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.

Documentary Unit: Pre-Production - Script Treatment

Below is the script treatment we had to do for our documentary. 

Documentary Unit: Idea Development - Pitch Presentation

Our presentation for our pitch.

We labelled each slide based on what we each did, I looked at how the film will look like and the crime and homeless statistics. 

Documentary Unit: Research - Dreams of A Life Screening

We watched the 2011 documentary film 'Dreams of A Life' directed by Carol Morely which is based on the real-life story of Joyce Vincent: who died in her North London home in 2003 and wasn't discovered for 3 years. It looks into her life via interviews with her friends and lovers and explores why she died so suddenly and randomly and, to an extent, how it took so long to find her.

Below is a scan of my notes on the film I made during the screening.

My thoughts on the film:

It was surprisingly upbeat based on it's context but it seems to be more a celebration of Joyce rather than a 'who dunnit?' style film. There were several moments in the film where we'd see sticky-notes on a timeline as if it was someone piecing it all together, this could either be a recreation style sequence to transition into the next 'chapter' of the story or it could be that the director didn't know what to have as a transition and decided to actually show the noted they made to piece the film together.