WEEK ONE
What have you been asked to do?
For this first week of this project I was doing research into my specific specialism. My specialism is editing so this meant that I had research different aspects of it from the history behind editing and where it originated from to different practioners such as Walter Murch and Alfred Hitchcock. I am doing this in order to gain an understanding and a history of editing so then I can use this information within my documentary. I was also was asked to begin my script for the documentary, as this would save time in the long run as I wouldn’t have to read all through my research again and accumulate a script from that. I thought I was successful in following these instructions, however next time if I did this again with my research I would look up different ways of collection information, rather than using the internet and one book. Maybe I could email some editors on their experience in their line of work. |
What specialism did you choose and why? How are you hoping it will help to improve your future productions?
The specialism in which I chose for my production is editing I chose this specialism as I want to learn more about editing. I have always been interested in assembly footage together and making videos out of all it and I am always keen to learn new technique via YouTube tutorials. I thought this would be a perfect specialism to do. Also, another reason being last year for first year I did editing as my specialism, this will give me more of an advantage because I know already a bit about it and I know to some level I am good at it, because of my distinction grade last year. I think it will help to improve my future production as I believe the editing brings the whole video together, so by understanding editing I will know how to make my production look more professional and overall better quality. |
What have you found out about your specialism through research this week?
This week I have researched into the history of my specialism. I discovered where editing originated from, for example it all began in books, stage productions and art, like in a stage production there is a scene change and in art the pictures will have splices within them to show the storyline leading up to a certain point. From there I research primitive editing and how editing would originally be done by cranking a camera and stopping the cranking when you need a cut within the footage. As well as this I looked into specific influential editors and filmmakers whose film and experience have shaped the way editing is done within industry. For example, Kuleshov who was a soviet filmmaker created the Kuleshov effect. This is the way in which shots within a sequence are put together and influence the outcome of the mood and understanding of the sequence. I learnt how to edit the old fashioned way by simply using glue and razors. I found this interesting as I could see the methods in which editors used in order to make films seamless. Moving on from this I looked at practioners up to more modern editors such as Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos who are the editors of the motion picture ‘Baby Driver’. I took a lot of time doing my research due to wanting it to be thorough and in depth. However, this meant that I wasn’t able to get on to the ‘Development and Technology’ section of the editing research, this means I am not as up to date on everything I have learnt. |
Are you on track for this week? If not, how far behind are you?
This week I have fallen behind with my research this is due to me only researching the history of editing rather than the other specific areas such as development and films which have been edited well. I think this is me going into too much detail on elements of research which are useless, for example I went into too much detail about each specific editor. This meant it took a lot longer than I was anticipating to complete and overall meant that I was behind with the whole of the research. I need to next time plan my time out wisely and when I can go and actually complete each bits of work. Everything I need to complete is: contacting editing professionals, development and technology, analyse well edited films. If I can do these in the next couple days I would get my work all caught up. Next time, I will plan a realistic time table of all the things I need to do, in this case I need to research technology and development, I should give myself enough time in order to complete the task and be happy with it. This means that I should be more organised and get all my work done. |
WEEK TWO
What have you found out about your specialism through research this week?
This week I did research into significant films for editing, these films have awards such as Oscars for their editing and overall have been critically acclaimed for their editing. The films in which I researched were: Citizen Kane, Apocalypse Now, Whiplash and Baby Driver. I looked into each individual film and researched who edited them, what techniques did they use within the film, what they edited on and even analysed a sequence from the film. I found this very interesting and insightful, however I found it really hard in finding the information I needed for each induvial film. For example, Citizen Kane although on the internet was said to be one of the best edited films, yet there was limit on many website would answer why it was edited so well. Saying this it might be my research skills in finding websites, perhaps I was asking the wrong questions within the search engine. To improve this I would find different ways in which to research the film, for example look up newspaper reviews from the time the film came out, find any interviews by the makers of the film and even find books which contained knowledge on this. Overall, this will expand my knowledge and get a more rounded view on the film, due to the information not all coming from the internet but other places. Other information in which I learnt about my specialism was, how to edit together a documentary and to make it engaging to the audience. I watched the BBC show Mark Kermode Secrets of Cinema as a reference for this. I looked how Kermode did his opening for his documentary and jotted down the key notes in which he did, for example he used a montage of clips from different films and had some powerful music playing as he spoke a little monologue introducing the topic of the documentary. I found this really helpful to understand the structure of a documentary and understand what I should do for my own. However, it would have been good to research further into a structure that worked well for a shorter documentary, ten to fifteen minutes in length, as this is the length in which my documentary will be. I just want to understand what to be able to put into my documentary in order for it to follow a structure but be engaging. To improve this I will do more following documentary making, where to put interviews and what to include within it. How far have you progressed this week?
This week I think I have shown a lot of progression, this is due to me finishing all of my research off for the deadline. I did this due to writing up a list of everything I needed to complete. For example, within my research I needed to research the history of editing, different pioneers of editing and specific films in which have changed the way in which editing has been perceived within the editing medium. I wrote out this list in order to be clear what I had done and what needed to be done. This meant that I was good with my time and managed it well. I have progressed a lot due to this. However, the other thing in which I needed to complete was writing the script up. I made not much progression with the script writing, this is because when it came to writing up the script I had forgotten a lot of the information in which I had researched due to it being a long time since I had done the initial stages of research. If I ever did a project like this again I would write the script as I did the research, this would make my time more proactive and I would remember the information as I went along and add it to my script. However, the only bad part towards this is that initially you don’t know what the key information is and you can’t work that out until you have researched the whole of the generally topic. This would allow you to understand what the significant information is and what isn’t so you can or not add it in. However, to make more progression and be more time efficient I should have written my script as I went along and then changed it, second draft, once I have got all the information. This is so I can sift through what is the important information and what is the waffle. Also, another thing which stopped my progression was going to an open day on Saturday and having work on Sunday, this meant that my time was limited. |
Did you contact any professionals this week? Why did you choose them- how will they add depth to your documentary? Did you receive a reply from them?
I contacted two professional within the industry asking for interview. The first person I asked to interview is a guy called Lee, Lee specialising is making music videos for a record company he works for. To make sure he gains a profit from each job he does, due to him being freelance filmmaker, he edits the videos, directs, does cinematography and choreographs them. This basically means he has experience for editing music videos etc within the industry. Lee was very keen to help and replied very quickly after I asked agreeing, due to him leaving twenty minutes away from me and me being able to drive. I can easily get to him to interview him. As well as having a text message with Lee I have as well gone and met him person to have a discussion on what I want him to talk about and how we will do the interview. He said I can use his lights and microphones for the interview, thus meaning I don’t need to carry all my equipment around with me. Overall, I have very happy I got this interview. The other person in which I have emailed is a guy called Laurie, Laurie is a BBC sports editor. He edits together the footage in which the BBC cinematographers have taken from sport event. He has also done live editing, with his work being featured for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Laurie has still yet to reply for my interview. However, if I can’t meet him in person I could try and get an interview over Skype. However, this is all in the hopes that he agrees to the interview. I think both of these people would be very interesting to have within my documentary as they both work on editing but in very different aspects of the medium, music videos and live TV sports broadcasts. This means I will get a very rounded view on editing within the industry and its evolution. To solve this issue I should of schedule out time in which I wasn’t busy to work, this would allow me to be more proactive and actually get work done. I had finished all my research, however to improve it further I would do more covering the section of development of technology. This is because I didn't have as much research in comparison to everything else I had researched in this specific area.
|
WEEK THREE
Have you finished your script? Does it meet the 1500-word count?
This week I finished the script for my documentary. I hadn’t done much of the script over the weekend due to going on a University open day and having work. This meant when I got into college on the Monday I had a lot of work to do to meet the deadline for Wednesday 3rd October. I found the 1500 word count difficult to stick to as I didn’t think I would have enough to say to fill in that amount. However, I tried to put that to the back of my mind and not think too much about the number of words more the content of them and how good they are. Another issue with doing the script later rather then earlier was that I had forgotten all the information in which I had researched. This meant that I had to go back and read through all the information again to ensure that I could remember and condense it all into an interesting script. I managed to finish the script by the deadline, however the night before I was up all night doing the script. To improve next time, I would pace myself with my script and give myself plenty of time to finish it, this will ensure my script won’t be rushed and won’t be bad as I would have loads of time to improve it. In the end my script was 1600 or so words. So, I managed to do more then what was asked from me. |
What do you feel the strengths of your script are and how could you further improve it?
I think the biggest strength of my script is the opening I have written. I spent a lot of time doing the opening of my script as this is because it is the first thing the audience will see in my documentary and I want it to be gripping and engaging for them. I made sure it covered all the points within my documentary and was punchy to listen to. I think this allowed it to work really well. I think what sets this apart from the rest of the script is the fact that I knew what visuals I wanted to go with the voice over, this meant that I wrote the voice over to fit perfectly to the edit I want to achieve. Thus, meaning it will make my work quality better and make the edit look really good. To improve the rest of my script I could write my script to fit the visuals and make it punchier and thus it will be better. I think my script is quite boring due to the fact that I feel I am telling the audience the information, I am stating all these facts and figures but that’s not going to be interesting or remembered by the audience. I need to work what I want to have visually within my production, maybe I could do an editing tutorial to explain different techniques, rather then telling them about it show it to them. |
What techniques have you chosen to practice for your production? Why? How will they help both you and your documentary?
The techniques in which I have chosen for my documentary are parallel editing, montage and the Kuleshov effect. I have chosen these techniques as I think they are revolutionary in changing how films have been made up and to this point. I also believe these techniques are shown time and time again in film and TV. Thus, meaning they are very important for the construction of films. If I learn about these techniques, there importance, how to construct these techniques I will find it easier when creating my documentary and explaining and giving example of these techniques. I want to add the techniques in which I made, this will give the documentary a more engaging view then before as the content will be original. On the back of this, this will allow me to remember the techniques better and allow me to understand them fully. How did analysing examples of the technique in use help you reproducing them?
By analysing techniques, I was able to understand what the filmmaker was trying to create in terms of emotion and feeling within the sequence. These specific techniques are used to create a feel and vibe and by understanding this it would in fact become easier when reproducing these techniques. I did struggle recreating the Hitchcock montage as I find it very difficult in filming many different shots and editing them together. As when I analysed the Hitchcock montage what I got from it was that there were many short durations which were edgy and staccato like edited into a sequence to make it intense. However, it was very difficult in creating my own technique as I found it hard to accumulate a scenario in which I could do a Hitchcock montage too. Next time, I will allow myself to look up various examples of the Hitchcock montage, rather then the Psycho Shower scene. This will allow me to see the montage in another way and thus deepen my understanding of the montage. Shot from the footage of the Hitchcock montage which didn't go to plan.
Did you encounter any problems when practicing your techniques? How did you overcome these problems?
When filming the techniques for my documentary I did struggle with generating up ideas as example for the techniques. I wanted to generate a good example which would be easy for the audience to follow and understand. Yet, I couldn’t. To solve this issue, I decided to have a group discussion with some people on my course who are also doing editing as their specialism. We discussed what techniques we were each going to do, and we managed to give each other suggestions on how to film/edit these techniques. After this we all booked out the studio and helped each other by acting and filming each other’s productions. This was helpful as I find it difficult coming up with ideas without having someone to bounce the ideas off from and sometimes getting another opinion is always the best thing as that person may have an idea which will improve your work further. Are you on track with your documentary? If not, why?
I believe at the moment I am on track with my documentary. I have finished the research, the script and even secured an interview with an editor. As well as this I have done some filming for my techniques and I have started editing the opening sequence of the documentary. This isn’t so say that I am on ‘track’ I don’t believe I am really behind but I think I still have loads to do in order to feel comfortable and confident with my project and meeting deadlines. For example, this week I have had trouble with filming the techniques due to pore planning. This means I need to reshoot these techniques and make them better, so I can add them into my documentary. At the moment I have only one technique which is the Kuleshov effect in which I am really proud at how it turned out. I would really like to have at least two more techniques or three more, just so it can secure me that distinction grade and that I can add them into my documentary to make it more engaging for the audience. I also might want to add more to my research because after writing the script there is some more information I researched to put into the script. However, this shouldn’t really take that long to change and correct. Next week I would really like to finish my techniques, research, get my interview completed and then finish editing the opening sequence. |
Where and why are these techniques used in your specialism?
The techniques in which I used for researching my specialism are: Parallel editing, montage and the Kuleshov effect. I chose these techniques due to their importance within the film industry and how they construct films and make them more engaging for the audience watching them. I decided to do recreate my own examples of these techniques, I did this by looking up different example of that said technique and they are filming my own example. This grew my understanding of the technique, on the back of that I can use these techniques within my documentary when discussing the techniques within my specialism. By showing my own original examples of the techniques it will allow the audience to understand the techniques better. These specific techniques will be in the history part of the documentary as I will discuss the main helpers in progressing the editing movement. How did you find experimenting with your technique?
I found it loads of fun experimenting with the different techniques as it allowed me to be very creative and try ideas in which I haven’t seen before in any of my productions up and until this point. I did get a bit carried away with the idea of creating little snippets of sequence and making it into an enjoyable for the audience to watch. For example, I decided on doing a fight scene of sorts in the style of the Hitchcock montage just like in the film Raging Bull. I was getting carried away by the idea and how I wanted to choreograph the fight in an amusing way that when I came to edit the footage in the style of a Hitchcock montage it did not look like this technique. The quality of the work was terrible as this could be down to not understanding the technique as well as I should have done or getting carried away with making a funny video or not planning it very well. I want to re do this technique as I think it will make my work better and can be added to my documentary. I think I will write up a storyboard shot by shot I want to get and therefore when it comes to filming it I will know exactly what to do and the problem won’t be as apparent. How did your planning help you film these techniques?
I actually did rather little planning when it came to filming my techniques. I did as I spoke about earlier, discuss with other people example in which to show my techniques. Like scenarios I could film showcasing the technique. This was very useful planning. However, when it came to the actual filming of the technique I didn’t have a plan on how I was going to shoot it or what shots/ angles I was going to add to my film. This meant when I started filming the production I just filmed loads of footage as I didn’t really know what I wanted, this meant when it came to editing I had a lot of footage to sift through and the majority of it was rubbish. There was no continuity within the shots I had taken and when all edited together the footage looked rubbish. Next time I will prepare more with the planning stage before I even begin filming/editing. To do this I might write up the idea and write what I want or even draw a storyboard shot by shot. This way I have it clear in my mind what I want so I can go out and do it. |
What work do you need to complete outside of lessons over the next week?
This weekend or outside of lesson time I have a lot of work to crack on to. One thing in which I need to do is write this week’s evaluation, in which I am doing now, this is a very time-consuming thing but it’s very necessary in seeing my progress and where I flawed this week. I really need to complete my research, just by adding in a bit of extra information in which I accumulated from writing the script. As well as this I really want to write in all the visuals parts with my script, as the script is like a table one side has all the speech and every I am going to say in it and the other side has the visuals and what is happening when these words are being said. Basically, I need to find out what visuals I want to go with my script and type in a description of them or even leave a link to the actually footage I am using, if it is archive footage anyway. I have a lot to do in my spare time, but it is very important that I do so as if I don’t I will fall behind with my work and this will lead to me not meeting the deadline for this project. |
WEEK FOUR
What problems have you encountered this week? How did you overcome them?
The biggest problem that I encountered this week was with Premier Pro. I had a few technical difficulties with Premier as my footage kept getting lost and it kept turning it self off. This meant that I just had to be patient with the software and had to keep re trying to re upload the software to retrieve the footage. This took a lot longer then necessary. I think the issue occurred due to me downloading b-roll footage of the internet, one of those YouTube to MP4 converters. Which led to virus being infected onto my computer. Thus, meaning my whole laptop kept glitching and deleting footage. The way in which I overcame this problem was by downloading all the b-roll footage on an external hard drive and then plugging it in and then editing on premier pro. This meant that the viruses did get into contact with laptop and so the software ran more smoothly. Another, problem I had this week was with not being able to edit until I had the voice over footage. I couldn’t edit the documentary until I had the foundation of the voice over. Yet, I only recorded the voice over on the Friday. Which meant the whole week I was waiting to begin editing but I couldn’t. How I solved this issue was filling this ‘free’ time other things I needed to have completed. For example, filming editing technique example like the Kuleshov effect and the Hitchcock montage. By filling this time, it meant that I wasn’t doing nothing and was being proactive in my waiting time. Have you made any changes to your plans during this week?
I planned to start fully editing my documentary on Wednesday of this week. Yet, I wanted to have everything before I began editing so I could just go and do it. This meant that I needed to get the voice over for the documentary. However, I left it last minute in booking the radio booth/studio out. This meant that I had to change my plan on when I was going to begin editing. I could only reschedule to record the voice over on the Friday of this week. This meant that I couldn’t really edit this week. I managed to edit sections which didn’t involve the voice over, which was basically the opening section for my documentary. Overall, meaning I wasn’t as productive as I should have been this week as I didn’t do as much editing I was hoping for. This has put me behind schedule which means I have a lot of work to catch up on if I want to meet the deadline next Thursday. This is an example of me filming b-roll on my own and having to manage the camera as well as acting in the footage. It resulted in very blurry/bad quality footage.
What is the quality of your narration like? Is it clear and understandable?
I hired the studio out for Friday 12th October and had a two-hour slot to record which was split between me and my two friends. This meant that I had plenty of time to record a fifteen-minute narration of me speaking to a good quality. However, I did find it very challenging when in the recording booth. Due to me being dyslexic I cannot read from paper very fluently without stopping or stuttering over my words. This meant that I kept having to stop and start reading the same lines repeatedly just to get the sentence out of me. This meant it was really aggravating when recording my production as I couldn’t get the words out of me in the way I wanted them to sound. As well as this some of the filmmaker’s names were difficult to say. This meant that I kept having to look up what the proper pronunciation of the names were. As I wanted to say the names correctly in the documentary about them. Even though I did struggle getting my words out, the large time frame in which I gave myself gave me enough time to say everything I wanted to the standard of how I wanted it. What work do you need to complete outside of lessons?
I have a lot of work to complete outside of lesson. Majority of this work is editing. This is because I felt like I couldn’t begin editing until I had all the components for it, for example the voice over, the interview, archive footage and b-roll. Now, that I have everything I need to make the documentary I can go ahead and properly start editing. I believe that my documentary will be around ten minutes in length. This means that I will be editing the documentary for quite a while, due to me being a slow editor I need to give myself the correct amount of time to complete my work for the deadline. In addition to this, I need to also complete the ‘visual’ side of my script. I have finished my script for my documentary, but I haven’t written all the footage I am going to put over the narration. However, I can’t do this until I have finished editing my documentary as I don’t know exactly where the footage is going and where would be the best place to put it. Overall, I need to finish editing my documentary and then finish everything else from the script, to location recce, to information on who I am interviewing or screenshots of my messages organising the interview. |
Where are you up to with your documentary? What work have you completed this week?
This week for my documentary I completed the opening sequence. I am proud of the opening sequence as I spent a while doing it to make sure the shots were all edited to the beat and were in time. The overall impact of it is good and it’s a great way to open my documentary for the audience watching it. As well as this I have completed the entirety of my research and even finish my script. Filming wise I have filmed my interview with Lee Blackmore, on the Monday of this week, which was successfully as the questions and answers link well with the script. This will make the production so much easier to edit all together and make flow better. I still yet to edit the entirety of the documentary and fill in all the pre-production elements for example: location recces, health and safety checks, questions for documentary and finish all the technique examples. Even though it feels like I have completed a lot this week, in reality I haven’t and still have a lot to do. This means I need to be ultra-careful with my time in the next upcoming week as I need to meet the deadline for Thursday. How do you feel the filming process went? What went well- show examples
I thought the filming process went well. I filmed my interview of Lee Blackmore on the Monday of this week. Before we filmed I discussed the questions I was going to ask and how my documentary was primarily targeted for editing. And then I said where I wanted him to look when interviewing and where I would sit etc. Because we planned everything before we began filming the interview it meant we knew what to expect and that I knew what I was getting would be good quality work. The only thing that irritates me about filming the interview is the fact that I only used a one camera set up rather then two. Traditionally, in filming interviews for documentaries you have two camera angles. One camera is used for the general shot of the interviewee and the other camera is used for a close up shot. However, I only had the general shot. I reasoned this by saying I would edit b-roll over most of the interview anyway, so we would even see much of the footage of Lee discussing editing. However, it probably would have been good just to hire an extra camera out as this may of made my production and filming process better. I also filmed quite a bit of b-roll footage however, I found it very difficult to do as for majority of the b-roll it involved some form of human interaction or someone being in the shot. This meant that I had to both film and act. Which made the camera work worse as I wasn’t there so much on hand capturing the b-roll. For example, I filmed footage of me sat in the kitchen editing on my laptop, however due to me being in the scene I couldn’t focus the camera. This meant that the footage came out blurry. Overall, I think next time I will ask someone to act/be in my b-roll so the camera quality would be better and the overall filming experience. Are you ready to edit your production next week? Where are you currently up to?
I am ready to edit my production for week five. However, I have already edited a bit of my production. I have edited the opening sequence and, I have begun to lay b-roll over my interview with Lee Blackmore, who is the person I am interviewing. However, I found it very hard to begin editing when I hadn’t filmed the narration of my film. Yet, I filmed the narration for the documentary, in the recording studio, today on the Friday of this week. This means I have everything I need to begin the editing process of my documentary. As I believe you can’t start editing your production until you have the foundation, which I believe is the voice over/narration as that’s the thing that remains throughout the whole of the documentary. I need to give myself a lot of time for editing as I personally take up a long amount of time whilst editing, this is partially due to me being a perfectionist and because I don’t know where everything is in premier pro and is still working the software out. This means I overall take longer then I really should. I pretty much everything to begin editing: voice over, interview and archive footage. However, I still yet to film my own b-roll in which I could interject throughout my production where necessary. |
WEEK FIVE
Do you think you have a good balance of found footage and your own examples?
I think I have a lot of found footage within my production, this is due to me wanting to show the audience specifically what cutting film up reel looked like and to show clips of the films I was discussing. As I thought this will ensure the audience understands what I am talking about. I should of really got more b-roll of me editing in my production or maybe looked up some museums in which I go to and film my own examples of the footage. However, this isn’t to say my production isn’t fully found footage. In fact, I use my own example when discussing the Kuleshov Effect. I filmed prior, when practicing my techniques, The Kuleshov Effect. However, I modernised this version more, so it will be more fitting for the audience today. I did this my changing around the scenario to something people from the 21st century would understand by including brands such as McDonalds. As well as this I also filmed b-roll of me on the laptop and editing and I used my own footage for the interview I took with Lee Blackmore. I liked mixing it up between my footage and found footage as I thought it made the production more engaging. For every interview clip I had with Lee Blackmore, I had one for Walter Murch or Alfred Hitchcock or Paul Machliss. |
How do you think your editing went this week?
I thought my editing was successful this week. I wanted to make my production look professional, so I looked up some tutorial on YouTube on how to edit your footage into a style of documentary. I learnt how to zoom into photos and clips, this is seen a lot in documentaries, so I think its very beneficial in knowing how to do this. I added this to my documentary and it worked well and made my footage appear more engaging to the audience. Even though I think editing was successful to an extent, I found it extremely challenging to edit this week. I had major technical difficulties with premier pro, I couldn’t work out if it was a virus in my software or it was premier pro messing up. Premier pro would turn off randomly, whilst I was editing, and then when I turned it back on again the software wouldn’t let me import footage. This was a very big struggle for me. I planned to of finished my documentary by Monday, as this would leave me enough time to do my evaluation and do my location recces. Yet, because it wasn’t working this added a lot more time to the editing process. I finished editing on the Wednesday night of this week and exported the video on Thursday morning. This meant that I hardly any time to do anything else for my production. I am glad I gave myself extra time as if I left the editing to Wednesday night I wouldn’t have the production finished in time for the deadline. In the future, I think I am going to get my laptop checked over for viruses to see if it is function alright. This will ensure for my next project I will not have the same level of technical difficulties. Do your example effectively shows what is being discussed?
I used examples of different editing techniques within my documentary. My example I used are very similar to what the original techniques look like. I did this to ensure I didn’t lose any key information when explaining them as well as the audience would probably be able to understand everything better. However, saying this I did change the examples a bit just to ensure that I wasn’t copying the originals for example The Kuleshov Effect. The Kuleshov effect shows a man looking at three different things: food, a coffin and women. I changed mine in order for it to be a bit more modern and relatable for todays society. I had a boy looking at McDonalds, women in a bikini and cats. The filming was pretty much in the same set up as the original Kuleshov Effect. Yet, the shots are different due to what’s in them. I think my examples are very effective as they are just informing the audience in a more modern way. |
Are you happy with the final edited piece? Why?
I am proud and happy of the final edit of my production. I really tried in improving my skills by watching successful documentaries and looking at the structures they follow as well as looking on YouTube for tutorials in making my documentary more engaging for the audience. I looked up a video on how to do a flipping transition from one scene into another, I also looked at quick duration shot sequences and how to make them look professional. Basically, I put in a lot of effort into the final product of my documentary and I am happy with how it turned out. The only thing in which I will say is I could of have more my own footage rather then having almost everything archive footage. However, this is very difficult when explain the history of a topic, I can’t exactly go back in time and film these events taking place. Yet, saying that I could have researched some museums or displays which could have old camera or editing equipment in which I could of captured for my documentary. Another thing in which I could have done to make my documentary just a bit better was get another person to interview. Instead having one person to interview have two. This will give my documentary a more rounded feel as we have a different perspective giving their opinion on editing. However, I did try to get another editor to interview for the documentary, but they didn’t reply to my messages. I made the best out of a bad situation and I think the documentary turned out well from this. Did you complete the documentary by the deadline? Did you give yourself enough time to complete the work and make improvements?
I completed the documentary by the deadline. Originally, I thought the deadline was on Thursday 18th October, but it turned out it was on the Friday. Now, this may not seem like much of a time extension, yet to me it was very helpful. Due to having technical difficulties with premier pro and my computer I had fallen behind with the editing and it was taking a lot longer then expected. My plan to begin with was to get the edit done by the Monday, which would leave me three days to finish everything else of before the deadline. However, the edit finishing by Monday kept being pushed back, thankfully I had given myself some cushion room is anything bad happened like this. I managed to finish the edit my Wednesday night which gave me two days until Friday to finish everything. It was lucky on my part that I thought the deadline was Thursday as I would be in serious trouble. Also, its good that I gave myself some room just in case something bad happened. In the future I will make a schedule, this will be used to plan out my time wisely so I can decide when I will edit or when I will do the research. By doing this it will allow me to understand exactly what I have to do day by day and the tasks I need to meet. This all means that I will stay on schedule and on time for my production. And I am glad I did because it really came in handy. I am thankfully that I managed to meet the deadline, even though I struggled tremendously this week. I was so stressed that I would miss the deadline that it kept me motivated to keep pushing through the technical difficulties to complete my work. |
Did you encounter any problems during this week, and if so how did you overcome them?
I encounter many problems this week. All these issues were surrounded around premier pro and my laptop faulting. Due to me downloading b-roll footage from YouTube to MP4 converters this also put viruses on my laptop. To begin with it was fine, random thing would pop up on the screen in the middle of editing. But, then it got to the point where premier pro would lock me out and wouldn’t let me on to the software. Then it wouldn’t allow me to import footage and it would delete footage from my timeline. This was extremely stressful as my work kept being deleted. To overcome this issue every hour or so I would export my video, this was to ensure even if the software or my laptop corrupted I would have a saved file of my work up and until that point on an external hard drive. I just wanted to ensure that my work wouldn’t be completely gone when it started corrupting. Even though, it was very long and agonising process I just had to keep doing this until I had finished my film and then I would export it. I have learnt a lot from this experience, primarily never to trust technology and to always have back ups of your work saved to ensure you won’t be disappointed when something bad happens. In the future I will continue to export my work as I go along, whilst editing, this means even if the footage is corrupted or lost I will still have a back up version of it. |