Today we got some feedback from Zoe about our sync assembly / rough cut. Overall the feedback was pretty positive, however, she gave us some pointers in order to make our documentary flow better.
- Our documentary seemed a bit linear, all the footage is in chunks. It would work better if we spread the segments out a little (e.g. using some of the insurance interview footage between clips of the interview with the learner driver). It would work better if we had 3 topics and using the different interviews to explore these topics rather than just having all the interviews separate.
- The documentary could do with having another authority figure such as a policeman or a driving instructor. We agreed with this piece of advice as it would add a lot of weight to our arguments, however, we are unsure whether we will be able to capture this footage in the limited time we have left.
- The interview with Alex's grandparents seemed too long and therefore the audience would lose interest. We will cut down the interview in order to make it shorter and more to the point. We also need to add in the cutaway clips and GVs over this interview in order to cover the jump cuts.
- It may also be better if Alex wasn't in every shot. It is very rare to see the presenter in every shot in a documentary - therefore, our documentary would follow the codes and conventions of the genre better if Alex wasn't in every shot. It will also make it more interesting for the audience.
Friday, 12 May 2017
Monday, 8 May 2017
COMMISSIONS UNIT: Sync Assembly Workshop
We had a sync assembly workshop with Sam. He told us what exactly a sync assembly is and how to go about putting footage into a sync assembly. He gave us an edit script to follow with the time codes of the interview - we then had to find these time codes and include these in our edit. Once we had our sequence ready, we could then add some GVs and other cutaways. However, our main focus was to just getting the basic sequence down. I managed to get the basic sequence done and left gaps for the commentary.
Here's my piece:
Here's my piece:
Friday, 5 May 2017
COMMISSIONS UNIT: (Production) GVs
As well as shooting some GVs on our shoot days, myself, Sonia, Alex and Jason also filmed GVs with our own equipment whenever we had the opportunity to give us the maximum amount of footage.
Myself, Sonia and Alex all own our own GoPros so we each set these up to record in our cars on different journeys we made, allowing us to capture a lot of footage on the road. This also gave us a lot of variety of footage due to the different locations in which we all live. Sonia and Alex mainly captured town and busy roads whereas I was able to capture some country roads. Here's the GoPro footage I captured:
Jason filmed GVs from Alex's car, the camera was attached to the tripod which was secured to the car seat whilst he operated the camera. Jason also filmed clips of the outside of Alex's car. These GVs will be distributed throughout the documentary.
Whilst doing the location recce at Eastgate Events Venue for the interview with the insurance broker, I noticed a good shot of the A2. I set up my camera and tripod and filmed the A2 for around half an hour. This meant we could use this footage either as it was or sped up to act as a time lapse.
Other GVs were captured on the shoot days when we were shooting on location (e.g clips of the inside of Alex's car, gear changes, steering wheel etc.) Many of the GVs were filmed on the fourth shoot day.
Once we begun the edit we realized that there were more shots we needed. Myself and Alex made it our job to capture these shots. We captured the extra footage of Alex's car which we needed (the indicator flashing, the brake lights, more GoPro footage and the establishing shots of Alex's house and Eastgate Events Venue).
Myself, Sonia and Alex all own our own GoPros so we each set these up to record in our cars on different journeys we made, allowing us to capture a lot of footage on the road. This also gave us a lot of variety of footage due to the different locations in which we all live. Sonia and Alex mainly captured town and busy roads whereas I was able to capture some country roads. Here's the GoPro footage I captured:
Jason filmed GVs from Alex's car, the camera was attached to the tripod which was secured to the car seat whilst he operated the camera. Jason also filmed clips of the outside of Alex's car. These GVs will be distributed throughout the documentary.
Whilst doing the location recce at Eastgate Events Venue for the interview with the insurance broker, I noticed a good shot of the A2. I set up my camera and tripod and filmed the A2 for around half an hour. This meant we could use this footage either as it was or sped up to act as a time lapse.
Other GVs were captured on the shoot days when we were shooting on location (e.g clips of the inside of Alex's car, gear changes, steering wheel etc.) Many of the GVs were filmed on the fourth shoot day.
Once we begun the edit we realized that there were more shots we needed. Myself and Alex made it our job to capture these shots. We captured the extra footage of Alex's car which we needed (the indicator flashing, the brake lights, more GoPro footage and the establishing shots of Alex's house and Eastgate Events Venue).
Thursday, 4 May 2017
COMMISSIONS UNIT: (Production) Shoot Day 4
The fourth day of our shoot was 4th May. The majority of this day was used to film Alex's interview with Aidan - a learner driver. This shoot required just having Alex and Aidan in his car for the interview. Alex rigged up his car with the GoPros and also attached the clip mics to himself and Aidan. The equipment was fully set up before Alex set off so that his concentration could be fully on the road.
Between us in our group we had 3 GoPros - however, we only ended up using 2 of them. These enabled for different angled shots during the interview with Aidan.
Alex did encounter an issue with the sound during the first take of this interview. Since both himself and Aidan had time, they decided to re film the interview.
Once the interview with Aidan was complete, myself and Sonia met up with Alex in order to film some more GVs and sequences.
Sonia directed the shoot / acted as a runner before she had to leave and I was the camera operator. In order to capture the GVs and sequences we used a DSLR and a tripod. The footage we needed to capture was mainly of Alex driving about in his car. We also filmed some footage of Alex with his pass certificate and also of him with the keys to his car to be used in the opening sequence. Commentary will later be added to this footage.
We also decided to capture some footage of Alex driving behind my car - in order to do this I attached a GoPro to my back window and drove with Alex following me. We are still undecided about this footage but it is still handy to have available if we want it.
Between us in our group we had 3 GoPros - however, we only ended up using 2 of them. These enabled for different angled shots during the interview with Aidan.
Alex did encounter an issue with the sound during the first take of this interview. Since both himself and Aidan had time, they decided to re film the interview.
Once the interview with Aidan was complete, myself and Sonia met up with Alex in order to film some more GVs and sequences.
Sonia directed the shoot / acted as a runner before she had to leave and I was the camera operator. In order to capture the GVs and sequences we used a DSLR and a tripod. The footage we needed to capture was mainly of Alex driving about in his car. We also filmed some footage of Alex with his pass certificate and also of him with the keys to his car to be used in the opening sequence. Commentary will later be added to this footage.
We also decided to capture some footage of Alex driving behind my car - in order to do this I attached a GoPro to my back window and drove with Alex following me. We are still undecided about this footage but it is still handy to have available if we want it.
Wednesday, 3 May 2017
COMMISSIONS UNIT: (Production) Shoot Day 3
The third day of our shoot was on the 3rd May. This again took place at Alex's house.
The crew for this shoot consisted of myself and Alex (although Alex had to be on screen for the majority of the shoot). Alex was also able to capture some footage by himself.
The equipment we used for this shoot was the Sony EX camera, a clip mic and the directional mic. We decided to use both types of microphone to have both options when it came to post production (incase there was an issue with the audio from one of the microphones).
This shoot consisted of filming more sequences that would be placed throughout the documentary in order to introduce the segments. For example: we filmed the sequence with Alex looking at his laptop and discussing the cost of learning to drive etc. - this would then lead into Alex interviewing Aidan (a learner driver).
Later on in the day I also had the job of interviewing the insurance broker. I got to the location (Eastgate Events Venue) and set up the equipment. The equipment used on this shoot was a DSLR, a clip mic and two soft box lights.
I was the only crew member on this shoot so I acted as the camera operator as well as interviewer. This worked fine as I didn't need to be on screen as the interviewer, allowing me to stay behind the camera.
The shoot went very smoothly - it took around an hour in total. I managed to capture around 15 minutes of good, usable footage about the insurance prices for young drivers, why the premiums are what they are and what we can expect to happen in the future. This can then be chopped around in post production.
The crew for this shoot consisted of myself and Alex (although Alex had to be on screen for the majority of the shoot). Alex was also able to capture some footage by himself.
The equipment we used for this shoot was the Sony EX camera, a clip mic and the directional mic. We decided to use both types of microphone to have both options when it came to post production (incase there was an issue with the audio from one of the microphones).
This shoot consisted of filming more sequences that would be placed throughout the documentary in order to introduce the segments. For example: we filmed the sequence with Alex looking at his laptop and discussing the cost of learning to drive etc. - this would then lead into Alex interviewing Aidan (a learner driver).
Later on in the day I also had the job of interviewing the insurance broker. I got to the location (Eastgate Events Venue) and set up the equipment. The equipment used on this shoot was a DSLR, a clip mic and two soft box lights.
I was the only crew member on this shoot so I acted as the camera operator as well as interviewer. This worked fine as I didn't need to be on screen as the interviewer, allowing me to stay behind the camera.
The shoot went very smoothly - it took around an hour in total. I managed to capture around 15 minutes of good, usable footage about the insurance prices for young drivers, why the premiums are what they are and what we can expect to happen in the future. This can then be chopped around in post production.
Tuesday, 2 May 2017
COMMISSIONS UNIT: (Production) Shoot Day 2
Our second day of shooting was on the 2nd May.
The crew for this shoot consisted of Sonia and Jason (with Alex presenting the scenes). Jason was the camera operator for this shoot whilst Sonia directed.
The equipment used on this shoot was the Sony EX camera and the clip mic for Alex's dialogue.
This shoot consisted of shooting the opening sequence of Alex introducing the documentary and some GVs of him and his car.
Jason and Alex also shot some footage within the car with Jason on the back seat filming Alex in the front - the camera was secured to the seat when the car was moving. This complies with the University's health and safety guidelines for filming in cars.
This meant once the day of shooting was done, there were only a few shots left to film of the opening sequence and only a few more GVs to film. The script was followed in order to make sure all the necessary footage was filmed, once a piece of footage was filmed - it was highlighted in yellow on the script.
The crew for this shoot consisted of Sonia and Jason (with Alex presenting the scenes). Jason was the camera operator for this shoot whilst Sonia directed.
The equipment used on this shoot was the Sony EX camera and the clip mic for Alex's dialogue.
This shoot consisted of shooting the opening sequence of Alex introducing the documentary and some GVs of him and his car.
Jason and Alex also shot some footage within the car with Jason on the back seat filming Alex in the front - the camera was secured to the seat when the car was moving. This complies with the University's health and safety guidelines for filming in cars.
This meant once the day of shooting was done, there were only a few shots left to film of the opening sequence and only a few more GVs to film. The script was followed in order to make sure all the necessary footage was filmed, once a piece of footage was filmed - it was highlighted in yellow on the script.
Monday, 1 May 2017
COMMISSIONS UNIT: (Production) Shoot Day 1
We started our shoot on the 1st May. This day consisted of Alex casually interviewing his grandparents about learning to drive when they were younger and generally how driving has changed over the years.
Initially we had decided on interviewing Alex's dad, however, his dad was unavailable and we thought that there would be a greater difference in driving between the time Alex's grandparents were learning and today - making it more interesting and suitable for the documentary.
The crew for this shoot consisted of myself and Jason (with Alex helping to set up but then presenting the scenes on the shoot).
For the shoot we used the Sony EX Camera, a DSLR (Canon 700D), clip mic on Alex, directional mic for his grandparents and Interfit soft box lighting.
I set up the lighting whist Alex dressed the set and positioned the seating. Jason set up the master shot on the Sony EX camera whilst I set up the DLSR to be used for close up shots and GVs.
We were ready to begin shooting at around 5pm. We recorded about 30 minutes of footage that could then be cut down and chopped about. The footage consisted of one consistent master shot (captured on the Sony EX) and many medium and close up shots (captured on the DSLR).
We did notice that there was some grain on the DSLR footage but this could not be helped due to the low levels of light (and the artificial lighting being used). We also experienced another issue which was easily resolved. Half way through a sentence, Alex's cat decided to walk over and sniff the microphone - we decided to briefly stop the interview and then repeat the sentence that was interrupted.
Initially we had decided on interviewing Alex's dad, however, his dad was unavailable and we thought that there would be a greater difference in driving between the time Alex's grandparents were learning and today - making it more interesting and suitable for the documentary.
The crew for this shoot consisted of myself and Jason (with Alex helping to set up but then presenting the scenes on the shoot).
For the shoot we used the Sony EX Camera, a DSLR (Canon 700D), clip mic on Alex, directional mic for his grandparents and Interfit soft box lighting.
I set up the lighting whist Alex dressed the set and positioned the seating. Jason set up the master shot on the Sony EX camera whilst I set up the DLSR to be used for close up shots and GVs.
We were ready to begin shooting at around 5pm. We recorded about 30 minutes of footage that could then be cut down and chopped about. The footage consisted of one consistent master shot (captured on the Sony EX) and many medium and close up shots (captured on the DSLR).
We did notice that there was some grain on the DSLR footage but this could not be helped due to the low levels of light (and the artificial lighting being used). We also experienced another issue which was easily resolved. Half way through a sentence, Alex's cat decided to walk over and sniff the microphone - we decided to briefly stop the interview and then repeat the sentence that was interrupted.
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