Documentary - Evaluation

 Documentary - Evaluation

The task for this unit, was to create a 10 minute documentary for BBC 3 with '2021 vision' in mind (Turrell, 2021). In addition to this, it had to align with the BBC 3 commissioning brief (Campbell, 2021) We were put into groups (myself, Heather, Joey, Derrin, and Harry) to create and complete the documentary. 

The initial title that we had was 'Kill the Bill: Where Would We Be Without Protest?", but was changed after a discussion within our group. We felt that the new title of "Protests: Where Would We Be Without It?" was more fitting as it maintained a more balanced view and ensured that our content was focused on other aspects of protesting. 

When helping to create the script, I acquired the knowledge that a factual/documentary script differs from a fictional script. The difference in layout of script made it much easier to understand what was being said (commentary)/the audio and what was visible on screen. With regards to the autocue when filming the commentary, we had to break it up into smaller pieces as Heather struggled to read the big chunks that it was previously in. I was live editing the script as we went along to ensure that it reflecteed the changes that we had made. The autocue was also scrolling at a pace that was too slow for Heather to read aloud, so Joey ended up manually scrolling it, whilst trying to ensure that his hand didn't get in shot of the camera. Through doing this, Heather's confidence in her reading improved significantly. For the autocue, we used an iPad. 

As Producer, I found and booked the locations for the shoot dates, collaboratively found contributors with Heather, completed risk assessments (which included Covid 19 Safety Measures) and got them signed off, found footage relating to protests, and ensured that everyone knew what they were doing. As Covid 19 Supervisor, I had to ensure that equipment and high touch points were cleaned regularly, all crew wore masks, hand gel was on hand and crew and members of the public remained 2 meters apart where possible. In addition to these roles, I also took charge of sound and helped Joey with the editing process. From the sound workshop and using clip mics on the second year production (Trending, 2021), I set up the clip mics for the interviews and the vox pops. I also set up the boom mic for the vox pops, with the help of Ferg. With regards to the editing, as Joey was struggling on completing the edit in time for the deadline, I ended up cutting some of the footage for him for the edit, such as that of Doris Allimadi, Ryan Perry, and Derrin Elliott, and also helped him decide where to put footage within the documentary. If we had more time, we would've made some of the cuts a bit smoother

On the first day of filming, there was a bit of an issue with getting crew to stick to timings. In order to combat this, I ensured that we had a schedule and kept reiterating throughout the day what needed to be done and by when. The schedule helped ensure that crew knew what they were doing and when they were doing it, making our shoot dates much more efficient. 

There were communication issues with the director (Harry) throughout the whole project. As a group, we struggled to see his vision. We weren't provided with storyboards and were given shot lists too late into the process (either an hour before filming or after we had filmed). As a group we had to explain to him why shots such as shooting from both in front and behind of the presenter wouldn't work when we have one camera. We had to change the shots that he said that he wanted as we needed to be able to cut the footage and to ensure that there was depth within the frame/footage. He agreed to this and allowed for us to shoot by a corner of the production room, ensuring depth within the footage. We also had to keep reminding him to remain out of frame when he was standing next to Director of Photography, Derrin, whilst looking at the camera, which proved to not be taken as he is in frame within most of the shots. We will keep this in mind for future reference and ensure that it is reiterated. Furthermore, the crew were often confused as to when we were actually rolling as the director often just started recording without telling any of us. Luckily, none of the footage was compromised. Next time, we will make sure that the director clearly communicates with cast and crew when we are going to start filming. 

It was decided to conduct the interviews on Skype as it meant that the time period was not restricted unlike Zoom. After the interview conducted with Ryan Perry, Heather and I decided that another LED light panel was needed to light up Heather's face as her face was not well-lit. It was placed in front of her face to ensure that there was sufficient light. With regards to the lighting for the other production room interviews, Joey had the idea of putting different coloured lights directed through the frosted glass to make the set-up look more interesting. To achieve this, we placed blue and purple gels over the tungsten lights that had been positioned in the other room, overlooking the production room through the frosted glass. We also had LED light panels positioned around the interview set up to ensure that it and Heather were well-lit. 

When filming the vox pops, we encountered the issue of the boom sound not working. Thinking on my feet, I rung Ferg, who then walked us through how to get the sound to work and at the appropriate levels. It was nerve-wracking getting members of the public to be interviewed for the vox pops, but was a great way to deal with rejection and built our confidence up as we went along. The reasoning behind the vox pops were to gain differing opinions on protesting and the current political climate. As we were time constrained with our documentary being 10 minutes long, we decided that we couldn't fit the vox pops in the final cut. In addition to this, after looking at the footage from the vox pops, we decided that it wasn't up to scratch as the framing was off. When filming, we had explained this to the director (Harry), who carried on, which meant that the footage was not good enough to use. As director, he should've been keeping an eye on the camera things such as the framing. However, we can use this as something to work on and look out for when conducting vox pops in the future. 

Next time, I think that I should also do my own version of the edit to ensure that it is completed in sufficient time, hopefully with time to spare, so that we can go over it and make any final changes needed. I would also like to try my hand at operating the camera as I am still unsure of how to properly use it and feel as though I should branch out of my comfort zone. In order to try and gain confidence with the cameras, I will be going into the studios, after all of the work has been complete for the year, and learning how to use the equipment. Considering have been learning and working in the midst of a pandemic, we have tried our best and it is a learning process that we have to continue to trust.  

Bibliography:

Campbell, F. (2021) BBC 3 Commissioning. At: https://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/bbc-three (Accessed 18/05/2021)

Trending (2021) [Online Video] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4zOMgbu64w (Accessed 17/05/2021)

Turrell, B. (2021) Documentary Lecture Series. [Online 15/03/2021].