Reflecting on the final outcome

After two days in the edit, one of those days I edited the start of the interviews as they needed to be synced  before I could cut them. The next day the sound man edited the rest of the interviews and started to build a basic structure, the editor had a basic cut but needed to add  the rest of the cutaways and the final tweaks. We helped out as she was busy with other projects.

I must admit, it was not how I expected. It seemed that the storyline still wasn't there which is very disappointing as the script is only just in the 3rd draft, and whilst editing we still needed to ask how this documentary was going to end and what he wanted from each contributor as is didn't seem set.

I noticed how the lack of the script made it very hard to find cutaways, yes we got lots of them but not the right ones that related to the story. I felt like I needed to have known clearly on each shoot what cutaways were needed rather than shoot cutaways because we think we may need them. I used the Canon 1d to make it look nice visually but due to struggling with knowing what to film, it reflected in my work and I needed to know what to shoot as the shots didn't always match up. To get the best out of your crew you need someone who knows exactly what they want and I feel that more thought needed to have gone into the story, which is a shame.

After seeing the final documentary, I was surprised to see some night shots that were filmed by the director whilst we were filming the police in the final edit. These shots weren't framed correctly as horizons weren't straight, were under exposed and were very shaky. I shot for 50 minutes on a tripod so thought that there were better shots that could have been used.

I am extremely impressed by the outcome of the strip doc. I have been working along side the director and together have produced something I would class as not being a typical "student film", therefore no use of local locations or filming around the university. It has pushed me and I know with a strong crew you can get the best out of everyone.

I think this has given me practice for the industry and it is definitely important to make sure you have a strong director to get the story needed and with this it helps out the crew.

Crit time, once again.

Again, crit screening approaches and time to hear feedback on the two projects I've been part of.

Firstly, Stripping for a living looked good on the big screen and it was nice to see it on a screen which isn't in a tiny edit room. Waiting for feedback was tense because of the huge effort the group has put in as a whole. Feedback felt more personal as we had so many let downs when making this documentary and seeing it into an edit felt like an amazing payoff. The feedback from the crit included positive comments about the shots used and general good consensus of it being a strong piece. The downfalls were about the contributors stories. I must admit I felt I needed to defend this as gaining access into a club to film is hard. Twofour did this over months with lawyers and for me and the director to gain access in 3 weeks and being students was a massive achievement. When we heard that home life would have made it better, I agree it would have made it more into a documentary as it is something that would probably be a taster tape in the industry but due to time constraints and lack of trust we made the best use of our time.

Finally, Young and Pissed didn't give the audience enough to make full comments as we only had the opening  sequence. The feedback was again positive and constructive, it said it looked promising which is good because I have wondered what the outcome would be like due to time. However, some comments and questions threw the director as the storyline still doesn't seem set. Working on the edit with the team after the crit finally started to see something come together, we had to be more decisive as we are still way behind of schedule. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring something stronger to the table.

Drunkern monkeys and police camera action!

Last night was lets say interesting...

It started off very quiet as 9:30pm isn't really the time to see a lot of drunk people but gave us time to set up and have a nosey around..oh and also get threatened by a drunk middle aged woman. I felt frightened and did not really expect that reaction when filming last night on the streets.

After 50 minutes of filming, which I didn't understand why we filmed that much but I recorded as the Director needed to capture the night progress to actually becoming quite lively. We got a typical drunk dressed up as a monkey, a couple of waves and the typical guys running at camera.

A bonus was getting to film in the policemans car whilst interviewing him, this was hard because the first two times he got called to split up fights. We wanted the Director to ask the questions to the policeman so his eyeline was at him, but he had confidence in us. It made it harder as the soundman was in the back which meant he didn't know quite where to look and we had so limited time it would have been good with the extra pair of hands. Still glad shooting is over and definitely never expected to be threatened by a middle aged woman I must admit.

Draft 3 and one doc down!!

We now have a more developed script from the director for Young and Pissed, yet there is still no ending which is worrying as this is the edit week. Still very unsure about the whole project as it's been a bit miss match with scripts coming in bits and shooting being very spread out over the 5 week period as the first interview was 4 weeks ago so by now should be in the edit. Time is ticking, Asda interview is however done which does only leave us with one more part to shoot so not long until the filming is complete.

On the plus side the Stripper documentary is filmed!!! With so much hard work from the Director and I in planning it, it was a huge success. Especially working with such a visual and experienced camera man, this helped when we were under pressure with the schedule. Only slight problem was expecting 3 girls to be willing to be interviewed, yet the girls didn't really know what was going on. So over 2 days we gained enough trust to get two girls on camera with others doing pole dancing and even one allowing us to film a lapdance. A huge success after the amount of effort the group has put in..can't wait until the final edit.

And it happens again..

From the all go ahead last night I was excited to finally get access into the club, but last minute Carrie called to say the Girls were tired. At first, it was gutting with all our hard work and another delay, but on the plus side we have arranged to film tomorrow evening when they are open. FINGERS CROSSED!!!

First cancellation on Young and Pissed, we had organised with the director to film monday evening in the streets but due to how hard it has been to gain access in the club we could not miss this opportunity. Luckily the director was fine as he realised we could film on the thursday evening, which works out better due to a student pub crawl thats been organised. But other than monday evening, we're free to film..just hoping the filming goes smoothly!!

Spoons for cutaways!

Had my first encounter with filming in a pub this evening. However Falmouth is very student based and Saturday isn't a night that we would get the most students, so didn't think it was quite the best choice of evening but I have no problem with shooting when needed.

Still needing a script to help me out, and need some support from the Director. At first I was worried about what we were meant to be shooting as I got a confused look and didn't really know what he wanted when asking what to shoot but did get some ideas after discussing it which helped to get some good cutaways. Did get a lot of interest from locals asking about the camera so have to not be rude but make sure they don't distract me.

Have managed to get hold of Carrie from Central Chambers and will be filming tomorrow night in the club, fingers crossed!!

London, first day filming not as we expected.

Today, we were meant to be filming, with previous contributors pushing our filming schedule back the heat was on. For instance, the manager from Central chambers went away on holiday so we had to re organise for Sunday 11th, and Gigi had re arranged due to mishap with hair extensions.

However, just a case of bad luck, Gigi has gone to a + e, due to pain she has been getting from her breast implants. Even with all the pre production we have done, me and the director had not been prepared for something we had no control over. We just hope Gigi gets better and that we can get to interview her as soon as she is fit and well. As well as that Paige who we previously hoped to interview hasn't got back to me after numerous calls, texts and voicemails. Will just have to keep trying!!!

Working with the Director

I noticed I've mentioned a bit more about the stripping documentary but that's because there is a lot more pre production involved in this subject matter as Young and Pissed is more of a local documentary so pre production isn't as complex as finding strippers. There has been a lot of effort put into the script and shot lists and  all the paperwork is up to date for when the filming begins for the stripper doc so it's all go when the green light is there.

However, the young and pissed documentary has gone through a couple of changes in its storyline and is still in need of a catchy title. Today I received a script, which I'm glad about because now I can storyboard the rest of the shots needed but would have preferred receiving this after the pitch. At the moment the shots needed at the interviews are discussed with the director whilst setting up, and the script is basic so I've had to rely on the director on the day. I've started to build a visual storyboard of what I would like to shoot. But I will have to use my creative side and what we have discussed in conversations during shoots to start building up what I think the director wants. I think this documentary needs to have a longer script soon and ideas of shots to help me out and get the best out of this concept.

Behind the scenes!

This weekend we were given the opportunity to see behind the scenes in Aardman animations, and the BBC programme Andy's Wild Adventures. This gave us the chance to see how a programme is made and the work that goes in to get each shot.

On Friday we got to meet the crew that filmed Andys Wilds adventures. We were introduced to John Miller who is the director, by the set designer Keith who was the one that arranged for us to join them for half a day. Whilst on the course we have seen how a director works on location but not in studio so it was interesting to see. The shoot we were there for was the filming of Marine Iguanas. Andy who is the presenter of the show had to do a lot of takes when using props that didn't seem to work, get sprayed by a water pistol to represent iguanas spraying him and put his hand in a tank of water to give a realistic representation of picking up seaweed from the water bed. It was interesting to see how much green screen was used, and even the props for him to walk on or touch were green. Whilst filming they put the backdrop that would be on in post production on the screens so the actor could see where he would be placed. Storyboards were used to help define what shots had been done, and computers were in the studio to play back the recorded material. All of this showed the organisation that had gone into the production to get the shots in time.

On saturday, we got a quick tour of one of the smaller Aardman studios. It was empty because no one was working, which meant we got to see the sets and where they make the characters without disturbing filming. Paul, who works in advertising there gave us the tour. She showed us the ship they had built to make the new film The Pirates In an adventure with Scientists. This ship was bigger than I expected, it's very hard to work out the size ratio of the props, it was a lot taller than us and width ways again taller than us. She showed us the details that go into making the set, from carpets painted green to represent grass, props made for everything you can imagine from bread rolls to clothes on a washing line. The one thing that surprised me was the amount of lighting they used for each sets, Paul explained that they had to use so much light because they needed to light small sets and characters to prevent harsh shadows.

The weekend has opened my eyes more to the professional environment of the studio, as this is something we haven't really covered yet on our course.