Shortoftheweek.com - Documentary Inspiration

To further my research into documentary layouts, i wanted to actually see it in action of how other documentary film makers style and put their shots together. I also want to see the journey through the narrative, and how they grip me emotionally, inspiration to apply to my piece. I went on the website: shortoftheweek.com and looked under the category 'documentary' to find interview style or travelling themed documentaries. I found three shorts which i thought were interesting and fit my theme as well and analysed the composition and narrative structure.

Twenty Eight Feet - Created by Kevin A. Fraser - 8 minutes

https://www.shortoftheweek.com/search/?q=twenty+eight+feet

These screen shots are taken from the opening sequence of a short about a man named David Welsford, who restored a wooden boat from a scrape heap, on a journey in search of happiness. The intro takes you slowly into the narrative with the visuals looking at the surroundings a boat on water, slowly going closer onto the boat looking at the outside exterior, then looking in at his equipment and then finally putting a face to the over voice narration meeting our main character for the first time. I really like the shots going from a long shot into close ups and mid shots, i find its captivating and allows the viewer to get closer to the characters and like your going on the journey with them. I like how there is a soundtrack playing in the background of the over voice narration. I think its soothing and helps create an emotional impact to his words about finally doing what he has been dreaming about for a long time. This is very much the same way Will felt when deciding to go and travel for the first time, so i think using the Fiji song behind the narration and visuals will be effective.

Throughout the duration of this documentary, its all following his journey and new life living on a boat and coming out of society to pursue his dream, told by voice over narration, showing visuals of his everyday activities on the boat, following his journey. As i wasnt as lucky enough to follow Will to Fiji, i compensated with archive images over matching parts of the narrative.

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Sean - Created by Ryan Reichenfeld - 12 minutes

https://www.shortoftheweek.com/search/?q=sean

This documentary is a more metaphorical message of visuals to the words. Following teenage Sean, and his opinion on getting left behind and dreams of making it big doing what he loves. It uses nice composition and a mixture of shots, showing Sean, in his every day environment and mostly a voice over, narrating about one day leaving the town where he lives and pursuing his dream. 

For some of this piece, the visuals don't really make sense to me why they were used because it doesn't relate at all to what he is saying. In a metaphorical sense, i think they are visually showing what parties and types of social groups are where he lives, where he doesn't fit in. 

What i found inspirational about this short documentary was the composition and the framing of these mid shots of the main character, Sean. I like the rule of thirds, showing the character and his environment of where he lives and the use of natural light and depth of field. I also really like the colour grading, how its moody but soft reflecting how he feels. These elements are what i want to apply to my documentary, creating a feel with the visuals of Will in the exterior shots. 

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Gan Gan - Created by Gemma Green-Hope - 3 minutes

https://www.shortoftheweek.com/search/?q=gan+gan

In this really short piece about a grand-daughter reflecting back over the life of her grandmother 'gan gan' and her story, it is beautifully pieced together by using shots and combining them really fast together, relating physically and metaphorically the narration. It almost feels like a poem as opposed to a set up like how my documentary is, giving it an artistic edge. Its fast paced images keeps your eyes fixed on the screen to make sure you don't miss anything and certain words she says relates to the visual. I like that she has combined archive images of her grand mother and pictures of things that relate to what she is saying. This is the kind of thing i am going to include in my documentary; archive pictures of Will and pictures of letters, books and 'keep sake' items. 

I really find her use of stop motion quite interesting and quirky, like a quick preview into a life so full and her collections of material objects. I like her compostion and how she has combine archive footage and shots she has taken in relation to the script. I like how she has used letters and old books, quickly panning over showing how she kept diaries. This kind of reflecting back on the past footage from pictures to letters, and left behind objects is what i am also going to include to show the viewer a little more about will and what he did and kept from his experience. 

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I found these short piece documentaries very helpful in terms of edit, composition, archival images and filler shots. It has also inspired me on sound; i had doubts about adding the sound track behind the interview shots, but i think it will create mood and emotion to his words.

Finding Vivian Maier - John Maloof (Documentary style research)

Whilst researching into Vivian Maier for a different part of this module, there is a part four minutes into the documentary 'Finding Vivian Maier', that inspired me to create a picture sequence in time with the music similar to what is shown in the documentary. In Maier's documentary, the pictures are shown after John Maloof (director and discoverer of her work) discusses how he put this images on photo sharing website, Flickr, showing the viewer a few of many images he put up on-line. They are all played at four second intervals, before moving on to the next one, starting with a shot of a screen showing Maloof uploading them on-line, to flicking through selected images and back to a screen of asking the public what he should do with this work. I like how captivating this part of the documentary was for me, as it really left me with a sense of wanting to know more, what was going to happen next?. This kind of gripping element inspired me to want to create something similar in my own documentary; a sequence of archival images showing Will in Fiji in time with the beat from the song he wrote. Below are some screen grabs from the vivian maier documentary:

 Here you can see the text at the beginning shows times of upload on his account from Flickr. The music then increases as it fades into her images and the pictures change every four seconds, playing to the beat and allowing a long view time of each picture. I also like that he uses a plain black background when presenting her images, with a small boarder around them. I think this makes the images stand out and look professional, trying to present them in the way they always deserved to be shown. What i want to do with mine, as it is the opening sequence, i want the archival images to be played quite quickly but on every other beat of the song and increasing in speed as it reaches the end of the small intro song. I am hoping to achieve a sense of curiosity from my viewers about each image, which i will then show again later in the documentary for longer over the narrative.

Editing Process - Final Cut Pro Screenshots

Firstly, i imported the video footage from the downs and interview with the sound from the interview separately, recorded on a zoom recorder. I then added the archival pictures and the shots i took of his memorabilia. Creating a new project i first tried creating the edit, piecing the shots together in a narrative order, without the sound track (see in practice editing process results). I found it extremely difficult to piece the images in the opening sequence in any sort of rhythm without it, and i found i was focusing to much of my time to try to get it pieced together that i wasn't focusing on getting the narrative together in a sequence. I went home to record the sound with Will, using a zoom recorder like the interview and recorded the intro song, the main sound and the opening and ending quote, chosen appropriately and made up by Will to sum up his love of travelling. Once i had the sound track and intro i found i knew what i wanted to do because i spent alot of time piecing it together in my head of how i envisioned it to look and from my storyboard and narrative break down. Here is the break down of my editing process, using final cut pro to edit video, sound and colour grade.

Here you can see the creation of the project in final cut. These images are additional added archive images in response from Will that fit over certain parts about the narrative of building the school project and the children.

Here is the import of the sound from the zoom recorder of the interview. One thing i forgot to do was to pause the sound in between each part of the narrative in question order that i prepared for Will. I had someone helping me record sound and i didnt tell them to pause it, however i realised half way through and had separate sound files for 4 of the questions. Although half of it was all one long sound clip, i didn't find i wasted a lot of time trying to find the right part i needed to put over the camera sound, but for future i will make sure they are separate for easier saving and use in the video. 

Learning from my mistakes of a continuous sound recording from the interview, when i went home to record the sound track with Will, i recorded each part individually and labelled them correctly so i knew where it had to be placed in the timeline. Here is the import for the beginning intro quote about travelling made by Will, the 'fiji song' (the main body sound track), the second half of the interview which was recorded separately and the intro song which along with the Fiji song was written by Will.

From the final cut sound library, i wanted to use sound effects at certain points in the edit. I found a room tone noise, which i used at a low level in between pauses in the interview so the break up sounds realistic. I also thought for the opening sequence as the documentary begins, to compliment to visuals of Will sitting on the hill, to include a bird sound as it begins, creating an uplifting feel.

Here you can see the opening intro sequence. To begin i used a plain black custom box with a cross fade going into shots from shoot one - the downs. Originally, before i was able to get the recording from Will, i pieced the shots from the downs with the archive pictures, playing 2 seconds apart leading up to the title page. In reaction from others to this, they found the pictures played to fast leading up to the title page and didn't allow enough reaction time to the visuals. I went home and recorded the sound with Will, and fit it in where i had already laid out the clips. I adjusted the bird sound to be higher at the beginning, so its heard just before the intro song comes in. Then applied the sound under the intro talk, playing at -2dbs and the voice was at 12dbs, all the way through. I then repeated the intro song and changed the length of the images to the beat of the song, speeding up as they reach closer to the title page, using a cross dissolve to fade in and out on the visual and a fade out on the soundtrack as it fades into black. I left a couple second delay before moving on to the beginning of the narrative, allowing the audience to take everything in. One thing i was noticing and was told by others i showed my practice edits to, is that the edit was to quick, not allowing enough time for the viewer to take in each part. Researching further and working to the beat, i adjusted the edit with this in mind, leaving air gaps in between (as seen above in the 'beginning intro').

Narrative fades in with the first of the interview shots, (as shown in my storyboard), combining shots from shoot one - 'the downs', over parts of the story where he is talking about wanting to see the world and where he got the idea from. I used them in a metaphorical way, symbolising looking across his home town and remembering the decisions he made to leave it behind for a while, for the first time abroad. I also used shots i took of his memorabilia, using word play from a book to relate to the words Wills saying. I added in the sound from the interview in separately. To make sure the sound was playing over the video at the same time, i listened to the sound from the video, looked through the library to find the match, dragged it on to the timeline and placed it over the sound matching it up so you can hear the echo. To check it was on point, i turned off the camera sound and watched the movement and listened again to make sure it matched up. After researching and discussion with others, i decided that i wanted the 'Fiji song', to play all the way through, but quite low behind the interview so you can only just hear it, but bring it louder on certain parts, for dramatic effect. 

Continuing on with the intro story about leaving, here you can see where i have used a gap like mentioned above, giving the viewer enough time to read the words in the visual and increasing the sound track whilst on the image before fading out for the next chapter of the narrative. I found this part a bit difficult because he used the sentence 'you know' quite often, and i wanted to cut it out. I wanted to use the opening line he said 'the day of the flight', but he mumbled and said the same thing a few times after that line, so i cut out the parts i thought were not really necessary and got to the main point. To compensate for the jump in the interview visual, I found a picture which was relevant to the spoken narrative and used a cross dissolve in and out.

Here you can see i used a cross dissolve to change from the image back to the video. I used it here because i thought it looked softer appropriate to what he is discussing, about leaving home and saying good bye to his friends and family, instead of just a straight cut to the next part. I also split the next two parts of the narrative up, by using a picture taken from the brochure he previously mentioned in the narrative, to let that part of the story sink in and build you up for the next part, knowing he has chosen to take this opportunity. I then used a straight cut to the next scene, again, using an image over a cut in the interview shots. I placed it relating to the words he said, so that the audience can put words with a visual. Here i would have used video footage that Will recorded whilst he was out there, but unfortunately he was not able to get hold of it and give it to me, and with time running out, i decided that i would make use of all his archive images and use the 'ken burns' effect on some.

Here he talks about his arrival, and going through the images with Will, to find out who each of the people are so they are placed correctly in the sequence. You can see that i repeated the sound track again, this was because i wanted the bridge just in between the chorus of the song to play once more because its softer and fit well with the words. As the sound track goes on, it becomes more upbeat and faster which i think would distract away from his words, or become in competition with one another and its all about the story with visual aid.

Here he continues to talk about building the schools and the teaching that they were assigned to do, helping the children and the adults. I showed a memorabilia image using the ken burns tool to pan down slowly, giving enough time to see the words and connect when he says the word 'Kindi' to the visual where its shown. I ended the scene using a shot from the building project and used a cross fade to the next part of the story. I reapplied the 'Fiji song' from the beginning, as its calming and slightly sad, fitting with the emotion for the next scene about his hospital encounter.

Here you can see the last parts of the editing sequence from his hospital visit to ending on a high note about going back to the island to finish what he started, how the children made his experience so amazing, and leaving the island and how it made him feel. Previous to this final version, i had the narrative the other way around. I had the hospital story after where he is talking about the children but i thought that having two positive stories in a row and then a sad one didn't create the 'roller-coaster' effect of emotion i was aiming for. So i swapped them around so the sad story was in the middle of the story and start with a high and end with a high. At the end of the edit, i used a shot from 'shoot one - the downs', and ended with the same opening message, so the documentary rounds back up to the beginning. In my original plans, I wanted the ending quote to be something he found that inspired him and then quote the person who said it. However, i was running out of time to get the sound and edit, so i went to my back up plan and i actually prefer it having a round up to the beginning, it feels complete and like he proved his point.
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You can see from the edit screen shot above, that i followed the same pattern of  placing the archival and memorabilia shots into the narrative, listening to the words and showing them on certain words that relate to what is in the picture. For example, when Will said, 'remember all the smiles', i placed over a picture of Will and one of the children smiling together, to reach an emotional reaction from the viewers. You can also see where i have increased the levels of the sound track over parts where Will is not talking, at 0dbs and increased the volume on the ending quote as it sounded a bit low.

 It ends with credits saying the title, starring and created by with the end part of the 'Fiji song'. I used the same font as the opening but used a font closer together as shown above. I ended the piece using the fade to black tool and fade out just a couple of seconds after the sound. Overall, the edit was seven minutes long. Originally I aimed for the piece to be between three to five minutes long, but after i reviewed all of the footage, there was certain parts i felt were to important to leave out from his journey, so i set the maximum aim of seven minutes and i achieved what i wanted to do.

There was a scene i shot of Will, talking about some life advice he was given from the wise village elder which i really wanted to use, but that would have made the piece at least ten minutes long. If i was to make the video again, i would include that scene and make the piece a short feature.

Above shows my colour grading process for the interview shots. The light on the side of his face was a bit harsh and so i wanted to bring t down and make the orange slightly deeper. I decreased the highlights in saturation and exposure and made the mid tones slightly darker so it matched evenly. To make sure all of the interview shots matched in colours and tones, i 'matched colour' and copied on to each shot. For some the lighting was different as i altered the exposure on my camera, so some didn't have to be changed much or at all.

 The same steps were applied to the downs shots. I wanted to bring the greens out a bit more as it was quite cloudy with a little of sun and i wanted it to appear warmer and more inviting. I also made it more contrasted, to make the blacks richer giving the washed out areas more depth. I then applied it to all the out door shots making them have the same look. For the shots from the downs where i am walking with the camera, i found they were quite shaky when looking back. Unfortunately it was to late to re-shoot, so in final cut, i added smooth motion, making the shake of the camera a little steadier. I only adjusted it slightly because you can notice it like a blur motion if its to high.
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During the editing process, i have made changes and improvements, based off of my research and advice from others. At the beginning, i kept a lot of parts in about getting ready to go and the process of packing his life in a bag and the sudden realisation of it really happening. In review, this information was nice but not necessarily important to the narrative and so i cut it down to only the essential points, leading up to each part of the narrative. To save the piece, i exported the file as H.264 and high quality. I saved it to a DVD and created a dvd cover matching the title page in the documentary. I also saved it on my youtube channel, to put on my website.
oliviahurley.wix.com/oliviahurleymedia - (under portfolio - videos)

If i had more time and Will and i had similar work schedules, i would have liked to include some more filler shots of Will and an interview talking with another volunteer from the trip, who lives in Leicester. Unfortunately, we had financial difficulties to meet and we didn't have enough time to shoot these scenes. If i was to recreate it again, i would also include archival pictures of his friends and family to include over the parts at the beginning where he talks about leaving home. Looking back, i would replace the still of the card written from a friend wishing him luck with pictures of his mum, dad and friends. Despite this, I am pleased with the edit and i had fun creating it.

Frames per second - Understanding filming on my camera

Whilst shooting for this documentary, I used my own camera; a Canon 700D rebel T5i. The reason for this is because i can have access to my own equipment whenever i want and need to, where as getting a video camera from AV loans has proven to be unreliable and unavailable. So in conclusion, I wanted to understand more about the video settings on my camera and what would be the best mode to shoot in, giving the piece a sharp and professional look. I shot on 30fps throughout my piece, so i wanted to look into how the frame rate and motion blur effect the video quality.
I found a website, https://frames-per-second.appspot.com which broke down the fps and pixels at different rates causing motion blur. I tested the frame rate of 30fps against different velocity rates. This ranged from 50 to 2000 px/s, increasing in speed as the pixels get higher.
'Motion blur is a natural effect when you film the world in discrete time intervals. When a film is recorded at 25 frames per second, each frame has an exposure time of up to 40 milliseconds (1/25 seconds). All the changes in the scene over that entire 40 milliseconds will blend into the final frame. Without motion blur, animation will appear to jump and will not look fluid.

When the frame rate of a movie is too low, your mind will no longer be convinced that the contents of the movie are continuous, and the movie will appear to jump (also called strobing)'. 

I found this information very important on learning how different frame rates can make the overall flow of the piece smooth. I recently discovered that because my camera (canon700d rebel T5i) is an american model, the frame rates are different then the UK based models. American models have a frame rate of 30fps to 60fps where as the uk models are 25fps to 50fps. This means that when it comes to putting my work on to a dvd, it wont play on uk dvd players. The only way around this would be to export and change through the programme 'toast', which can make it compatible. In testing if it can play on different platforms, the dvd still works on computers. 

Documentary storytelling for film and video makers - Shelia Curran Bernard

To get a better understanding of how to create a documentary and grip an audience, i did book research on documentary storytelling, specifically for film and video makers by Shelia Curran Bernard. The book breaks down into parts and below are some key aspects of storytelling that i have found useful in structuring my narrative to grip an audience.

'A story is the narrative, or telling, of an event or series of events, crafted in a way to interest the audience, whether they are readers, listeners, or viewers. At its most basic, a story has a beginning, middle and end. It has compelling characters, rising tension, and conflict that reaches some sort of resolution. It engages the audience on an emotional and intellectual level, motivating viewers to want to know what happens next'.
This is an important factor in any form of story telling through moving image, something in which i will keep in mind when trying to grab the audiences attention in my piece. I want to create an opening sequence which triggers interest to want to know more, following through his journey and the experiences from high points to low and then ending on a satisfying high note again.

Exposition 
'Exposition is the information that grounds you in the story: who, what, where, when and why. It gives the audience members the tools they need to follow the story that's unfolding and more importantly, it allows them inside the story. It doesn't mean giving away everything, just giving away what the audience needs, when the audience needs it'.
This is important in allowing the viewer to understand Will as a person and what the documentary is all about. I want to open up with a scene of this new person talking about how travelling and helping people has been a passion of his for many years, allowing the viewer to understand straight away that the theme of the piece is going to be about travelling. However, i am not going to introduce Will or give any detail into who he is or his back story. The main focus is all about his trip, so to introduce him to the audience, i will include his name in the title sequence so they can put a name to a face and straight away from the title understand its about his experience volunteering in the Fiji islands. As the narrative develops, the point of the documentary will unfold as a personal journey of travelling and leaving it down to the audience to decide how it makes them feel emotionally and considerations of travelling to help people and experience something life changing.

Theme
'In literary terms, theme is the general underlying subject of a specific story, a recurring idea that often illuminates an aspect of the human condition'. The theme of my documentary is travelling and volunteering, so the reaction from the audience can be varied in emotion and leaving them with a sense of excitement to the idea of doing something like that themselves or feeling as if his journey was interesting enough that they feel connected to the person. That is the sort of reaction i am hoping to get from the viewer, however i am leaving it open to see how it made them feel after.

Arc
'The arc refers to the way or ways in which the events of the story transform your characters. In documentary films, story arcs can be hard to find. Never, simple in the interest of a good story, presume to know what the character is thinking of feeling. Only present evidence of an arc if it can be substantiated by factual evidence'. In my case, the story is emotional, so you watch in the way he speaks about his journey and reacts to his words of how his experience has changed him as a person, from being brave enough to go and travel for 6 months on his own and for the first time, and how it has transformed him emotionally and physically, reflecting back on how it has affected his life today.

Plot and Character
'Films are often described as either plot or character driven. Character driven means that the action of the film emerges from the wants and needs of the characters. Plot driven means that characters are secondary to the events that make up the plot'. The story i have chosen to base my documentary on is very much character driven in the way in which we follow through his personal journey and discovering what he was feeling and what happened to him on his trip as apposed to Will being a feature in the story.

Emotional Impact and Audience Participation
'The concept of telling a story for greatest emotional impact and audience participation is perhaps the most difficult. Its often described as 'show don't tell,'which means that you want to present the evidence or information that allows the viewers to experience the story for themselves, anticipating twists and turns and following the story line in a way thats active rather then passive'. This is something i really want to achieve, getting an emotional response from the viewer. The part in my narrative where Will talks about his near death experience on his trip has received shocked reactions from people i have shown, going from a nice heart warming part where he talks about going away for the first time, so the audience feels content and happy and then suddenly become shocked and fearing for his health. Adding in this shock factor will create a sort of up and down effect of emotion, gripping the viewer into the narrative and wanted to find out if he decided to stay and finishing building the school, or if it become to much he chose to go home.

Archival Filmmaking
'Archival is a term often used to describe any footage that is not filmed specifically for the purposes of the documentary in question, and can therefore refer to all sorts of found or acquired material. How you use the archival material is also important. With archival films, that story is often driven by narration, with visuals playing a supporting role'. This is very much true in the layout of the documentary i am creating. The archival footage is all from Wills trip in Fiji, taken by him and the other volunteers on the trip. So to make sure they are placed correctly within the narrative, i will use them where they are relevant to his words and make sure they are the correct images, taking further development into understanding who each person is so the viewer can put a name to a face.

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I found this book extremely helpful in understanding key narrative structures to improve my documentary storytelling. I will apply this new information the layout of the edit and try to grip the audience through visuals and sound.

Sound track planning, Practice editing process & Archive footage

My original plan for the sound track was to meet with will and record the song on a zoom recorder, both the song he wrote in Fiji which would be the main song for the majority of the piece and a short acoustic piece for the beginning and end. However, due to issues of being available at the same time, the plan to record has been changed a few times. One alternative option was for will to record the sound track and send the files to me via wetransfer. Due to the fear of not getting it done in time, i am now going home this weekend to record the sound track and ready for editing next week. As a back up plan though, i will research acoustic guitar sound tracks on commons free - a royalty free backing track site. This is just another option, but i am determined to get the written music i desire, as i think the symbolic touch his own music has will really make this piece stand out.

In the editing process i used Final Cut Pro, first combining the scenic shots together to create an opening sequence, where Will will say a short paragraph explaining why he loves to travel and how it has shaped him as a person. It was then followed up with a title page with the name of the piece and introducing will to the viewers. In negotiation with Will, we came up with the name 'Wanderlust - An Adventure Documentary - Will Foster'. This title instantly completed the piece for me, as the word wanderlust means a strong desire to travel. I thought it fit really well with the narrative and fit all the pieces together. I then continued to edit the piece by organising the interview in order from the narrative structure i have previously set out. For in fill shots, i have used more scenic shots from shoot two - dunstable downs, fitted where the audience is still learning about Will and his journey.

Here you can see my first editing process, where we have the opening shots with no voice over or backing track. It opens on the scenic shots on Dunstable downs and goes into a title page for which i had not come up with the title of the piece yet. It then goes into the interview with Will, where he introduces the story.

From here i thought about research i had looked at as inspiration that i could use similar techniques for in my documentary. One in particular that stood out for me was the introduction in the Finding Vivian Maier documentary. At the beginning, its edited so all of her images are shown in a fast pace, leaving the audience curious to want to see these pictures in detail, knowing they would get a chance as the documentary continued. I thought this was very captivating and something i wanted to do for my viewers as well.  Below is the trailer, which you can get a glimpse of how they showed the images in the documentary. i also like that each image has a black boarder space around it, something i will consider for the archive images from Wills trip in Fiji. 

I then went back to edit again, this time with the inspiration from the Maier documentary lay out and added in a picture sequence just before the reveal of the title - Wanderlust. Still using the opening sequence shots of Dunstable downs and after the title begin the interview of his journey and filler shots from the scenic shots in between. I noticed before on my other practice edit that i didnt leave enough gap in between his speaking, so it all just kind of carried on without any breaks in between. This can lose the audiences attention and so i was given some advice to break it up with room sound and allows the piece to flow smoothly, giving the viewer a chance to take all the information in. 

Here you can see i have added in some room sound and broken it up slightly. As this edit is still on going, i have yet to add the zoom recorder in over the sound from the built in microphone in my camera. I am also going to take out some parts which i think is a bit long winded and can work without. This is a major learning curve for me from the documentary i made last year. I am improving my final cut skills that i learnt and trying some new techniques with transitions and understanding how to make the piece run smoothly and not to quickly. Something i have noticed whilst looking back at the edited footage is its all quick cuts and it doesnt allow you to really take all the information in. Now that i can see these errors, i can focus on improvement and piecing it all together. 

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In between the narrative, i want to include archive footage. These will include pictures that he took whilst in Fiji and shots of the memorabilia he collected over his journey. I want to include them in over the parts of the story they relate to and put a boarder around them, This is because the images are a low quality and look pix-elated when fit to screen, as the pictures were taken on compact cameras, phones and go pros. I took pictures of all the relevant memorabilia on my Canon 700D. At first i took pictures outside with a green leaf backdrop, which i thought was fitting to the nature aspect of the piece. I also liked the use of natural light giving a warm natural glow to the props. For things such as letters, journals, tickets and cards, i set up an interior studio, using one LED light to spotlight them, Here are some of the memorabilia shots that will be included as filler shots.

I edited the photos to be warmer, brighter and have more clarity, so the words were clear and the images were vibrant. I wanted them to match the overall look of the piece, keeping the tones similar through out. For these shots i want to use the ken burns tool to slowly pan side to side and from top to bottom, allowing the viewer to read key words and put a visual with the words from wills story.

Here are some of the archive photos that Will gave me to include in the piece from his journey in Fiji. I wont alter them in any way but add them in where they fit with the narrative.

What i like the most about his images is they each have a story behind them, which when he tells his story they can relate well with his words. Including them allows the viewer to go through his experience like they were there themselves, by gripping them with the narrative in relation to the visual. An important thing that i will keep in mind when editing is showing the picture on key words. For example, if Will is talking about the building school project, i will include a photo showing him with the children. This way you can see and hear about them and i find that grips the audience more.

Shoot Two - Interview Stage

The second shoot consisted of the interview stage, where i asked questions in order of how i would structure it in post production. This included:

• Where the idea came from
• Deciding to go for six months considering he had never previously travelled before
• Process leading up to going
• Arriving and meeting the villagers and other volunteers
• Building project 
• Good and bad experiences
• Culture and lifestyle - how it shaped him as a person
• Leaving the project - saying goodbye to the villagers and volunteers
• Coming home and reflecting on his experience 
• Keeping in contact and future plans

As shown above, some of the key points i wanted to address have changed slightly from my original list but still keeping the main points of interest that i think would captivate an audience throughout the duration of the documentary.
Speaking with Will about what i wanted to know, I explained that he could speak freely based on each question and gave him time to think about what he was going to say so he spoke clearly. I also said that when he started talking about something to start each sentence with what it was about. For example, when referring to where the idea came from, he would begin with saying 'my inspiration for Fiji came from..'. That way, the audience understands what each part is about, without hearing me ask him the questions. I found asking him the questions this way allowed him to tell his story in order of how it happened, so it flowed easier for him to recall his experience.

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Setting up the area where the main body of the documentary was shot, i set up in my bedroom in my home town as the location, using my Canon 700D on tripod for steady shooting, I sat Will on my bed and used a sheet back drop which belongs to him, something he got on his travels which fits well with the theme of the piece. I set up 2 lights; one LED on the right side on medium brightness, just above head height looking down on Will and one mini LED on the camera, face on, using a clear snap on diffuser, so it wasn't so intense on him, filling in the shadows on the left side of his face and body. To fill in some other areas i thought was to shadowed, i used a silver reflector, giving a nice shine on the right side of his face, giving even tones. This gave him a soft, warm look, which is what i was aiming for to fit the theme. To record sound, I used a zoom recorder, hidden down beside him on his right side, with assistance from my brother. The zoom records better and clearer sound compared to the built in recorder on my camera, as I find it picks up to much surrounding noise.

Will also brought some memorabilia with him. This included:

• Fiji book guide
• Think Pacific t-shirts (the volunteer company) three different colours collected over the project
• A Buddha statue 
• A journal he kept of his experience
• post cards and other keep sakes

I want to include these pieces in the documentary as filler shots, so I will take them into the studio and use the photography still life table to take pictures and small video pans of the memorabilia, to include between parts of the narrative that relate.

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As mentioned above, I recorded sound using a zoom microphone for better quality sound, which I will add in separately to the video and align them in post production using final cut pro. before recording i briefly said what i wanted him to talk about and then ill pause it and ask the next questions. We discussed his stories a bit before shooting, just so he felt comfortable and confident and avoid losing track or saying 'um' often.
I also experimented with camera angles, zooming in closer on certain parts of the narrative i felt were a bit more personal or special to him, allowing the viewer to feel close and connect with his story. I also followed the 180 degree rule, having space next to where he is looking out of shot.

One thing i noticed after looking back at the footage after filming was the light was a bit to strong on his face in certain shots we did at the beginning. This is something i will have to fix in final cut, however it has shown me that i need to be careful of over exposing and make sure i dont lose detail on facial features, or create a sinister look, when i am trying to achieve a friendly, welcoming piece.

Interview & Narrative Structure

Firstly, I have taken into consideration the types of things that I want to include in the structuring of the documentary, the type of things I want Will to say, to create a beginning, middle and end. Originally I wanted this documentary to create a meaning for the viewers to want to go travelling and volunteering themselves, seeing his experiences and being inspired by his journey to want to go and do similar things based on how they felt from watching the documentary.
However, as the project has developed and I have shared my progress with others, feedback suggests that this meaning has not been captured by others, as his story is more personal and doesn't really have suggestive parts for other people to really relate to, its more about his personal journey and the things he did to the build up of going, his time there (good and bad), and reflecting back, how it has inspired him to continue volunteering and travelling to other countries.
For these reasons, I have decided that the meaning to the piece will be based solely on Wills personal journey, the things he faced and over came and how it has changed him as a person. From this, it will be open to the viewer to take away whatever message or meaning they want, but hoping to leave them with a sense of the positives and serious issues that come with volunteering in poorer villages around the world.

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Structuring and piecing together the video in a sequence, I want to start the documentary with video clips of the present day of Will reflecting over his time whilst back in his home town and then ending the video with the same shots, as a round up back to the beginning. In between this, I want him to talk about his journey:

• where the idea came from
•  leading up to going
•  arriving there and the welcome he received from the villagers
•  meeting the other volunteers, the project he was working on (building the school for the children and other building jobs he did)
• hospital visit - shocking experience
• most memorable moment - good experience
• the experiences with other volunteers (speaking with another volunteer about their time together)
• leaving the project - achievements, saying goodbye to the villagers and other volunteers
• coming home - reflect on the experience

These are the main points i want to address in the documentary, giving a structure to the narrative. I want to engage the viewer all the way through, creating a flow to the piece of high points and low points, following his journey in order of how it happened. 

Originally, I wanted to get permission from the volunteer organisation (Think Pacific) that Will travelled with to be one of the main points of the documentary and the things they do to help poorer villages in Fiji. However, as i am now making the narrative to be focused on Wills personal story, i have made it so we follow his journey, rather then the organisation and what they do. This allows the viewer to connect more with his story and his time there, rather then advertising for the volunteer company. I feel that this was to broad of subject and i personally haven't researched enough into the organisation to produce a documentary based on them, plus the issue of trying to get their permission to use their logo and add parts in of who they are and what they do. This would have also created to issue of the duration of the documentary, combined with Will's journey, the piece would have been to long. I am aiming to keep the piece between five to seven minutes long overall and so due to this, Wills personal story will be the main focus of the narrative.

Shoot One - Dunstable Downs

In this documentary i want to include shots of Will sitting on top of the hills in our home town, to show where he grew up and where he lives, giving a sense of the type of person he is and what inspired him to want to travel. I chose this location purposely as its a nice scenic view and expresses a sense of adventure, relevant to the narrative of the piece.

For these shots i used two different lenses on my Canon 700D - 50mm f/1.8 and 10-24mm f/3.5 - 4.5. I also used a fig rig for a smoother pan shot and a tripod for still shots. These are the shots i want to include at the beginning of the piece, in the introduction and at the end of the documentary as a round up to the beginning of the story.

Here you can see i have experimented with a variety of shots and angles, ranging from extreme closes ups, close ups, mid shots, long shots and extreme long shots. I followed the 180 degree rule, experimenting from within that zone, the distance and composition of where to put him within the frame. I also experimented with moving around with the camera, using the fig rig for a steadier pan. I wanted to do a shot where i walk backwards, away from the subject, showing the environment around him and creating a meaning of where he got his love for the world and the outdoors from. 

During the opening sequence, i want to use the extreme close ups, close ups and mid shots for the introduction of who the documentary is based on. These shots allow the viewer to connect on a personal level as we are right in close to him, almost invading his personal space. During this, I am looking into adding a atmospheric backing track, with a voice over from Will, talking about travelling and how his home town with its open scenic views has inspired him his whole life to travel the world.  

Ideally, i would like Will to make up his own quote for the beginning of the piece. However, as an example i have suggested possible things he could say to help the process to get him thinking about what would fit well and grab the viewers attention, as it is vital for the piece that the opening sequence is strong as it determines weather the viewer continues watching or loses interest. 

A suggestion was:

"I love my home. I love the open space and the sense of freedom, i love how the thought of it makes me feel alive. I want others to feel like this. My decision to volunteer was simple. Help others, help them feel alive and appreciate life and all the wonders of the world". This is just to give him an idea of what he could say but i want him to put in his own words how it feels to travel and how he was inspired from his elders, friends and scenic location from our home town that all led to his decision to volunteer and spend a long time away from home, following his ambitions.

In discussion with Will about what he could say, he showed me a picture of a canvas that is on the wall in his kitchen which has been there his whole life, which he says has inspired him subconciously with his outlook on life.