Drama and Documentary Evaluation

Our Creative Media Project tasks in the past two semesters have consisted of a documentary based project and a drama based project, the second semester being devoted to documentary while the third semester was devoted to drama. Working in groups of six, we each took on different roles for each project, developing all our individual skills in at least two different areas of film making, the options for roles having been director, producer, camera operator, editor, sound recordist and sound editor. Throughout Semester Two, our project was to create a documentary that was based on an aspect of Liverpool. In our group, we decided on two different ideas that we would then propose to our tutor. The first of these ideas was basing it on a Beatles tribute act that we had done some research on who performed at the Cavern Club, hopefully gaining an insight in their day to day life as well as why the Beatles inspired them. The second of our ideas was to discuss the Hillsborough disaster, looking at the aftermath and how Liverpool has moved on from the incident. Unfortunately, due to the fact that our contacts for the first idea would not reply to us, we had to instead work on our second idea that the group was slightly less enthusiastic about. However, we found various contacts that would be interesting to interview in relation to Hillsborough that sparked far more interest, even though in the end only one of these contacts would reply to our calls, this being the Hillsborough Justice Campaign. My role in the project was that of camera operator, meaning that I was to take control of setting up the camera equipment and making sure that the footage would come out in a fairly good quality; this required checking the white balance and lighting so that there would not be glare on the footage as this would be difficult to remedy in editing. We encountered a few problems when it came to filming out interview; we had brought in various lights, though these proved to be quite unhelpful as the room was far too small to house both the lights that we had brought without creating various shadows that would have been distracting to the audience. With the lights off, however, we found that the room could look extremely dark because we were forced to have the curtains drawn to a certain point so that we avoided glare on the photographs that were behind our interviewee. These problems, however, were worked around, and at the time were unavoidable due to the fact that when planning the interview, we had been unable to see the location beforehand and so were unaware of any problems that we might have faced on the day of filming. If we were to redo this project, I think that it would have been in our best interest to have at least seen pictures of the room that we would be taking the interview in or have chosen our own location. However, this is something that we would only have done in hindsight as the location chosen for us was the Hillsborough Justice Campaign building, which was appropriate for the interview. Considering the size of the building, though, I feel that I and the crew on a whole did a rather good job of manoeuvring ourselves in a way that got us fairly good shots without having to change anything within the building too greatly. For example, in the reception of the building there were various posters and pictures that we wanted to get footage of, though the area we had to film in was extremely small and so we had to remove the tripod. Despite this, the footage gathered was of fairly good quality and though most was not used in the final cut of the documentary, it was still considerably successful. I believe that, were we to do this project again, I feel that it would be more beneficial for me to make more contact with the director about their ideas and image for the piece of film. This would help me to take more initiative in creating the shots for different scenes, whereas throughout the project I found myself needing correcting a few too many times. This would have inevitably saved time for the crew and would have meant that I had been able to input more into how the film looked instead of simply operating the camera. While I also believe that it might have been beneficial for the director to take initiative in this, I do not think it would have been as helpful to my learning and would not have helped me develop as much as a camera operator as if I had made the effort myself. I also think that I would have quite liked the opportunity to experiment with different camera types, using a DSLR as well as a Canon simply for ease of movement that would have been required in some shots, as well as simply using this as a chance to expand my knowledge of how to use various cameras, rather than learning how to simply use the Canon. This would be something I would like to mention to the director in future projects if I were to take the role of camera operator again, and would like to gain the chance to expand my knowledge in this area. Our third semester project was a five minute long drama, for which I took the role of editor. We had originally decided on two different proposals; the first proposal we had in mind followed a man named Danny who was a homeless busker, visited by Death. He is granted one last act before he dies, and he decides to request the name of a woman who has been civil to him for some time, speaking to him like a normal person and giving him change when she could. The second proposal we had in mind was about a deformed man who works in a coffee shop, suffering through taunts in day to day life. After accidentally spilling coffee on one of his customers, he is heavily taunted for the act and decides to quit and move on. We decided to go with the first proposal as it was an idea that we all had a clear image in our heads for, and also did not require the effort in prosthetics that the second idea would require- none of us were proficient in this sort of make up, and so we decided it would be best to ignore the idea. I feel that I had managed to progress somewhat in discussion with the director so that I knew before editing roughly what would be expected, therefore saving us time in the eventual editing. This turned out to help quite a bit, as the group was scheduled to film early on but we were halted due to the fact that our actor did not turn up on the day he was expected. This meant that we had to push back filming by another few days, this being a period of time that we had intended to be editing the film, leaving far more time to sort out sound than we were eventually left with. When it came to the editing, I believe that I did a fairly good job considering the time restraints that we had come across. Though the first draft of the film was fairly loose, I believe that this was fixed rather well in re-edit sessions, cut down to a point where the film made far more sense and included less of the extensive walking scenes that were seen originally. I also feel that I have gained a far better grasp on the effects available on Final Cut Pro, as I got to grips with Colour Correct. This turned out to be quite a successful experimentation as some of the lighting in the scenes filmed at a pub and the abandoned factory were quite dark, and the added effects brightened them to a point where you could see the actors clearly without distorting the light to a point where it looked false. If we were to do this project again, one of the first things I would do would be to take notes on shoots so as to gain better knowledge of how things would be edited, as while I had gained quite a good idea from discussions with the director, some of the issues that we had faced with trying to extend certain scenes to accommodate dialogue could have been fixed had we taken more thought as to the timing of the shots. However, this was in part because of the fact that on the day of filming, the crew was quite rushed due to the fact that the location we had originally booked for filming had cancelled on us, meaning that we had to find somewhere else rather rapidly and film within a short period of time; the process was therefore rushed slightly, and we were not able to put as much concentration in as we would have been able to had we been able to use our original location and had as much time as needed in this building. Despite this, I still did not take particularly detailed notes or ask many questions throughout the process of filming and this would have saved more time, this being something that in the long run would have severely helped out with time keeping as we were left with very little time for the sound design to be created, which created pressure when it came to both the design and fixing any audio issues that came about with the speech of the actors. I also believe that if I were to take the editing role in a future project, I would like to have the chance to experiment more with the effects available on the editing software, as the success with Colour Correcting on this drama piece has interested me in how far post-production can change the film footage, either for the better or to simply see what does not work. This would be a particularly interesting way to learn more about the editing process, and I think that it would develop my skills which would be useful in the future, as I would be able to tell how to improve the quality of a clip, or simply make it more attractive, quickly without having to waste time if we were to face the same troubles with time keeping that we faced during the third semester. Throughout both projects, the most important lesson I feel that I have learnt is the importance of talking to other members of the crew so as to better understand the different interpretations of whatever film we are creating. This way, no matter what job I have on the film, I will better be able to develop my own ideas about how to tackle the task which will in the end save time and develop my skills in whatever area I am working on. I have however managed to develop skills in the areas that I have worked in; I feel that my confidence in using a camera has grown, and I have managed to develop better abilities in Final Cut Pro that I did not have before editing our drama piece.