Editing Process: An Apple A Day...

Editing of the 5 minute film clip was done using software called iMovie for the Mac computer, although the main editor had issues with the use of this software the overall finished product turned out better than expected. We started off by uploading all of the footage we had filmed over the last three days. This was a very time consuming process which ended with some footage being lost, however we overcame this problem by putting extra time into the download process and uploading the footage which was lost again. After planning out the transitions and editing effects we wanted to use, we then placed the footage in the order our storyboard had imagined it to be and slowly edited it together to make it flow and have a storyline to the documentary. The process of splicing the shots together to integrate them into a story was easier than expected, iMovie displayed new editing ways, which helped the documentary run smoothly. There were some issues with the final processes of the editing, where the end footage used of 'Becca' telling us about her favourite apple product, wasn't to a high enough quality due to the light in the room used, however this was just changed by the use of different footage. Another situation occurred just as we finished the movie, as we were uploaded the movie as a complete film, one of the editors moved the file into a different folder causing the folders to be switched around and placed into multiple different folders. Our technician helped us resolve this by finding the individual files and putting them back into one folder. Apart from those issues, the editing process for the documentary 'An Apple A Day ...' ran smoothly due to our planning before hand, the software was an issue to start with but through patience and extra time spent on it, this changed.

Production of An Apple A Day...

Filming went well for most of the shooting days, starting with the first day of shooting, which was carried out at Livvie's Nan's house. The main location was the kitchen and the back garden where the apple trees were located. The weather that day was dry and sunny, meaning the continuity throughout the film should reflect in each shot. We had one chance to get each shot perfect as the process of making the crumble can't be paused or stopped, unless we started the process again. Luckily each shot that was taken was perfect and exactly what we wanted and imagined in out storyboard. When interviews were take the sounds in the background would need to be simpler to that in the other shots considering the speech is being overlapped over the top of the acting scene. The second day of filming took place in and around the area of Churchill, England; making the connection of a rural set continuous throughout the film. Most shots went well, we had some trouble having access to film in certain locations because of owner rights to them, however we were able to find suitable locations where we could film our shots.
We had some issue at the location of the 'pub' where unneeded voice over was current when filming the walking scenes. Members of the public voices were heard over the top; which would have been alright if the conversation was spontaneous as it was seem natural, however the conversation was related to our filming process and we felt this would not fit in with the aim of the film. Third day of filming took place at Sixth Form where we found a unused quiet room where we could interview students with their personal view on the subject of apples. We wanted the ambiance to still be heard in the background of the interviews so we were able to do this by opening the window and having the interviewee stand on the outside, letting the natural sounds to be heard by the camera. Overall i feel that the filming process that was undertaken went really well and we were able to get the shots that were needed with little mistakes.

Shooting schdule

1) Sunday 24/10/10 Nailsea - Livvie's Nan's house * Apple Crumble process filmed * Interview with 66 year old women - about apples, how she sees them, what they mean to her and childhood stories.

2) Sunday 7/11/10 Churchill/Langford/Thatchers - Countryside * Opening scenes, apple tree, falling off - picks up apple. * Walking with apple to different points, on way to pub. Changing people at each point - handing over the apple. *Handing over apple for a pint at the pub. *Dishing out crumble outside. (maybe - might not include as won't have time in the 5 minute segement)

3) Monday 8/11/10 Locations previously discussed -school rooms for interviews * Day to catch up - anything that hasn't been filmed because of weather issues or lack of time.

Day 1 - Sunday 24/10/10

Day one of filming took place on location at Livvie's Nan's house, where the filming of the making of Apple crumble was the main subject position of this day. Unfortunalty i was unable to attend this filming day for personal reasons, however after receiving feedback from Livvie and Matt the day after, the day apparently went according to plan. As i understand the footage gathered was everything that was needed for that day, the participating actress was reliable and easy to instruct so footage gathered was relavant towards our storyboard, and overall the day went well.

The only difficulty that was mentioned was the unexpected arrival of visits disrupting the filming process, however this was quickly resolved and filming continued.

Day 2 - Sunday 7/11/2010

Day twos filming took place in the raw countryside of our neighbouring villages, Churchill, Sandford and langford in teh heart of Somerset.These locations were chosen for many reasons including easy access and the fact that one of our main subjects 'thatcher's cider' factory was located in the village of Sandford. Filming that took place went very well, we had a few minor hiccups with camera battery life, and citzens of the village felt we were tresspassing land, which was actually a public footpath. Again this was taken into our hands and we chose to move locations for the sake of disrupting neighbours of the village.

Filming went well and all footage needed was gathered in plenty of time, we manged to gather some extra establishing shots which could be used later on to fill time in the documentary if needed. Overall the filming day went well, with no major faults.

Day 3 - Monday 8/11/2010

Today we looked over the footage we had already gathered on the computer screen, to see which shots could be or needed to be re-filmed today. However looking over the shots, there were not major issue and lighting and in all of them seemed ok. After discussing our ideas with our teacher and showing him the footage, there was one or two shots which could be filmed again just to improve the sound quality as there is a slight hint of muffling.

This was quickly resolved and filming ended after an hour or two where we then uploaded the new footage to see the results, us and the teacher both concluded that the footage was much better and therefore we could start the editing process.

Planning your documentary

An Apple a day... What is your film going to be about? And is there a secondary meaning, or deeper focus? A 'Damn Nice Caff' was about the New Piccadilly and its closure, but also explored the life-story of the unnamed narrator. The film will explore the development of apple from tree to product. Also exploring how the apple can be used to create a contrast of products, ours being Cider and Apple Crumble, two completely different products in context to generation, usage and age range. The documentary will also include a deeper meaning, using a British product which everyone some day in their life will come across and shows how different generations interrupt the apple ranging from the social use (alcohol) to a more domestic use (food). What is it that makes you personally interested in the subject? It is my home town and current location's main fruit and product which is made in North Somerset, living directly near to a apple orchard and Thatchers cider company, it is a great interest of ours to explore the meaning and usage of something so local to us, giving us the knowledge and location for this type of documentary. What sort of logistical hurdles will you have to overcome? Such things as weather conditions will play a big part of the documentary. Being in the month of November now, one day it could be hammering it down with rain and the next it could be clear sky, or even snowing. This continuity error could play a big part in keeping the film in sync and making it flow, if the weather changes or doesn't look the same of the camera's screen then this could stand out the fact that each scene was not filmed on the same day. Advertising is also a part that could be a challenging hurdle whilst making this film. This is due to the fact that one of our main areas of filming will be of the Thatchers companies surrounding, we will have to make sure no advertising of any sort of the companies name is including in any shot, as we do not have the legal rights to contain the 'Thatchers' name in the documentary. The opening hours of different locations needed for the documentary could effect the time of day we can film different sequences and we will have to keep in mind which scene is coming before which, this is so the day light doesn't suddenly go from daylight to getting dark, back to bright daylight. This will have to be considered when writing up the shooting schedule. Your documentary is part of a longer programme - how long will it be? what is the specific segment? what will come immediately before and after? Our documentary will last around 5 minutes long, this is because it will only be a section of a longer documentary. In reality, if we were able to create the full documentary then the running time will be much longer and around 35 minutes long. The specific segment of choice will be taken from near the end of the film and is part of a continuous conclusion to the film. Scenes before the extract will include similar locations and carry out the rest of the understanding and different relations of an apple. What channel is your documentary going to go out on? Is it part of a strand (i.e story ville, cutting edge) or a standalone film? What other documentaries will it resemble? What time of day will it be shown? This film is suited for more of a educated adult audience, who would have a general interest in this film and the meaning behind it. Therefore we see this documentary being on either Channel 2 or a documentary themed channel like BBC 4. Whether the film is a stand a long film or part of a strand, that is a whole other conversation between the other member's of my team. At this point in time we are undecided as there are many other possibilities to make it part of a strand but whether the film had interest from viewers and whether there would be a chance to produce more. Although this is our thoughts, at the moment i would see this to be a stand alone film as the subject of apples is limited for discussion, and we feel that the documentary would include all of this. I think this documentary will resemble nature programs such as A Damn Nice Caff, where it explores the tradition of Britain. The middle of the day when adults have arrived back from work, will be the perfect time to present our documentary to the public on television. Will your film be reflective, classical, experimental? Is it a film about a process (glass eye), or a journey (My new brain), or a discovery, or more observational (a damn nice caff)? Our film will be mainly observational being reflective to the film a damn nice caff, but it could and might have elements of a journey documentary as the film takes you through the journey about an apple and the different process' of an apple, what you can make it into, how they are produced, who eats these products and so on. I think the film will be following the apple like a person. Who is your target audience? Be as precise as possible. Our target audience will be adults, male and females, ranging from 40 years to 60 years, mainly focusing on adults who have time to spare and who have had kids, which have now grown up. This is because they will have more time to appreciate the British Apple and would be more interested in our documentary compared to a 20 year old.

Storyboard:

Below is our storyboard which was the first planning session we had to do with our final documentary product. The storyboard was sketched out and added with detailed discription of the shots and content which we can imagine will be in each scene. After constructing the first storyboard we felt we needed to add some colour and a wider discription to the text below each scene, this is why we came up with a new set of storyboards where the text is detailed, colour is added and some scenes changed, as our imagination began to broaden with ideas.

Click here to see the first storyboard:

Click here to see the second storyboard:

Discussion of clips & Sound

The clip i took interest in was taken from Winnebago man and represents and shows the moment when Jack Rebney meets his fans for the first time. It shows his reaction as being very suprised and his fans opinion on him isn't what he expected at all. He thought they would make fun of him, like the impression the views of the footage portrayed about Rebney. However Jack is very suprised to find out that this is not the case and they actually see Jack as an icon or idol. One fan even says they 'watch the footage whenever i'm sad, you cheer me up Jack'
The sound through out is very plain, there is little over the top music and mainly the use of the raw speech that is filmed along side the actions. I think they have chosen to do this to emphasis the tones used in the participants voices, this can reveal many interactions between Jack and his fans, showing a representation of a positive light.

Significance of documentaries

Documentaries can be used to create different impacts on it's audience, depending on the type of documentary, depends on the message that is trying to be portrayed. Take Winnebago Man, this documentary is a participatory film which is aimed at the fans of John Rebney, to show the true side of the supposedly 'angriest man on earth'. Its a great way to show the real side to someone who has been hidden from the camera for years since the piece of footage was leaked on YouTube. The footage showed Rebney as a very angry man, someone who couldn't control their temper, i know they say you should judge people on first impressions, but considering that was the first and only thing the public knew about Rebney, that image stuck in their mind. The documentary helps to present the truth about an Innocent old man who was just having a bad day. At the end of the documentary, Rebney feels strong enough to see his fans and present the real Jack Rebney, his fans are surprised by the Jack Rebney they meet and this documentary helps to give the 'angriest man one earth's' point of view.
The documentary 'My new brain' is a very moving documentary which is presented in a different way to 'Winnebago man' instead of the film maker being in the film, asking the questions and generating the content, 'My new brain' is presented by Simon, a 19 year old student who, whilst at Newcastle university, fell off a wall and damaged his brain. The film is made to make people aware of the dangers of drinking, and what can lead from this. It also helps the viewer to understand the ordeal the family went through and how hard it was for Simon to regain his life back to normal again. from everyday tasks like getting himself dressed, to going back to work. The documentary is very moving and gives students and anyone who drinks a reality check about when to say enough. The use of Simon himself to be the presenter and the subject makes the film more personal and draws the main attention of the subject and not the film maker finding out answers like in 'Winnebago man'

How is meaning created in experimental documentaries?

An experimental documentary is a non-standard form of film. The use of unusual and new forms of filming help to create a modern piece. An experimental documentary explores the abstract sides of portraying certain things; The use of hidden meaning behind the documentary helps to create a meaning and understanding for the audience who are watching it. many documentaries try to add an experimental side even if the genre is not experimental. This could be by either using new technologies or going further into the documentary by adding a new interesting subject or new edits, filming techniques and locations. Its all about creating a timeline of situations where they link together and help to create a story or persona where the shots link in with each other.

Comparison between classic and experimental documentaries

Classic and experimental documentaries, the differences that show the development in television documentaries can be shown through the comparison of the two products. The experimental documentary being 'Cows' and the more classic documentary being 'A damn nice caff'. When looking at the work of the experimental documentary 'Cows' you can see that they don't tend to follow the rules of a documentary, its experimental, the use of different camera angles and filming techniques, like being surrounded by 'Cows' shows a new way of capturing the image they are trying to portray.
On the other hand, Classic documentaries tend to follow the rules of making a documentary, using standard equipment, camera angles and filming techniques. 'A damn nice caff' uses sound overlapping to create a busier enviroment and mid-shots and high-angle shots to make transitions during the film. It also focuses on keeping the real surrounding sounds that are heard in the cafe, keeping the realistic and traditional way of creating a documentary still visible. Whereas 'Cows' puts emphasis on the abstract view the documentary is trying to portray by using new techniques and over the top music, giving the small subject a broadened representation.

Analysis of 16 and Pregnant

16 and Pregnant, not an age where most women turn into mothers, but for this documentary the main subject is young mums and how they cope trying to raise a child whilst being a student and or having a job. The documentary is a observational and expository, this is because the film maker isn't shown on or off camera and the only voice over used is from the persons being filmed. It almost seems to be that the film maker isn't included at all and that the young mums are telling the viewers directly about their lives, adding their own voice over to the TV program. They use cartoon effects for writing and story telling, catching the viewer up with previous events that have happened in the show. The series episodes are split into different sections where they have 3-4 young mums showing their life to the camera's, each story has similar problems but the outcomes are different. The use of close up shots when the mums are feeling the strain of having a child, show the emotions and reveal how hard it is for them to juggle life. Some music is used at different parts, the music used usually reflects on the mood and happenings going on in that scene. Overall the TV documentary is different to a film, as it documents more than one person's life, compared to My New Brain where the subject was Simon and his accident and that was it, this way you can compare them and how they handle situations that are brought upon them. I think the excluded film maker is important to the documentary as if he was included it would seem as if it wasn't real, and set up. Leaving them out, gives us a sense of realism and as if we are directly watching the subject.

My New Brain Documentary

My new brain, explores the difficulties, of a 20 year old man, who fell off a 20ft wall which incidentally caused damaged to his brain,of recovering after the accident. From start to finish you instantly feel sorry for him and sympathise what has happened and his recovery process. Whether he is in rehab or back at home with him family, he is still trying to learn the basics skills, which once were easy things which never used to face him. This documentary is different to the 'Winnabago man' it's more of a observational documentary as the film maker is out of the shot and seems no where to be seen. The film is purely filming and following Simon and his family and how his recovery process goes. The use of a tracking shot for most of the film, makes you feel as if you are personally following Simon on this journey to recovery. Also the use of abstract scenes when he returns to Newcastle (where the accident took place) makes that scene deep and emotional for the viewer to watch. Both films seem to make the viewer feel sorry for the characters and make you want to carry on watching, to see the end result, as you feel you are now part of the film. Simon goes through many challenges that once before where everyday things that never bothered him. When he returns to his job, the camera steps back allowing Simon to take control of the scene, making it look as if the camera isn't there and adding sympathy to the scene. Personally i felt as if i wanted to go and help him serve the dishes, as it seemed as if he was on his own. I was shocked to see a fast recovery from Simon and how his family thought about the situation, they kept referring to the 'old Simon' as if a part of him was always going to be lost. Simon knew what happened to him and that he would never go back to the way he was and i think this reality made the viewer feel as if they knew Simon and were urging him to be happy and get better as soon as possible. Overall i feel that the film maker wanted you to feel for Simon and wanted you to follow his journey to recovery as if you were a part of his life, so you could experience and see the reality of mistakes that can change your life.

Below is a link to the trailor:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d7PK49BdME&list=SL&has_verified=1

Introduction to Documentaries: Winnabago man

Winnabago man, a documentary which challenges the effect of cyber-bullying and how one man was named the angriest man in the world, through one tape which ended up on YouTube.
The Participatory documentary follows the footsteps of the film maker himself and the length this one man goes to, to find the 'Winnabago man' and why he feels the need to meet this man.
The film starts half way through the documentary, almost as if to hook you in and wonder why and how he found Jack Rebney. It then jumps back to how he eventually found this person. Throughout the footage used of the angriest man in the world, you start to feel as if this man is violent, horrible and really is the angriest man in the world, but as you follow the 78 year old man, years after the famous video was published, you grow attached to this sweet, innocent man who felt he was targeted with this tape. You get a sense of why this man was never to be seen during the period of time from the tape incident to when the documentary was made. It's almost as if he doesn't want the camera's to film him because he think it will end up like another 'Winnabago man' story. Little does he know that actually he has fans that adore him, which you later understand in the film. The use of reconstruction of past events makes it easier for the viewers to understand and continuous close up of Jack Rebneys face during emotional scenes poses sympathy of him and shows a different side to the alleged angriest man in the world. The narrative is easy to follow and draws you in at the beginning, making you want to find out about the real Jack Rebney. The director being a part of the film makes it a participatory documentary, showing his interest and helping to explain the meaning and point behind making this film. Overall I feel that it is a great film and helps to explain and make Cyber-bullying and stereotyping an awareness. At the start of the film you laugh and wonder why this man is so angry but come the end you feel sorry for him and realise that this is a real person who has feelings and because of this tape, feels he can't be himself anymore, it's a very moving film.

Below is a link to the trailer for the film:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dRQtD-DL9k

Pyromania - Final Cut

Below is the final cut of our media film, that Matthew and I created for our coursework. Although there were issues surrounding the post-production, filming and editing i feel happy with the final product and feel that our hard work paid off to create a thriller genre film which is fit for our target audience.

Pyromania - Evaluation

After the final editing of the film, pyromania, we created a evalution to explore the processes we have taken, the struggles we have had, the research taken out and all aspects that have gone into creating pyromania. The evaluation was undertaken to put an end to the project and the evaluate how we have done overall.

Evaluation Final - Media

Warp Film Research

Warp film production company, is an independent film company which specialises in finding new talent of directors and screen writers and helping them produce and fund there production piece. Mainly producing films and music videos they have created such productions like "This is England" and "Dead man running". During our research time we looked at Warp films for inspiration as they produce the low budget type films which we would be comparing our production piece too. One of the tasks we had to undertake was watching Warp Film's production of "This is england", I learnt a lot from watching this film and researching it as they tried to use as much free materials they could. For example they bought cheap cars on Ebay and then refurbished them, this made there budget of a lower grade and showed us that you can produce a descent film.
Warp films in being funding itself by NESTA, an organisation funded by the national lottery and the goverement. NESTA was set up by parliment in 1998 to influence young new talent into getting there work produced and viewed by the world. Warp films used Optimum release to distribute the film "This is england". The film company links up with new talent and existing talent that can help them to produce a indepent film.
After researching warp films i found out that the company has done a lot for new talent and has help create a new sense of realism in their films. The audiences that would watch the films produced by warp films are well educated middle class people who would be interesting in the effort that had been made to make this film.

Music- Pyromania

The creation of the music took place by useing Sibelius 6, the main creators of this were Matt and Rosie (a helper with knowledge of the use of this software), as i didn't have a large knowledge about the software, my input was mainly through discussion about what i felt worked well with each scene. The creation of the music was taken stage by stage, first of all by choosing the sort of instruments that created the sense of suspition and tension. Instruments such as drums, strings and flutes which all add emotion to the scenes. Matt and Rosie tried to develop all ideas and create a piece which would best fit the thriller genre. We researched the type of music what we wantedto use buy listening the songs which sounded similar to the sound we wanted to create. Such as Sober by Kelly Clarkson and The Murder from Alfred Hitchcock's Syco. When listening the these pieces we felt that they would match the scenes that we had shot already, so during the creation of the music we kept those songs in mind. Matt and Rosie said that they didn't encounter any problems whilst creating the piece, and found Rosie's knowledge to be a very positive thing.
After gathering feedback from fellow students and audience memebers they gave us some positive feedback for the music but felt it didnt relate to the movie very well. They said that it was too techno style music which would suit a more fantasy or sci-fi piece, better than a thriller piece.

Post-Production:- Pyromania

Earlier on Matt and I discussed that because the filming was mainly my domain with Matt's input, the editing would me mainly Matt's domain with my input. Post production comenced with the upload of the video onto the computer, this ran smootly with no issues. We both decided to use Matt's own laptop due to the fact that we experienced problems using the school's software, when filming our prelim project.
Our main focus was the cut the scenes and blend them together, using some sharp cuts and fades. We also focused on controling the lighting as the lighting changed on different days and times, so the lighting had to altered to be the same for each scene. We then added titles on top of the flames to present the name of the thriller film.
The rest of the editing just consumed of cuts, sound and fades. Altogether the editing time period went really well, we were able to get what we needed to get done quickly with no hassle from the software serif movie plus X3 that we used. We did have one issue with the narriation that we used, which Matt created, which was that the sound wasn't completely clear. This meant having to re-record it but that didn't take much time. Overall the editing went well.

Filming: DAY TWO

Filming started on: 6th February 2010
Location: Weston-super-mare
Scene: 4 - 9

Day two of filming commenced on the 6th February 2010. Crew and cast that attended this event were Matt Hosgood, Livvie Salvage and Me (Paige Hiley). Livvie Salvage played the part of Laura in the scene nine. Matt Hosgood carried on playing the part of Charlie and I filmed the scenes with Matt's camera. The time was 4 0'clock when we met outisde weston Odeon to begin our shooting. We commenced by filming the establishing shot for the opening scene that was set in weston. We compared two car park top floors to see which had the best view of weston. Out of two choices, the NCP and Sovereign centre we chose to use the NCP car park roof because it had a better view of weston as it showed the centre of weston. The soveriegn centre carpark didn't have the city centre surroundings we were looking for, we could only capture houses and tops of buildings when we wanted to also show evidence of a busy area by looking downwards.
Considering it was a saturday we knew that the area would be packed with people, which is what we wanted to display in these scenes. We did have an issue with the people that were walking around, which was that at some points that got in the way of shots, it was also hard to run in between them when filming the tracking shots. In the end this worked out alright as it made the shot more interesting that just running in a straight line. We then found a recycle bin with bags of rubbish in it and by it, this was a great landscape for our scene where matt chucks his jacket away, and picks up a dustbin bag full of clothes. This ment that we could blend the bags in with the other bags with out it looking too placed. This was a success.
After filming the establishing shots and tracking shots we moved on to filming the speech scenes. We had to locate a subtable location for this scene as most of the toilets that were in weston, were used regularly. Matt suggested going to the winter gardens ones as they were not used as regularly, this worked well as we were only disrupted twice. Overall the session was a success, with hardly any problems.

Filming: DAY ONE

Filming started on: Sunday 17th January 2010
Location: Windmill Hill, Langford
Scene: Opening scene- 1 & 2

Filming took place on Windmill Hill in Churchill at 3.30pm, where we filmed the opening scene and the second scene. Me and Matt arrived at the location fully prepared with water, matches, tripod, dolly and the camera with two fully loaded batteries and a couple of films.
Arriving walking up to the hill, the sun was setting and we felt this would look great in the establishing shot. We only had one problem during this task which happened to be that one of the Li-ION batteries failed so we changed the battery and used a fully charged one for the remainder of the sessiom. After filming a number of establishing shots in different areas of the hill we commenced with filming the first scene that we see the character.
We located a camp fire area which we felt would be the right enviroment to film a scene that inclued the use of matches. Luckly it had rained the previous night sot he soil and ground was wet enough that we could drop the match on the floor, which create a realistic effect.
After filming from different angles, Matt and I filmed the scene from where we meet the character and he is very suspicious.
After using many different techniques to make sure we used the time well, we filmed all of the scenes with out much difficulty.
We did have a slight issue witht the wind that day as it kept blowing out the matches, but finally we were able to get the shot, with out cutting the time sequence down.
Overall the day went really well, it only took roughy an hour to get all the shots and some extra ones incase we want to add them in to fill the time frame up.