Documentary Year 3

 We met today over zoom to discuss our individual narratives that we feel would be best for the documentary this year. We all pitched our own ideas of where to take the doc and will narrow down to one when we meet in person next week. Below are our individual ideas and some more joint discussion on b-roll for example: Josee -  Multiple ideas.  3 Interviews with different people, one who makes money solely on Onlyfans, another who uses it as a side income and another who is either anti Onlyfans or an activist for female sex workers.  Another idea is to use this documentary to break down the stigma and stereotypes of people in this field, present them positively in a truthful manner, but also be honest to the risks of going down this route.  More questions to answer in the doc, who and why are people paying for this, is it prostitution? Finally look at their individual daily routines and what goes into running a successful onlyfans account.  Issues: finding t...

 In this workshop we looked at multiple microphones and how to set them up with a Marantz and with Cameras. A lot of this session was refreshing our memories on using the Lapel Mic's and how to set up the microphone to the cameras. We also used the shotgun microphones again and worked out how to have both microphones working at the same time. The only challenge that came up here was the fact there were missing batteries! But once we got some we found this worked fine.  We had some issues with getting the Marantz working correctly with a lack of sound coming out of one ear in the headphones. This was eventually resolved as we found the dials on the bottom with two separate dials working for the right and left ear. This was very beneficial for us as we were able to have these issues now and find the solution in an environment that encouraged it rather than with the subject and making them wait etc.

 This reading again solidifies the importance of sound in documentary, as Rodgers says 'apart from camerawork, two of the most important documentary codes consist of commentary/voice and authentication through sound/music'. This tells me that in our documentary this year we need to really focus on capturing sounds that really develop a scene, whether that be diegetic keyboard sounds as we 'search an Onlyfans page' or a non-diegetic sound effect of money coming into an account as the subject makes their money on Onlyfans. Of course at the moment these are just ideas that can develop overtime, but we will have to see first where we take the project to solidify this. Overall, these readings just highlight how necessary it is to be thinking of the sounds from now, to prevent them from being neglected and be a last minute addition. 

 This reading really highlighted the importance of sound not just in documentary but in all video media. It presents the fact that 'we never see the same thing when we also hear; we don't hear the same thing when we see as well.' and we must move on from trying to 'identify any redundancy between the two domains'. Overall there shouldn't be the question "Which is more important, sound or image?" which was asked a lot in the seventies; we should now understand the significant role they both play. This quote alone really sums up how sound is undervalued in film, where the image is taken as the most important thing. But sound can really solidify a scene and make the audience feel more encaptivated within the scene. This importance is also in Documentary films and even I myself have found using sounds, diegetic or non-diegetic, really further the quality of certain scenes or the whole documentary itself. For example, in my first year documentary to bring t...

 I watched this documentary a few months ago and now we have decided to do our documentary on a similar topic I thought it would be beneficial to look at this documentary and see if there is anything we could take from it or do better than it.  In this documentary Louis Theroux follows the life of three sex workers of differing ages and backgrounds across the UK. Within this he discovers why they have gone down the path they have for work and whether or not it is something that should be discouraged or accepted. I really enjoyed this documentary as we can clearly see from Theroux's perspective he is really focused on finding the main reason these three women have chosen this path, whether it be to support their family as a single mother, exploring their sexuality that they once suppressed or to fund their lifestyle as a student. This is definitely something we will need to do in our documentary, whether we speak to one or three onlyfans workers. It is essential for the audienc...

 After discussing all of our ideas in our group, we have decided to go with the idea on Onlyfans. The main reason for this is there are many avenues we could take with it and it will still be a relevant and engaging topic by the time we release the documentary.  This topic is of course massive, so we have decided a date to meet and put forward our individual ideas of where we would take the documentary in the 20 minutes or so. We have discussed the areas briefly we could do: Speak to someone who does onlyfans and the challenges they face and if there are any dangers Speak to someone who makes their sole income from onlyfans and contrast this with someone who does it on the side. Break down the stigma there is with females doing this sort of work i.e bimbo, slag, slut. Look at the history of the sex industry, sex work dates back centuries, so what is actually wrong with it, if it has the demand. These are just a few ideas, but once we discuss our own individual narratives we wi...

 This week we finally met in person to do a hands on workshop with different cameras. This was mainly a refresher for us all to get used tot he cameras again, reminding us of the small details we must look into before filming i.e gain, focus, white balance etc. As I am the editor for this project and not the cinematographer it wasn't as necessary for me to know this for this project. However, these are extremely necessary skills we need as students to leave University with, so it was good to reaffirm my knowledge on this so it could benefit me in the future.

 This week I pitched my idea on the current climate regarding the theatre industry. Below is the feedback I got : Pro: Is a current topic and would be interesting to look into. It would also be engaging and a good insight into how the industry has been affected; especially as it is an industry that means so much to the UK economy. Cons: When the documentary is finally done, the issue wouldn't be current news and wouldn't be as of an interesting topic as it would have been if released in October of 2020.

 For the first shot I would keep the diegetic sound of the wind and then play an enhanced diegetic sound of that specific tank firing. This is important as it has to be real and therefore be that exact tank. Also I would enhance the fire as it would make the scene more dramatic and would contrast very well with the calmness of the wind blowing . In this scene soon after I would go back to the diegetic wind, but this time add in non-diegetic sound of a flag waving in the wind vigorously. This would bring some meaning as the flag and what it stands for is the reason this attack is occurring. I believe it would be a poignant moment for this enhancement of the flag to be interrupted by the firing of the tank again. This war is breaking apart the togetherness and comradery the flag represents. I chose to highlight this scene as a significant moment in the sequence. In the scene the shutters close at a very quick speed and here I would enhance the shutting of the blinds and when doing so...

 I watched this film earlier in the year and have chosen to highlight it as a documentary where many ethical considerations would have had to of been discussed. This is a doc about triplets that were separated at birth and eventually found of each other through being recognised by different people. The documentary shows us how these brothers met and how they became overnight celebrities for this crazy story of three adopted children finding each other. The documentaries narrative develops over the course of the film to a shocking climax, that the orphanage where they were all adopted from, were running a psychological study on twins and triplets to determine how strong nature or nurture is. This being a documentary about these individuals upbringings is extremely personal and then on top of that there is the wider and bigger issue of the orphanage itself that needs to be investigated.  As this is such a personal topic there are already many ethical considerations to consider a...

 I always wonder how filmmakers come up with their ideas and begin the planning process. From listening to this short clip I actually discovered it is not too dissimilar for an actual filmmaker and what I have done in the past. It is very much a spur of the moment, whether that be due to a place you visit, a person you meet or an event that occurs. She states she met someone in the Underground and it developed from there. She also explained how 'one film often leads into another', making this process of finding an idea and going ahead with it seem a lot more simplistic than I first thought. I previously thought my last two doc subjects were poor in the sense they were family friends, however this is just as a viable process than emailing around for example. 

 In this workshop we explored ethics and more specifically copyright. This was very important to look into and was extremely insightful on how much work there is to do to gain the right to use other people's work. Previously in other documentaries made we would use things and not think much of it as it was only a University doc. However for this year, we need to make sure we follow the guidelines as if this is a documentary for the 'real world'. This will therefore require us to gain the right to use any imagery or sounds that are owned by someone else.  To gain an understanding of how difficult this could be, we were split up into groups to find the owners of different material. From the task we found how hard it actually is to find the specific owner of different media, especially when it comes to music. What we found out, for music, it is best to find out the original record company that made the song and they should be the sole owners of the track. or for a tv show clip...

 Task:  Write down one interesting point from each reading Write down something that you found confusing or didn’t fully understand from each reading   Rothwell, J. (2008) - Rethinking the Documentary 1.) Self-shot footage and video diaries are a newer form of footage in documentary. It is more of an intimate performance quite common now due to the increase in technologies i.e digital video, home recording and internet distribution. It has benefits with no crew needed on set or in the pps house, in the times we are in now this is a viable form of doc filmmaking. Due to it being filmed by the participant themselves, it is more of a natural performance, it is the perfect balance of intimacy and performance making it a 'guarantor of authenticity'. 2.) Does a video diary format really open the door for subjects to reveal more, a filmmakers questions in the interview process can sometimes reveal more than just recall from a subject. Chapman, Jane ( 2010) - Ethics  (Chapte...

 Week 1 was a brief discussion on what our assessments are and how we will do our projects this year. We were given some pointers by Peter on what we should look to do our final pieces on i.e give a voice to the voiceless.  What I took from this session was the importance of all the work starting from us this year i.e what we need help on we need to be active in letting Peter know and then we can improve our skills in that field. I also made sure to note that all the documentaries we watch and reading we do we need to apply to how it helps/could help our final project in the long run, whether that be cinematography, directing or editing.  This has helped set up the importance of this year and the constant development that needs to be done over time.

 This was a documentary I watched earlier in the year as it began to get more popularity due to the BLM protests across the world. I found it, like many others, an amazing documentary perfectly presenting the difficulties and challenges the black community have faced in America over history. It of course, also looked into the issues with the prison system and the 13th amendment.  I believe there is a lot I can take with this documentary; the primary thing being the use of the modes in this film. This film uses both an expository mode and participatory mode that I wish to use in the idea I have at the moment. The expository mode is used here through the use of old footage being shown throughout and the constant recount of history. Although there is no narrator, we are given a multitude of participants to hear from, with a fantastic use of narrative as a lot of the time the participants seemed to be conversing between themselves even though all interviews were recorded individua...

 This is one of many Louis Theroux documentaries I have watched over the last few years. This documentary follows his well known reflexive mode as he follows the lives of many heroin users in West Virginia. What I really liked about this documentary was the contrast in the people he spoke to on the matter i.e a woman who was a current user, someone who quit due to their newborn child and a man who spoke of how happy he was with his life using heroin, but when questioned you began to see this was more of a façade than anything else. This variation is something very common in his documentaries and although I won't follow this mode of documentary in my own, I still think there is a lot to take from his work in the development of the narrative over the course of the documentary. To link this to my current idea, I feel it highlights the importance of getting different perspectives on a similar matter. This would be successfully done by letting the subjects in each interview somewhat deb...

 The key thing I took from this piece of reading is you must make sure to show as broader view of a topic to ensure you do not get a biased documentary. Of course you can show your subjective take on the topic, but you must ensure you try your best to show both sides of the story. It is very important to show both sides as it can make your subjective take more viable if the audience can see the other side and they can chose their standpoint, rather than be fed a certain opinion; your film 'may be accurate and truthful, but will fail if it is not perceived as such' (Rabiger M, pg.9, 2004).  If we take my original idea as an example; it will be important to show why theatres haven't opened back up, is it better in the long run for example. Although the main standpoint of the documentary would be to show the damage this decision has had on so many lives. This would give the audience both perspectives and allow them to make their own mind up on how they see it.  One final bit...

 During one online lecture I remember noting down how important it is to give a voice to voiceless in documentaries. This idea made me want to look into issues that has had minimal publicity in recent time, but is also something that is able to be done i.e find interviews etc. This led me to the idea of doing a documentary on how the pandemic as a whole has affected the theatre industry. This industry has been so successful for so many years, but now due to the pandemic it is in it's worst states yet.  Of course many industries, if not all have had detrimental impacts on their future due to COVID-19. However, none are as historic and as popular as the theatre industry. There is a lot of confusion on this sector with some theatres in threat of closing down, many workers losing their jobs and no clear turn around in sight. Also with the theatre industry being one of the many subsectors of the creative industry it contributes to a worth of £101.5 billion to the UK economy yearly....

For the start of this course we had to decide if we were working in a group or as a solo for our projects. I have decided to work in a group project for my final year. In this group I will be working alongside my group to help organise and assist in creating a great final project (COVID permitting). My main role will be editing in this project as I have had a lot of experience with this role in my two previous documentary modules and through personal projects I have done over the years. I fully understand that this does not mean I do nothing until post-production occurs and that's why I will be as hands on throughout the whole process and not just the final stages.