Grace Thompson

Blog 1

Week 1

There was no tutorial this week however I found out people who I had worked with before were also in my tutorial so we grouped together and briefly discussed what ideas we had for our documentary. Created a Facebook messenger group and posted our ideas into the chat.

READING Wk 1

Week 1 reading was about ‘developing your story’ which helped me and my group in our initial stages of deciding what to make a documentary on. Some key points I took from this reading was: – take inspiration from everywhere and continue to develop upon that idea

Keep a journal handy as that is the best way to jot down ideas, inspirations, things that catch your attention and sketch visions
Take inspiration from family members or your childhood that are both or either positive or negative
Once a idea has been make its time to test the power of the subject, what can you show or explain to make viewers watch

– “Documentary should act on your hearts, not on our minds alone” which includes having emotional shock and traumatic experiences ect

Blog 2

Week 2 we began to solidify our idea for our final documentary which we previously mentioned after the lecture in week 1. It was a toss up between illegal mountain biking at Glenrock, the development of Newcastle thought our Grandparent’s eyes or the toxic waste management in Williamtown. We’ve decided to go with illegal mountain biking at Glenrock and it’s impacts on the environment. after class we began to fill out our proposal after our tutorial.

Stories from the hunter – 5-6 minutes

-Mountain Biking (bike shop owner, professional downhiller, up and coming mountain bike racer)
-Garry Luke – Aboriginal artist and bush tours Glenrock conservation area
-Environmental impact
-Legal and illegal trails (not built correctly, not built to withstand erosion)
-Professional downhill bikers from Newcastle,
-Park rangers/mountain bike riding
-Extreme sport/ adrenaline
-24^th August Ourimbah – XC Race
-18^th August and 1^st September Ourimbah

1. issues – trail management, endangered habitats, track erosion, littering from young people, XC Races. park rangers opinion on illegal trails on the environments. Do you consider the environment when you ride on illegal trails? Old professionals well built trails, young people who are creating danger.

-2-3 intermediate/advanced riders
-Robbie McNaughton
-Park Ranger(s) (Glenrock)

1.Next ‘big thing’ for tourism – emotional side, why do people ride, extreme sport, adrenaline

-Extreme sports and is impact on the environment commercially

READING

Writing for docks was the reading for week 2 and it covered how to structure our films and make them have a continuous flow as well as understanding the objectives of each production stage.

Find your story and how to tell it through image, sound, voice and text

This weeks reading helped us solidify our brief

Blog 3

I was doing some research and found these helpful websites and articles

https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/cycling-trails/glenrock-mountain-biking-trails

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-04/national-parks-gives-green-light-to-mountain-bikers/3207898?site=newcastle ‘NATIONAL PARK GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO MOUNTAIN BIKERS’

https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/477356/glenrock-mountain-bike-trails-open/?cs=7573

‘GLENROCK MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAILS OPEN’

http://glenrocktrailalliance.com.au/node/31527

Official trails to stop mountain bikers in their illegal tracks

Jack also found a really great short doco from a emotional/poetic mode, which we have since decided to go with.

READING

Week 3 reading covered the importance of research on our subject and how much research has an impact on the quality of final product.

its important to emerge yourself in the subject and find out all you can
decide the restrictions that will narrow and deepen the specific area you want to cover
Since we want to go with a poetic/participatory best way to research is to be on the field networking, observing and having candid conversations in our case with mountain bike riders.
“deep dive into the mind of an extreme sports enthusiast”

Blog 4

WEEK 4:

Some of the jobs have changed and I’m now doing the sound as I am a musician myself and have family members who also play instruments. For the intense riding I had a vision of heavy drums and the footage being editing following the music and for the talking we combine atmos of birds and breeze with plucking acoustic guitar.

Play – Dave Grohl

Noah Coleman

I also have connections with local newcastle bands such as:

Smoke and Rain

Slapjack

WEEK 4 READING:

Preparation is key when creating documentaries, you don’t want unwanted footage
focus your ideas ahead of shooting
Preparation steps are 1. hypothesis 2. film proposal 3. pitch
having a strong pitch increasing the probability if having talented crew members because they understand your vision.
Pitch Structure: 1. Title/Setting 2. Genre 3. main character 4. predicament 5. drive 6. obstacles 7. the journey 8. resolution 9. cinematic qualities that make the film special 10. theme the film is handling 11. premise underlying it 12. why I must make it
film proposal expands upon your pitch with clear ideas

WEEK 5:

Have finally confirmed and have permission to use a band’s music. We’ve chosen the song ‘Howlin’” by Thee Evil Twin as they are regular performers at the bar I work at and was able to get their signature on Friday night. On Wednesday we blocked out a 3 month schedule and booked in edit suites, Marantz’ and camera gear ready to start filming/interviewing next Friday.

WEEK 5 READING

when sound recording make sure the voice/sound effect is clear and the only thing that can be heard. its hard to clean up a muddy noise.
pay close attention to the quality of sound for different shots because in editing you want it to sound seamless
Hard surfaces reflect sound are echo glass, metal, bare walls, tiles
soft surfaces diffuse the sound such as carpets, drapes, armchairs, sofas
be aware of ambient sounds, hums and hisses but also make it part of the recording (atmos)

TYPES OF MICROPHONES:

Omnidirectional Sounds from all directions Atmos

Cardoid best sound at the top On the spot interviews

Directional pick up sounds further way distance amplification

Lapel small/omni directional Worn on shirts

Atmos: ambient sounds of the environment you’re in

Sync Track: Sound recorded with image track synced together

Post Syncing: Also known as ADR or automated dialogue replacement, people can re-record and sync up the tracks again

Sound Effect: anything that is not voice or atmos

Foley: Natural sounds recorded on film. Can also accent a pre-existing sound effect

VU Metre: Adjusting the sound level.

WEEK 6:

Was inspired by this weeks lecture and take on these steps in the editing process:

The technique of Alfred Hitchcock

designing for the audience. Everything is designed for the mind of the audience
Frame for emotion. Wide shot has less emotion, closer image has more emotion.
The camera is an eye. The plot is revealed visually. Hitchcock’s camera moves around just like a person’s eye.
Point of view editing. Cut to what the subject is looking at.
Montage – Breaking down the shots. Divide action into a series of close-ups shown in succession.
Keep the story simple. Everything in your screenplay must be streamlined to offer maximum dramatic impact.
Participants need to break cliches. Develop participants/characters the exact opposite of what the viewer/audience expects in a movie. Unexpected personalities
Use humour to add tension
Two things happening at once. Build tension by cutting together contrasting scenes.
Suspense is information.

In the tute we got out music permission and risk assessment signed and discussed our next step. We feel confident to film on friday.

WEEK 6 READING:

-Operating or directing

film in present tense
“Documentary realism strives to make us feel we are seeing unmediated reality, but analysis soon reveals that its makers and their values dominate any documentary”
“We often associate point of view (POV) with, say, a Marxist political or Freudian psychological outlook used as tools of social or psychological analysis. In fact, cinematic point of view describes something rather more intangible that is intrinsic to films with a mature identity”

WEEK 7:

This week we showed the class our rushes. Last Friday by group was up early to catch the sunrise, as well as interview our subject, get nature shots and action shots. I think we had successful morning and the proof is in the quality of shots we too. It was re-assuring to know that Cathy liked all of my handheld shots, I had lots of fun taking them. Can’t wait to start editing!

WEEK 7 READING:

after many interviews and locations, its important to keep onto of what you’ve been documenting by having a physical document- a transcript.

TRANSCRIPTS NEED:

Time code: Hours, minutes, seconds at the beginning of each interview and thereafter
Accurate Transcriptions: should be re-written word-for-word including um’s and you knows, as well as punctuation that the speaker does. try to resist editing and clarifying because its makes it more difficult in the editing suite.
Line numbering: to assist in the editing suite
using a database: to keep all the documents in order

WEEK 8: NO LECTURE
WEEK 8 READING: NO READING

WEEK 9: This was the first week wheFe we begin editing during our tutorial time. Today we just sorted through all of your footage deciding what we did and didn’t need e.g. accidental videos and highlighted the shots we really wanted to include. we also began editing our documentary starting from the beginning.

WEEK 9 READING:

becoming competent in the editing program, allows editors to excel
for small projects its often good to have a director/editor but for larger scale its better to have a team
Avid, Final cut pro, Adobe and premier

POST PRODUCTION OVERVIEW

synchronising sound with action
daily screening so get comments and concerns
logging material in preparation for editing
making a split script
making a first assembly and rough edit
organising and preparing with the director any voice-over and original music
finding atmos
working with sound engineer to finalise sound tracks
making titles and graphics
colour balance and final touches

Documentaries can also tell stories, have heroes and plot-twists

DRAMA AND THE THREE ACT STRUCTURE

Act 1: Establishes the set up ( characters, relationships, situation and problem arising)

Act 2: escalates the problems between the characters

Act 3: intensifies the situation

WEEK 10 READING:

Sound Editing:

– before picture lock, review all dailies to make sure you haven’t overlooked anything useful

sound helps stimulate the audiences interaction with the visuals
decide the sound profile before the editor gets to work reorganising dialogue tracks and laying in missing sound effects
its not the complexity of sound but rather the physiological effect is has that makes it a good composition
don’t over do it with sound cliques, not ever door needs to squeak
ADR Automatic dialogue replacement isn’t common in documentaries rather in feature films and is used in case the sound quality isn’t great
recreating sound effects in foley studios
balancing tracks isn’t just adjusting levels its also equalising tracks

WEEK 10:

During the tutorial the 4 of us worked cohesively to pull together our rough cut to show cathie, which she really liked and gave us tips and suggestions but ultimately like the direction we were taking our documentary. I do believe we might be a little bit behind, but that’s just my time management freaking me out. I know we will pull everything together.

WEEK 11 READING:

from a life time of practice, we ‘edit’ as we try to extract the most subtextual information from any situation
the camera eye and ear collect the memories, the storyteller/editor reworks them into a story
working in documentaries is you watching the growth of human nature and human behaviour
editing rhythm: analogy in music being conscious of the rhythm of peoples conversations
counterpoint: as the man talks about skyscrapers we cut to b-roll of skyscrapers to emphasise what he’s talking about
dissonance: exploiting discrepancies – a teacher talking about an enlightening philosophy but pictured is a monotonous teacher teaching class
use your instincts while editing
trial audiences to get audience feedback and improve the docco
subtexts: having visible significance – bank official feels bad for not giving the small loan
people who are defensive about their films have underlying insecurities an the best way to learn and improve is taking comments from critics and improving upon those

WEEK 11:

We booked the room for 9am-9pm so we have a big day ahead of us. Already we have put our 3 acts together and tied it with the grand finale. We’re yet to edit the music, colour grade and do final touches but our rough cut has given us a good base. We had to change our intro a couple times to keep continuity. Just need to mix the sound and colourgrade before we master the final cut.

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