Final Major Project Unit: Project Update

Sadly, my camera is in repair. So hopefully by next week I'll be ready to go out and shoot again. I'm getting all the information from Lauren on the contributors, finding out all the possible locations we'll be shooting in with them and more information on shooting material. I've noted all of this and plan on visiting as many locations as possible before shooting and creating a rough idea of some shots to do with each person. This includes creating sequences showing what is involved in their lives, their passions and creative pursuits. From reading the stories so far, we're getting a good variety of people with interests in art, music, and there are people from different cultures, and age groups. 

One young man used to just take random cab rides, and even the cabbies started to know him well, so we could even try and film him in a cab sitting quietly with all sorts of interesting angles (perhaps with a GoPro) with his voice-over interview telling his story, and film him talking in the cab which we could layer over the "silent shots". We'd like for the voices to be able to flow freely and create almost contrasting layers with the voices and the images. 

Another likes to walk in St. James' Park or in the British Library. We may need to look for permissions if we'd like to shoot in some of these places. Another is a musician who enjoys going to gigs and listening to music, she's even offered to perform for us. Another has spent time in art therapy and enjoys making cards and scrapbooking. And then John, who we have met, plays guitar and makes and sells his own cleaning products. 

For me there seems to be this message about creativity and self-motivated projects which link these individuals. 

Lauren has been working on a rough script using the stories she's received so far, so once I can look through this it will really help me to build the visuals in my mind. We're hoping to make this documentary stand out as being a bit unconventional and challenging the typical techniques. Every documentary has their own individual way of telling the story, as long as it works and keeps to the message we're trying to portray. I also plan on getting all the coverage we need using my own shooting style, so we have options in the edit. 

Tomorrow we have our first telephone interviews with the contributors, which we'll be recording. 

So, Lauren will be liaising with the contributors, working out when to shoot, helping to decide what to shoot, and finalising locations so I can do visits beforehand. Then I'll create a shot list using the shooting script, and make directorial decisions on the shooting days.