I have found this module to be really interesting, and very informative. I am involved with making short documentaries and factual programmes and the background theory work at the start of the module, and the work involved in planning and executing the group project has given me a real insight into how documentaries are professionally produced.
The module introduced me to a number of styles of documentary film and their makers, and we discussed the styles of documentary in groups and then discussed them with the rest of the class, which was interesting and useful. I learned about the history and development of documentary, how the introduction of portable equipment made documentaries easier to film and subjects more accessible, the use of reconstruction, and how narrative styles have evolved. I learned about the theories of John Grierson and the ongoing debates regarding documentaries including those of reality and artifice and whether documentaries are the 'recording of actual events' or 'treatment of actual events'. This is particularly interesting for me as I am doing my essay for Documentary Media on the differences and similarities between Direct Cinema and Cinema Verite, which we covered in this module.
It was also really useful to watch the screenings that we were shown in class and discuss them, for example, Nanook of the the North, which showed us how the film maker had recreated scenes to tell the story of Nanook's life. Albeit somewhat out of date.
The module also helped me to develop new technical skills whilst we were filming the group project. These included using an upgraded model of Marantz than in previous years for sound recording, and getting to grips and learning to use the Sony Z1 HD video camera, which I hadn't used before. I used the Z1 during the outside filming for the long stadium shots from Shirecliffe. I got to grips quickly with the settings (I did have a play with the camera at home before the day of filming so that I knew how to work it properly) and the footage that I got from the cliff was really impressive. I was quite proud that after the screening of our two minute film Chris said that he liked the long shot of the stadium from the cliff. I was really pleased about that.
The biggest part of our module is the group project, which although we have had problems with the editor's contribution to the project, I am really proud of the work that I have put into the group project as producer of the film, and the way that most of the group worked together.
I have come to realise since beginning this course that I am really keen on pursuing a career as a producer or production assistant as I really enjoy the organisation, planning, development of ideas, the liaison of different creative personnel and the overseeing of the project.
The group work helped me to realise how different roles fitted together and the responsibilities of the producer, director, cinematographer, editor, sound recordist and editor and art director. This working in larger groups is really starting to bring home to what life is like on real life film shoots.
I have been to the filming of television shows for SKY TV and Channel 4, and seen the different crew members working together, and now I am understanding all the different roles and responsibilities and how crews work as a team.
I have been involved with a few extra curricular short films now and so far they have been quite small crews with roles being doubled up. On those sets I acted as camera, cinematographer and director so have worked alongside other crew members and had experience working with actors and contributors. I have also provided post production services for some of these films, and with each project it becomes a lot easier as I know the process for filming and how shots were planned, staged and filmed.
The work that I have done outside of university since beginning this module, for example, the documentary about the Croatian Contemporary Drama Festival held at RADA Studios, has certainly been a huge improvement on my previous work, and I think there are a few reasons for this.
As I learn more about the professional set up of filming sets, I am a lot more confident in approaching the work. I understand what people are expecting from me as a film maker. For example, with the Croatian Drama Festival, the plays being performed starred many professional British and Croatian actors who have been in films and television shows. So for me to understand the set up and know what they expect from me and understand what they are talking about meant that I could talk with them on a professional level. This was good for my confidence, because up until now I've always had a slight paranoia that I wont be taken seriously and therefore not get a good response or good working relationship with other crew and cast. Now I feel a lot more confident about my role within 'real life' film projects. Because of the group work, working with contributors and having to understand the roles of the crew, it has also made me more flexible and able to work in a variety of roles where cover is required. This was the case at the Croatian Drama Festival.
I was originally asked to be the assistant director on one of the plays. I attended rehearsals from the Saturday at E15 Acting School and by the end of the afternoon the Producer of the festival had heard that the person that he had booked to take the promotional photographs and film the rehearsals and interviews with producers, cast and audience was no longer able to get to London.
Because the director of the play that I was AD for knew of my previous film and photography work, he put me forward as a stand in for the official photographer and so I switched to doing all the promotional footage.
I took lots of rehearsal shots which are now used on the production company website, and I filmed the rehearsals of the plays to give me footage to edit with the interviews that I conducted and filmed.
The experience of working with the group on Tango Man was a Godsend when it came to filming the Croatian Festival interviews.
This assignment came after a couple of tutorials with Chrissie where she had advised us on giving better consideration to the background, framing, positioning the interviewee, eye-lines and looking space and getting the interviewee to give contained answers.
Our first group interview with Tango did look shabby and we took into account all the suggestions made.
I had all these in mind when I set up the interviews for the festival. I made sure that the framing was interesting and easy to look at, and not too fussy. I made sure the contributors were comfortable and had a brief outline of the type of questions that I would be asking, and (I know I've said this before in previous posts) I was able to put them at their ease and get the to talk openly, almost forget that they were being filmed and give interesting, open responses.
The biggest coup of that assignment was being asked to not only film the actors, producers and directors, and audience, but also to interview the Croatian Ambassador.
This was a huge privilege, and a little nerve racking, but I can honestly say that I did myself and the university proud. Because of the interview practice that we had done in the module, and the interviews that we had conducted in the Tango group project, I went to the embassy, through the security, up to the Ambassador's office and (on my own) I set up, conducted, and filmed a really impressive, professional looking interview that is going to be included in a feature on Croatian TV.
That's why I love doing this course, and this module, because it has given me the skills, experience and confidence to do such jobs, and make a professional job of it.
I like to think that, apart from the problem that we had with the editing, I worked really well with the rest of the team on the group project.
As producer, I made an excellent job of bringing the group together in production meetings and giving everyone a fair chance to express their thoughts and opinions in the planning and development of the idea.
I made a production toolkit and, as you will see from my previous posts, created, updated and maintained all the necessary paperwork for the project. This includes all the budget sheets, equipment lists, shot lists, storyboards, contributor agreements, schedules, emails with other parties, production meeting agendas and minutes. All amendments and developments were noted and new paperwork issued as soon as they were updated. I posted all the paperwork on the group Facebook site along with moodboards and producer's notes.
I liaised with all the contributors and was present at all the filming sessions. I organised the clearances for the filming at the ground and the use of music. I also helped Hannah and Jacob with the set ups for the interviews, as well as doing bits of filming.
When we realised that there was a problem with the contribution of the editor Hannah, Luke and I stepped in to rework the two minute film, while the editor worked on the ten minute. This meant starting the project from scratch and stripping out all the footage that was sub-standard and going through all the footage files and reviewing them and logging them, as this hadn't been done by the editor, and starting a new assembly, rough cut and final cut.
I was really disheartened by the fact that our editor hadn't even done the basic requirements for the two minute and ten minute films. He hadn't reviewed and logged the clips, which is why he had resorted to just using any footage even if it was substandard. In fact he used the fact that the footage in his timeline was substandard to convince us that we needed to re-record a lot of footage and interviews before he could work with it properly. This, I realise now was a delaying tactic to disguise the fact that he hadn't done the basic work. Indeed, when Chris saw the timeline mid-project he pointed out to the editor that his basic timeline settings weren't set up properly and nothing had been logged.
Because the editor didn't want the director and I to know that he was stalling for time by sending us out again because he claimed the footage wasn't usable, this wasted an awful lot of time on out part, and even more so for me as I had to make all the extra arrangements and organise everybody and everything involved.
The result of this was that we ended up doing four interviews with Tango, when the second one was perfectly usable (and is in fact the one used in the final version of the film that was created by Hannah, Luke and myself), and ended up paying to film inside more matches than necessary.
I said to the editor from the off, that he should create a timeline for each of the films based on the storyboards. Where footage wasn't so good he should use it anyway to build the assembly and show us so we know which to re-shoot. He ignored this, and because he didn't want us to know that we had perfectly good footage from the shoots that he could have been working with instead of stalling, he refused to hand over the footage to the director and myself, because he knew that once we reviewed the footage, we would expose the fact that he had been idle and not done the work, even though he had the means to do so.
The biggest lesson I learned from this group project is that the producer keeps the footage. In case something should happen to the editor, or the hard drive, or just in case the editor doesn't pull their wait and we have to create the film without him, as happened here, the director and producer should always have copies of the footage.
Overall though, I enjoyed the producer role very much and was impressed with the way that I was able to organise things well in advance, as well as create contingency plans and deal with issues at short notice. I also think that I did a remarkable job with keeping the team motivated right through to the last day.
