DOCUMENTARY UNIT
In this unit we are creating our own documentaries, due to COVID they have to be made at home, using our own equipment. On this blog page I have logged each stage of my work.
W/B- 15/02/21During half term this week, I have focused on collecting clips and pieces of film for the documentary. This has definitely been my favourite stage of the project so far. I can see my idea go from a storyboard, to a finished product! Collecting Clips Most of my film is going to be in the style of a desktop documentary, thus meaning that it won't physically be filmed by me, but instead screen captured and edited by me. Now that I am developing the idea of how loneliness in COVID effects mental health, I wanted my first clips to be personal to peoples stories of how they have felt during lockdown. After getting the appropriate release forms signed and completing the risk assessment, I asked a group of people to describe how isolation has made them feel in three words. Every single person I asked said loneliness- so these clips feel very appropriate to use and would work well for an introduction to my film. After gathering clips, I realised that when reaching out to people I didn't specify the orientation of the videos. Therefore some of the videos I received where portrait, rather than landscape, the video portion of these clips are now useless as they wouldn't fit into the frame. To overcome this issue I will have to isolate the sound from the video and use photographs or relevant video clips with it.
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W/B- 08/02/21New Inspirations This week had started with me planning to gather clips, following my story board. However, midweek, I had a little bit of inspiration from something personal in my life and this made me re-think my idea and story board. Orignal VS New Originally my idea was to follow a series of stories of people who have experienced loneliness in different ways during lockdown- I wanted to do returning interviews with certain people. Yet now, I want to focus on the mental impact on loneliness and lockdown- I think this is more relatable and should be addressed more. This new idea came about after I recently became apart of a mental health non-profit. On the group page 'loneliness' is frequently used to describe how everyone was feeling, nearly every message discussing mental health mentioned how people where feeling lonely. Primary Research DISCLAIMER: These are screenshots I have taken to show as primary research, however, I have removed names and personal details to protect identities. After seeing these comments from real people, about their relationship experiences with loneliness during COVID, I think it is so important for mental health to be addressed in my documentary. I think it is important for me to adjust my story board now, to make the process of filming smoother, with my new ideas.
W/B- 01/02/21Release Forms After my research stage last week, I am now focusing on collecting release forms from people I am including in my documentary. Release forms are extremely important in film and photography, as a student it is good to get into the practice of them and understand their purpose. They are in place to protect you or your piece of work, from any legal action. I found a student release form template online, I then sent it out to everyone I wanted to use in my documentary to virtually sign. Risk Assessment Another crucial part of the planning stage is to complete a risk assessment. Risk assessments are put in place to assess any hazards you may face when filming. Due to the fact I am not filming on location or in the studio, this risk assessment is slightly different. My documentary is a desktop film, therefore my hazards are based around using the computers and online safety. Throughout the process I will be additionally addressing my health and safety booklet, in my this I have acknowledged computer and internet safety. Below, you will find my finished risk assessment for the project and the link to my H&S booklet.
W/B- 25/01/2021This week I have focused on researching and exploring the documentary style. This will help me when filming and editing as inspiration from others is always important to acknowledge to learn and grow. Free Talks and Tutorial Events Due to Covid, face to face teaching is not possible, therefore hundreds of thousands of teachers and lecturers all across the world have given students access to live talk and seminars. I was lucky enough to be told about a few of these amazing tutorials, relevant to documentary making. I have chosen to include this in my research to demonstrate the sheer amount of free resources available at this time. The first talk was with media artist, Kevin B. This live demonstration was all about the basics of desktop documentaries. A desktop documentary uses footage from the internet using screen capturing, rather than the traditional way of filming with a camera. I am planning on using footage from Zoom and Skype interviews, so this talk really helped me understand how I would incorporate that footage into my documentary. This chat was very relevant and I learnt a lot from it. Director Francis Lee, ran a live Q&A that I managed to catch this week. A lot of the conversation was not as relevant but it was without a doubt very interesting, giving me a clear insight in what life as a director or filmmaker was like. It was also very useful to hear from a sound designer. Sound is something I have not considered much in my film. A day in the life of Coronavirus Britain is a documentary that Channel 4 released not so long ago. It follows what the new normal is like for the UK. It is quite comedic, which I think in this particular time is very important, keeping things like this light and fun help people stay positive. After watching this program I am considering keeping my documentary light hearted, rather than deep and solum. Above I have linked the final part of the research stage, where I explored the website Short Of The Week.
Next week I am going to focus on collecting some release forms so I can get started with filming! After completing some important research I defiantly feel I have more direction, especially after watching the Channel4 doc, I have even gone back through and adjusted my story board to hint at more of a light hearted theme. W/B- 18/01/2021After outlining key features and themes in my doc proposal, I am ready to create a detailed story board, highlighting scenes and dialog that I want to include. To help me design my story board, I created a few sketches of scenes I want to include. Because I am a visual learner this helped me get my ideas down on the story board template on Word. For each frame I wrote a few words on what sort of sound and picture I would include. I also sourced some images from google, so I could visual picture some of the editing techniques I wanted to include. To view my final story board, please see the link below!
W/B- 11/01/2021Developing a Brief and Adapting to COVID-19 Rules This week we introduced our new brief, which is to film and produce our own documentary. Due to the on going COVID-19 situation, we have been adapting our brief to work around the new implemented lockdown. With these new rules, colleges and universities have moved to online learning for the foreseeable future, meaning our original brief; creating a documentary of any topic, in groups, using college tech, is now unachievable. As a group we have been working on a new brief, that includes working from home and filming on our phones. My Thoughts On The Brief and Preparing a Proposal At first this new brief seems slightly overwhelming, I feel out of my comfort zone working on a project that I have little knowledge about. However, it opens the doors for more experimentation and I am able to create a documentary that is personal and full of my own input. To begin the project I will need to create a documentary proposal, this will outline the theme of my film. By mind-mapping my initial ideas I feel I will be able to create a considered and well-thought-out proposal. Why I have Chosen This idea After creating a basic mind map, I choose an idea to develop on. Isolation alone is something I can relate to, as I am currently in lockdown living on my own, so I feel this is an idea that I feel commutable tackling. I also know a lot of people who are in the same position dealing with loneliness and have been affected, especially their mental health, therefore I feel I could get some good interviews to include. Below I have attached my finalised brief and proposal!
stage five - release formsRelease form are an important part of creating a piece of work. They protect the director from getting into any legal action over the work. I ensured to get release forms signed by anyone I wish to use in my documentary.
stage four - researchp r e v o u i s r e s e a r c h l i n k sFilming an Interview:
Basic interview techniques and learning how to navigate through Premier Pro. This has given me a clear idea of how to ask questions in an interview. Glossary of Terms:
Editing Research:
How each editing technique is used. This has helped me decide how I could incorporate different techniques when editing my documentary. Short Of The Week: I used the website Short Of The Week to do some in depth research. This website if full of short films and documentaries, by searching by my topic, Covid, I was able to find some very relevant and interesting pieces of work. The Procession This short film is a documentation of a high schools graduation and the ways they adapted to the guidelines. I really liked how they used the sounds from the footage, rather than adding music or non-diegetic sounds. This made me feel as if I was feeling the emotions of these students, it was very raw and emotional and I believe I may adopt this idea. This Is The Closest To How The Last Weeks Of March Felt Like This documentary is based on an immigrant student who is isolating alone. Loneliness is a topic that I want to tackle in my documnetry so I felt the cinematography and sound design was really useful to me.
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AuthorJasmine Victoria Morris Archives
March 2021
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