For
this module, we were asked to create two short films, one being a two-minute
poetic documentary, and other expanding on the poetics or narrative of the
documentary and exploring it further to allow the audience access to more
information and queries about that information, which was a 5 minute short
film. Within this evaluation, I am to reflect on the work given and completed
within this module, how it was scheduled and how the work has changed, the process
of creating works, what I’ve learnt throughout these processes and finally, how
my individual participation contributed to the final films.
The
two-minute poetic piece was created around the general world of ‘Morris
Dancing’, we wanted to use this documentary to open up the theme, show what
Morris is and the traditions they have, as well as the festivals and social
sides as well. To keep the piece poetic, we decided to focus mainly on the
dancing. Lucky for us, the documentary production was occurring at the same
time of a Morris festival, and we were therefore able to location scout and
adapt ourselves to the film shoot accordingly, and also meant we were able to
get a lot of footage, with lots of colourful characters and also be able to see
an audience forming around the dancers; it also gave us the chance to see how
the audience reacted to the dancing throughout the festival days.
I
did enjoy the production of this project, and feel we managed our time and
scheduling well. We organised ourselves as soon as we received the project
brief, and as we wanted to be creative, worked hard to bring the piece
together. Sometimes we ran into time trouble whilst balancing other projects,
however I feel, unlike past projects, we organised ourselves well and managed
to create a successful piece of work.
For
the pre-production stage of this project, we held many group meetings to work
on our ideas behind the documentary, talk about interview questions and how to
structure the piece as well as discussing times and lists of locations and
shoots. We also had an online group via social networking (Fig 1) where we were
able to talk at anytime about the project, which was helpful when people were
unavailable to meet. We first created the idea and the treatment for said idea,
and when we all approved of the final treatment and had presented this, we
decided to location scout. This was helpful (and as it was in the city centre;
easy to get to). We wanted to scout to ensure we knew where we could be to
capture the best footage, and what different angles would appear good in
different areas. After the scout, we also wanted to film at some practices of
the Morris Dance troupes and therefore our Producer, Alice, started contacting
different dancers for permission to film and interview throughout the process.
Luckily for us, this process run quite smoothly, we were able to contact a
number of groups and gain their permission of their contribution to our work,
which was excellent. Then came the shoots.
We
shot the practice footage throughout the week days and nights, travelling to
dance halls. We spent several hours at each location, and as Cinematographer,
feel we captured a large amount of footage, however after shooting these
practices, we noticed that footage quality wasn’t very good, and unfortunately
wasn’t very usable. I feel that this could have been avoided if we’d arrived at
the location earlier and had time to set up properly, but at the same time feel
that I should have ensured that the footage quality was okay before continuing
with the shoot. We feel that this footage wasn’t very good due to lighting. We
wanted to use lighting within this location, however they were too big and in
the way of the practices, and it was high risk that the dancers would knock
into them, so we decided that we couldn’t use them for these locations, which
was disappointing.
The
festival footage was captured over two days at the weekend. Once again, we were
lucky to have great weather and therefore good lighting for the camerawork on
the day, as well as avoiding weather problems with production. I feel the
festival shoots were the most successful. With two cameras, we managed to
capture a range of footage from different shot angles and distances, which we
hoped would add interest to the piece.
I
feel that as a whole, this was quite a successful production. I feel that as a
group, we worked really well and were very organised and came up with creative
ideas. However, I do feel that we could have explored the idea further, to add
depth to the piece, but due to time constraints didn’t have the opportunity. I
feel that the poetic piece was successful; it could have been improved by being
able to reshoot practices, but once again ran into time problems; however, the
piece was smooth and creative and I enjoyed the process.
This
project process as taught me a range of skills in both group work and my
individual contribution. For this project, I chose the role of Cinematographer,
therefore it was my responsibility to capture all the footage that would be
used and edited in the final piece as well as Producer responsibilities such as
creating documents (schedules and equipment lists). It was also my
responsibility to capture camera logs of the shoots. I feel I managed this role
successfully. When it came to the shoots, we had two camera set ups, therefore
Lewis (Editor) assisted by manning the other camera, which was great for the
amount of footage we were collecting for the editing process. I enjoyed this
role, as I felt I was able to control what I was capturing, and could picture
how it would fit into the main piece. I find that within productions, I like to
manage shots, and ensure that they are framed and composed correctly, and by
taking on the chosen role, I was able to do this freely and managed to capture
some good footage for the work. Some of the time it was hard, as I’d want a
second opinion on a set up, but due to a little crew, Lewis manning another
camera and Alice managing sound and sometimes dancing herself, sometimes it was
unavailable, however I feel I managed to overcome this and work successfully in
my role.
This
production has also allowed me to learn further regarding cinematography
itself. During the production, I purchased a new DSLR camera, and as I was
studying Cinematography at the same time, I was able to expand skills in camera
use and equipment use, such as the Steady Cam and shoulder rig to allow steady
movement throughout, rather than relying on static shots by setting up cameras
on tripods. At the beginning of the semester, I was quite new to the
Cinematography experience. I’d used the equipment previously, but only the
basics, however this project allowed me to explore different camera techniques
and styles and therefore adapt these skills to create a theme and creative look
within our Morris Dancing project. During the editing process also, it allowed
me to revisit some skills when I colour corrected the project. Even though this
wasn’t my responsibility, I enjoyed doing it as it revived my editing skills
and therefore allowed me to keep everything I’ve learnt useful rather than
forgetting my previous module.
By
working within a group, I’ve also learnt about working with others. Usually in
projects, I like knowing and having some control on each step of the process,
as I like the organization, and I feel I had this within this project. As there
were only three of us participating within this project, we decided to share
the director role, and therefore all had input on each section of the work,
which I think worked great, we were all involved from start to finish and
allowed interpretation from each persons view, rather than in previous projects
were I’ve been stuck working on my own opinion where I’d have liked other
peoples views to be included. It allowed me to work on my own and others’
motifs rather than me setting all of them, with allowed group contribution as
well as individual input.
Overall,
I feel that the poetic piece was successful. We worked well as a team and
ensured all problems were solved and the final film reflects this. I also feel
we worked well in our roles and creatively worked together to create a unique
piece.
The
5-10 minute project was to explore the subject further. We decided to focus on
one dance group called ‘Boggarts Breakfast’ and why they did what they did, and
follow them in practice and festivals.
I
was quite pleased with the finished film. I feel that it explored the dance
troupe, however could have had more depth, or more back-story. As we filmed the
majority of the footage beforehand, I feel that I had more time to reflect my
work previously. For the second section of this assessment, I only had to film
once more, which was another festival style shoot. Being the only one there to
shoot, it was enjoyable to control my shots and try get close and personal with
the troupe. We also managed to get a vox pop with some audience members (fig 2)
however they weren’t all very usable which was disappointing. However I feel
the footage was a good contribution to the finished work. By managing our time
well, I was able to ensure the written part of the module was kept up to date
throughout the process as well as ensure that the other members of the group
were okay, and when needed, was able to help in different processes.
In
regard to making this film, we started by creating call sheets and schedules
for the last shoot we needed, as well as interview sheets and questions, and
the shoot took place in one day during a one-day gathering. I focused on
boggarts, getting ‘random’ footage, which wasn’t planned which worked well as
cutaways through the 7-minute piece we created.
As
stated before my contribution was once again the Cinematography. This time I
unfortunately didn’t have much input into post-production due to other
deadlines, however managed to review the project a few times for input. I feel
that as a whole (the module assessment) was successful and I enjoyed the
experience. I learnt a range of technical and working skills, such as
cinematography equipment and techniques, such as steady cam, and shutter rates,
and also used my editing skills to colour correct.
I
feel that for this project, we worked well as a team and all contributed evenly
to create a creative work. We problem solved together and helped each other
throughout and I feel that there wasn’t any arguments or problems within the
group.
The
whole module has allowed me to gain experience in documentary itself, as we
only explored it to basic level in a previous project, and also my technical
skills in regard to my DSLR camera, the steady cam, the shoulder rig equipment
and also I had some experience with the sound equipment. It has definitely
broadened my knowledge of documentary itself and that the ‘process of making a
documentary is one of discovery, and like writing a story, you follow a lead
and that leads you to something else and then by the time you finish, the story
is nothing like you expected’ (Shatner, W) and also how important audiences are
in regard to documentary, and how you want to portray the subject. It was an
insightful module and I enjoyed my role as Cinematographer and Director and
feel that it was overall successful in creating the film and learning new
skills and techniques, and if I could revisit the project, I would love to
spend more time deepening the story of the Morris dancers.
Word
Count: 2000
Reference:
William Shatner ‘Online Quote’
