abigailauvray-blog

[abigailauvray-blog]

18: Reflection

Looking back over the past few months, I am proud of the work we have created as a group. Even though we did experience our fair share of complications, through our planning, group work, and perseverance, we created a documentary that we are proud of, and that we view as a success.

[abigailauvray-blog]

17: Re filming shots

I knew early on that there would be a possibility that I would need to go out any get some more shots to fill the film out - we had to get the interview and b-roll in one day, and as the interview wasn’t scripted, it wasn’t until we get into editing that we saw where the gaps were.

Luckily I could take out the Ursa last minute to get some shots to add into the film, and I brought these straight into editing to be inserted into the timeline.

[abigailauvray-blog]

16: Edit Process

We are using Avid to edit the film.

Unfortunately, I was unable to be present for most of the editing process, as due to the late date of our filming, Jack had to stay later into the Winter break, when I was no longer in Leeds. 

The most important step in the editing for my particular job was the rough cut, as it let us know where the gaps were in terms of visuals, so I could go out and get some more cut away shots.

[abigailauvray-blog]

15: Issues we encountered

Weather - The weather on filming day was awful - cold, and torrential rain all day, which made filming extremely difficult as we were filming a good portion of the film outside. This meant using the waterproof cover for the camera, which made it difficult to use, and also the cold made it hard to set up the audio and timecodes as they were quite fiddly and we had very little feeling in our fingers. To solve this issue, we worked together as quickly as possible to be able to move on to working inside.

Fog on lenses - This came as a side effect of the cold and wet weather - when we moved to working inside some of the lenses fogged up due to the weather conditions. We solved this issue by leaving the lenses aside to adjust while setting up the rest of the equipment, and talking to Joanna so she was informed about what was going on and what we were doing next.

Working together - We did have some issues concerning working together during the project - one of our group members would tend to not show up or cancel on plans at the last minute. As a result, the rest of us would have to work together to pick up the slack. We did also speak to our lecturer about this issue, and ultimately it was just a question of working together to make up for the time lost.

Tight time period - Due to having to go through a lot of approval stages with Marie Curie, we couldn’t start filming until very late in the year, around December. This meant we were under a lot of pressure to film as early as possible so Jack (editor) had enough time to edit before the deadline. To combat this issue we made sure we were always aware of when we were filming, and we tried to work quickly and efficiently, so we could meet the deadline.

Pressure of Marie Curie - Having the Marie Curie media representatives on set with us was somewhat stressful, as we were concerned they would want us to change things during filming. However they were very helpful, and approved of what we did. This ended up being helpful, as it meant that we knew even before editing that Marie Curie shouldn’t have any issue with the film.

[abigailauvray-blog]

14: Filming day

Filming day.

The one day it rained all week. (Typical)

All in all though, filming went quite successfully, despite complications - I’ll address these in my next post.

We only got put in contact with Joanna (our nurse) a few days before filming, and we also found out she lives in Leeds - meaning our recce for Bradford locations ended up being redundant - luckily we had already discussed filming in Roundhay Park if it came to it.

Once we got to our location and met up with Joanna and the Marie Curie media team, we got straight to work. The lights ended up proving useful, as the day was very overcast, and natural light would not suffice. Our practise setting up the complicated pieces of equipment was very useful, as we worked together quickly and efficiently.

We completed our filming in the park, and moved on to our second location, Joanna’s house. Again, we did not have a recce for this location as we had no access to the location prior to filming. We therefore had to spend about 15 mins finding the best place to film, but we were very lucky that Joanna was very accommodating.

We were done with filming by 3pm, which is earlier than we planned, as we managed to be very efficient.

Despite the complications, I think we were successful in what we set out to do on this filming day, but we won’t know until we get into editing!

[abigailauvray-blog]

13: Candle filming

We booked out some time in the studio in order to film our opening and closing shots, which we wanted as an extreme close up of a candle being lit and then being blown out, to symbolise life and death, the beginning and the end. We achieved this through turning all lights off in the room, and back lighting the candle to make sure we could capture the smoke as the candle was blown out. The filming was extremely successful, and we were done much faster than we thought we would be.

[abigailauvray-blog]

12: Equipment booking

In terms of equipment, we have had lots of decisions to make - on one hand, this is a documentary, and the less equipment we have, the easier it will be to transport to the different shooting locations, but we also wanted to go for a cinematic look, and for some of the shots we have planned we need big pieces of equipment. Luckily, two group members have their cars with them in Leeds, so transporting a lot of equipment is not as much of a burden as it could have been.

In particular concerning our equipment, we are using the Black Magic Ursa Mini to film with - this is not only because of the capabilities of the camera, but also due to how streamlined the camera is in terms of its functions - in tests I have found it very easy to use, which is a clear advantage for documentary filming as the settings can be adjusted easily so we can film on the fly.

This is the equipment we have booked out for our principal filming day with our documentary subject:

[abigailauvray-blog]

11: Recce

For our outdoors location, we decided to look at Lister Park in Bradford - we still don’t know where our nurse is based, but with the information that the hospice is in Bradford, we thought it better to plan to film there. In the case that the nurse is in fact Leeds-based, we will film in Roundhay park instead (a park that we are already familiar with)

Our second filming location will be at the nurse’s house, however as we do not know them yet, we will be unable to do a Recce beforehand.

Here are some photos I took of our Recce in Lister Park, including photos of a bench on which we plan to conduct the interview, and some areas where we could shoot some B-Roll footage.

[abigailauvray-blog]

10: Equipment test (crane&dolly)

Caitlin (Director) and I decided it would be a good idea to test some of the larger pieces of equipment with Peter North to get a feel for the equipment outside of our practical sessions. We went in with the goal of only using one of these two large pieces of kit, however, after having seen the capabilities of both, we want to use both - a positive for the look of the film, but a strain on how quickly we will be able to set up and shoot.

As well as practising shooting, we also practised putting the equipment together ad packing it up, which should help us be more effective on the day.

[abigailauvray-blog]

9: Practical Filming test

In our practical session, we were given the opportunity to block out and practise shooting a scene from our film. Due to the fact that our film is a documentary, and we have not yet conducted the interview, we do not know exactly what shots we want as it depends on what is discussed in the interview. 

We do, however, want to have a shot that reveals the subject at the start of the documentary, where the camera moves to show the nurse. When we tried this in the practical session, we used the backpack ad gimbal, but this ended up being too shaky and we couldn’t achieve the look we wanted with this equipment. 

This was a important test to conduct in order to streamline the filming process on the day - we can now go on to test out the crane and track and dolly to see what will work best for filming this shot - at least we can eliminate the gimbal.

[abigailauvray-blog]

8: B-Roll filming test

Due to the fact that we are working with Marie Curie on this project, our group is concerned that it may not be possible to film before December. Therefore, we decided, while it is still Autumn, and still bright outside, that we would go outside to get some B-Roll footage to use in the final documentary. We took out the Ursa as well as the Cine Lens Kit to shoot with. This not only gave us some more shots to use in the film, but it also gave us the opportunity to get to grips with using the equipment as a group.

[abigailauvray-blog]

7: Equipment planning

In terms of equipment, we have had lots of decisions to make - on one hand, this is a documentary, and the less equipment we have, the easier it will be to transport to the different shooting locations, but we also wanted to go for a cinematic look, and for some of the shots we have planned we need big pieces of equipment. Luckily, two group members have their cars with them in Leeds, so transporting a lot of equipment is not as much of a burden as it could have been.

We are all agreed on filming with the Ursa Mini, and using the tentacles to set up sound, but the last thing to decide will be if we are using the crane, gimbal, or tracks and dolly for our stand-out shots. Hopefully, we will be able to make our decision when we test out these pieces of equipment again both during and outside of the practical session.

Otherwise, it looks like we know what we want for our equipment, and we can check that off the list!

[abigailauvray-blog]

6: Case Study - Marie Curie existing examples

After looking at some examples of other documentaries, I thought it was important to look at the existing content Marie Curie has, especially as we are working so closely with the charity themselves. I wanted to see the style of the content that they already have online for inspiration.

I looked specifically at the videos on the Meet our nurses page, which features videos of interviews with nurses discussing their jobs. The videos are shot very simply, with little movement, (the only pan is when introducing the three women). The interviews are shot as medium close ups, which is the shot size I am planning to use in our documentary.

Also of note, is that all the shots are very brightly lit, giving the videos a bright and welcoming tone, which I hope we can emulate - although we are planning on shooting outside so dependent on weather we may need lights.

Unfortunately, they do not have any videos up with cut aways or b-roll, so I do not have a style guide to look to for this type of shot, but I think I will just try to keep the soft, bright tone of these videos with cut away footage of nature and natural shots of our nurse themself.

https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/help/nursing-services/meet-nurses

[abigailauvray-blog]

5: Case Study - Tales by Light

I looked at Season 1 Episode 3 of Tales by Light in order to get inspiration for my B-Roll shots. On top of simple b roll shots of nature, this episode reminded me that b-roll of the subject themselves is also important to make sure that the narrative of the piece flows through the visuals as well as through the audio. Tales by Light achieved this by including natural shots of the subject preparing her equipment, and even though the shots are cinematic, they do not feel invasive, and they fit in well with the action in the documentary and the interview.

“Adrenaline.” Tales by Light, season 1, episode 3, Netflix, 2015. 

[abigailauvray-blog]

4: Case Study - Into the Inferno

I looked at the documentary Into the Inferno to look, not at the cinematography regarding nature, but also how they shot sit down interviews.

In contrast to my previous post, I also wanted to look at an example of a placed sit down interview, compared to the on the fly method of interviewing used in Gaga: Five Foot Two. Zeitlinger frames this shot as a medium close up, which lets the subject fill the screen without the framing being uncomfortably close. This is important when filming this interview, as Chief Mael Moses is talking about his religious beliefs, which is a highly personal topic, therefore necessitating this personal framing. I think this is a good shot size to use for such an interview, and I hope to use it in our documentary too.

Into the Inferno. (2016). [film] Directed by W. Herzog. USA: Netflix.

[abigailauvray-blog]

3: Case Study - 5 Foot 2

I decided to watch the Netflix documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two in preparation for filming, to analyse how candid interviews can create a personal feel in a documentary, alongside looking at how the documentary handles topics such as pain, illness, and death.

Oftentimes in the documentary, the clips of Lady Gaga talking about personal topics seemed to be shot on the fly, often seeming as if the camera was quickly pulled out to capture an everyday conversation she was having - this helped to create a more comfortable atmosphere in which she could say what she wanted without the pressure of feeling like she was being recorded. This could be potentially useful in our documentary, to get some more natural clips of our subject, as they may not be used to being interviewed. I would want to discuss this with them beforehand (so they are aware), but I now know that I should be ready to record at any time, in case they say something of note that is not part of their interview answers.

I also looked to this documentary for its discussion of death - a subject that I expect will come up in our interview. It is clear in the documentary how boundaries are respected when such a topic arises - the camera person checks often what they want recorded, and doesn’t overstep these boundaries. It will be important to keep this sensitivity in mind when filming, if our interviewee becomes emotional at any point. 

Gaga: Five Foot Two. (2017). [film] Directed by C. Moukarbel. USA: Netflix.

[abigailauvray-blog]

2: Cinematography in Documentaries

In researching the role of the Cinematographer in documentary making I found a video of a panel with Alan Jacobsen and Martina Radwan that I found very interesting, and leaned several things from:

Documentary making is about spontaneity and instinct

You can bring narrative features into a doc - make it cinematic

Use movement to tell the story without words (Strong Island - no pan or tilt= shows how even the family don’t know everything, so the audience can’t either)

The cinematography controls the audience’s viewpoint - how they see the story and how they understand the information that is being conveyed.

Mahattan Edit Workshop, 2018. "In The Moment: The Art of Cinematography in Documentary Filmmaking" - FULL PANEL. [online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLAgHU0AQpg