Production: Shoot Day - 2

Shoot Day 2

The next shoot was of the starting sequence, so following the script was essential and to do that efficiently we needed a structure to the day which we had made before - a list of shots - so it went rather fast. 

On Shoot
Jason, Alex, Sonia

(Checking the clip-mic was working)

It took about 2-3 hours to capture all the footage we needed and we were satisfied with how the day of filming had panned out. 

What worked well on the day of the shoot was everyone's level of competency and focus to get it done. Everyone put a shift in and contributed massively to get it done in a reasonable time, and to a brilliant level. The camera shots worked well, the variety of shots was also something we were looking to improve from the last shoot and so we did that. 

Possibly a negative on the shoot would be on my behalf, as I felt a few of the shoots were a bit shaky due to the fact that I hadn't strapped the camera to a tripod at times, and so looking back I do regret that. 

In conclusion though i'm delighted with how the whole day went and it pushed us ever closer to the finishing line. 

Production: Shoot Day - 1

Shoot Day 
We went to Alex's home to do our first part of the filming process, capturing the sequence of him interviewing his grandparents about their past and present driving experiences. 

(Alex's House - Setting up gear and making sure the grandparents are comfortable)

The shoot took around 2-3 hours, and we had about 20 minutes worth of footage when we took it back to the editing suite. 

Whilst on the shoot we had one or two issues regarding a ginger cat and a slight problem on the sound. We were able to salvage the footage when the cat decided to jump in so it was too much of a problem once we began the edit. 

The camera set up was fantastic as we had one stationary cam (EX CAM) and one constantly moving cam (CANON 550D) which would be grabbing all the CUs, MSs, TSs etc. 

Overall the shoot went to plan and we were more than happy with the footage gathered from it. 

Documentary Review: Senna

Senna

Synopsis: A documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34. 

Dir. Asif Kapadia
Release Date: 2011


Review -
I have such a lack of interest and patience for F1 Racing and it's whole franchise, being forced to watch it round at my Grandparents house at a young age, every Sunday that i'd go for dinner really didn't help the cause either. However, a fan or not a fan, I believe that people with even the most disinterest for the event could sit down and genuinely come out of the viewing with a passionate engrossment an compassion for the sport. I don't think I've actually went away from a film/documentary so quickly and researched so heavily in my life. It was the way in which it broke itself down, more into an intimate, delicate and emotional story than one about the sport, following one man (Ayrton Senna) through his stunning career/life on and off the race tracks, portraying him as the man of the people for Brazil. He was adored in his home country and too right, he was a 'Robin Hood' figure for many as his generosity was so vast and greatly important. 

(Release Date: 2011)

My perspective on why I was so engrossed within minutes of this documentary is for its use of archive footage, flash backs and montages of real life interviews with the main protagonist we're following (Ayrton Senna). It not only gives you a sense of the time and era, but a general sense of the human too that we're focusing on, and it evokes certain specific responses which is purposeful as the documentary definitely is trying to pay its respect to a hugely significant and welly respected man. 


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It's usage of archive footage and having a clear yet complex structured narrative. 

+ 
 Following the span of the protagonists life and his career thoroughly an so beautifully.



In conclusion, what I have taken into consideration in terms of applying it to our own documentary, is that if there is a viable part of a sequence in which we're able to possibly use archive footage, then we will do so. I believe it adds to the authenticity, relatability and generally making for a greater visual experience. 

Testing Initial Ideas

Testing concept - 

So our initial ideas were that we would use a GoPro to get some sequence footage for our final piece, and so we sent Katie out to get that! 



We were quite satisfied with the footage and gave it the green light for our documentary to use some GoPro footage. 
It gave a very authentic look and feel to the documentary and that is what its all about really, as we're following real life, we want it to feel as real and genuine as possible. 

Dockyard Workshop - Sequence - 'On the Ropes'

Here is a short video shot by the group on the location workshop day, edited by myself and Alex. 

The video demonstrates some clear understanding and application of previous lectures (hopefully) but as well we realise that there is definitely room for improvement and acknowledge that on the shoot of this, there were increasingly a lot of things that had not been accounted for in terms of thought on set i.e civilians encroaching in shot etc, and just generally speaking. 

Of course the overall experience was extremely eye opening and helpful, really helping us think forward towards our own project. 

('On The Ropes' - Dockyard Workshop Sequence)

Workshop: The Dockyard - Rope Factory

The Dockyard Workshop

- The objective of the day was to practice and experience what it would be like to shoot actuality on set, and get GVs/Actuality shots from the specific location, we as a group were allocated. 

- Given a task of setting up a sequence, capturing useful GVs and actuality shots to come back with us to the studio so we could use to create a short 'documentary' feel sequence.

- This gave us great insight as to how it would feel on location filming, how much time we would potentially have to capture certain shots, and the general experience an thought of how to deal with complications by using your initiative. 

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- What worked well and was taken forward into our project was taking roles and cooperating as a unit, not as individuals. 

- Getting a variety of shots.

- Thinking and exploring the location, so that we had every kind of shot and cutaway/GV to help us back at the edit.



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- Working on shoot comes with unexpected circumstances and things tend to never go as smoothly as you'd hope, i.e people in your line of shot, camera wobbles and unfortunately not being able to actually capture the shot you wanted as the time has past. 

- Not getting the right shot, taking the footage back to the studio to find one or two key shots were actually never captured, and they were usually the most basic/simplistic ones. 

- Too many cooks spoil the broth! I felt personally with having 1 camera between 4 people, now and again we'd all have a shot of our own inside our brains and it would sometimes be a pain to communicate if you didn't have the camera.


Overall, the experience gathered on the location workshop was pivotal and has contributed massively to the thoughts and approach on our own project.