Documentary Unit: Research - Killing Spree

Killing Spree Series 1 episode 2: Terror In Paradise
First aired April 2nd on Channel 5 at 8pm.
It tells the story of the Norway bombing and the following massacre on an island called Utoya conducted by Anders Behring Breivik on July 22nd 201 in which he killed 75 people: 8 from the blast and 69 on the island.

Below are my notes on watching the documentary.

- There were several on location shots of the government building that was bombed and on Utoya. In fact one interview from a survivor was conducted on the island.
- Constant cutaways to relevant things.
- Interview with a criminal psychologist.
- The interviewees were positioned on different sides of the frame.
- Archive footage of the news covering the shootings on Utoya.
- Voice-over of interviewees over footage
- There was a recap after each ad break on what had happened so far.
- Photo of Anders Breivik with a ticking clock graphic behind it. Appears several times with different images.

- Narrator mentions that Norway has one of the lowest murder rates in the world.
- No questions heard just answers.
- Timeline method of telling story. "15:18 pm".
- Every so often it suddenly flashes into killers' history, his life as a child and growing up.
- Lots of amateur footage shown.
- Mentions killer did online gaming and visited extreme websites narrator: "He would turn his violent video gaming into real life" seems like it's trying to find a blame for it, a possible reason. Instead of giving us facts and the story, it also tries to subtly solve it at the same time.

Documentary Unit: Pre-Production - Recce

Last Monday we went to Camden to do Recce and sight some possible locations for cutaways and interview locations.

Below are some images taken. We were going to film some cutaways but forgot to bring a tripod and so the shots are shaky, we will most likely re-shoot these.

With interviewer's shoulder and without. I prefer the one without the over-the-shoulder shot as it makes it more about the subject and puts the focus on them as opposed to the interviewer too.

I love this shot because it has a beautiful background and is quite open as we can see the sky.

The shots are great too, putting the subject beside some graffiti can indicate a contrast between the criminal and the preventer. It's bright blue tone also helps the subject to stand out in the frame.

This location was the quietest one and so will be used for the main interview where we can control the many variables easier. The third image will be shot with a secondary cameraman during the interview to get more coverage and allow better edits.

The only downside to these locations is that they are all outside, meaning we'll have the public, traffic and the weather to contend with. To combat these we will bring consent forms, umbrellas and the wind sock to help with the sound.

Documentary Unit: Research - The Public's View

Whilst looking at the RCSFM FaceBook page I saw people posting rather interesting comments voicing their views on the group:

It's always good to see real comments from people, this will certainly be used in our project to get some raw views on the subject.

There were also comments defending them too:

This one appears to be from a member of the RCSM so it loses some validity but they make a great point: 1,600 needles picked up off the floor and raising awareness for homelessness.

I can picture a short segment after showing the results of our poll of the narrator mentioning some views  of the public with these appearing on screen with possibly some other ones if we find any. With the swearing blacked out since the show will air before the watershed.

Documentary Unit: Documentary Task

We were given a task to do in which we had to make a short documentary based on a day in the life of one of our group members. It had to comprise of both sequenced and actuality footage.

We chose to go for Mike, as he had a car we could film some actuality of him driving to the studios.

Ren wanted to do a sequenced segment of Mike waking up and getting ready, cut together in a fast paced edit, inspired by a sequence in Darren Aronofsys' Requiem For A Dream (2000).



Ren wrote a shot list whilst I wrote a script:

A Day in the Life of Mike _ Shot List

My Script:

A Day in the Life of Mike

Here is the final piece.




Overall I think the film is a success: it encapsulates a believable life the subject leads and the transition from the sequence to the actuality is smooth. The editing during the actuality sequence is tight and the shots are well framed and there are no issues with the sound.

The only real 'bad' thing with it is the shot of Mike walking to the building: it's too shaky (should have used a tripod) and strangely framed. As I was cameraman, it was my fault for not attempting to get a better shot but it started to hail and so I rushed the shot as I was stood in the middle of the car park. But still, I could have done better.

Another thing I find a little off is the sudden jumps in the shot of Mike approaching, and operating, the barrier. As an actuality piece it kills some of the momentum and believability of the piece, but aside from that the editing is great. The beginning sequence is a good likeness to the sequences in Requiem For A Dream.

Documentary Unit: Sound Workshop

We did a workshop on sound focussing on using the sound equipment for interviews.

We tried out a minute long interview using a radio mic with the goal of trying to get good sound from both the interviwer and interviwee.

As you can see in the second image we attached a Rode mic to a grip stand and positioned it just out of frame beside the interviewer (Aaron) to get as best sound as we possibly could. The radio mic was attached to myself and hidden behind the zipper on my jacket. 

Afterwards Mike edited the footage:

The sound is lovely and clear but there is a constant static throughout. Mike said he EQ'd the audio levels, meaning one was too loud and one too quiet, probably because of the radio being close to my mouth and the Rode mic being a little too far from Aarons'. We also had a dead cat on the Rode mic to reduce background noise as we had another group doing the same task across the room but this is likely what caused the lower volume as it also muffled Aaron's voice.

The camera angles themselves were fine, two over-the-shoulder shots gave us a sense of where we are in relation to the people on screen.

Overall I've learnt that radio mic positioning can make or break the audio in your footage and you need to be wary of whether a dead cat will help or hinder your filming also.

Documentary Unit: Pre-Production - Recce

On Monday we shall be going to Camden to do Recce: scouting for locations and seeing the characters to get an idea of what we will be able to get from them.

I suggested that whilst we're there, we should film our cut-aways to save time when we go to do our actual filming which can be used for valuable equipment prep time and possibly to get more footage.

I also did a risk assessment on filming the cutaways in a busy London area:

Documentary Unit: Script Feedback

We received our feedback for our script:

Feedback Summary:

- Very good layout, it can be read just like a proper script.

- Avoid vox-pops

- Find a style for the film and think of your tone for the film.

- Think about the bigger picture: why are they doing this? 

- Ensure you fully explain the RCSM: what do they do?

- Let us get to know the characters: who are they? Background and day-to-day life (if possible) 

Very valid points.

I'm thinking that a small segment on the RCSM should be just after the first time we see/hear LoneDon Knight. Then it cuts to, possibly, their FaceBook group page with the narrator saying:

"The RCSM, or Rain City Superhero Movement, is a large group of ordinary people who have banded together in a collective prepared to do what they can to make London a safer place. At (number of members) strong...."

Documentary Unit: Location Workshop

We went to Canterbury to film the stonemasons as they shaped the stones that would be used to repair one of the windows on the Canterbury Cathedral.

Mike was director, Ren was sound operator and I was camera operator.




The experience was very useful as it got me in the mindset of keeping an eye out for cutaway opportunities and to work in an environment where I had no control in what happens.

A problem we had was trying to get sound without getting in the frame, so we used a boom pole to extend the microphones' reach without ending up in the shot.

We opted for a lot of angled close-ups to show in great detail what the stonemason was doing, the difficulty of this was trying not to get in the stonemason's way as he was still working regardless of us being there or not. We also had to make sure we are abiding to the safety rules that were stated before we started as there was a crane that can lift heavy stones and sharp tools and other machinery around.

Getting the shot was key as, this being actuality, we couldn't say "Oh sorry, could you re-carve that bit of stone again?"if we ruined or lost the shot, that was it: no re-takes.

Being the camera operator was interesting: I enjoyed doing it but I had issues with getting shots from a lower angle where a tripod was too tall and so had to crouch down: adding a slow rocking motion to some of the shots. I could combat this by setting up a makeshift tripod using items I have such as the camera bag or something else.

Overall a good day.