Overview of Whole Project
I think as a group we all worked very well together, and fortunately as all four of us had a different area of interested we didn’t end up with any arguments with team members fighting over roles.
In my opinion everyone worked extremely hard, and very well, in their roles throughout the entire project. As cameraman I certainly enjoyed filming the documentary. From a cameraman’s point of view Eleanor was prefect to film because she was full of personality, always smiling and laughing, and most of all accommodating in what we asked her to do.
If it had been possible to have brought the shooting dates forward we would have done as it would have helped to reduce everyone’s stress levels because we would have had more time to complete the rest of the project, including having more time for the editing.
However, having said that, the weather conditions on the days we did do the filming were prefect with clear skies on both days.
For the portfolio we kept in regular contact with each other and held weekly meetings so that everyone contributed to the portfolio and kept it up to date.
I think if I had to redo this project I would keep everyone’s roles the same and organise the portfolio in the same way. Meeting in the Velo Lounge was the prefect place for us and would suggest meeting there again for future projects. I don’t think we had any major problems in this project. When I watched the end result I was amazed with how professional it felt.
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Dairy of Filming - Cardiff
Dairy of Filming - Cardiff
Filming day two
On the second day our group met up again and we used Jessie’s car this time to travel to Cardiff, where we were to meet Eleanor, so that we could interview her before and after her three month check up appointment with Ultralase; as we thought this would give us a brilliant end point to the documentary, and would give more variety to locations used.
We had to be very careful with where we set up our equipment as some of the premises included paths and this would give rise to the risk of unwanted pedestrian traffic spoiling the filming.
Once the camera was set up we just waited a few minutes for Eleanor to arrive. She arrived in a bright and happy mood and full of energy again, and showed the same eagerness to be interviewed by us as she did the day before. As the time of Eleanor appointment grew closer we decided to film her going into the Ultralase building.
While we waited for Eleanor to come out a traffic warden almost gave us a parking ticket, which Jessie avoided by quickly convincing the traffic warden to let us off if we filmed her as a Vox pop contributor. We then filmed more Vox Pops as backup so if something didn’t work in the edit we would have the extra shoots as backup.
When Eleanor returned we let her talk to us about what when on during her appointment so we could capture the emotions on her face; and the closing shots we filmed her walking off into the distance.
Filming day two
On the second day our group met up again and we used Jessie’s car this time to travel to Cardiff, where we were to meet Eleanor, so that we could interview her before and after her three month check up appointment with Ultralase; as we thought this would give us a brilliant end point to the documentary, and would give more variety to locations used.
We had to be very careful with where we set up our equipment as some of the premises included paths and this would give rise to the risk of unwanted pedestrian traffic spoiling the filming.
Once the camera was set up we just waited a few minutes for Eleanor to arrive. She arrived in a bright and happy mood and full of energy again, and showed the same eagerness to be interviewed by us as she did the day before. As the time of Eleanor appointment grew closer we decided to film her going into the Ultralase building.
While we waited for Eleanor to come out a traffic warden almost gave us a parking ticket, which Jessie avoided by quickly convincing the traffic warden to let us off if we filmed her as a Vox pop contributor. We then filmed more Vox Pops as backup so if something didn’t work in the edit we would have the extra shoots as backup.
When Eleanor returned we let her talk to us about what when on during her appointment so we could capture the emotions on her face; and the closing shots we filmed her walking off into the distance.
Dairy of Filming - Llandewi
Dairy of Filming - Llanelli
Filming day one
Our group drove to Llanelli in Chris’s car to meet Eleanor (our contributor) who Jessie found. We did underestimated the length of time to get there but fortunately we had also given ourselves an extra hour contingency for travelling; so luckily we arrived like the cavalry, exactly on time; giving the impression that we were a professional outfit.
Eleanor was very friendly and was only too pleased that we had arrived to interview her. She very kindly let us have a look at the rooms available for filming her, and having looked around we settled for the living room as this had a massive and beautiful bay window which provided loads of natural light.
Chris and I then set up the camera, tripod and sound equipment while Jessie talked to Eleanor. Eleanor was brilliant on camera as she was very relaxed in front of the camera and full of energy and enthusiasm, as well as speaking with confidence.
While we were interviewing Eleanor her son woke up, which distracted us a little, but by that time we had luckily got the vast majority of the interview that we wanted; all that remained was to film was the cut away shots; the first cut away shot was of the classic Noddies, then we did cut aways of Eleanor and her son watching TV and with them playing in the backroom. Our final cut aways were of them playing in the playroom, which was a greater challenge to film as we had a confined and limited space to work in and for placing the camera, but in the end it worked well and we were able to use one of the cut aways in the final production.
After this we packed up and said our goodbyes and thank you’s to Eleanor till the next day.
Filming day one
Our group drove to Llanelli in Chris’s car to meet Eleanor (our contributor) who Jessie found. We did underestimated the length of time to get there but fortunately we had also given ourselves an extra hour contingency for travelling; so luckily we arrived like the cavalry, exactly on time; giving the impression that we were a professional outfit.
Eleanor was very friendly and was only too pleased that we had arrived to interview her. She very kindly let us have a look at the rooms available for filming her, and having looked around we settled for the living room as this had a massive and beautiful bay window which provided loads of natural light.
Chris and I then set up the camera, tripod and sound equipment while Jessie talked to Eleanor. Eleanor was brilliant on camera as she was very relaxed in front of the camera and full of energy and enthusiasm, as well as speaking with confidence.
While we were interviewing Eleanor her son woke up, which distracted us a little, but by that time we had luckily got the vast majority of the interview that we wanted; all that remained was to film was the cut away shots; the first cut away shot was of the classic Noddies, then we did cut aways of Eleanor and her son watching TV and with them playing in the backroom. Our final cut aways were of them playing in the playroom, which was a greater challenge to film as we had a confined and limited space to work in and for placing the camera, but in the end it worked well and we were able to use one of the cut aways in the final production.
After this we packed up and said our goodbyes and thank you’s to Eleanor till the next day.
Research on Laser eye surgery
Research on Laser eye surgery
As none of our group knew anything about Laser eye surgery we decided that we should break this subject into sections with each of us researching different sections so that the workload for this was equally balanced between us throughout the project.
The sections I chose to research were on the history of laser eye surgery, the different methods of laser eye surgery, and the technology involved in laser eye surgery.
I found these sections quite hard to do, which surprised me as I thought it would be easy. It was difficult because most of the websites I found were aimed at doctors and other medical professionals and were written by medical professionals; making it, because of the medical language used, quite hard for me to understand. However, with persistence I did find websites written for the general public and these sites were simpler and easier to understand as they were written in plain English, using words that members of the general public could understand; and more importantly which I could understand.
I looked at some sites were companies offered laser eye surgery but found these sites did not give the information I needed for our project. I therefore navigated to other independent websites such as The Guardian and found these far more informative.
As none of our group knew anything about Laser eye surgery we decided that we should break this subject into sections with each of us researching different sections so that the workload for this was equally balanced between us throughout the project.
The sections I chose to research were on the history of laser eye surgery, the different methods of laser eye surgery, and the technology involved in laser eye surgery.
I found these sections quite hard to do, which surprised me as I thought it would be easy. It was difficult because most of the websites I found were aimed at doctors and other medical professionals and were written by medical professionals; making it, because of the medical language used, quite hard for me to understand. However, with persistence I did find websites written for the general public and these sites were simpler and easier to understand as they were written in plain English, using words that members of the general public could understand; and more importantly which I could understand.
I looked at some sites were companies offered laser eye surgery but found these sites did not give the information I needed for our project. I therefore navigated to other independent websites such as The Guardian and found these far more informative.
Research of Documentry style filming
Research of Documentary style filming
We decided in our team meetings that as cameraman I should do the research on how the camera should be used in documentaries.
To find out this information I started by watching documentaries, firstly by watching a series called Victorian Farm, aired early in 2009. I thought watching this series would be useful as it followed the daily lives of three people for a year with regular interviews of them as they lived and ran a Victorian Farm just like it would have been run during the Victorian era, using only the tools and implements used during that period. Throughout the whole year the team were regularly interviewed about what they had done, how they had achieved it, and how they felt about what they had done; as well as filming them doing these activities.
The next documentary I watched was the Ice Truckers episode ‘The Big Thaw’. I thought this would be a useful one to watch because they were filming in confined spaces such as in the cab and under the ice; and as filming in confined spaces is something we would likely experience at some point, it would prove to be usefully gained knowledge. In this documentary they used lots of wide angle shots and some 3D reconstructions where it seemed appropriate; for example it would be inappropriate to break a hole in the ice road and drive a truck into it for real.
The next documentary I watched for the project was an Expert lead documentary called the Aztec Massacre which followed the presenter taking us through the documentary and interviewing others about the Aztecs and the town of Zultapec.
We decided in our team meetings that as cameraman I should do the research on how the camera should be used in documentaries.
To find out this information I started by watching documentaries, firstly by watching a series called Victorian Farm, aired early in 2009. I thought watching this series would be useful as it followed the daily lives of three people for a year with regular interviews of them as they lived and ran a Victorian Farm just like it would have been run during the Victorian era, using only the tools and implements used during that period. Throughout the whole year the team were regularly interviewed about what they had done, how they had achieved it, and how they felt about what they had done; as well as filming them doing these activities.
The next documentary I watched was the Ice Truckers episode ‘The Big Thaw’. I thought this would be a useful one to watch because they were filming in confined spaces such as in the cab and under the ice; and as filming in confined spaces is something we would likely experience at some point, it would prove to be usefully gained knowledge. In this documentary they used lots of wide angle shots and some 3D reconstructions where it seemed appropriate; for example it would be inappropriate to break a hole in the ice road and drive a truck into it for real.
The next documentary I watched for the project was an Expert lead documentary called the Aztec Massacre which followed the presenter taking us through the documentary and interviewing others about the Aztecs and the town of Zultapec.
Sound and XLR
Sound and XLR
To achieve the best results for sound in our project we chose to use the XRL microphones. The Sony Z1 has two XLR sockets. We used one microphone only as we didn’t need surround sound; if we had needed surround sound then we would have used both sockets. We didn’t need surround sound because we were doing interviews and with interviews you only need the voice of the contributor.
The XLR microphones, the industry’s standard, lock into the camera to keep the connection secure and to ensure that they aren’t accidentally pulled out. The XLR cable has three pins, one positive pin and one negative pin with the third pin as ground. The ground pin (Earth) helping to ensure the recording isn’t vulnerable to noise interference.
The XLR name doesn’t relate to what the cable actually does, it’s more of a description of the cable itself. The X is from the original series name from the manufacturer; the L stands for the Latch, as the connector has an latch on preventing it from accidentally coming out of the socket and the R means Rubber, referring to the rubber that surrounds the female leads with three holes in it so that the male pins will only go in one-way and thus preventing damaging the equipment.
To achieve the best results for sound in our project we chose to use the XRL microphones. The Sony Z1 has two XLR sockets. We used one microphone only as we didn’t need surround sound; if we had needed surround sound then we would have used both sockets. We didn’t need surround sound because we were doing interviews and with interviews you only need the voice of the contributor.
The XLR microphones, the industry’s standard, lock into the camera to keep the connection secure and to ensure that they aren’t accidentally pulled out. The XLR cable has three pins, one positive pin and one negative pin with the third pin as ground. The ground pin (Earth) helping to ensure the recording isn’t vulnerable to noise interference.
The XLR name doesn’t relate to what the cable actually does, it’s more of a description of the cable itself. The X is from the original series name from the manufacturer; the L stands for the Latch, as the connector has an latch on preventing it from accidentally coming out of the socket and the R means Rubber, referring to the rubber that surrounds the female leads with three holes in it so that the male pins will only go in one-way and thus preventing damaging the equipment.
The Sony Z1
The Sony Z1
Our group decided that I would be the cameraman and as a group we decided that we should use the Sony Z1 to film our project.
I booked myself onto a Sony Z1 demo so that I could book out the camera for our project. At the tech demo we went over the basic functions very quickly, such as loading the tape, the formats it can record in (HDV, DV and DVCAM) and how to put it onto the tripod quickly. We were then shown the more advanced settings including how to correctly set the audio setting with the XLR microphones, which can trip people up if they are not aware of the procedure, as you have to change a button on the camera as well as changing a setting in the menu. We then covered the Zebras which help with setting exposure correctly; which is very useful especially when filming people.
The next thing we covered was how to program in a timed zoom to change shot if you need to. For example you might setup one shot at a certain zoom, such as a wide picture of a castle, and then by pressing the correct option on the camera zoom up on a window of the castle. This is programmed into memory so that if during the filming you wanted a certain shot at a certain point all you need do is press the appropriate button on the camera and it would operate a smooth and crisp zoom at whatever speed you wanted; thereby helping to reduce camera shake and an unsteady or uneven zooming.
Our group decided that I would be the cameraman and as a group we decided that we should use the Sony Z1 to film our project.
I booked myself onto a Sony Z1 demo so that I could book out the camera for our project. At the tech demo we went over the basic functions very quickly, such as loading the tape, the formats it can record in (HDV, DV and DVCAM) and how to put it onto the tripod quickly. We were then shown the more advanced settings including how to correctly set the audio setting with the XLR microphones, which can trip people up if they are not aware of the procedure, as you have to change a button on the camera as well as changing a setting in the menu. We then covered the Zebras which help with setting exposure correctly; which is very useful especially when filming people.
The next thing we covered was how to program in a timed zoom to change shot if you need to. For example you might setup one shot at a certain zoom, such as a wide picture of a castle, and then by pressing the correct option on the camera zoom up on a window of the castle. This is programmed into memory so that if during the filming you wanted a certain shot at a certain point all you need do is press the appropriate button on the camera and it would operate a smooth and crisp zoom at whatever speed you wanted; thereby helping to reduce camera shake and an unsteady or uneven zooming.
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