Reflective journal

France

04/03/19 – 08/0319

In France I got very little inspiration from the art and architecture itself, however I did find the poverty of the area we were staying in quite interesting as it is something that is not shown or mentioned outside of France. The thing that stood out most to me was the amount of crime I witnessed like harassment, reckless driving and pickpocketing.

Signs like these were everywhere in Paris showing to me that this is a big problem across the city. Along with theft the driving was really problematic, as the majority of drivers would ignore road signs and lights. What was most striking was the contrast of the aggressive sellers outside of beautiful and peaceful monuments like Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur, symbolising the crime that the old tourist attractions were drowning in.

Something I was inspired by was watching the performing arts students complete a mini project with me as their cameraman. I found it interesting watching them develop ideas from art and turning it into a story (which was something I took a big part in).

Around the tourist attractions, especially the Sacre Coeur, there were tonnes of small businesses, I found the thought of these small businesses being the lifeblood of the city very intriguing as here in the UK there is not a lot of support for small businesses and they’re quite rare.

After this I think I want to focus my FMP around either crime or small businesses.

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Proposal presentation

25/03/19

Today I presented my proposal to 2 tutors and got their feedback on my project idea. From this process I was informed that too make my documentary more contemporary I should include Brexit in the statistics and/ or interviews.

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Talk with tutor

01/04/19

Confirmed progress so far with research.

Advice; keep on top of paper work so we can start production next week (08/04/19)

Aim; finish research and majority of pre production this week

I think I am going to film some bits and pieces like cut aways on Saturday as a test run too check if on site shooting would require extra attention or if it will be relatively straight forward. This session will allow me to evaluate what conditions and equipment I will need for longer shoots.

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Talk with tutor 1

02/04/19

Talked with tutor about having balance of viewpoint and how I can do this whilst only having one interviewee with one opinion. He agreed that I should include statistics that contradict the interviewee’s opinion to keep the documentary neutral. As a result of this conversation I will be adding questions that challenge the interviewee’s perspective.

Talk with tutor 2

Advice;

• Small business rate cut by a third, look to BBC
• 2 interviews, 1 in workshop (casual) and 1 sat down (formal)
• Have 2 angles in the interview 1 mid shot and one close up 90 degrees around
• Potentially have shots of businesses that have gone with a voice over to introduce the subject
• Do interview twice in different setting

Aim; research into rates cut and plan for 2 angles

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Shoot 1

06/04/19

I wrote the following note on my way to the location to roughly outline what I was aiming to achieve on my first day filming;  Today I plan to get lots of wide shots of the location some cutaway options and sound bites of saws birds and things around the workshop.

I think I achieved this with the footage I shot as I got a variety of interactions, sound bites and location shots. This footage will surround and intersect the interview that I intend to film over the next week or 2.

I am going to book out a camera and tripod and film similar shots along with the interview to give me choice in format when it comes to editing. Also, on some clips the bottom left corner is obscured by my phone’s case so in proceeding i either have to use a camera or take off my phone case when filming.

I was having trouble transferring all of my clips to the computer so I need to find a good way to move all of my files from the source device to my computer to edit.

 

 

 

 

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Editing

08/04/19

I edited a short part of the intro to test things like audio and pacing of the first couple of shots. From this I figured out the timing of the audio and shots as well as what type of title text I will use for the title card; which is a white Ariel bold.

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Recording audio

10/04/19

I heard birds chirping whilst in my garden and so I decided to record some audio to see if I could use it in my documentary as sound effects for my intro scenes.

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Participating in others FMPs and observing

10/04/19 & 11/04/19

On the 10th I was interviewed for a classmates film and on the 11th I was photographed and on both occasions I observed what type of angles they were filming and it gave me an incite to how I should structure a filming session. This experience reinforced what I thought I was going to do in terms of getting several angles of the same interview to keep it interesting and dynamic. Not only this but to also provide cutaway footage to cover up any cuts of dialogue.

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Shoot 2

14/04/19

Before going out on location I set up a tester interview in my garden to go over questions and practise setting up the tripod and camera. In doing this I noticed the audio was too loud/ sensitive so I turned down the audio levels from 10 to around 6 to have less distant noise pollution. Also, this mock interview was quite informal and casual which I quite liked and wanted to implement in the actual interview.

Using the camera and tripod from the college I filmed my interview today. I used an external directional mic mounted on the camera for the owners audio and i used my phone’s voice recorder placed on my chair’s arm to record my audio simultaneously, so if needed I could sync up both audios in post production and have both voices clear. When listening to the audio before filming I noticed there was a lot of wind noise where we had set up. To combat this I asked a helper with me on set to stand next to the mic to block the wind which erased the wind noise problem. I chose to conduct the interview in front of a wood pile in front of the workshop as it was aesthetically appealing and fit well with the underlying woodwork theme.

Everything had been filmed successfully and I reviewed all of my footage before leaving the premises to ensure I was happy with the content I had filmed on that day. However, when I took out the SD card to transfer my rushes to my computer they were all mp4 files. I don’t know how this happened as on the camera there is both video and audio and I can watch everything I filmed. To correct this I looked on the cameras settings and changed the recording format from mp4 to Quick time movie (the only other available option) and filmed a tester to see if that rectified the issue and yet when I opened the tester file on my computer that too was just audio. I checked all other settings and made sure I hadn’t left a lens cover on or something like that but with finding no other issue I decided to email my tutor and wait to see if he has a resolution, even though due to it being a holiday I doubt I will get a response before I have to give my equipment back on the 17th. After testing the SD card on another computer and putting it back into the camera all of the files apart from the test shot were gone so now there will be no way to get back the original footage.

To rectify this and prepare for a situation where I can’t get my video back I will re-record the interview on my phone like the other clips like establishing shots e.t.c. as it is more reliable. I will keep the audio from the recordings today in case I want to use them for overlays.

I still got some footage from that day on my phone which were a re-shoot of my establishing shot and travel shots, whilst filming the travel shots the audio contains a fond memory of the owners pet on the old work land. I think I will use this footage or just the isolated audio and fade in and out between the speech to act as a showing of how personal work and the environments are to workers like Kevin (the owner).

 

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Reflecting and research

19/04/2019

Whilst reviewing and improving previous work and thinking of ways to improve the variation of footage I came across my Bowling for Columbine notes, specifically the part about information communication in the form of news clips. Upon seeing this I searched YouTube for debates concerning small businesses in an effort to find something that would not only add variation to my information communication but also to provide a more objective perspective and provide more balance and impartiality and minimise bias. I found a snippet of an interview with the Chief – operating officer of Aon risk solutions where one of the questions was about pension auto enrolment, which is a subject that was bought up in my primary research.

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Shoot 3

28/04/2019

Today I re-shot my interview using my phone. I decided to film inside because it was still windy outside but I didn’t have a directional mic and couldn’t protect my phone mic from the wind noise. I don’t have a phone tripod so we decided to put together a quick stand using wood in the workshop to make sure the interview wasn’t handheld (because I feel that the handheld format would not look good for an interview that isn’t part of a follow around documentary like Benefits street). I shot 2 angles (left and right) and hand close ups to hide editing in dialogue. I filmed all questions in 1 angle then 2 questions in second angle. I chose the location I did because it had a light directly above it and I feel it had a very strong aesthetically pleasing vibe. Also, the interview contains visual coding, a convention of interview documentaries in which the interviewee wears their uniform to show what their job is without extensive explanation.

Also, I didn’t want to film outside because of the changing weather and I couldn’t think of a way to combat the possible wind noise in the same way I did with the actual camera so instead I filmed inside. The audio has a slight echo because the room had no sound absorbing materials like foam, only wood and plaster and I couldn’t use my phone as mic like I usually would to get the clearest audio possible because I was filming the visuals with it. Another problem with the audio is that it peaks a few times but I think I may be able to fix this in post production by adjusting the volume levels.

In reflection I think I should have planed the questioning better as I have realised that I missed out some potentially key questions (like financial viability and scheduling). I put this down to not following through with my planning as I had all my questions written down but didn’t refer to them as much as I should have. This could effect the direction I am taking my documentary in and focus more so on the Brexit question and not so much on the financial viability of being self employed. A change in focus of the content could mean a change in my target audience and would be cause for discussion in my evaluation and reflection on this project.

In response to this change in topic I have done a little bit of research into what Brexit means for wood imports, as this is something that applies to Brexit and the wood making feature of the documentary.

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Editing

29/04/19

Things done;

• When thinking of introduction audio I realised I could use the gradual starting up of the extractor as and introduction
• Key framed machine audio to fade out behind the speech
• Started adding cutaways to the interview to hide cuts in speech or different questions placed next to each other

Finishes at 1:53

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Shoot 4

After editing I noticed I only had enough footage for just under 2 minutes so I went back to the workshop to interview 2 other self employed people to ask them if Brexit has effected them. I chose to only ask about Brexit as I felt that that was the main question in my first interview and when I did my proposal I was advised by one of my tutors to include Brexit a lot to make the documentary contemporary and so I felt it would be the smartest move to put the spotlight on the Brexit subject. This does differ from what was laid out in my proposal in terms of topic but the rest of the content including visiting the old workshop and the editing features will remain un-effected.

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Editing

01/05/19

Things done;

• my audio was louder than the interviewees because I was holding the camera so I split mine, Martin’s and Craig’s audio so I could keep mine low and raise theirs to make the audio level
• Integrated footage taken from yesterday
• Added in Craig’s and Martin’s interview
• Spaced questions out more because I felt that it was too fast paced
• Added backing music because it felt like it was missing something (the music might be subject to change in my next edit because I feel it doesn’t completely fit the tone of the documentary I aim to make
• Adjusted audio levels (although they will need further editing to make sure that they are the same across the board, but this doesn’t take priority right now)
• Key framed backing music to be quiet during speech

Want to put a clip between these 2 clips (the story of the dog on the old land) however it hasn’t been transferred to my computer yet so that is something that needs to be done in my next editing session. I want to put this footage in as it is my form of the ‘being mom and dad’ scene referenced to in my proposal as follows; ” When this subject [moving workshops] is raised in the interview I will cut away to an interview with the owner (and possibly his wife) looking at the old location talking about the memories they have there and how they felt having to move and how it affected business.”

Finishes at 2:50

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Little bits and pieces + updates

06/04/19 – present

• Recorded 3 bird sound recordings, around 1 minute in length each, but they were either too windy or the bird noises weren’t prominent enough for use
• The audio from shoot 2 that I recorded on my phone would have been un usable any way because of drastic wind noise

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Editing

02/05/19

• There is a lot of background noise so I decided to solve the audio problem with subtitles
• The texts opacity was being bought down by the shape so I put the text above the shape
• There was a profanity in this clip so I detached the audio and replaced the word with a censorship beep

• I got rid of the backing music because I felt it didn’t fit with the documentary tone
• I decided to end it with a clip from the POV of me leaving in the car as I think it is fitting to have the parallel of me leaving the workshop and and the documentary ending
• I felt one scene where the staff are handling the wood needed sound effects so I used a part of my main interview where wood is smacked together to put behind this completely separate scene
  

  

  

• Corrected all audio levels
• Music needs changing but I will ask tutor for input on whether it is better with or without music

Future editing note : national problems local businesses

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Editing

08/05/19

• I changed the title from the temporary one (Big problems little businesses) to National problems Local businesses as I think it is more specific to the nature of the issues raised which are mostly national and also it sounds more mature and professional
• For this section I felt it was too quiet and that the wood sound effect felt strange and out of place being the only audio for that shot so I decided to add some quiet background noise using one of my machine sound effects to further the illusion of it being the original shots audio
• I lowered both the wood and machine sound effect so they didn’t over power each other and didn’t have too much of a obvious presence to the audience because the point of it being there is to make sure there isn’t silence over the longer periods of time
• When watching the section back I realised 2 things; the same sound was playing uninterrupted over two different clips and you can hear machine saws in the second half of said audio. To solve this issue I decided to crop the first sound so there were no saw sounds and to keep it on one clip to make it less obvious it is a post production sound. I then sourced a different sound effect which was similar in that it is just one consistent sound because I feel that it might seem strange subconsciously to the audience that there are saw sounds when the saw in shot isn’t moving
• I made the sounds even quieter so they are just a hum in the background this way it; maintains the silence + talking atmospheric style I was aiming for, has noise that makes the audiences experience more comfortable but doesn’t interfere with the shot too much
• I felt that the audio didn’t overlay the shot long enough so I bought the audio forward and cut into the interview footage
• I lowered the last 2 audio pieces so the audience can’t tell that I split each part of the sentence up and it sounds more consistent
• I felt the pacing for this section was too fast so i extended the shot to give more of a break between the overlaying audio and the next question. I think this is more of a comfortable pace for the viewer because it allows to focus on the shot without audio

• I felt the cutaway to the dog was an odd length gap so I put it on the timeline and overlaid the answers audio over it so I could show the clip at its full length whilst also creating my own sized gap between audio
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• I felt the transition between the interview and the car shot was quite jarring so I separated the audio and overlaid it just a little bit to provide more of a smooth transition. I also added 2 key frames to have the audio fade in to eliminate just hitting a wall of noise after the interview

• I had a problem with the subtitles where towards the last third the text would flash on and off before it disappeared. I didn’t know the cause of this issue as there is nothing blocking it and there are no cuts so I reached out to my tutor. They suggested to delete the shape and change the font to narrow down the issue but after following those instructions the problem was still there. To check it wasn’t just a final cut pro issue I exported the clip and watched it rendered and the issue was still there. I left it in the hands of another tutor to see if they could solve the issue. eventually we put it down to a glitch and fixed it by getting to the problem area on the timeline ticking the face box shown below.
• I felt the boxes weren’t opaque enough so I lifted the opacity from 70% – 80% to 94.81% to make it more aesthetically pleasing
• I key framed the car audio to fade out to correct the abrupt cut in audio
• The cut in audio was very obvious due to subtle background noise so I key framed in a fade out so you couldn’t hear to cut

• I put the establishing shot back up to 100% speed because previously I sped it up but now I think it finishes too quickly when compared to the rest of the clips pacing. I lowered the spray sound effects volume as well and key framed it to fade out at the beginning of the interview for the same reasons I talked about previously
• Changed audio levels to fit with the ones previous
• I moved the cutaway forward and elongated it to give the audience time to register what they are looking at
• I elongated this shot for the same reason as above
• I put some white noise behind these clips because the silent gap was too long, however when editing the end I found the extractor sound effect I had planned to use to close the documentary . I realised that I could quieten it down and use it as the white noise that will then fade once the interview is over and the outside shots are shown
• I connected the 2 because I couldn’t stretch the second audio to cover the establishing shot and still dip when the rock is shown
• I took audio from the clips I filmed in the car that I used earlier in the film and put them together (because some speech was cut out)
• I key framed the audio to fade out along with the visuals

Tutors review

I asked my tutor to review this version of my product to get final editing notes and this is what I got;

• Change field cutaway to close up of a board or something closer to the theme of the interview space
• Replace pan of spray shop with stills
• Stabilise shots
• Cut out name question
• Needs wrapping up, maybe finish with a finished product

In the future;

• ask questions in such a way you can cut them out
• Either have a presenter on no voice asking questions at all
• Could have had all employees stand around and ask them about Brexit to get more of a debate and elaborated answers
• Cut out questions if you aren’t ‘presenting’
• Manage interviewee and ask them to redo sentences in a way that you can cut questions out

I have decided to add a voice over to add more context and have a more conclusive ending.

Changes;

• Replaced grass with board and stabilised it
• Replaced pan with stills and stabilised them
• Stabilised all interview footage and left others handheld because it fit with the aesthetic I am going for

Tried stabilising first shot but think it looks better shaky

I couldn’t cut out the name question because in the final interview it wouldn’t make sense

I decided not to include the news interview because I feel it doesn’t fit with the tone of the documentary

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Recording

08/05/19

Following up on the criticisms from yesterdays lesson I wrote and recorded an intro and outro to provide a conclusion and explanation of the angle I am trying to go with my film. To make sure the audio wasn’t echo-y I recorded in a fully furnished and carpeted room to emulate as closely as possible a studio with foam covered walls. I recorded 2 tests with the phone (recorder) different distances away from me when speaking to see what got the clearest results without being too loud.

Also to avoid the mistake I made with not referring to my list of questions in my second interview session I made sure to fully plan what I was going to say and have it in front of me at all times so nothing was forgotten or misspoke.

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Editing

09/05/19

• I miss-spoke in the first intro I recorded so I cut it out and connected the same part which was spoken correctly in my second recording. Because both intros were recorded in identical conditions the swap out is seamless
• For the outro I didn’t have to edit it so I elongated the end shot of the car leaving to fit the length of the outro

I ran into an issue when exporting my video which I think was the result of a bug. It was stuck on 72% for over 10 minutes. I cancelled and re – attempted the export twice before closing final cut and reopening it; this fixed the problem.

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Screening 1

14/05/19 – 15/05/19

Screened other peoples work and realised i should add a special thanks at the end

Added 2 title cards at the end

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Screening 2

15/05/19

Feedback;

• Insert context using voiceover to make like a report for pension and possibly Brexit
• Also use news reports with it
• Overlay more audio
• Capitalise all words

Get visual aids for pension change from organisation referenced to in my research (The pensions regulator

Tried to crop it to video’s aspect ratio to avoid black lines but the form is too big

Looked at articles about the pension change to find news reports on it that can give context

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Recording amendments

20/05/19

In my screening feedback I was advised to insert reporter style voiceovers to add context to my longer questions so today I wrote 2 paragraphs on the topics of Brexit and pensions. To get a statistic or piece of information for my voiceovers I did some research and found a quote regarding the pension raise on a BBC report. I recorded my audio in the same location as my other voiceovers so you couldn’t tell they were recorded at different times.

Source

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Editing

21/05/19

I edited in my voiceovers and increased the amount of audio overlays like I was told to during my screening.