It was a very peaceful and relaxing place to work in. A part from the initial problem in the morning, I had no issues all day, all the equipment worked perfectly!

After getting home I began transferring all the footage onto my hardrive, which in the end took nearly 10 hours. This was something to keep in mind for the future, along with how long the card and battery last when filming, as we didn't have spares.

Transferring the footage
Overall the day was a success, now on to day two.


Documentary: Louis Theroux (Documentary Filmmaker)

As part of my pre-production for the documentary unit I have chosen to look at the documentary filmmaker: Louis Theroux

 LOUIS THEROUX

A bit of background info...

 Louis Theroux is a British documentary filmmaker. He is best known for his Gonzo style journalism, that tends to favour style over accuracy and often uses personal experience and emotions to provide contract for the topic or event that is being documented. Theroux tends to only work with the BBC and over his career has produced numerous stand out documentaries like Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends, and in more recent years Transgender Kids, and Drinking to Oblivion.


When looking at Louis Theroux I decided to focus on his interviewing style, as I think this is one of the main reasons his documentaries are as interesting as they are. If it wasn't for his interviewing style, he probably wouldn't get as much information as he does. I think Louis presents himself to interviewees as being a bit naive. The way he presents himself, makes the interviewees feel as though they have to tell him everything, starting with the basics, which ultimately is an advantage because then the audience get a very clear picture of the subject. This naive manner also allows him to make the interviewee feel comfortable before he suddenly switches and starts asking tough questions which make them feel uncomfortable. He starts with typical, open questions that allow the interviewee to talk freely about the topic, before he begins to ask specific, quick fire questions that, in a way, lead the interviewee into revealing all the information they can, which can be useful when talking about difficult subjects.

 I find Louis Theroux interesting because when he has to spend time with his subjects, he actually takes an interest in what they are doing and doesn't question them too much. For example, in one of his documentaries he spends some time with an ex-crystal meth dealer. During his time in this mans home, he builds a rapport with him and his friends and allows them to show him around and show him what they do. Instead of asking his tough questions, he only ask a few off topic questions, and tries his best to take an interest in their lives. By doing this he is able to build up a good relationship with his subjects, which will make them more likely to answer his tougher questions further down the line.

 One of the things he does well is identifying his subjects weaknesses. As bad as it sounds, it appears as though he uses these weaknesses to get to his subjects and to make them open up a bit more. For example, in one of his documentaries, a subject his is following, breaks down and begins to open up to him when he starts asking about her children. It is clear that her relationship with her children made her open up. Louis also likes to put people on the spot and force them to explain their actions, which often leads to people saying some really interesting things on camera, things they wouldn't normally want to admit.

 Overall, I like Louis's interview style, because it allows him to get access to people who wouldn't normally give access. Because of his somewhat friendly and naive manner, he can build up a relationship and make people feel more comfortable sharing delicate information with him. I respect this style, however, because now hard hitting questions will really be used when filming my documentary, it's not a style I will take on myself. I will be friendly with the subjects, but that won't be because I am planning to hit them with hard questions further down the line.
Images:

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03239/louis_3239909b.jpg

Documentary: The Supervet (Documentary TV Series)

As part of my pre-production for the documentary unit I have chosen to look at the documentary television series: The Supervet

 THE SUPERVET

The Supervet is a UK factual entertainment television series created by Channel 4 that follows vet Noel Fitzpatrick and his team at Fitzpatrick Referrals in Surrey. The program focuses on the extraordinary work Noel and his team carry out at the practice, treating animals from across the country, and carrying out life saving treatments and surgery. Noel and his team dedicate their time to saving the lives of pets that would otherwise be beyond saving, and Noel has become known as 'The Bionic Vet' because of all the new techniques and surgeries he has come up with. The filming style of the program, using handheld cameras and fixed rigs around the location, allows them to capture everything that goes on inside the practice, making for an entertaining, and often heartbreaking watch.
Noel and one of his patients
In preparation for this blog post, I watched the latest episode of the program and made some notes on what I could see and hear, in terms of how the program is put together. I have actually been watching The Supervet since it began in 2014, and so I have a good idea of how it has developed over the last 2 years.

I'm going to start off by talking about the narrator as she plays an important part in the program. The show is narrated by Rebecca Front, a British actress and writer. Right from the start of each episode her voice is very prominent. The program begins with a small opening title, lasting just over a minute, that sets up the location, characters, and theme/style. Her accompanying voice over is the element that actually introduces everything, especially the location: "Deep in the heart of the Surrey countryside". As the narrator her role includes setting up each story, and each section of every episode. This is often done by using the time of day as a set up: "It's two thirty a.m. and...". As well as this, she also helps to explain some of the surgery scenes, with Noel backing her information up with what he is saying to the camera during the actual surgery. This helps the audience understand what is going on because, unless you are a vet or a doctor, some of the visuals do not speak for themselves. Along these lines, Rebecca also talks about some of the equipment that is being used on screen: "The state of the art scanner produces 3D images of Archie's leg and body". She will then go on to explain how this will aid Noel: "It will help establish whether his cancer has spread". This again helps the audience understand the process Noel and his team must go through to establish what the issue is so they can fix it. Often Rebecca's voice over is backed up using clips from interviews with the characters featured in the stories. It is clear that overall the narrator plays an important part, and unlike most over programs I have seen of this type, the narrator speaks a lot, not just between sections but also during them.

 Next I'm going to talk about the interview style. The show uses two different styles and it depends on the situation. During the scenes at the surgery, everything is filmed handheld. The people who bring the animals in are often interviewed in the carpark after their visit, and this is usually cut into the program after they have handed their pet over to Noel. During the scenes set inside the pet owners homes, that normally appear as part of the recovery or backstory parts of the program, all the interviews are filmed static, with the subject sitting in their home. I beleive these two different styles are used because, once the production team have filmed all the characters and their pets, they have time to pick and arrange to come back to certain characters homes to film a formal interview to help fill gaps in the edit, and to give them a chance to ask more questions. They wouldn't want to waste money filming formal interviews with characters that won't end up in the final edit. And I also beleive that during the initial filming, because it is actuality based and they are purely following someone that has turned up on the day, they don't have time to arrange to film a formal, sit down interview either in the practice, or in a studio, and so they film them on the fly, asking the characters to just talk about what has happened. And finally, there is another use of formal, sit down interviews in this program. Often, if a section of the program is focusing on the staff at the practice, they will cut in formal interviews they have filmed with the staff. During these interviews it seems as though they have asked the characters to talk about all sorts of different things so they can use clips from just one interview with each character, across the entire series, each time focusing on a different topic. These interviews seem to be conducted either in an actual surgery room, or a studio that has been dressed up.
Example of the handheld car park interviews
Example of the formal interviews with characters
Example of the formal interviews with staff
When looking at sound, it can be noted that is program does have it's own style, especially when it comes to music. The music used throughout is often very light and bubbly, and mainly played by orchestral instruments (strings, woodwind). Occasionally, the music can add to the emotion or tension of a scene, making it easy for the audience to really connect with the action on screen. The music was often used during the gaps between sections, and during emotional scenes, like when Noel is talking to the pet owners about the problem, and during the surgery scenes, to add to the tension. In terms of normal sound, it appears that Noel, as the main character, is always mic'd up, so nothing he says is missed. Occasionally, it sounds like at least one of the pet owners is mic'd up, but most of the time it sounds as though the audio is picked up by a camera mounted mic. From my research it doesn't seem as though this program uses boom operators. I think these two sound choices, both clip mics, and on camera mics, make shooting actuality a lot easier, hence why they chose to do it like that.

In terms of visuals, the program uses mostly actuality shots and interviews to tell the stories. Gaps between sections are filled with GVs of the exterior, the waiting room, or during surgery, the operating theatre. All lot of the GVs are very crisp and clear, with a nice depth of field, and very interesting colour. The GVs play an important part in helping set the scene, and so they do often change depending on the time of day (either day or night). Many of the GVs are exteriors, and focus on the wide amounts of countryside surrounding the location. Time-lapse shots are often used to show a change in time. These time-lapse shots are often very cinematic, and the night time ones are beautiful; obviously shot on a clear night as all the stars in the sky are visible. All actuality is shot handheld, and there isn't really any sequences made up of staged or directed shots. GoPro's are occasionally used to give the audience a different perspective of something. During the opening sequence some drone footage of the location is used. When looking at on screen titles, it can be seen that they all follow one design: a light, easy to read font, in white, with a slight glow (as seen in one of the screenshots above). During surgical scenes, the camera will often focus on Noel's hands, or face, and they don't shy away from showing all aspects of the surgery, no matter how graphic. Because the program is also filmed using remote fixed rig cameras set up around the location, they often have multiple angles for one scene. When Noel is in the consultation room talking to pet owners, one handheld camera focuses on him and the action in the room as a whole, whilst one remote camera by his desk focuses on the pet owner and their pet. Overall this visual style, and this use of multiple techniques, adds to the realness and emotion of the program.

The opening drone shot
A shot from one of the many remote cameras
A GoPro shot
A close up on Noel's hands
Example of a GV
Example of handheld and remote cameras being used together
And finally, the structure of the program. The show starts with an opening title sequence that sets the program up, introducing Noel and his team, as well as the location and style of the program. Then it begins with the first and second story, before the ad break. Throughout the course of the episode the three or four stories feature are all woven together, with the last story to conclude usually being the one that opened the episode. Between stories, little 'moments' are used to fill the gaps. This could sometimes be something that goes on with the receptionists, or something that goes on with the other vets and staff. These 'moments' are often quite humorous and help break the tension and emotion the program possesses. The final part of the program usually ends with a happy outcome, before moving on to a 'next time' segment that sets up the next episode. This structure is pretty consistent across all episodes, and is similar to that of most factual entertainment type documentary TV series.

From my research into The Supervet I have learnt a lot about the structure, visuals, and audio aspects of documentary filmmaking. I have learnt that the narrator plays an important role when there is no presenter, just characters. I have also learnt that GVs are important in setting the scene, and filling the gaps. And finally I have learnt how important it is to film actuality handheld, and not to worry about how good it looks, as long as you capture what needs to be captured. I will take all of this new information on board when thinking about how to directed my documentary.

 Images:

Screenshot from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8MIDkZs_4g
http://www.fitzpatrickreferrals.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/noel-with-dog-1140x760.jpg
Screenshots from: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-supervet/on-demand/61543-015

Wednesday 4 May 2016

Documentary: Location & Edit Workshop

As part of the pre-production for the documentary unit I took part in a location and editing workshop.

LOCATION AND EDIT WORKSHOP

 For this workshop we were given the chance to spend a day in Faversham, filming the market and creek. The purpose of the workshop was to allow us to show that we can work safely on a location, and work in a public location, filming many different subjects.

 FILMING

 For this workshop I worked with Nisserin and Rebecca. We started the shoot off by setting the equipment up and starting at the furthest end of the market. We then moved down the market, with me filming as much as possible. After a little while, I handed the camera to Nisserin, who continued to do the same. We all kept a lookout for things to film, pointing out any interesting shots.

During the filming, we ended up filming a few shots of a musician playing a guitar in the main square. After filming him for a little while, Nisserin went over to him and asked him if he wouldn't mind signing a consent form, so we could use him in our final edit.

After this I took the camera back and continued to film some more footage, this time of the main square. We spent some time here filming the stalls and the customers browsing. Later on, we moved further down the high street, trying to find more things to film.

Realising that there wasn't much left to film on the high street, we headed over to the creek. On our way to the creek we bumped into a nice man who offered to be interviewed on camera. He was the owner of a local restaurant and so during his interview we asked him about the business. After the interview we filmed a couple of GVs outside the restaurant. Then we moved onto the creek. We stood on a bridge that ran over the creek and filmed a few wide shots of the area. Knowing we were coming back later on, we didn't spend too long there before heading back to the main square. On our way back to the square we filmed some shots of the brewery.

After lunch we headed back down to the creek. We handed the camera over to Rebecca so she could film some shots of the area. Nisserin and I helped out by suggesting a few interesting frames. By this point our card was almost full, and so we tried to make every shot count. Near the end of the shoot, a goose came very close to where we were filming. At one point it even came ashore to get a closer look. Rebecca captured the whole thing on camera and it made for a good watch.

By the end of the shoot, we had filled the card, which meant we had filmed almost 60 minutes of footage.

EDITING

As part of the editing process, Nisserin and Rebecca put together a cut of the film, using all the footage we shot during the workshop. They then handed it to me and I fine tuned some of the edits, adjusted the sound levels, and added some titles.

Here is the final version-


 After a group viewing, here was the feedback we received-
- The framing was nice.
- The narrative worked.
- The market section was the strongest and most interesting.
- The music didn't really fit.
- Not all the shots were in focus.
- We should have used a tripod more.

This workshop taught me a lot about filming this kind of footage. It was clear that the best thing to do was to just film anything and everything. The best thing to do was to just keep an eye out for anything that could be used to help the narrative of the documentary. I learnt a lot from this workshop, in terms of filming and I'm happy with the outcome.