Group Project - Conclusion

I have learnt a lot throughout the Documentary group project, I think having to go out into the world, and deal with people and situations you wouldn’t normally put yourself in, is a real eye opener. Learning to contact people (contributors) and having to go to location, and to talk through the interviewing process to people, and make them feel comfortable, is a new thing to me.



Through interviewing people I haven’t met before, has improved my confidence and my social ability to work with people I am not used to. I am usually a very shy person, but the project has brought a side of me out which I wasn’t aware that I possessed.

While I managed to interview a lot of people, one thing I could have done better; was to ask the questions again; If I thought the answer they were giving, wasn’t what we we’re looking for.



There is a lot to learn about being prepared, as I learnt through this project. The first instance was the pitch; the interactive board in the classroom wasn’t working for the pitch. It is very un-professional to have equipment malfunction for an important pitched, we should have taken precautions, and checked all equipment in good time before we delivered out pitch.



The next incident where we were not prepared, was during the hour before our first big film day at the Somerset legion house. Although the camera broke that morning, we should always have a back up camera ready to be used. We relied on Dan’s dad to be in the house to give us the other camera. In reality, we should have informed him, that if any problems were to arise, would he be available to give us the equipment we needed. As for the tapes, we did have enough to last the interview, but purchased more tapes to make sure – this was a good decision, but the tapes should have been purchased the day before.



I think we gained some good interview for our project, and some very good answers. The answers we got were all different, as each contributor had a different background and experience. However, we asked them same questions to each interviewee, I think if we asked some different questions, or had 3 sets of different questions, we would have more material that was unique and useful to the project.



When working on this project it also made me realise just how important everyone’s roles were during the shoot. Even if a person is the boom operator, without that person, it leaves the job to be done by another individual. In this case it was very difficult, with a small group of three; some of us had to fill two roles during the interviews.



Equipment is also an issue, having the correct equipment and amount is an important factor. Due to the camera braking, all shots had to be done with one camera, making the editing process harder than it needed to be. With two cameras, we could film one interview at two different angles or distances. We also know that some areas of the buildings, it would have been helpful to have a floodlight. Unfortunately one wasn’t available to us. The reflectors weren’t effective where there was no light for it to bounce off.



Having a structure for the way you want your documentary to look, before you film, is always important. As a group we decided on a specific structure, and were able to get the correct footage for this. Without doing this, we knew it would make the editing process even harder. Although; our structure planning wasn’t completely flawless, we had to wait till we had decided on the interviews we were going to use, for the final product, before we could decide how to use the voiceover.

I enjoyed doing the group project and picked up a lot of things about the business on the way. Gaining a few “what to do, what not to do” guidelines along the way was helpful, learning from hands-on experience is always better than reading from a book. I also found out things about myself which I wasn’t aware, and put myself in situations that I would usually be afraid of.

Group Project - Editing

So the planning of the editing process begins. We have been looking through the clips and deciding which interviewees off the best answers for the contributors, which was a harder process than we though it would be in the first place. We had to overcome many problems and issues throughout the editing process, which lead to productive group debates and ideas.



One particular case was involving a man who was almost deaf, and seemed to slur his words when answering our questions; however, he gave very good answers. We also thought that this made him stand out more on tape, compared to the average interviewee, but the main concern was the way her slurred his words. So we though one option would be to subtitle his words during the interview.



One thing we all noticed during the editing process, was that only having one camera available, meant that all different shots had to be taken during the interview. We included long shots, mid shots and close up’s – depending on what the contributor was talking about e.g. a close up if they are speaking about something emotional. This meant that there are a lot of zoom in and out during the interviews. This meant we had to insert cut-away shots for each time this happened.



We had to make sure the structure was correct, and we were going to use a voiceover to introduce the film in general at the start, along with introducing each interviewee, and the conclusion at the end of the film. So we had to plan how we were going to use the voice over, and what cut-away shots would work well to accompany the voiceover. Bearing in mind the voice over had to be short and sweet to allow the most interviews included in the final product, at there is a time band of 4-8 minutes. All the editing will be done using Final Cut Pro.

Group Project - Film Day 2 - Flowerdown House

For the second big day of filming, the location was Flowerdown house, Weston – super – Mare. Today was a better today, in that we had no equipment problems, or lack of tapes, and we had our third member; Dan. So we hoped today would be a much easier day, while still gaining good material for the project. This was also shot in the Easter holidays.



We went through the same routine as we did at the Somerset legion house, by setting up the interview locations, testing equipment and making sure the contributors knew exactly what was going on. To our delight there were even more people interested in taking part than there was at the Legion house.



With Dan being the extra member today, we each had to cope with one role each, which made the whole process a lot easier. For today my role was being the camera operator, Dan was the soundman on the boom, and Monish became the interviewer this time round.



We had some very interesting interviews, ones that we will definitely use in the finished product. Through these locations we were happy to gain a wide variety of backgrounds from the people we interviewed, and this again will be a good addition to our documentary.



Through both locations we filmed, we gained the cut-away shots we had planned on obtaining. Flowerdown house however, had a lot more useful cut-away shots within the building, boasting a horde of paintings, photos, medals and engraved plates that we will hopefully make good use of. The staff were very pleasant and we each received a cake and a cup of tea.

Group Project - Film day - Somerset Legion House

So we're on to filming, the first location we went to film was the Somerset legion house, in the Weston-Super-Mare. The filming for this location was carried out during the Easter holidays. This first part of any filming day is making sure that you arrive at your location well prepared, as things don’t always go to plan.



So on the film day, Monish and I had to carry out all the filming duties, as Dan was unable to get the day off work, and we were unable to arrange a different date with the staff. From the start this made the ordeal twice as hard, as one of us would have to do two things at once.



So Monish and I planned to meet an hour before our expected arrival (we arranged to be there for 2pm) so in the morning I eagerly awaited for Monish to arrive and pick me, and the equipment up from my house. Then we packed the equipment in the car, and just before we drove off, I decided to check the camera. From the word go, things were off to a bad start, due to age ware of the camera, the eject button fell off, therefore making it unusable. Monish and I we’re in a state of panic.



The only option was had was to get the second camera from Dan’s house, and as we was at work, we had a 50/50 chance of his dad being at home to let us in and give us the equipment. Luckily he was there to give us the equipment, and took a little bit of weight off our shoulders.

With time running out, we still had to correct some issues, we had spare DV tapes to use for the interviews, but unsure if we had enough tape to film on, we decided to pick up three more DV tapes from the local Tesco super-store. Fortunately it was only a two minute drive from Dan’s house. However the parking proved a problem, we were left waiting for a space for some while. In the end we managed to purchase the tapes and get to the Somerset legion house bang on 2pm.



So we were introduced the people staying at the legion house, we were then made aware of the people who were interested in being interviewed. We were quite happy to have a good handful of people happy to take part. Today I had two roles; to be the camera operator, as well as being the interviewer.

I spoke to each interviewee making sure they knew what was going to happen, giving them an overlook of the questions we were going to ask. I also made it clear to them that if they are any questions they feel uncomfortable to answer; they are to inform us and will respect their decision. While I was talking them through, Monish was setting up the interview locations ready to start.



The interviews went well, but of course, there were some good and bad ones, but that’s always going to happen. The positive was that we gained interviews, which we knew would be usable to the documentary. All in all, a good day’s work in the field. Although without Dan, it was slightly difficulty controlling the camera while interviewing.

Group Project - 1st Interview - Ruby West

Today I did a little addition to the documentary by myself, with a little help from my mother. Out of my two relatives and neighbour I had hoped would participate in the documentary, only my Nan, Ruby west, agreed to take part. The others were interested but very camera-shy.



So this was my first chance to practice, ahead of the big filming days at the Somerset legion house and Flowerdown house, which were coming up shortly. The questions I asked my Nan would be the same as I will be asking in the upcoming locations.



For the interview, I was the interviewer and the camera-operator at the same time, which proved a little tricky, but was able to deal with it. After testing the camera and boom microphone, I was ready to begin the interview, with aid from my mother holding the boom in place throughout the interview.



The interview went well and I gained the answers that I was looking for by the time I had finished. I think the interview would be a good addition to the documentary, but we have a lot of interviews to film in the near future, so we will see which ones are the best for the finished product.

Group Project - The Pitch

Now it was time to execute the pitch, gathering all our research and ideas, and churning out a good presentation containing all the right facts and figures. So what would we need for the pitch? Well in the previous term, where we did a pitch for our radio programme, we acquired vital knowledge of what makes a good pitch, and what makes a bad one. So hopefully we can put the knowledge to use in this next pitch.



For the pitch we made all necessary information available to our “Acting panel” who would allow us to make our documentary if we display a good pitch. So what things did we tell them? Obviously we made clear the project was a documentary; based on the memories of World War II, from civilians and those in the services. We pitched them the approximate budget cost of the project, what roles each of us had during the project e.g. I was producer, researcher and editor. Most roles within the group were shared roles, specifically the research and editing.



Other things we explained was who the contributors were for our project, ensuring we gave them a sheet of contacts, and details on the phone calls and visits to both Flowerdown house and the Somerset legion house. We also explained why these locations were suitable for our project.



We also put forward ideas of the structure and things that we will include within the documentary:
• The main theme of the documentary
• An opening montage that will display the title of the program and will develop the mood of the film towards our audience.
• The film will have a narrator that will introduce the film, the interviewees, and conclude end the film.
• We are planning to gather many interviews and choose the best 3-5 interviews in the final edit.
• In between interviews we will include montage (cut away) images . These images will also be useful as an overlay during the long interviews.
• A possible ending to the documentary will involve cut away shots of the war memorials in Grove Park, in W-S-M. Over the top of this sequence we may include the song "We'll meet again" (sung by Vera Lynn) to make it very sentimental.



We accompanied the Pitch with handouts including all the necessary details in brief, to read, and use for reflection after the pitch has ended. Initially we planned to use a PowerPoint presentation, but due to technical problems this was not possible, but we finished the pitch and got the “go ahead” we needed to start making our documentary.

Group Project - Building the structure

Recently acquiring our film locations and contributors, we pondered what else a documentary would need to contain. To do this, we first had to visualise a draft structure for our documentary, in order to proceed. So we all knew that interviews were the key part to the film, but a film needs a little more structure than shoving interview after interview together. We need a general introduction, an introduction to each person. Cut-away shots of the interviewees involved, along with other cut-away material, which will be needed during an interview.



The use of a cut-away is to feed the viewer with interesting shots related to the documentary subject. An example would be; an RAF interviewee, talking about his time in the services, could have shots of particular RAF planes layered into selected parts of the interviews. This offers the audience a break from the basic, and somewhat static, shots of the interviewee talking. While at the same time, this also adds informative pictorial delivery to accompany the interview.



So how were we going to acquire the cut-away shots that we needed for our project? Well first of all, we found out that using copyrighted images and stock footage of World War II was a big “No-no”, using these images and footage would require permission from the companies and individuals that had created them. This can cost a lot of money and time, and being students, we definitely didn’t have the money to buy the material ourselves.



We came to the conclusion that we would have to pick out locations in the local area that would be suitable for our documentary. So on discussion the first things that came to mind, was to film the buildings which occupied our contributors, which fortunately had flags and memorials, which would be a good cut-away feature for future editing. Also, there were a lot of paintings, photos, and engraved hang ups within both locations we intend to film in. so we made a note to do so during Easter.

We went to the Jill Dando gardens in Grove Park, Weston-super-Mare, as we were aware of a couple of war memorials, dedicated to WWI and WWII. We decided to get some shots there, obviously focusing mainly on the WWII material available to us. These stone memorials displayed names of men and women who died during the Second World War. The names were of men and women who were; civilians, involved in military, and the RAF, during the Second World War. We found this memorial to be a good asset to our project.



At this point we were struggling to think of more locations that were usable. Then we remembered the small Weston-super-Mare museum was available to us. We thought we would take the opportunity to speak to the staff in hope of gaining permission to film within the building. So we went to the museum, and managed to negotiate a student price entry along with the permission to film.



Although the museum only offered a small WWII display, it was enough to get a lot of good cut-away images, which we were striving for. Along the way we picked up some useful knowledge on WWII and enjoyed the rest of the displays while we were there. After we browsed the exhibition, we purchased a small booklet based on WWII in Weston-super-Mare for research purposes.

Group project - Developing the Idea

After deciding on using the World War II idea, we knew we had a pitch coming up soon. We had to research, and bring together ideas that would make our pitch boast a strong and professional structure. So as a group we researched and brain-stormed to create some good ideas, that would result in a “yes”, at the end of our pitch, while at the same time, executing the pitch in the correct fashion.



So, the first task was to look for contributors, without these, the project would be a “no-go”, and we surely wouldn’t progress on to create the documentary, as contributors are an essential cog in making a documentary function. I had some relatives that would make great contributors, as each have a different background, but to get the real experience of making a documentary, we also needed to venture into the outside world, meeting new people and potential interviewees, to get the proper “out in the field” experience of making a documentary.



So, what was it about my relatives that made them good contributors? The first of them, Ruby West, lived in the country capital, London, and was 16 when the war began, and lived as a civilian during this time. She encountered bomb threats, and the general day to day war life. When she turned 19, she became part of the women’s land army, and has vivid memories of this also.



Another contributor in my family was Jean smith, a civilian during the Second World War, living in the only part of Britain that was taken by the Germans; the British channels islands, specifically Jersey, where she is from. This gave us an inside look on what it was like to be occupied by the enemy during this time.



One other contributor was a local elderly neighbour who served in the RAF and always enjoys sharing his stories from his time during WWII. Someone who enjoys voluntarily speaking of the object would make for a good contributor, and also displays a different background to the previous possible contributors, adding different angles and lifestyles between people who lived through this time period.



Then, through research, we discovered two locations, where we may be able to find available contributors. The first location we came across was Somerset Legion House on Weston-super-Mare's seafront, “Which offers members of the armed forces a place to relax and, talk to people who understand what they've been through”.



It states that it is for “Service men and women across the country”, which offers gender differentiation for our interviews. It also boasts that; “Somerset Legion House is a haven of a retreat.” They take in people who served in the forces (not just during WWII) from all over the United Kingdom. We took the contact details, and managed to arrange filming dates over the phone, for the Easter holidays. We also met up personally with the staff, who work there, to confirm and address them further of our intentions.



The second location was Flowerdown house, conveniently located, opposite, and about 10 yards from the Somerset Legion House. Flowerdown House interested us, describing itself as a “Residential care home scheme is managed by Royal air forces association. Flowerdown house provides short welfare breaks for the RAF family”. We agreed this was another good location, which welcomed both men and women of the RAF and WAAF of the United Kingdom. Once again we gained contact details, and arranged dates within the Easter holidays also.



We repeated our act of visiting the staff in person, and informing them on the whole process. After visiting both locations in person, we gained feedback from the staff, telling us, that the occupants were very willing, and happy to undergo our interviews for the dates negotiated. Release forms and location filming forms will need to be created for these events to be legally usable for our project.

Group Project - Getting Ideas

Today we all had to discuss what topic we wanted to centre our group project on. The group project had to be a factual documentary where all three of us had to share equal measures in all aspects of making the documentary. The people in my group consist of Daniel Crosfield and Monish Kelly. So what subject were we going to choose? It was a tough ordeal and took us a lot of time to finalise our decision.



We came up with a few ideas first. Our first idea was based on documenting staff working at a local zoo, giving an overview of the day to say life and events within the zoo. It wasn’t a bad idea, but we thought it didn’t have much of a hook that would grab audience’s attention.



We then channelled our thoughts to a second idea, one of which we gained two possible subjects for our documentary. We thought about doing a documentary to do with local crime, making a documentary local and topical, would boost the interest of the program for viewers. We targeted either youth crime or anti-social behaviour when the night clubs close.



On thinking through this second, idea we came across many flaws in executing this as our subject. The first would be the hunt for contributors, we couldn’t guarantee contributors and they would have to be found on the spot. If we documented an interview with no video evidence of them committing a crime, the information they provide may not be true. Also contributors may not be willing to be documented, as this documentary could be perceived as a “name and shame” scenario. Also for youth, parent’s permission would be required, to acquire consent, and parents wouldn’t necessarily want their children being portrayed as a criminal.



Another idea we stumbled upon was a sports themed idea, the local football team, Weston-super-Mare FC, battling relegation at the bottom of their league, is gave a good hook for viewers, but players would not be willing to take part in an interview focusing on how bad they are playing, as opposed to documenting them battling for the top-spot in their league.



Then the Idea that we chose after much discussion, came with many additions that shine above are other ideas, such as: a good hook, universal age interest, local (UK), moving and willing contributors were much easier to come by.



The idea was to film a World War II documentary, comprised of interviews visiting the memories of WWII survivors, consisting of people that were among the many forces that fought during the time, and also the voices of civilians that lived through that time. This is a good idea as all ages are interested in WWII, contributors are more willing to be interviewed, and other factors that we will highlight in our development of the idea, and the pitch coming in the near future.