Talking Ink has Finished Speaking!

Has this documentary spoken to the world, or even perhaps just the class? Perhaps I will be a little biost when it comes to speaking about the finished project, however watching the final project felt great and I was excited to see that all our thoughts and ideas have come together and had actually worked. The worse part of the documentary was finding contributors. When going over the final portfolio looking back at all the contributors that we had rounded up from day one, only about three people actually stood by their words and said that they were happy to do it. I found one person gave me a false number, a few people turned out to be absolute nutters, and the one main girl had smashed her elbow and was unable to actually give their time to do the interview. I feel it was only by mere chance that asking one of our main contributors in the documentary the day before we actually filmed him was perhaps the best way to go when it came to getting him to stick to his word. There were some great parts to working in a group. As the end of university rounds up it defiantly helped to have people more skilled then I in FCP do the edit and do an amazing job on it. Ciaran took 6 hours to do just the opening and James had worked from day one to perfect and cut down all the material that was shot throughout the day. I found it interesting working in a group that was hand picked as if done differently I would have been team girlie power, but that would probably be because the days would have ended up in countless banter and happy girlie chats!

Group Work

How do you get along with every member of your group when everyone has there own thoughts and ideas that they want heard. Well to me its very simple, though the whole group had a lot on their every day plates, we all managed to phone each other and make sure that things were getting done and everyone was picking up after everyone else while making sure their own job was getting done. As producer director I had the wonderful chance to basically say how I wanted everything to look. As I tend to be a very easy going person and I don’t like to make a fuss, I felt it was important for me to put as much input into this project as I could and stand by my opinion no matter how much people pushed me. Luckily for me my constructive criticism actually made a really good impact on the group and I feel helped pulled the project together. Other then that I felt the communication between all of us was good. Though distant a lot of the time, I found we all stuck to the same page which I feel in the end was easier when the final edit was in play. Though I know that group work is not always my strongest area, I feel I worked well along side my partners and was lucky I got on well with everyone in the group. I think if there would be one thing to change about working in a group, even if it was the same group, perhaps I would delegate the jobs a bit more evenly so everyone knew what was going on earlier and got some sort of idea on how the final project could potentially look.

Frustraiting Starts to Very Long Days!

After a very long day of shooting and tracking down all my contributors, I had a good night sleep and woke up knowing I had an even bigger day ahead of me. Mike Norman, just one of the many contributors we shot yesterday finally gave us a major visual for our piece by confirming a shoot in a tattoo parlour. Knowing how busy I was going to be, with juggling full time work, my job cleaning the annex and making sure other projects were getting done, I specifically set my day to a time chart that I was hoping to follow religiously. As the day started to unfold however, people were late, traffic was jammed and my contributor had let me down. Getting to the tattoo parlour I was in for a shock as walking in the 'inker' just looked at me I guess trying to figure out who I was. When I told him who I was and why I was there, there was a horrible sense of tension. Unfortunately for me, the mans daughter had broken both of her arms earlier on that day and needed someone to vent his anger on and I the lucky one got sucked up in the tornado that was the tattoo artist. Quickly I got out of there, grabbing James by the arm and running across the street. Five minutes later, I received a text from Mike saying he was sorry and would hopefully let me know when we could do the shoot again. James politely commented back that there would be no need for an apology and we would just use the footage we had.

How I feel about 'The Doc'

During the Easter break my team and I have set out to actually get things done. So far I have learnt that contributors are rarely reliable, finding a day to film and get everyone together is almost impossible as every one seems to have lives running in all different directions, and plan A can almost always turn into plan B, C and then D very quickly over night as things don't always go according to plan.

On the bright side of things doing a documentary is a really good chance to stretch our imaginations and try to see things from different angles and perspectives. For example, my group is doing the stories behind the ink. A tattoo documentary that promises bold colours, pictures and interesting stories that will fit into a 5 minute long program. Close ups are extremely important as imagery is such a big part of the show and will have the most effect. Using high definition equipment is also important for this documentary as my group aims to provide a very visual piece.

There are other things however we all needed to consider whilst working away on this program. Forms that covered every possible complaint, legal documents and contributor signatures, logging notes and script writing. I do admit having an idea of where the story needs to go is a great way to plan the shooting days accordingly however keeping a strict timeline is key as well to actually follow through and get things done. I found my group falling drastically behind as none of us were paying attention to time lines. Days planned for shooting soon went out the window as no one was around, and seminars to learn the equipment were forgotten. I cannot stress how important it is to stay on top of things now and it has been a very big learning curve for me and has shown me how important organization and time lining is.

All in all I will be glad when this project is done. I feel the next documentary or program the group focuses on will run smoother and all this small mistakes that have made a big impact on the shows progress will not be made again.

Crohn's Disease Contributor

Yesterday I finally go the chance to meet up with one of my contributors for my Crohn's Disease project after 3 of them backed out the last minute. Amar Shah is 23 years old and works full time while managing the disease. While speaking about the disease Amar was extremely knowledgeable and spoke non stop about the pressures and challenges life throws him every day. I found him fascinating as his out look on the disease was much like mine in the way of looking at the bright side. Throughout the meeting I was able to grasp an idea of how I wanted my documentary to flow as well as finally setting out times to shoot and edit.
As both of us are extremely busy people I find myself working around his schedule just to get the documentary done. I feel because he is open and very forward the documentary will have added spice and give me a chance to explore the world of Crohn's disease through the eyes of someone else.
I will be shooting with the Z1 soon, with the use of 1 radio mic as well as a boom and manfroto tri pod. I am looking forward to seeing how everything is going to go.

5 O'Clock News

Though I wont show the timed edit I had to do for Mikes class yesterday I was pleased with how much knowledge I have learned with FCP. I feel comfortable using it now after a few projects he had us do and though I'm still a slow editor, I feel confident in putting a piece together with the use of random footage that is often provided. The only thing that concerns me about the edit is going onto the same computer and trying to view the work I had previously done the day before. As my edit was coming up with nothing I am hoping Mike has it stored somewhere. I am often the target of computer errors and I feel it would be tragic if the work was lost. The material that was given was about a new security tag that was impossible to remove without spilling ink all over the garment, a reporter that was nodding as well as giving the exact story, and footage of clothes, cameras and extra interviewees. For legal reasons the end result will not be published.

Other then that the class went well. It was very quit as I find often I loose myself in my work, and I hope the final product was a passing grade!

Bring Bring... Talk to Me!!!

In the world of broadcasting one very important thing to remember is emails don't always do the trick therefor actually talking to the individuals you wish to film is a key part to getting your work done.
With a 9am meeting on Thursday my group through out ideas as well as sorted out locations, equipment and interviewees that would aid our project in taking a more finished form. Though we were unable to get a few contributors we had so desperately needed, the ones we did manage to agree on all gave a different aspect to the story as well as different feel. We have lined up one women who has that's covering her body in different areas that all represent family meanings, and also a few men who have random that's that carry stories of there own.
I don't exactly find it hard to talk to people. I find most people are genuinely open to speaking about themselves its now just making sure the right questions are asked to help the interview along and provide a calm and safe environment where they can share there stories.
The group also must provide a script next week on who goes where and what is said. We have gotten a few emails sent back to us now with the short story meanings and intend to use them to aid us in writing.
As I am lucky enough to have booked a Z1 demo for Tuesday, my group should have no problem obtaining the equipment to get the best quality it can be!

Have I forgotten Something????

As my life is horrendously busy these days one thing I juggle along side University is 30 hours of work at Boots Opticians. I do love my job and find it extremely interesting however something tells me I might need glasses to take a closer look at certain things.
It was a regular day on Wednesday with the downside of being slightly ill. I woke up nice and early and got to work about 8am. Everything seemed to be going fine except my nose was running away and my throat felt like it had small people in it with saws cutting away my vocal chords. Pushing through the day I finally had a chance to go for lunch which was a very nice break. I ate chicken strips and chocolate and had a nice big refreshing glass of lemonade and felt better for it. Happily making my way back to work feeling a little brighter then earlier I walked in and put my keys down. At that point I had a massive shock. Where were my shoes?? As it turns out, I had forgotten them at home and I hadn't actually clued in until I got into work. As cool as a cucumber I simply pulled up my black socks and steadily walked around on my tipy toes as if I were wearing the heels that I had so easily forgotten and I went through the rest of the day with only my manager noticing as she kept asking what I thought was so funny!

It 'Still' counts as entertainment!

Right, So here is my attempt at FCP using still images! Enjoy

Talking Ink!

In today's class my group had to pitch our documentary to Holly and Mike who gave suggestions to how we could make our project as colorful as possible. As we have chosen the topic of tattoos and the stories behind them it is important that our final project is creative and extremely visual. The pitch itself went good and was less daunting then last semesters. With the use of the big screen flashing tattoos of some of our contributors, Carian, James and I went through our proposal step by step taking turns in speaking. Unfortunately I messed up the beginning a bit and let my nerves get the better of me, however once I was done my lines I was able to focus on what everyone else was saying and answers the end questions with ease.
The rest of the class will be focused on the Z1 camera as well as using Celtx. The one thing I have learned that has stuck is the five F's which are 'Frame, Focus, Focal length which is zoom, F stop which is shutter speed, iris and zebra and FCP! Hopefully I will get better using this camera and have signed up to the demo to learn the ins and outs!