500 Word Evaluation Of Documentary. March 17, 2010
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I feel that overall our documentary went well. Although we had some issues with filming and location, overall it seemed to come together nicely. A main problem that we were faced with was when we were not allowed to film in the school. This posed as a real problem as we had only planned to shoot there, and did not really have any other alternatives at that time. Originally we were going to capture footage of the children Grace taught, with the camera regularly panning back to her. However, as this changed we discussed for a long time (probably too long) where else to film, and began to get worried. I think for next time we will defiantly have a number of back up plans to go for in case one falls through, such as what happened here. I also think that we should have gained permission to film at the school, before assuming we could and thus basing a huge part of our documentary on that location.
I feel that my unique contributions to the group were that I helped research into Grace’s professional life, as well as try to scout locations, help with filming during the interview, and photographing some ‘behind the scene’ shots throughout. I helped edit as well, but not as much as I should have. This was due to the fact that I felt very unconfident with Avid, and did not want to mess up our first documentary. Next time however I will be much more hands on with the editing part of the task. The task has certainly made me more confident to talk freely to people you don’t know, such as Grace. It has also given me good experience of how best to interview someone to get the greatest responses and how to make them feel comfortable enough to share their life with you.
An element of this documentary which was quite challenging was getting everyone together at the same time! As we all had separate modules to attend and at one point all went home for a weekend, it was sometimes tough for everyone to get together and share their ideas. Also we found that as we had to keep on changing the location of where to film, the story grew weaker. The story is originally about what motivates Grace to teach, but as we couldn’t film in the school we found it hard to get appropriate clips to go with what Grace was saying. Overall I found this task quite fun to do; I enjoyed working in my group and made the most of the project. If I could change anything I feel I would have made it so that we definitely knew what we wanted to get out of the interview, rather than going there semi-prepared, not fully knowing what to ask or what direction Grace would take us in. We worked well together though, and all listened to each others’ ideas and decided communally what to do at each stage of the film making process.
Research Screening and Distribution of our Documentary. March 7, 2010
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Film Screenings:
Once my film has been created, I will need to think about where to begin to show it. As stated on the task sheet, I must consider Broadcast, the Internet, Festivals, Screenings and Cinema. As our film is about someone who lives and works in Coventry, I feel that the film would acheive better acclaim if it were to be screened in, or around Coventry. Since searching the internet for places to show the movie, once of the first things I came across looked perfect. Its called “Thursday Flickers”. The website states that it is “A great opportunity to see some unique short films made by local and emerging film makers. Screenings include work from video artists, short-film makers, animators, motion-graphic designers and artists using video installations” Looks perfect! And all you need to do is email them with your movie and they’ll screen it for you. This is defiantly one to consider for after the film has been finalised.
Thursday Flickers: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/corporate/EventDbP.nsf/f6ab78b06175d48580256ac0005b5d11/9dbac17c83af8c7d802576b00041cd24?OpenDocument
I also discovered this website, The Smalls. The Smalls is holding a competition for “your work screened before film and television executives, see your name celebrated in Variety and show the entire entertainment world your capabilities” This would be a great placed to get it screened on an international level.
Internet:
A place on the internet that I have found is http://www.ukstudentfilms.co.uk/. This one looks perfect just by reading the title! “UK Student Films is an online promoter & showcase for Independent Films made in the UK, specialising in short films produced by UK students and aspiring young film makers.” Reading the site it seems that they are very serious about what they do, and certainly don’t just upload any old video. It would be great to be able to get our video onto this website, and it would certainly get a lot of publicity for short films in the UK.
An example of a video shown on UkStudentFilms.co.uk
There is also obviously YouTube that I could use. However this wouldn’t really be getting my film out there and noticed. More would it be just my video uploaded to the website, and not gain any publicity or acknowledgement.
I also found “Film Forum West Midlands” this site offers a lot of useful information on where to go and watch independent film screenings around the West Midlands. It also allows you to upload your own video. This is good because it is like screening the film in our area,as most of the people on the thread will be living in the West Midlands, but without actually showing it at a venue.
Festivals:
There seem to not be as many festivals to show a short student film as I was expecting. However I have found something that if uploaded to here, would probably make it much easier to get into a festival. http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/submit/ In order for the film to be uploaded, you must submit it online. A group of professionals then assess the film, and decide on weather it is suitable to be placed onto the website.
A great (and very optimistic) place to show our film would be at the London Short Film Festival This is the main place in England where all the most successful short films are show. However it would take quite a lot more publicity to be able to get our short documentary shown here…
Broadcast:
I’ve been having great difficulty finding any way of getting the film onto television. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of, let alone seen a TV programme where they show low-budget short films. The only thing that is sort of relevant is FilmLive TV- which is an “international Filmmakers Web TV Network based in Edinburgh” This is relatable because they have managed to get a video that was on FilmLive TV into the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
I have recently discovered Channel 4′s “Three Minute Wonder” Where by you make a three minute documentary and then submit it online. So far so good! The description on the site says “3 Minute Wonders are commissioned as a series of four shorts from budding new directors who haven’t yet had the opportunity to make a film for broadcast TV.Each week is thematically driven. The films are connected by subject, but they also have to be able to stand alone and be understood in isolation.” I believe realistically this is one of the closest things we are going to be able to get to Broadcast.
Question 1- Five Possible Screenings for my film
1) The first place that I would screen it would be online- specifically on Ukstudentfilms.co.uk. This is because the audience would be of quite knowledgeable short film experts, and would gain a lot of respect within the film community if screened here. In terms of how it would help our profile it would probably make us more well-known and involved with film making on a more professional level. The criteria for the film is suiting because the Uk Student Films take a large number of documentaries, and as a special needs school teacher is quite an un-discovered person in the world of film, it could prove popular.
2) The second place I would choose to screen this is at the Thursday Flickers in Leamington Spa. The audience for this would be suitable because the documentary is of someone in Coventry it is local to where the film screening is and thus the audiance may relate to it more. Profile wise it may not help as much as if we screened it online, but may get us more noticed within the film community of Warickshire. The criteria fits because they accept all sorts of different films and are keen to put on student movies/documentaries.
3) The third place I would screen it would be The Smalls website. Where as this is mainly a competition to get the film out into the world I would certainly be willing to upload it and give it a chance. If selected it would make a huge difference for our profile and would get us much more publicity. As for criteria i’m not so sure on this one, as it is an American competition its questionable about how interested the USA would be in seeing a film primarily set in the small English city Coventry.
4) I have just discovered another film screening possibility in Leamington Spa! The short films night “Roots to Shoots” which airs in the near future. This would be a great place to get our film, and seems very suitable for us. The description reads “We’re after media students and local film talent to come along and screen there work, don’t be afraid. If you want to be a filmmaker then get off your arse and screen to the world (well Cov and Leam), that you can do it!” Perfect! The audience for this would be perfect as they are expecting low-budget student films. Our profile would probably gain more credibility on a local level.
5) The final place that would be appropriate to screen our film would be somewhere that I hadn’t thought of as of yet, but is so obvious. The Ellen Terry building. Everything for this would be appropriate. The audience would be students watching a student film. Our profile wouldn’t be that much different afterwards, but would be more well-known throughout the media course. And the criteria fits because it would be our own screening! This is defiantly the easiest to do, but would want to do one of the others realistically, in order to get the film out on a more local or international level.
2) 50 Word Review of the film
As the film has not actually been finalised yet its pretty hard to write a review. I will write one properly after the film has been created fully, but will do one now based on how the documentary is looking so far-
The shots are quite standard, not visually stimulating. Content is good, lots of interesting dialogue from Grace. Need to film a larger variety of shots to keep the audience engaged. Music possibly needed in the background to accompany the audio. It’s easy to understand and we have a strong character.
50 words exactly!
Reflection 3 March 3, 2010
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Our previous plan to film in the school that Grace works at has not exactly gone to plan… We were told that we are not granted permission to film in the school. We must therefore now try and think of another idea of what to film in stead. My role in the group so far has mainly been camera work as well as asking questions and generally contributing all I can to the group, as is everyone else. I feel that everyone is working very well together and pulling their weight, especially now that the deadline is just over one week away. We are thinking that to replace what would have been the shots of the school, we will instead film Grace on her way to work, with the audio from her interview playing over the top. The plan at the moment is to get in contact with Grace again and ask her if we may film this weekend. However this may prove difficult as she may not be too keen having her weekends taken up by us lot! If this is the case we may have to film her during very early next week, although we will be very pushed for time if we do this.
As the documentary stands at the moment, if we were to use 3 minutes footage from the interview we have filmed, it would be interesting because of what she is saying, but not interesting visually. We know we must capture a lot more visually stimulating shots, as what Grace says is fascinating to hear, but the actual presentation on-screen, i must admit, is very boring.
Reflection 2 February 17, 2010
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As well as the filming going very well as stated previously, I felt I also needed to research a little background history on Special Needs teaching. As Grace has been difficult to contact recently I am still unsure of the name of her school. However my research has branched out into looking at special needs in general. I found that some of the duties special needs teachers perform include:
- teaching either individuals or small groups of pupils within or outside the class;
- preparing lessons and resources;
- collaborating with the classroom teacher to define appropriate activities for the pupils in relation to the curriculum.
- Meeting with other professionals, such as social workers, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and educational
- organising learning outside the classroom in activities such as community visits, school outings or sporting events. (This is largely what Grace does, and is shown in her taking the children to the launderette)
- assisting in severely disabled pupils’ personal care/medical needs.
- behaviour management. (Sourced from http://www.prospects.ac.uk)
After the feedback session my group and I realised we needed to film Grace in a much more interesting enviroment that suited her. The shot of her at her home was fitting, but we could tell much more of a story if we filmed her during an outing, or (with permission) at her school. We did possibly film too much of her for our first interview, as it was only 60 seconds long and we managed to get a whole tapes worth of footage! However when we go back to interview her again I think we will have better thought out and possibly more straight to the point questions, so we can get the exact thing we want without accidentally going off the track we wish for her to be on.
Me and Shaun setting up the Camera.
Grace- Clutching her cup of tea in fear.
Me- having a whale of a time on an insanely red sofa.
Mid interview of Grace.
60 Second Clip- The Filming. February 9, 2010
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We began approaching our subject- Grace, by having a phone conversation with her, conducted by Sam Davies. Sam asked her questions about her life and got into detail about what her job requires (special needs teaching assistant) and what she gains from it. During the phone conversation we got Grace’s address, found bus times and routes, and a few days later headed out to hers to make the clip! When we arrived at Graces we found it to be a little awkward. After having a few technical issues, such as setting up the tripod and making sure the sound was working, we began to think of questions to ask her. The interview started of very slowly, as we were unsure how to phrase the questions we wanted to ask, and she was unsure how to answer them- as well as feeling a tad uncomfortable with the large camera staring her in the face.
As the questions were quite vague we decided to let Grace tell us about her job and share stories in a very casual way. We interrupted her every so often with direct questions to answer, but apart from that she mainly told us a lot about her work life and what it involves. I felt this was very good, as the more she talked the more personal information we got. The use of letting her talk freely meant that she was completely able to discuss whatever she wanted about the job, and as she felt no pressure to answer a certain question she told us a lot of things that she possibly wouldn’t have brought up if we had structured the interview in a way which meant she had to just answer questions and not stray from them.
The day of filming was a very good success, with only 3 minutes remaining on the tape we got more than enough to use for the 60 second clip! Grace seemed sort of uncomfortable at the start, but after 20/30 minutes she got a lot more comfortable with us in her home and began to express herself freely openly discussing aspects of her life, both work and personal. For the actual filming of this we had the camera stationed on a tripod, and each of us altered the angles every so often, using a variety of slow panning shots and close ups. We also took photographs to document this interview. I feel that everyone has worked very well together as a team so far, each doing our share to make this a great documentary.
Character Chosen- Grace. February 4, 2010
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As we have discussed in the group, we have decided to choose Grace as our Coventry person to interview and make the 3 minute documentary on. After researching into her life we discovered she is a very interesting person and would be very suitable for this task. We found that not only is she a retro/gothic mother and special needs teacher, but also is a keen motorbike enthusiast! If that was not enough, she also takes part in Medieval reenactments! In fact she is getting married in a medieval dress she is making… awesome. We shall be asking her questions about why she does these things, and what motivates her to teach.
The main hook of the story will be on her teaching special needs children, however for the one minute interview we must present next week, we will possibly look at the other aspects of her life. This will give an introuduction into the character before the main interview is taken.
111 MC January 18, 2010
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Our first objective of 111mc was to find someone in Coventry to interview, and make a 3 minute documentary on. I began by going out and trying to find different members of the public that were willing to briefly share their backgrounds with me. One person that caught my eye straight away was Andy, who had set up a ‘Get the troops out of Afghanistan’ stall in town. I felt he could be a very interesting person to interview, as I assumed he would have strong political opinions, and also possibly had something personal against the war in Afghanistan. After talking to him for a while it was clear that he did have very strong opinions about the war, and it was something he felt very passionate about.fter As a result of this, I then asked him if he would be interested in partaking in the documentary. He agreed and gave me his contact number. The first possible candidate was found.
However, I did not want to stop here, and decided to go out with my group and find more people for the documentary, so we had a wide variety to choose from. Upon our outing we came across Grace- a somewhat ‘gothic’ spiky red-headded woman who worked in a special needs school. She certainly had a lot of personality, and happily agreed to being filmed (And, with permission, said there was a chance we could film in her school) Another person we found was Emma, the owner of a Casino in town. She could provide us with a very interesting insight into the world of gambling and share stories with us of people who have lost and won various amounts of money.
30 Second Video
For our task of making a 30 second video and then uploading it to Youtube I approached my subject and asked him when he was free to be filmed. However, due to having a busy schedule I could not get the time to film him, so instead I had a phone interview with him, and included some of the key moments of the conversation within my video.
For the final peice
The person I have chosen is deeply politically driven and demonstrates a strong belief of anti-war when discussing the matters at hand, them being the Afghanistan and Iraq war. He may have some personal connection with the war; possibly a loved one is out their fighting, although he did not divulge this information on the phone. When talking to him at first he seemed quite a hostile character, but as the conversation progressed he began to let himself talk more and more. He has quite a stern personality, and is firmly grounded in his opinions.
The pace of my documentary will be quite fast, a sit down interview with Andy compiled with stills of the war he is discussing and also pictures from the Coventry Stop the War Coalition appearing on screen throughout. The music used will be something quick as well, possibly from the genres Ska or Dub step. The documentary is not aimed to be an emotional rollercoaster, but more a positive one about the way people can help stop the war and get involved. This will make it quite different from other interviews regarding the war, which are all mostly negative and have no positive message of getting the public to help end it.
My target audience is quite varied for this piece. As my subject itself is around 40 he may have an appeal to middle aged people and older. The film is also aimed towards students and young people, in order to show people what is going on and presenting it to them from a positive angel. I am going to make it more of a documentary which inspires people to get involved, rather than a seriously hard hitting one about the workings of politics, which will put a lot of people off who are not politically minded.
