Research into Interview Techniques

My initial plan for this task was to go away and research using the library into interview techniques, so that when it came time to do my 2 minute interview for Practice Enrichment and later Intro to Factual I would have knowledge to work from and I could reflect on what worked and what didn't. When I failed to find any books that would be helpful to me in this regard, I instead turned to online resources. I found the following article which turned out to include some good information, and I am going to share what I thought were some of the most useful parts of it below - http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/interviewing-tips.html

Prepare Your Questions - In this regard I was extremely well prepared for my Practice Enrichment interview. I know that my brother loves the Grand Theft Auto games so I decided that I would interview him about this. However I made a crucial mistake here....

Don't Give Out Specific Questions In Advance - I made the mistake of telling my brother what I was going to interview him about. If I hadn't have done this then maybe the interview wouldn't have come across as conversational and loose as I did. I wish I had done this interview more professionally, which leads me to the next point.

Keep your mouth shut - I shouldn't have talked as much behind the camera as I did. I fact I shouldn't have at all and edited me asking the questions out. This is another thing that made the interview seem loose and conversational. On the plus side it can be said that this interview had energy, but just seemed unprofessional.

Proper Positioning of Interviewee - This is one thing that I think that I got right or at least made a good attempt at. I had my subject framed well with proper use of the Rule of Thirds. I also liked the fact he happened to have our cat in his lap at the time, because everyone loves animals on screen.

As I have already mentioned, I think that the nature of this interview was too unprofessional and conversation like. With him being my brother and knowing me well, as well as knowing what I was going ask him before hand, he didn't take the interview as seriously as he might have. This handling of the interviewees was something that I bore in mind when going into our Intro to Factual film. However, in the end these interviews had the opposite problem. They were too stiff and languid. Though we prepared our questions, we perhaps should have paid more attention to Getting The Interviewees Comfortable rather than just firing the questions at them. Overall what I have learned is that you have to strike the right balance between these two. Keep the interview looking and feeling professional, not just like a piece of banter, but make sure the subject is comfortable and therefore able to open up with substantial answers.

My Knowledge of Equipment - Reflection on Progress

I am extremely happy with how far I have come with my knowledge of equipment this year. At the beginning of the year I had zero hands on experience of working with professional cameras, let alone with the Tascam recorders, microphones and tripods. In the Camera Test I came out with 15 marks out of a possible 20, which I was extremely proud of and was a great boost to my confidence.

I decided to buy my own Cannon 600D with the idea that having my own camera which I could use anytime would be more beneficial in the long wrong that having to rely on booking out from the college for short periods of time, especially with my limited experience. I decided to study the manual and make notes which would help me to get grip with the functions. Finding the manual very dry and difficult to take notes from, I instead sought the help of my tutors. The class which was given going back over the functions of the camera in depth I found to be extremely useful and I took some fantastic notes. I was then able to use these notes to conduct practice in my own time, and over time got extremely comfortable in accessing the camera functions. I could get to the Quick Menu and adjust the White Balance, Image Effects, Recording Quality and Frame Rate. I could adjust the Shutter Speed with the main dial, affect aperture by holding down the AV button and using the dial, and change the ISO with the ISO button and dial. I was also made aware of the correct way of setting Custom White Balance, by using a sheet of white paper, taking a picture of it, choosing to use that picture for Custom White Balance in the Main Menu and then choosing Custom White Balance in the Main Menu. This is something that I did not do in my Camera Test, but I have done it elsewhere and always remember it, so it is not really a concern for me.

The next piece of kit which I got to grips with was the Libec 650 Tripod. This is the standard Tripod that we use at the college, but it is discontinued and we will be getting new ones soon. I suppose the same principle that applies to Cameras also applies to Tripods, you should never get too use to one model and always be ready to adapt. Using the Tripods was intimidating for me at first but I think I have adapted well. I basically know the procedure to get it set up and put away, and to make sure everything is loose and put in legs first when packing away. 

The standard Tascam recorder that we use in the college is the DR-40. The Tascam was very overwhelming and fiddly when I was first given it but I think I have learned well and haven't really had any problems when using it on my films. I know how to adjust and check the levels and set the format to 44hz and 128kbits. One thing that caught me at first was the difference between setting up for a recording and actually recording is quite confusing at first, the record symbol comes up indicating it is ready to record but you need to press the button again to have it start recording. This caught me in my Camera Test and is what caused me to lose marks along with White Balance. I realize the mistake I made now and always check that I'm recording properly, but it something I need to bear in mind.

Overall I am extremely happy with and proud of the progress that I have made with regards to Equipment this year. From where I was last year knowing literally nothing I have made a great leap forward and I look forward to improving more still next year. Lighting equipment and the new Panasonic over the shoulder camera are things that I want to get to grips next.

The Art of The Pitch - Presentation Skills

Presenting my ideas to a room of people is always something that has filled me with dread. As an introvert the idea of being under pressure to perform like this is extremely stressful (I don't mind so much when it is taking on different characters!). In the Media industry a good pitch can be the difference between getting a job and not getting it, so naturally this course is very pitched focused to prepare us to this. My marked pitch that I did for the Intro to Factual module was poor as a result of my nerves. The feedback that I received called it quiet and confident. It was because of this I set myself the target of going away and researching into Presentation skills and tips prior to giving my next pitch for Intro to Factual.

I went online and found the following article titled, '15 Quick Pitch Tips for Kick Ass Presentations' -  http://www.instigatorblog.com/15-quick-pitch-tips/2009/04/20/

Below I am going to highlight the things from this that I found the most useful and explain how I used them in my presentation.

Practice - The blog suggested praticing in front of the mirror, or team mates for practice. I opted for the mirror feeling that I would be able to keep track of how confidently I was coming across. At the blogs suggested I practiced over and over to also make what I was pitching feel deconstructed and robotic. This certainly made me feel more comfortable however I had to be careful that it didn't make the pitch sound boring in the process.

Keep Track of Time/Keep It Simple - I thought my pitch for my Fictional film relied too much the details of story, character arc and act that it lost the essence of what I was to put across. I also think that it ran over too long. In Intro to Factual I abandoned the use of structural terms in favor of describing the influences behind the presentation, how it would be filmed, and the why my idea should be picked. I think the information was much more relevant and compact and thus made for a more successful presentation.

 

Tell Us Upfront/Don't Save the Best for Last - This basically means to tell the audience exactly what you are selling them within the first 30 seconds. I believed that the over the top and outrageous nature of the Buzzcocks character was something I that I couldn't do justice through my own explanation, and so I downloaded a clip from one of his videos and used it as the introduction to my presentation. Just over a minute long, my hope was that it pulled the audience in right away and get them engaged or intrigued.

Overall I believe these techniques must have been useful for me as I received both good verbal feedback and a good mark for my presentation. I got 67 marks which I am extremely proud of. However, I still believe I can improve on some aspects of my presentation. One tip that I'm disappointed I didn't follow totally was Don't Look Back, which basically means not looking at your presentation and breaking eye contact with the audience. Hopefully, now that I have the confidence boost that these good marks have brought, my next pitch will be an even larger improvement.

Final Cut Pro - An Introduction to Editing

Before I started on this course the only prior experience that I had of editing came from the basic Windows Movie Maker software. It was quite intimidating at first. therefore, to get to grips with the advanced Industry standard practice of Final Cut Pro. Many professional productions are edited using this software, and it extremely expensive to have access to. Deciding that I wanted to get to grips better with the software, I set myself the target of putting together the first cut of our Fiction Film.

The first thing that was new to me when it comes to this professional editing software is the amount of different file types and wrappers you have to deal with. The program MPEG Streamclip thankfully simplifies things somewhat in this regard. Using MPEG Streamclip, you must always import the MOV files that you captured from your camera and convert them into ProRes. ProRes is easy to edit with and avoids the potential for any glitches which would occur editing straight from MOV. Your finished edit is usually exported as an MP4.
I need to remember how to do this, there have been a few instances where I have forgotten to put footage through MPEG Streamclip.

Using Final Cut Pro I was able to put into practice quite a few different cuts that I have learned, and also get quite creative with things. The first of these was the match cut. At the beginning of  our film, the protagonist enters the library, pulls a chair out from under the table and sits down. We go from a wide shot of the protagonist pulling forth the chair to a close of him sitting down on it. This is known as  a match cut.

One thing I have picked up vicariously through my film watching experience is the the quick intercutting together of action scenes. I tried to incorporate some of this quick cutting into our punching scene, and I was able to get a roatlty free punching sound effect which really put the exclamation point on the scene, and contributed to the comic book mood we were going for.

The ending to our film has the protagonist flashing back from his fantasy world back into the real one. To accomplish this effect I tried to be creative and included quick cutting between lots of different shots. One of my lecturers commented that this resembled a cutting technique often used in older films, with reference to the graduate. Really I was inspired by the way flash backs are sometimes portrayed in Italian Horror films, particularly in Dario Argento's films there is often a moment where the main character is recounting clues from memory, and it is usually cut in a frenzied manner such as this.

A full example of my edit can be seen at the following link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TozAmDW0wew

Overall this exercise was extremely beneficial to me in developing my editing skills. I got to practice creativity where I previously hadn't been able to, and make the most of the Final Cut Pro software. I believe this exercise was responsible for me really beginning to feel comfortable with editing this year. My progress was confirmed when my peers and tutors commended me on my edit.

Rule of Thirds - The Fundamental of Good Framing

The 'Rule of Thirds' was one of the first things that I was taught this year. I see now that as Introduction to using the camera, it was an essential place to start. The first piece of homework that I was required to do was to film a sixty second static shot. Filming outside of my bedroom, I did not apply the Rule of Thirds, and what was missing from the shot was entirely obvious to me once I learned just what this technique does. Just by having a look at some stills frames from your favorite films it immediately becomes obvious (see above left).

By drawing these imaginary set of lines on your image you can see that a much more dynamic and attention grabbing composition is made by placing points on interest on the vertical lines. The huge amount of difference that this makes can be seen below. 

The image on the left is nice enough, but it looks off and you really have to focus your eyes on the middle the image. The image is left is much more effective, as your eyes are immediatly drawn towards the point of interest.

After the poor shot that I handed in for my initial homework, I realized that I hadn't fully understood the Rule of Thirds. I therefore decided that I wanted to improve my knowledge of framing and composition. I searched high and low in the library for a book that would help me with this, and I found one called '101 top tips for DSLR video'. The book included a section on the Rule of Thirds which pointed to the fact that most the DSLR cameras feature an on-camera grid that you can use to help compose your shots. I was able to easily find this on my Cannon 600D, and I went away with the attention of getting a better shot than on my first go.

The first shot that I took. It is poor. I wasn't thinking about the Rule of Thirds and just trying to get a cool looking shot with no knowledge on how to do this.

The second shot which was taken after I went away and researched the Rule of Thirds. I think you'll agree there is a world of difference. I could quite easily see this shot in a film.

In conclusion going away and researching the Rule of Thirds greatly improved my framing and composition. I am happy that I now understand the basics and am able to compose good looking shots.

Life By The Landfill - Project Reflection

 

The  'Life By The Landfill' project has now come to an end, the film was screened to the rest of the group, feedback was given, and it is now time to reflect on the experience of working on my first documentary film.

The first thing that should be said it that overall the technical and production qualities were a huge improvement on the films we made last time round - and that applies to the whole group. It really seems that everyone learned some good lessons and their first films and have stepped up. The fiction group's films were on the whole very strong, a whole lot better than what we produced. A lot of them seemed to go down the horror route, and produced some genuinely effective atmosphere and scary concepts in their films. On our factual side, I think we all produced some informative and good looking films. Though they are all had technical and narrative problems, on the whole they were recognizable as finished films, which couldn't even be said of some of our fiction pieces last time. What I was most proud of was that in 'Life By The Landfill' we managed to include some fantastic shots. We really utilized the teleophoto lens and Prime lens which had access to  really well. In particular there was one shot using the Prime in which managed to get a beautiful triple pull focus! First you see the trees out of focus, then the trees, then all of the rubbish bags which are contaminating the landscape behind them.Through the shots we did manage to convey some sense of the landfills effects on the local environment, and the film was also cut together reasonably well. What we were brought down by was the lack of content in terms of interviews and a poor narrative.

Of the two interviews that we managed to include in the documentary, which were with the directors mother and family friend, they were not substantial enough to be able to base a whole documentary around, and only gave the negative side of the story. Tutors noted that the films jumped into the interviews and out of them very quickly, each time thinking it was going to lead to a substantial amount of content, but each time it quickly went back to the cutaways. They rightly assessed that the reason for this for a limited supply of good content. We had trouble getting the residents of Stargate lane to appear, and those who had agreed prior had to back out or couldn't arrange a suitable time. Obviously communication is something we really need to improve on, but also interview technique. If we had been able to approach the interviewees in a more thoughtful and calculated manner, starting with narrow questions before moving on to more open ones, then we might have gotten some better content. There was also the issue of the mise-en-scène. We filmed both interviews in living rooms, but if we gotten out onto the streets, actually getting the interviewees to point out some of the landfill effects (such the state of the new road which is referred to but not actually seen), then visually the film would be far more successful. We also had a good music track to go underneath, but we repeated it too often and for a 5 minute documentary it was far too repetitive. We should have found at least one more. The sound issues didn't stop there, the voiceover which were recorded was poorly leveled, and we should have used headphones to see how it sounded in the mix. Overall the biggest problem with the documentary was that it didn't give a fair view of both sides of the argument, with only the negative effects of the landfill covered in the interview segments. We did try to rectify this with our voiceover which gave an overview of the benefits to the local enviroment which the landfill has, but ideally we should have had an interview with somebody of authority at the landfill.

It good that we have made these mistakes this time around and it will allow us to learn and get better on our next film, whether it be fiction or factual. Of course we now have to decision to make about whether we do fictional or factual video production next year. I am somewhat torn, considering I had a better experience this time than when I made my fiction film, but that can be put down to lessons learned. In the end, whatever I choose I have a good amount of experience now and will be able to throw myself into the project ready to make my best film yet.

Talk from Lord Puttnam

Lord David Puttnam is one the most successful and influential film producers to come out of United
Kingdom. The films he has worked on range from Local Hero to Chariots of Fire to Bugsy Malone and The Mission, and he has won an astounding 10 Oscars and 25 Baftas. I was lucky enough to be able to sit in on a talk with Lord Puttnam on his recent visit to Newcastle College, and found him to be a charismatic and inspiring person to listen to as a Media Student looking to get into industry.

Puttnam was by his own admission a poor student. He told of how his careers adviser at school suggested he should become a traveling salesman as it was the only way he would be able to own a car. In spite of these grim prospects, he loved cinema from an early age, and described the experience of seeing Pinocchio on the big screen and knowing what he wanted to do in life. He made reference to Jiminy Cricket's song 'When You Wish Upon A Star' in the introduction to his talk. To us, the audience, it seemed that for him the wish had come true, but his point was that there isn't anything stopping us from going out and achieving our own wishes. The only person standing in the way of that is ourselves. Puttnam emphasized the importance of being resilient in a competitive world, describing his work as an advertising man where his boss was always pushing for him to get better and better. He spoke about the intimidation that many young people feel when trying to break into the media industry, and reassured us that the people at the top are actually desperate for new talent and ideas, and we just have to have the confidence and resilience to get there and deliver it to them.

Puttnam also addressed the power that staying in groups can wield and the phenomenon of regional scenes. He explained how him and a group of associates such as Alan Parker and Ridley Scott went on to achieve great success in the film industry, and by staying in such a close-knit group they were able to help each other get recognized. He then went on to explain how at certain times in history, regional scenes have achieved great recognition and success, with people and/or acts from the same region following in each others footsteps. An example of this that Puttnam gave was the massive uprising of Liverpool based rock n' roll groups that followed in the wake of The Beatles, a great many of which went on to achieve number 1 hit singles. Puttnam theorizes that this was down to a combination of inspiration and self-belief, that people saw others from the region achieving great success and thought "why not me?" and that inspired them to be productive. Puttnam linked this to an impassioned outlook which suggests there is no reason that the North East can't be becoming the hub of England's creative and artistic talent in the near future;"The North East has an energy and a defined belief in itself. It's a very special part of the country. The media world is voracious in terms of its need for and the way it uses talent. You have to have a combination of self-belief and an understanding of the fact that out there is a world screaming for new ideas, new talent and new people. There is nothing to stop the North East from being the hub of the creative future for the whole of Europe if it decides it's going to be. It all comes down to self-belief". As a media student from the North East, who myself can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the industry I am looking to break into, this was an extremely encouraging and exciting thing to hear.

Puttnam also talked humorously about how far technology has come since his heyday. He joked about how modern methods of storing data are so much easier on the back then back in the days of film, as what could once only be stored on about seven canisters of film can now be carried around on a single USB stick or hard drive! These days it's also much easier to get your work out there and seen, with the advent of YouTube, Vimeo and such. Coming from a working class background like Puttnam did, there was little to no chance of producing work in those days or getting it recognized.  This made me thankful to live in age of such technology and motivated me
to get the most out of it. It is important for me to understand the heritage and history of filmmaking practices, and this way I don't feel so annoyed when Final Cut Pro takes 2 minutes to render a clip.

Overall, Lord David Puttnam's talk was extremely inspiring and enthusing to me and I am delighted I had the opportunity to attend and hear the man talk.