Final Major Project Unit: Production

Last Saturday, Lauren arranged with all the contributors, ones that had been filmed and the ones that haven't, to come along to a mock-up support group as we wouldn't of been able to shoot in a real one. This is an element we were really keen to replicate, and it could be used as a good closure segment of the film. 

My priority was the location, recording sound, the lighting and how to shoot this situation and make the most of the time we had with them. I opted to use 2 cameras, and get Lauren on the 7d so that we could cover conversations across the circle. I decided not to shoot any wides, as I don't think they'd be necessary, even though I always will in the past, if I know it's not needed, then sometimes its not worth shooting for the sake of giving too many options. 

So I booked out the kit: an Arri lighting kit, the Fostex sound recorder and a Canon 7d. And borrowed a Z3300a microphone used for recording vocals, acoustic instruments and piano. It was used a lot to record Ed Sheeran's songs. The other option would have been to put a Zoom H2 in the middle instead, or use 2 directional mics in the middle pointing in opposite directions. I wouldn't choose to boom this sound, because it's for a long period of time, in a circle, and the sound wouldn't be of good enough quality to match what we already have in the film. Having a mic in the middle, would mean a good even sound, at a good height for sound also, and it's the technique used a lot for group interviews and meetings. 

I then headed to the venue, which was a room at an NHS centre in Maidstone, which is used for support groups. I set up chairs and the lights how I described below, and that worked. I then tested the sound in each chair to listen back later to make sure it was picking up the sound okay. By doing this I also found any squeaky chairs, or chairs of an odd height and removed them. 

As for this situation, it wasn't necessary for us to radio mic everyone up, its a small room, it's quiet, no wind, good ambience and lots of furniture in, which means less echo. So one mic, with the omnidirectional pattern switched on. Here's a quick diagram to explain... 

And for lighting, I bounced light because I wanted it to look as natural as possible, and I really needed more light in the room. I had one window light on one side, so I bounced a light off the opposite wall, almost like a fill light. Then bounced light off the ceiling. I was bouncing light because I also don't have soft boxes, so it's best to reflect the light to create a softer light. I made a simple diagram to explain, obviously not to scale... 

To seat everyone, it wasn't necessary to form a full circle, but we can give the illusion of the circle by creating two semi-circles, so that we could shoot from both sides. I also made sure that when we were shooting, Lauren and I were over the same line, so that a conversation cuts more naturally in the edit. In addition, the main contributors which we had filmed were sat in the middle for sound and visual reasons. I wanted quite a rough style, so I moved a lot to get a range of interesting shots, but also making sure I held those shots for as long as they needed to be to create breather points and to cover edits. I used my Nikon telephoto with a lens adapter to attach to my Canon 6d, this helped in reaching to the other side of the circle, and getting some nice macro close-ups for a really intense and personal view, almost as if we're invading their space and delving deeper into their thoughts. Once we got enough of the conversation shots, I took some time at the end whilst they continued speaking to get a lot of interesting cutaways of listening and hands.

Window light left, bounced light above and right. Centre framing.

In the edit, I synced each camera angle with the sound first, so I could create a multi-cam clip using the sound to sync. In the end, you can view each camera at the same time and cut using that, which could be useful when cutting out the synced images before using any cutaways. This is a rough screenshot from FCPX of a simple way to use multicam with 2 cameras shooting a group. On some occasions we were shooting the same person at the same time, like below. From the top, on the left are my labelled clips, the angle viewer, and the selected angle, below is the timeline showing both angles within the multicam. It's then very simple to cut between these angles whilst also keeping the sound all in sync. 

Here's a small sample of the footage, with just a rough master soundtrack and edited storyline, it's purely to show how it was directed in terms of style, lighting, choice of shots, the look created with the lens chosen. I haven't changed the colours or added any effects.

I set both cameras to exactly the same settings and white balance, so I can put an adjustment layer over all the shots to correct them all at once. For me, they're a little too warm in places at the moment, so to make them more filmic I usually add a subtle bit of blue in the darks. 

We haven't used any of this footage in the film so far, but it was a really good experience to record this situation sound-wise, and perform this lighting set-up outside of a studio and in a natural environment shooting from various angles, so the lighting needed to be even throughout the room, but also natural and not overly lit. 

Final Major Project Unit: Post-production

Whilst Lauren is organising the content side and working on pulling the story together with all the hours we have of interview, I've edited a few bits along the way to get a sense of how the documentary is going to look and feel. 

Throughout this project, we've aimed to focus on each individual's story and their experience with the disorder, to try and get a sense of what it's like to live with bipolar. 

I feel the approach is very subtle, and thought-provoking, without the interruption of a presenter-like voiceover. We only hear the stories being told directly from those who have experienced it. 

Editing pieces has also helped build a soundtrack, to see what works and what kind of effect the tone of music has underneath their voices. 

Here's a little example, with a synth sounding track. 

Final Major Project Unit: Post-production

Lauren and I had our final shoot date with our last contributor, Seema. She currently lives on the West side of London, so we took a journey there and aimed to get all the filming done in one day. She is a self-employed Optometrist, currently studying for a Masters. And she also paints as a hobby. So we filmed a sequence of her doing her art, with a lens change to get some macro shots. I couldn't do much movement on this lens, as it was a telephoto without a built-in stabiliser. So I set-up the shots on a tripod and let the action unfold, as any slight touch of the camera would cause smalls vibrations.

For reasons attached to the stigma and discrimination in the workplace with mental illnesses, she didn't want to be recognised, so not to damage her career. In this case, for the interview we sat her with her back to a window, so I exposed to that light rather than exposing her face.

We then went out to the church, to film a few shots. Unlike, our previous shoots, we only interviewed her once at her house. Here is her shot list.

Whilst Lauren is organising the structure of the documentary in the edit. I've been working on some looks and testing the footage to see how it's handling correction. It's good practice to get the white balance and lighting right when on the shoot, and I've learned from experience. But there are times where it's not always spot on, perhaps I start getting lazy. Luckily, colour balance can be fixed in post. However, I do always pay attention to the exposure of the image because that's not, if at all, easy to fix. Especially images which are over-exposed, as opposed to under-exposed.

Here's some examples of my own correcting of my mistakes, and adding a little bit of a "filmic" look:

too warm

getting there

to add a letterbox?

slightly brighter

getting macro

Final Major Project Unit: Research

I've been continually looking for inspiration throughout this project, especially whilst shooting.

Over time, I've built up a list of director's work I've admired. And for this project I've sent them all questionnaires to find out more about their roles, and so far I've received some really good feedback.

These directors do a lot of commercial, short documentary and music videos. Most with backgrounds in photography, and cinematography.

One of my favourite directors I've admired for a few years creates nearly all of Ben Howard's videos, Mickey Smith. He has a background in photography, in particular surf photography. So he has an amazing eye for visuals, finding beauty in the changes in nature and seeing lines. I can definitely say he's inspired a lot of my own work.

A cameraman and director who works with Mickey is called Allan Wilson, who is equally talented in his work. Mickey, along with Allan, are known under Astray. http://www.theastray.com/main.html

I've also found other director's I admire on production company websites who specialise in documentary and commercial films, such as:

http://www.independ.net
http://www.roguefilms.com
http://www.thepublicrecord.tv
http://www.prettybirdus.com
http://leafhouseblog.wordpress.com

In terms of other music videos, the work that inspires me comes from Daniels, Brewer, and Sam Brown.

http://www.danieldaniel.us
http://www.brewerr.us

This is behind the scenes of a music video for Two Door Cinema Club with Brewer, they've kindly replied to my emails. 

A documentary director who creates amazing shorts, and made Oxyana. Sean Dunne, his style and approach to stories just draws you in. I love how it's very organic, simple, and tells the story of the person without voiceover but through the weaving of the interviews with the people and the sequences filmed with them to show us who they are. 

http://veryapeproductions.com

Sean has worked with Galen Summer, an editor but also a director (http://www.galensummer.com) . Who has worked with cinematographer Ed David (http://www.kittyguerrilla.com).




"The story of the man and his records"

Final Major Project Unit: Production

Filming with Belinda

This week I've been to London to shoot some city shots and time-lapses for the film. 

I always find a cat...

I've also been logging the footage and syncing the sound ready for Lauren to go through and start editing. After seeing it all together, I am happy with it so far, but there's still a long way to go. 

Today we had our first shoot with Belinda. This is our main shoot with her, so we aimed to get her full interview down, plus a trip to the theatre and some sequence shots. She has a background in theatre performance and music plays an important role in her life. She highlighted an article for us on how music is thought to raise dopamine levels in the brain. Here are a few stills from today.

I'm very pleased we wrapped on time and got everything done. It was a relaxed day as well, and Belinda said how comfortable she felt around us. Which is very positive, as we had the same reaction from Liz last week.  

My shot list:

Final Major Project Unit: Production

Filming with Liz

Lauren and I stayed in Woking for a couple of days shooting with a lovely contributor, Liz. We'd shot with John to test the water in terms of style and how to work with people and learnt a lot. We have also shot with Dan, but only a interview which we'd use mainly for voiceover. But for Liz, we found out more about her and chose to shoot sequences first as they are the important parts to cover the interview and show use more about how the person lives. 

I created a page of shots, grouped by a couple of sequences based on our knowledge of Liz. We know she does crafts, so I got some shots as she worked. Then we set up for a interview in the same position, and found that she was a comfortable talker. She was talking whilst working on a card, so I filmed parts of her making the card, and a close-up of her. But, in the end, she found it too distracting to do both so she concentrated on talking to the camera, and we picked up the shot of her finishing the card later on. 

working on her crafts

I also google street viewed her house, and saw that there was a train line, and she had mentioned a canal which she likes to walks on. So after we finished in the house we went to the canal and got some shots of her at her favourite spot. Before going to a nearby field and setting up an interview with her sat on a bench. 

at the canal

The next day we focused on getting the more serious interview, sat in the living room, in a more traditional set-up. They were sat in the sofa in the middle of the room, with objects behind, window light in front of them, and I could adjust a dimmer switch above them. Which was a very ideal set-up.

Her husband also volunteered to be part of the film, so Lauren conducted his interview too. Typically I switched sides to Lauren so that his interview was looking left-to-right on the left-hand side of the frame, and Liz's was opposite, so they didn't match for the edit. I managed to get some shots of Liz's wedding rings, and we asked them to sit at their table-for-two outside in their garden. Overall, it was a very good place to shoot, as I could get a lot of GV's and cutaways of sentimental objects that Liz has on show. 

I didn't get all the shots explicitly to this shot list, as sometimes they don't work, but I improvise in many of these situations and find interesting angles. 

Final Major Project Unit: Production

The shooting is well on the way... 

We did a second shoot with John at Joss Bay. I build ideas in my head beforehand, and put them into a series of notes to create a sequence. The style of this documentary surrounds the v/o interview we take in the contributor's houses, which is also filmed for safety. The main visuals look into the people's lives in sequences, setting them up and building a story. And talking to them in these situations, as different locations may bring something different out of them. We also talk about what ever is relevant, such as how being outside helps the mental wellbeing of an individual. These situations include going outdoors, on walks, doing crafts or art projects, and even riding a cab. Things that relate to their background stories, and the message of dealing with bipolar. 

For John, and his love of surfing and being by the sea, it seemed relevant to film him at Joss Bay, Kent's surfing beach. Firstly we filmed some shots travelling in the car, and a short interview in the car too. At the beach, I liked the idea of following him to the water. And shooting in extreme wide shots to show the vastness of the beach, and the open water. Extreme wide shots can also be used to exaggerate the loneliness of the individual. 

I'm uploading and logging the footage as we go, familiarising myself with it, seeing how each shot edits visually, and what "look" it fits. I'm also logging the footage to give to Lauren as she will be editing it. 

As I don't use a steadicam for filming, I rely on my own steadiness (most of the time), I thought I'd test these stabilisation tools in post-production. Here is a test I did. It can be quite an improvement, but noticeable if you know the signs to spot. I've seen it used in many smaller budget documentaries, and even in some lower budget TV reality shows. 

Before shooting with John, I went out and tested the GoPro Hero2 sports camera, to see on various angles how it shoots in water and what kind of images it gets, how stable it is, how it reacts to changes in light and white balance, and focus. As these aren't things you can control in camera, other than change it to spot metering, rather than evaluative. 

I also tested the timelapse feature and attached the camera to the window in the car. I tested it at night too to see how it handles low light, and as expected, lots of noise. 

On my second drive out, I tested my Canon 6D on the dashboard because I wanted to slow the shutter speed, which you can't control in the GoPro. This blurs anything at high speeds, especially at the edges of the frame, leaves light trails, and I think gives a better sense of the feeling of moving at a high speed. As the Canon 6D doesn't have a built in intervalometer, and I don't have a smart phone to control it via wifi, I held the shutter button down and set it to continuous burst mode. I put a gaussian blur over the GoPro day timelapse halfway through, as I prefer it blurred to it being sharp. You may want to skip through. 

So this week has been a heavy week for shooting, we're shooting for the next few days, and more next week. I'll be going out to get my timelapses too, and hopefully some more inner city shots to contrast with the serene nature shots. 

Final Major Project Unit: Research

“visions are abstract; scripts are concrete”

I may have mentioned before, but I am taking on the role of documentary director for this project. Working with Lauren, who is concentrating on the Producer role, almost like an investigator, looking for the stories and sourcing the contributors. I'm working alongside her, finding out as much as I can about the people, and how to create shot sequences with them and how to work with the locations we have. A key thing that we have, is a good and diverse mix of stories and locations to shoot. Which can have its challenges, such as less amount of preparation can be done. And shooting on various locations will offer all sorts of lighting conditions and spaces to work in. So as a shooting director, I have to make decisions as to what lenses to use and where I can get the best angles. I also have to coordinate and plan sequences to shoot with the contributors, by finding out from Lauren what their hobbies are, their background story, their daily routines, and favourite places. 

Here is some more research about my role from the book: 

Writing, Directing, and Producing Documentary Films and Videos, Fourth Edition

By Alan Rosenthal

Responsibilities & Requirements:

• Story shots, sequences and style
• Camera movements & angles
• Lighting & composition
• Content and background of each shot
• Mise-en-scene to add meaning
• Filming to edit (cutaways, pulling essence out of scene) 
• Editing “look” of film
• Research into shooting styles
• Locations for nature shots
• Scripting shots
• Shooting test pieces
• Equipment for filming
• Creative & technical
• Maintaining style throughout
• Takes risks and is willing to jump outside boundaries 
• Establishes what is important and focuses camera

The Director’s Eye

“we see interview after interview, all filmed in the most boring way and interspersed with meaningless visuals that seems to have been put in merely to pass the time. It seems to me at such times that the director has forgotten the very basics of the medium.”

The director must have a capacity for hard work and a good visual eye. A good sense of what is visually important is just as essential in documentary.
Shooting Style

You first determine what you want the film to do and say, and these decisions will then determine the visual style. Don’t work the other way and determine the visual style regardless of subject matter!

Shooting on a tripod, appears more calm, third-person observation of the events. In contrast, shooting from the shoulder and moving with the action enhances the first-person, participatory quality of the scenes. Have to decide which one. (third)

Also decide on degree of intensity, to go for close-ups or extreme close-ups or maintaining a greater distance from the subject.

1. good sense of framing and composition and should be able to see the best angle from which the story can be told.
   
2. a sense for telling detail. Most telling sequences without any warning, but can see the significance and get the camera to film them. Almost accidentally creating shots which symbolise something. Shots happening naturally. 

Pre-production

There maybe no script at all to use, so you can’t plan in advance. With luck, you begin a film with a series of notes and a rough idea of where you want to go and how you want to proceed; you plunge in and hope for the best. Things will happen unexpectedly. Characters will reveal themselves in different ways. Sudden conflicts will emerge. New story lines will become apparent. You discover the film as you proceed. And discover the important details.

What is required?

Documentary directors tend to plunge into their films without much pre-thought. They are sure of their talents, have a sense that the chosen material can lead into all sorts of interesting directions, and just jump in. Know what you want the film the say. Be sure of your focus.

The style should be consistent. Otherwise this confuses the viewer. Consider at length what style you want before you begin filming then stick with it. If you want to break or change your style, think through the pros and cons very carefully. What you should avoid at all costs is shifting styles without reason.



Filming

In terms of the non-interview footage, in addition to the usual rules of composition, your key considerations are around the effectiveness of each shot. So, as a Director, working alongside your Camera Operator (myself), you need to think about the following:

• The subject and general composition of every shot
• The overall content and background of each shot. Failing to think about this could
  mean that you have inadvertently failed to consider something that could either undermine the shot you require or, in extreme circumstances, land you in trouble. For example, if your documentary is about shops selling out-of-date food and you have a supermarket in the background, the audience could infer that this is one of the shops. If it is not, you could open yourself up to potentially costly legal action.
  
• The mise-en-scène: that is, what you could add to the shot to help support the shot or to create additional meaning. As with any production, you have the power to construct what the audience see. As we saw above, though, unlike other productions, you have to give consideration to how far you can ‘creatively treat actuality’ before it cease to be reality.

Filming to Edit

Whatever they are filming, a good Director and crew should always be consciously planning for the edit while they film. This is where having even a rudimentary storyboard will help. So, an interview with a war veteran will be much enhanced through the use of cutaways and inserts which will help to tell the story. Some may be able to be shot at the location, especially if this is his or her house - a close up of their medals, a photograph on the mantelpiece of them in uniform, a close up of their hands as they turn their wedding ring, a faded newspaper cutting retained by them – while other may be obtained after the interview; for example, archive footage or a shot of the local war memorial. Cutting to such footage during an interview will afford you the opportunity to cut around a poor edit or jump cut.

Post–Production

• Ensure all recorded material and associated paperwork is passed from the PA onto
  the Editor
  
• Watch all the recorded material with the Editor and discuss and explore the new
  directions and possibilities that this material now proposes for your documentary
  
• Agree on which material to continue to work with in the edit
  
• Let the Editor do their thing supported by you
  
• Periodically or when called for assist and support the editing process
  
• Initiate and arrange viewings at key points in the edit
  
• Ensure that as far as possible you and the Editor are working to the same plan in
  terms of content and style throughout the editing process
  
• Give the Editor room to develop narrative or threads within the emerging
  documentary
  
• Work with the PA to tie up any loose ends from production such as payments or
  thank yous
  
  

Final Major Project Unit: Production

Filming with Dan

Now we're getting to the stage of really getting to know our contributors, we're finding out some really good contrasts between their lifestyles and personalities. So it's becoming more important to show these people as the individuals that they are. For me, I need to think carefully how to show this through the use of shots, the subject within them and what kind of tone this will portray. 

Whilst being at the stage of phone interviewing with Lauren, I can really create more of a picture of how to show these people, the way that they live and how they cope with the disorder, and their background. 

One of the challenges was shooting with our first contributor, Dan, was showing how organised and tidy he lives. However, in the edit, and by contrast with the other houses, this should come across. There are a few extra shots I need to get of the house and surrounding area. There are a number of reasons why: we'd like to get a sense of how everyone lives, and to help the documentary flow. And it can also be more relatable for the audiences, or to get a sense of diversion, to see the kind of neighbourhoods we film in and how they find similarities or differences to their own. 

My approach to filming is to use as much natural and available light as possible. This is how The Imposter was shot, and there are various directors which choose to shoot this way. It is also less intimidating for the interviewee, and I quite like the darkness on people's faces, I personally think it adds to the character and the whole mood of the film. 

I made sure we had the kit we needed to shoot. Unfortunately my own camera was in the workshop, so I was relying on a camera which only had 16GB of memory and no extra cards, which meant we were shooting more than an hour of interview and I had to keep stopping to upload the footage. Not ideal. But luckily I have my own camera back, with a ton of memory. 

Final Major Project Unit: Research

Whilst I'm on the subject of documentaries.

A more acclaimed one than from the previous post, is called 'Oxyana' (Dir. Sean Dunne, 78 minutes). I can only view the trailer for now, but it looks like a really interesting documentary. It focuses on a small town in South West Virginia called Oceana.

Oxyana has become the nickname for the town since it has become home to the black market trade of prescription painkiller Oxycontin. It looks at the lives of it's residents, caught up with abuse, addiction, theft, prostitution and overdoses. And is told by the voices of addicts, the dealers and those affected. It looks like another example of a documentary style where it really lets the voices of the people speak in relaxed environments which relate to their characters and the story. I hope when we come to film with out contributors that they do feel relaxed, and if their sit-down interview doesn't open them up, then by getting them to do an activity and ask them questions about it should make them feel more at ease, whilst making the documentary more interesting to watch.

Oxyana won Best New Documentary Director, Tribeca Film Festival 2013.