1st group meeting:
We decided to film someone from the Farnham Rugby Club Veteran Team because there might be interesting stories and they are more flexible. At the end of the meeting we emailed the Farnham R.U.F.C. as this is the plan A we need to know as soon as possible if we are allowed to do it or not. We thought the candidates will be someone was in the military and more flexible with the filming.
11th Nov
As the Farnham R.U.F.C. didn't reply our email we decided to give a following up call to find it out quick. But no one picked up the call so we decided to physically visit them the next day.
12th Nov
We went to the Farnham R.U.F.C. and met the General Manager Rebecca. We explained what we are doing and what we want to her, then she said it should be fine and gave us permission to film at the club. We also left her with our contact so that someone with higher position can give us a call and discuss about this.
13th Nov
We got a call from Mort the manager but we missed it.
Before calling him back we made a note of what to say and what to ask:
 |
| Flyer |
 |
| Emailed Anne about getting the XF305 kit out |
17th Nov
We called Mort, discover that the vets team has nothing to do with being an ex-militaty and no one volunteered to be in the documentary. All the vets team members are still working as well so they might be too busy to cooperate with the shootings. At this point, what we could do is to chat with them in person on the Thursday training section. A important point to point out is that this documentary is not a big one but a private one that will only be assessed by our tutor. So that the vets team members won't be that flipped out when hearing the words "filming you with big cameras". This way they might be more comfortable with the whole documentary idea and more willing to do it. And we have to be more open when choosing our subject.
19th Nov
We went to the Farnham R.U.F.C. at 8pm to chat with the vets members at the bar after training section and found three candidates.
Nigel - trampoline instructor
Jemi - Barrister and coach 6-year-old rugby
Terry - one of the founders of the Farnham Rugby Club, travel around the world for job purpose
Terry was our favourite guy because of his story and he is the kind of person that willing to tell his stories. He already told us a lot when we met at the Club but he also told us he's very busy working.
20th Nov
We called all three of our candidates but only Jemi got back to us saying he's willing to do it but busy in the shooting week. We left voice messages to them.
21st Nov (filming day 1)
After a week of planning, we had found our candidate. We set out to film the rugby game, knowing our main focus during the game would be Nigel. We met him before the game and talked through what our plan was when filming that day,
We then went into the social room to set up our equipment and make sure we had the correct settings on the camera etc.
[insert pictures of set up]
Our plan was to have the Canon XF305 on the tripod with Maisie in charge of it, Preston taking footage on his Canon 7D Mark II, Daniel taking photographs of the game on his Nikon D5100 and Rufaro in charge of the microphone/sound. We took everything outside onto the pitch and set up while the players were warming up for the game. It was a very windy day so the sound was very bad but we will try to salvage what we can post production. We filmed the entire match and tried our best to track Nigel throughout the game. We also got some footage of him returning to the changing rooms after the game and socialising/having a drink with his teammates in his suit and tie.
[insert pictures and video]
After we got all the footage we needed on game day we went back upstairs to go through the footage, back it up on our hard drives and we thought about the set up of our documentary and discussed the shots we need to take on our other shooting days. We decided we needed a establishing shot of the rugby before we left so Preston quickly went and took the shot before we left.
We did face a couple of challenges whilst filming. With the Canon 7D Mark II, we couldn't zoom in on the action so we could only get footage that was directly in front of Preston who was taking the footage. With the XF305, we did have the option of zooming, but it was difficult to track and focus on the action heaping because it was very quick. It was also generally a difficult day to film because the temperature was -2 degrees celsius and it was very very windy. [insert wind video]
24th Nov (filming day 2)
We had agreed with Nigel on the day of the match to come and film him coaching some trampolining on the Tuesday at Farnborough Leisure Centre where he works every Tuesday evening and Saturday mornings.
We found out where it was and made our way there.
When we go to the leisure centre we had to sign a release form and a sheet for photographic equipment procedure get permission from the leisure centre.
We then waited for Nigel to show up and talked him through the shots we wanted to get on that day. We wanted to film him walking into the trampoline room, setting up the trampolines/doing spring checks etc.
Then we wanted footage of him obviously coaching his students, we had a list of the shots we wanted to get whilst he was coaching e.g. from the bottom of the trampoline, panning, from the floor, tracking Nigel.
Then we wanted footage of him obviously coaching his students, we had a list of the shots we wanted to get whilst he was coaching e.g. from the bottom of the trampoline, panning, from the floor, tracking Nigel.
We then set up the camera.
[pics]
We only used the DSLR for this day because we wanted to track Nigel on the trampoline and also move around a lot whilst filming. We also wanted to record sound that we could incorporate into the our sound production. We tried to set up the boom mic and Canon XF305 but there was a problem with the mic that day and we were unable to get it working on time so we came to the decision to just get footage on DSLR on this day. After spending 2 hours there and getting the shots we wanted, we bid farewell to Nigel and agreed to see him for his training session on Thursday the 26th.
26th Nov (filming day 3)
27th Nov (filming day 4)
The last two filming sessions consisted of the ruby training day Nigel participated in and the first and final master interview. Both sessions ran smoothly but we had some trouble with producing shot sequences of a quality we was happy with, this was because we were unable to get in close enough too the match and that training activities were not as expected. The interview however went flawlessly with a solid amount of footage gained to be used and cut into our final edit.
The training session took place at night time where the only the pitch's flood lights illuminated the match so we needed to use this to our advantage although when using the video camera lighting and colour became a harsh issue. Both the DSLR's lucky produced usable footage that made good use of the little light available.
The match consisted of a game of touch rugby, we was expecting exercise drills consisting of cardio work outs such as laps around the pitch, push ups, and so on. So rather than give up on the session we tried to gather as much footage as possible whilst we were filming.
We didn't stay long at the training match as it was unnecessary because we gained all the footage we needed meaning we didn't see the sessions ending.
The interveiw was rather lengthy in how long we spent at Nigel's home and how much time we spent filming the interview, but the results were worth the hard work as we gained an invaluable piece of footage for our final piece. After arriving at Nigel's house we started to look for a room with good lighting and acoustics that were suitable enough for us to set up our equipment which included a DLSR, the video camera and a Lav mic that would be attached to Nigel's shirt. We decided to base the interview in Nigel's living room as there was a far amount of light coming through the front windows and Nigel could be seated in an arm chair that both the cameras could be place around. The sound would also prove to be an advantage of the living room as the mic atop the DSLR and the boom could pick up everything Nigel would say.
The process of the interview would continue as planned with preston as the interviewer asking the questions previously made in another group meeting. There was a lot of questions and this is why we had such a long interview by the end of the filming. Group roles where made as necessary with the majority of the group switching use of the boom. After the interview we proceeded to film parts of Nigel's home such as the photos on the walls and his cat, we also filmed a short scene with his wife and daughter next to Nigel in the doorway. The finished audio gained from the complete interview will be cut down after selection of which answers we need for the final edit of the video. The entire interview was filled with Nigel in his arm chair next with both cameras filming a close up of his face.
28th - 31st Nov (making of the music sample)
1st - 4th Dec (modification and finalising music)
http://manyinmok-dfsa.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/music-making-for-documentary-project.html
28th Nov - 7th Dec (editing)
Sorting The Footage
The editing process started on the first day of filming due to the time constraints of editing within a week. We decided to sort through the footage after each day filming to save more time - creating in and out points of all the useable clips. Unfortunately, the footage from the Canon xf305 were not the results we had hoped for (See below) - This meant that our b-roll footage from the DSLR had to be used for all of our documentary. As we had a high volume of footage from four different days we decided to edit all days separately in different sequences in Premiere Pro before adding the interview.
Our Concept
When meeting our subject Nigel we saw him as an average working bloke with a dry sense of humor, with him being really athletic playing both sports at a high level. However, during the interview we discovered the story was intact different to what we expected. Nigel was actually very deep in discussion talking about his past from his childhood, parents and his introduction and self failures in both of the sports he was participating in. This influenced our film majorly looking at the similarities in stories from our research films; e.g. slow motion and the use of piano in the soundtrack to create a very emotional and intimate feel to the film.
When meeting our subject Nigel we saw him as an average working bloke with a dry sense of humor, with him being really athletic playing both sports at a high level. However, during the interview we discovered the story was intact different to what we expected. Nigel was actually very deep in discussion talking about his past from his childhood, parents and his introduction and self failures in both of the sports he was participating in. This influenced our film majorly looking at the similarities in stories from our research films; e.g. slow motion and the use of piano in the soundtrack to create a very emotional and intimate feel to the film.
In terms of the order of the story we decided to create an element of surprise similar to our inspiration 'A jeweler with no hands' leading to it being shown from the trampoline day, to the rugby game, to his home ending with him walking to the bar/balcony.
Trampoline Day
For trampling day we decided to keep continuity throughout to give the sense of Nigel's trampoline session; from trampoline checks, warming up, jumping on the trampoline, getting off the trampoline, Nigel's independent freestyle and getting off the trampoline. The choice of shots were relative to the planning of the shot list before shooting (see below).
Game day was the most challenging day to edit due to the amount of footage shot. Before shooting we decided on filming the whole process to capture the preparation and and after math of a normal game for Nigel - This included putting his kit on before the game and him going to the bar after the game. However, when at the rugby club we felt we would have affected Nigel and the team's performance. So we re-created him walking out of the changing room on training day, filming how he would of on game day also keeping continuity with him wearing the same shirt no.18 and placed that footage before the game to keep continuity. In terms of actual in game footage we decided to keep footage strictly of Nigel, to do this we went through 11 minutes worth of useable clips and highlighted those which were our top clips e.g when Nigel dummys the ball and runs through the group of players (see below).
If the footage in game wasn't of Nigel it was an establishing shot or a more exciting moment in rugby or a key shot to push the narrative along e.g. kicking the ball through the posts and the huddle signifying the end of the game (See below).
We wanted our film to quite logical flowing from one continuity scene to to the next. To achieve this we composed music to give a similar sound but different feel. This was used as the rugby game finished, slowing down the song as he walks from the pitch to the changing room.
As we filmed in Nigel's home, capturing the essence of his background and family with shots of photographs, family members and a cat - we wanted to incorporate this little segment into the film. We thought the best place would be as he walks into the changing room we dive into this family side of Nigel and when this section is done, going back to him leaving the changing room.
This was a little trick we thought was quite nice as we felt we wouldn't know Nigel all that well without knowing how he got to where he is now and how he thinks his future will be for him and his family. This was continued in the contemplative state continuing to him walking from the changing room to the bar.
Nigel's Final Thoughts
As we had shown Nigel trampolining, playing rugby and being with his family we decided it would be great for us to go back to how his weekly routine continues on match day - Having a Post Game Pint. Although, we didn't know what would be in the interview and what wouldn't, we had some of the answers he gave in the back of our minds when editing the visuals which would hold those answers.
We tried to show the social aspect of the club bar but tried to keep the footage as exclusive as possible to Nigel continuing with the same set of informal rules from choosing shots in the rugby game. This lead to a couple of shots which involved his journey into the bar, getting a pint and walking to the balcony outside.
We knew the end shot would be of Nigel looking out onto the Rugby fields as we knew that this would be the template to add the contemplative and finals thoughts from Nigel's interview. Plus we thought why not end the film with Nigel drinking Guinness.
The Interview
Our interview lasted longer than expected with the number of questions which would give Nigel the opportunity to express himself and say what he is really thinking. Although we shot the interview on two camera and three sources of audio we thought that due to the visuals already being 5 minutes and the visuals being strong with continuity we thought switching back and forth to the interview would be quite distracting for the viewer - Leading to the choice of using the interview as a voiceover.
From there a transcript was made from the 1 hour and 10 minute interview, stating the question and response with the use of a key to show the category the answer is in (see below). This was very helpful for the next step in editing the interview breaking it up into; trampolining, rugby, family and the future.
In the selection of audio we had a lot of great discussions on great stories and family members but it did not fit the idea we were trying to portray which was the contrast between trampolining and rugby. We got rid of the clips non-useable and made the necessary cuts to fit the time of the visuals on screen, trying to create a flow from one conversation to another.
Finishing Touches
During game day, the weather destroyed any possibility of recording sound even with the use of a dead-cat. Thankfully we had useable audio from the training day that we recorded, so we added some in game sounds into our game day footage to try and replicate diegetic sound, similar to Foley. This was used a couple of times on low volume and faded in the background such as; teams shouting, kicking the ball and the fake final whistle (see below).
As our film was quite serious and intimate we wanted to try and go for something with cooler shadows and mid-tones as we had seen in our inspirational documentaries (See Below).
Throughout the film we never show Nigel's face properly, to try and keep the theme of surprise and to try and replicate his perspective. In the credits we decided to use a 'blooper' shot from the xf305 from the interview to give the audience a feeling of closure by putting the face to the voice.
Reflection
I definitely learnt a lot through the project, for example contacting and dealing with people, pre production, production, post production...... I now have a much better sense of the documentary making process and better post production skills such as editing the visuals, audios, sounds and colour grading. Since I am with the big camera most of the time, I am much more confident in using the Canon XF305 kit. And since I was filming the sports I had to react quick to the situations so after all that I am quite familiar with using the camera now.
The final documentary looks a lot better after colour correction but I think we can do better with the colours if we had more time. For example, in one scene we were trying to fix the colour of the sky which was purple:
And for the sound, just when we were doing the edit we realised we didn't record the ambient of the interviewing room.
Also, we didn't edit the interview before the visuals first resulting we need to cut out a lot of the interview to match the visual.
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