4. Problem Solving
- 2. Practical/Technical How to use a steadicam/shoulder mount? Best way to record sound in an interview? Do I need a steadi cam /shoulder mount? Boom pole? Lapel mic? Sound recorder? Rode microphone? Camera audio? Do I need back up sound incase it doesn’t work well enough? Two types? If so I’ll need more crew. Will have to film during class times so myself and the crew are free? Have to buy one if so. One on the camera and another separate Do they work well enough? Too fuzzy? Keep as back up? Not professional enough?
- 3. Theoretical/Creative How to film? What crew do I actually need? Unwanted sounds as we’ll be right by the road and the windows are old and thin so let a lot of sound in. Talking head interviews only Walking around with them Bit of both If I use the steady cam I’ll need another crew member If it’s just on a tripod, do I need a production assistant carrying and ticking stuff off etc. Or is that unnecessary? Light by windows, how to avoid? Settings so camera isn’t over exposed? This links to the best audio recorder, something that is picks up sound directionally would be best.
- 4. Technical/Practical Issues Steadicam or Shoulder Mount or None One of the main practical and technical issues that I faced when planning this production was how will I film the interview. I also thought that I should practice and do experiments with the equipment so that I could see whether or not it felt right to use this with the interviewee. • Will I just have talking heads or will I walk around, or a bit of both? • Do I need a camera operator if I’m just doing sit down interviews? Will it be too many people in the crew and unnecessary? • Do I need to practice using the steadicam and shoulder mount incase? • Will I need to use it, will it benefit the product? • What best fits this style of documentary? • Do I have a specific style yet? • Should I create one or does it depend on the style of each topic and the length of the product? • When I do my experiments I will have to get the camera operator to practice. After doing the experiments and contacting the interviewees I have decided not to use either the steadi-cam or the shoulder mount as I will just be doing taking head interviews and therefore will just be using the camera on the tripod. I felt that the equipment we have, whilst it is good, may not work best for this production because of the weight and that we will be filming in a small space. After pondering the questions above I realised that this documentary is more serious than say Louis Theroux and so having talking heads is more professional and proper and following someone around with a camera is just not apart of the creative vision I have for this project.
- 5. Steadi-Cam/Shoulder Mount Experiment My crew member/sounds assistant and I practiced using the steadi cam, pictured above, and the shoulder mount, to the right. When experimenting it was the first time for both of us that we had used either of these pieces of equipment and this was one of the reasons that I wanted to experiment so that I could practice using them and see which would be the best fit if any, so that I could make the best documentary I could. When using the steadi-cam we soon realised that it was way to heavy for either of us without more equipment to hold it up an because the weight was affecting how we held it, the camera was too wobbly and it wouldn’t have been as professional as it could have been. The shoulder mount on the other hand was much better and much easier to use. We could both successfully move around with the camera and if necessary, which is what I was wanting it for in production, follow people around whilst keeping a steady shot. However we also thought that after a while this would get heavy and that it would be difficult for us to keep held up for long periods of time and so I wasn’t 100% on either of these pieces of equipment since in the majority of productions who film in this way they have a steadi-cam that attached to a belt to hold the weight, which we don’t have, or a large camera that sits on the shoulder which again we do not have access too and so it is the situation of working with what we have got. These pictures to the eft show us struggling to even hold the camera upright when using the steadi-cam and so it clearly shows that it isn’t the best piece of equipment for our production. Steadi-Cam Shoulder Mount
- 6. Audio Experiment Audio Recording • Will I or college have to buy lapel microphones if I want to use them? • Should I have two types of audio recording in case one fails? • What should I use to record? Boom pole with shotgun microphone Just sound recorder Lapel mic Rode mic on the camera Original camera audio I did do experiments for this however I am unable to show them on this PowerPoint since I cannot place an audio file here, yet I did test out all of the audio equipment in the above list to try and figure out with would be the best for this production. The only one I did not test was the lapel mic as I haven’t had enough time to buy it when I decided to do these experiments. The sound recorder alone was fine however it picked up a lot of sound from lots of different directions where as when just using the shot gun mic that was directional and so it picked up sound in which every direction I pointed it. This is perfect for interviews since it blocks out any background noise to a minimum and just focuses on the dialogue which is what I want the audience to be able to hear over everything. The rode mic was very buzzy and there was an undertone that never went away and so that along with the camera dialogue is just unusable for my documentary, especially if I am wanting this to be as professional as possible. The only other thing that I wanted to try was the lapel mic however I didn’t have enough time to order one for it to one in time for the experiments. The reason I wanted a lapel mic was because it is situated close to the persons body and it is used in all sorts for tv interviews very successfully. Possibly in the future when I do my own production gain I will invest in a good lapel mic so that I can get a crisp clear and directional dialogue.
- 7. Lighting Experiment I had an issue with lighting when I filmed my factual project and that was that one of my interviewees was sat by a window and the light and sun shone through and over exposed the camera which nearly completely ruined the shot. I need to make sure I know how to use the settings or at least to make sure that I can set the right ISO and aperture setting so that the shots look good and have a good colour balance and not too much white. • Sudden light from windows means camera is over exposed. • Ruins takes and shots and cant exactly ask people to repeat themselves if they’re talking in their own way. • What settings do I need so that doesn’t happen? • What camera am I gong to be using? • Practice until I know how to stop it from happening. I did some experiments with a student called Abbie who is going to be my sound assistant and crew member on this project since she worked with me on the factual one too. We took photographs and videos by windows and outside to see if we could alter the light that was passed over from the window into the full shot. As you can see in the bottom right photo the white is very bright however in the bottom left and middle the white light is much more controlled and you can still see the person and the colours clearly. Doing this and doing the camera audit have helped me to learn all of the extra technical qualities I may not have known or may have forgotten and now I can use them in this project and in future ones to make sure it looks as aesthetically pleasing and professional as possible.
- 8. Photographs An issue for this production is going to be using and finding photographs that represent the lives of the people I am interviewing. Hopefully they will send me photographs of them over email so that I can use them in the film for context for the audience. However there is a chance that they may not and I will need to plan for this. Thankfully there are many pictures of sister Agatha on Google and so I don’t have to worry too much about that since she published photographs of herself in her book however there is noting on either the teacher or the priest. If I do not receive pictures from these two interviewees then I will have to use found footage, images from google and insert shots to break up the interview video since I cannot just place that for the full 10 minutes. I may have to plan for some insert shots of crosses, photos, books or anything remotely interesting or religious just so that I am prepared for the worst to happen.
- 9. Storyline One of the main creative issues that I have a head of me is how to present and edit the storyline. When trying to figure out these are the issues and questions that I thought to myself and that I decided to needed to figure out. • How to edit storyline? • Three separate interviews? • One intertwined one? • One with the separate interviews within? • Do I ask question after question? • Should I just let them tell their story? • Can I contest issues with them or let everything go even in discussion? • How do I edit the narrative, linear/non linear? • Do I want them to talk about the exact same subjects? In all honesty I think that I am going to wait until I have all of the footage and the photographs and let the story's and interviews guide my editing since I cannot plan what I will put where because I don’t know what will be said. Whilst this is annoying and leaves me in the dark for a lot of time, it is a valid technique used by documentary makers when conducting interviews like this. Perhaps if they are wanting to tell a specific story, e.g. a true crime story, however I am here to let the interviewee tell their story and so I think that even if it hinders my panning, since I wont be able to do proper storyboards, I think that creatively and for my project it is the best idea. I have also decided for now that I will do tree separate interviews and then a big one including all three which will be about 10 minutes. Depending on how the interviews go I could possibly change it up however at the moment that is what I am aiming for in the production time.
- 10. Camera, Sound and Software Audit