Now that the project is finished I feel it's time to reflect on what has gone on in the past few weeks.
What has gone well:
- The shoot went without a hitch.
- The edit was finished and looks solid.
- The workshops were successful.
- Teamwork: we all worked well off of each other and completed our goals.
- The pitch was great.
What hasn't gone well:
- Our participants were unreliable on one occasion: cancelling on us and having to reschedule two weekends before the deadline.
- Being unable to film in a couple of locations in Camden that we wanted to go to.
- Having to dub Strobe: he had great audio.
Thoughts on myself:
I feel I need to contribute even more to the pre-production side, although I did the editing and the risk assessment, I think my contribution on the shoot shouldn't count towards anything as that was compulsory. Ren did the majority of the work in terms of pre-production and did all of the organising. I'll admit I'm not great with contacting people but I wish I contributed more even though we had designated roles for each of us.
I believe my editing skills have improved after so many years doing it, but this unit only helps to continue that. My camera-work skills have also improved though the constant re-focussing, exposure altering and zooming, along with having to keep the camera as steady as possible and know when the camera was and wasn't picking up the audio. I also feel my confidence improved due to our shoot and having to walk around London with a camera filming, who are technically, strangers as they do things and try to ignore the public staring. It made me feel more comfortable with being in a crowd and actually sticking out.
Overall I feel the project was great fun. I personally do not like documentaries in a production sense: I have never been interested in making one but this unit has shown that there is a sort of enjoyment and satisfaction to take from one. Upon first hearing of having to do a pitch I was dreading it, standing in front of people is a terrifying prospect in my head but I managed to find some comfort in it and came out feeling better than before. All in all a great few weeks.
Monday, 12 May 2014
Documentary Unit: Post - Production - The Edit: Day 5 (May 12th)
The final day.
We discovered that there was a small piece of dubbing that we had forgotten to do about Strobe's job so whilst Ren did that I continued to edit everything left to do.
My priority was the subtitling and the dubbing.
Once that was finished I added in the new dub and fine edited it. I also added an ambient buzz track I recorded on the day, along with overlaying images of Phoenix Knight (who created the American superhero group) and one of Strobe. These went over a section of his interview on when he started. I added in the statistics section on superhero films using footage LoneDon filmed at a ComicCon event, however these weren't long enough to cater for the commentary Ren did to accompany it. So I went onto a movie gross website called Box Office Mojo and did a recording of the screen as I scrolled up and down the page listing all of the superhero films released in cinemas:
I blurred the image and overlaid the information on the total combined box office gross of the 30 superhero films released since 2008 ($12.5 billion!). I also designed our font theme once I had pieced it together.
After a watch through we all agreed the film was looking amazing. All it needed now was a quick spit and polish, the buzz track added for all the very quiet moments and music.
Mike's contacted a friend of his who gave us permission to use a piece of his music that he had created, which really fitted in well with our film.
Now all that was left was to export and burn to disc.
Job done!
We discovered that there was a small piece of dubbing that we had forgotten to do about Strobe's job so whilst Ren did that I continued to edit everything left to do.
My priority was the subtitling and the dubbing.
Once that was finished I added in the new dub and fine edited it. I also added an ambient buzz track I recorded on the day, along with overlaying images of Phoenix Knight (who created the American superhero group) and one of Strobe. These went over a section of his interview on when he started. I added in the statistics section on superhero films using footage LoneDon filmed at a ComicCon event, however these weren't long enough to cater for the commentary Ren did to accompany it. So I went onto a movie gross website called Box Office Mojo and did a recording of the screen as I scrolled up and down the page listing all of the superhero films released in cinemas:
I blurred the image and overlaid the information on the total combined box office gross of the 30 superhero films released since 2008 ($12.5 billion!). I also designed our font theme once I had pieced it together.
After a watch through we all agreed the film was looking amazing. All it needed now was a quick spit and polish, the buzz track added for all the very quiet moments and music.
Mike's contacted a friend of his who gave us permission to use a piece of his music that he had created, which really fitted in well with our film.
Now all that was left was to export and burn to disc.
Job done!
Documentary Unit: Production - Consent forms
Below are the consent forms that we gave to Strobe, LoneDon, Mr. Black and Lil' Rambo to fill out:
Documentary Unit: Pre-Production - Final Script
Below is a final version of our script:
Alterations:
- We came up with a different title: Superhero City: Handout Heroes.
- The order of a couple segments has moved.
- I came up with a final "Signing off" quote for the commentary: "Their actions may seem odd at first but after seeing the small changes it can do to someone's life, it goes to show just how easy it is to be a superhero"
Alterations:
- We came up with a different title: Superhero City: Handout Heroes.
- The order of a couple segments has moved.
- I came up with a final "Signing off" quote for the commentary: "Their actions may seem odd at first but after seeing the small changes it can do to someone's life, it goes to show just how easy it is to be a superhero"
Sunday, 11 May 2014
Documentary Unit: Research - Inside Death Row With Trevor McDonald
Inside Death Row With Trevor McDonald
ITV
Monday April 8th
11:05pm
Inside Death Row With Trevor McDonald follows presenter Trevor McDonald as he explores Indiana State Maximum Security Prison’s death row members, interviewing them and asking them questions about their thoughts, feelings and views.
Below are notes I made about it:
- Presenter is the narrator.
- Presenter is visible, he participates and gets involved.
- On location: we see an execution table used for the lethal injection.
- Cutaway close-ups of the restraints on the bed.
- Arial shot of the prison.
- Facts are provided e.g. an average of nine new people enter prison.
- Actuality: prison yard, zoom in on inmate stroking a cat, inmates out of cells.
- Interview with inmate: presenter visible.
- Cutaways during interview to close-ups of a cat, the cat's bed and other things.
- Montage of inmate, inmate in his cell, doing things to pass the time (actuality).
- Interview with prison guard with cutaways.
- Sequence shot: Trevor looking up at higher tiers as camera moves around him 180 degrees.
- You can tell when they pause between interview questions as camera angle suddenly changes to one where it couldn't have been before and the framing is different.
ITV
Monday April 8th
11:05pm
Inside Death Row With Trevor McDonald follows presenter Trevor McDonald as he explores Indiana State Maximum Security Prison’s death row members, interviewing them and asking them questions about their thoughts, feelings and views.
Below are notes I made about it:
- Presenter is the narrator.
- Presenter is visible, he participates and gets involved.
- On location: we see an execution table used for the lethal injection.
- Cutaway close-ups of the restraints on the bed.
- Arial shot of the prison.
- Facts are provided e.g. an average of nine new people enter prison.
- Actuality: prison yard, zoom in on inmate stroking a cat, inmates out of cells.
- Interview with inmate: presenter visible.
- Cutaways during interview to close-ups of a cat, the cat's bed and other things.
- Montage of inmate, inmate in his cell, doing things to pass the time (actuality).
- Interview with prison guard with cutaways.
- Sequence shot: Trevor looking up at higher tiers as camera moves around him 180 degrees.
- You can tell when they pause between interview questions as camera angle suddenly changes to one where it couldn't have been before and the framing is different.
Documentary Unit: Post-Production - The Edit: Day 4 (May 9th)
I spent the first half of the day finishing off the structure of the film: everything was in its place and some finer edits were done. Ren recorded her commentary after lunch and the dubbing for Strobe with the help from a third year student (Strobe requested that his voice be dubbed over as he feels it's distinctive and may reveal his identity). Meanwhile I added subtitles for LoneDon as he could be difficult to hear, I didn't finish them though as Ren and Mike came back with the comm and dub so I imported those and began to add them in.
At the end of the day the comm was added, and the majority of the dub, now we had to drag the film from my hard-drive onto to the Mac itself so Mike could colour correct it since I needed to catch my train home.
Mike and Ren watched the film over and updated the 'to-do' list:
With this, and the rest of the subtitles to do, our final day (May 12th) is going to be a busy one! But a good one none-the-less. I've always enjoyed editing and have done it for a number of years now. I find I can be quite efficient at times but it's a fun task.
At the end of the day the comm was added, and the majority of the dub, now we had to drag the film from my hard-drive onto to the Mac itself so Mike could colour correct it since I needed to catch my train home.
Mike and Ren watched the film over and updated the 'to-do' list:
With this, and the rest of the subtitles to do, our final day (May 12th) is going to be a busy one! But a good one none-the-less. I've always enjoyed editing and have done it for a number of years now. I find I can be quite efficient at times but it's a fun task.
Documentary Unit: Post-Production - The Edit: Day 3 (May 8th)
We (me and Mike) continued off from where we left of yesterday: finishing the actuality segments and setting up a basic foundation for the final section where the heroes summarised etc.
We scripted the commentary so it was ready (which is on document in 'The Edit: Day 2') and started work on the meet-up scene where Mr. Black and Rambo arrived.
By the end of the day we watched it through and came up with a 'to-do' list:
I added cutaways over any jump cuts and the day was finished.
We scripted the commentary so it was ready (which is on document in 'The Edit: Day 2') and started work on the meet-up scene where Mr. Black and Rambo arrived.
By the end of the day we watched it through and came up with a 'to-do' list:
I added cutaways over any jump cuts and the day was finished.
Documentary Unit: Post-Production - The Edit: Day 2 (May 7th)
Today a lot more was done, Ren was outside the smaller Mac room, altering the script and communicating with us what bits could be good for the film via the Google document sharing feature.
Helen came up to me in the morning wanting to see a rough cut (as we missed the deadline for it in the previous week due to the participants only being able to do May 3rd). There were 3 time slots avaliable: 11am, 12am and 2pm. I opted for 2pm as we hadn't done much yet and could use the time.
With this deadline set we started work on actually creating a chronological narrative, we got some of our introduction done and positioned the finished interview segments 2pm came around quickly though, and Helen arrived to see what we had done, it wasn't much.
The feedback she provided was: too synch heavy at this moment, needs actuality and constant switching between the two. Afterwards we all agreed that we should come up with a clear basic structure for the film.
With this structure complete things became much more easier, now we knew exactly what was going where.
By the end of the day we had completed our introduction; the public reaction section, and started the actuality segment.
Helen came up to me in the morning wanting to see a rough cut (as we missed the deadline for it in the previous week due to the participants only being able to do May 3rd). There were 3 time slots avaliable: 11am, 12am and 2pm. I opted for 2pm as we hadn't done much yet and could use the time.
With this deadline set we started work on actually creating a chronological narrative, we got some of our introduction done and positioned the finished interview segments 2pm came around quickly though, and Helen arrived to see what we had done, it wasn't much.
The feedback she provided was: too synch heavy at this moment, needs actuality and constant switching between the two. Afterwards we all agreed that we should come up with a clear basic structure for the film.
With this structure complete things became much more easier, now we knew exactly what was going where.
By the end of the day we had completed our introduction; the public reaction section, and started the actuality segment.
Documentary Unit: Post-Production - The Edit: Day 1 (May 6th)
Now it was time to edit the 80-odd minutes of footage we shot. Ren did a fantastic job transcribing all the videos and marking which ones to discard:
I volunteered to edit a few days prior. We went through the transcriptions of the two interviews and selected the best parts of them, and a couple of times straight-out added a cutaway on top as we already knew what we wanted over it. I suggested that Mike and Ren use a feature on Google where you can share documents and edit them in real time over the internet, allowing up-to-the-minute alterations to be made.
Progress was pretty slow until the last couple of hours when we managed to get the entire interview sections we wanted placed on the timeline along with creating two properly edited segments complete with sound alterations and cutaways.
Overall a slow day in terms of progress but the end was a boost.
I volunteered to edit a few days prior. We went through the transcriptions of the two interviews and selected the best parts of them, and a couple of times straight-out added a cutaway on top as we already knew what we wanted over it. I suggested that Mike and Ren use a feature on Google where you can share documents and edit them in real time over the internet, allowing up-to-the-minute alterations to be made.
Progress was pretty slow until the last couple of hours when we managed to get the entire interview sections we wanted placed on the timeline along with creating two properly edited segments complete with sound alterations and cutaways.
Overall a slow day in terms of progress but the end was a boost.
Documentary Unit: Production - The Shoot: Part 3
We continued on all the way to The Strand before we came across a fourth man, hidden in a little nook of a building, we was also willing to be interviewed.
Across the road was a fifth man who we chose not to interview as we felt we had enough and wanted to save some memory for a final summary interview
We returned to where the fifth homeless man was and went down the staircase beside him (in the picture above) which led us to a nice quiet area where we could film our final interview: asking the heroes how the day went, was it a success and their plans for the future. With that we bid farewell and made our way back to Victoria Station.
 |
| The little nook in the building where the fourth man was. |
Across the road was a fifth man who we chose not to interview as we felt we had enough and wanted to save some memory for a final summary interview
 |
| Location of fifth homeless man. |
The final homeless person we encountered couldn't speak any English and so LoneDon rang up a translator on his phone and used them to notify the man what their intentions were in terms of handouts. Successful they were able to give him one and again, we filmed a minimal amount due to saving the memory.
 |
| Location of sixth and final homeless man. |
We returned to where the fifth homeless man was and went down the staircase beside him (in the picture above) which led us to a nice quiet area where we could film our final interview: asking the heroes how the day went, was it a success and their plans for the future. With that we bid farewell and made our way back to Victoria Station.
 |
| Location of final interview. |
My thoughts before the shoot were:
- It isn't going to go well.
- Will there actually be any actuality opportunities?
- Their answers to the questions will be very short and/or one words ones.
My thoughts were, thankfully, wrong and it turned out to be a really good day. I feel my skills with zooming, focussing and adjusting the aperture have improved due to the constant goings on and my awareness of potentially great shots/moments have also gained a boost as a result.
Documentary Unit: Production - The Shoot: Part 2
After greeting the new arrivals, we waited for Rambo to put on the appropriate clothing he brought with as he arrived via motorbike. Once ready we filmed some group shots such as them walking down the alley and the camera tilting down to them, then we followed the quadrant as they set off to look for homeless in the Seven Sisters area.
On the way there were many stares from the public, some of which I filmed, after about 10 minutes of walking they approached a police van to let them know what they were up to, to which the police responded with a tip off to a good location for where the homeless were: The Strand.
With a new destination in mind we once again followed them, we came across our first homeless man on Charing Cross Road who requested that they remove their masks due to being ex-army and saw it as a form of disrespect, they gave him a handout and after a few minutes we carried on.
Afterwards we gave a quick interview with LoneDon who told us what went on, midway through a stranger approached us and was awe-struck by the outfits. Strobe handed him a business card and he asked the heroes where they operated, he said it was cool what they did and complimented them. Luckily we managed to film it happen.
We found a second homeless man a short while later at the end of Charing Cross Road, whom the heroes had a lengthy chat with. We filmed some of it and also some cutaways of a set of traffic lights and a tower.
Round the corner, on St. Martin's Place was a third man, Mr. Black asked him if he'd be willing to be interviewed, to which he obliged. We got a 2 minute+ interview which could valuable footage.
On the way there were many stares from the public, some of which I filmed, after about 10 minutes of walking they approached a police van to let them know what they were up to, to which the police responded with a tip off to a good location for where the homeless were: The Strand.
With a new destination in mind we once again followed them, we came across our first homeless man on Charing Cross Road who requested that they remove their masks due to being ex-army and saw it as a form of disrespect, they gave him a handout and after a few minutes we carried on.
 |
| Location of first homeless man: Charing Cross Road. |
Afterwards we gave a quick interview with LoneDon who told us what went on, midway through a stranger approached us and was awe-struck by the outfits. Strobe handed him a business card and he asked the heroes where they operated, he said it was cool what they did and complimented them. Luckily we managed to film it happen.
We found a second homeless man a short while later at the end of Charing Cross Road, whom the heroes had a lengthy chat with. We filmed some of it and also some cutaways of a set of traffic lights and a tower.
 |
| Location of second homless man. |
Round the corner, on St. Martin's Place was a third man, Mr. Black asked him if he'd be willing to be interviewed, to which he obliged. We got a 2 minute+ interview which could valuable footage.
 |
| Location of third homeless man. |
Documentary Unit: Production - The Shoot: Part 1
We went to London to film our documentary, meeting the participants at Golden Square in the Soho area:
Unfortunately they were running late, so in the mean time we set up the microphone onto the camera and got out the tripod. During this we decided that the square was too busy for our liking and agreed to film in a nearby street where it would be hopefully quieter.
Strobe arrived first at about 2:20pm, and after a quick acquaintance we informed him that we were going to look for a different location, to which he led us around a couple corners into a lovely long alleyway where it was noticeably quieter.
We interviewed Strobe (me on camera, Mike on his own Canon filming alternate angles and Ren holding the mic and conducting the interview) which came to just under 16 mins. We then waited for LoneDon to arrive to film his interview.
Around 5 - 10 mins later LoneDon arrived but had to call the council to let them know that he would be out wearing his costume (we never asked why but it seems he may have been approached by Police wanting to know about the costume and mask).
We conducted his interview which came to roughly 8 minutes, and then waited for two more to arrive: Mr. Black and Lil' Rambo.
 |
| Mr. Black |
 |
| Rambo |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)