Year 2 Work Experience Log

Little Sprouts - 4 hours filming + 5 hours editing = 9 hours

Little Sprouts is an award winning Community Interest Company dedicated to improving the health and well being of the community. Via their mobile kitchen, their cooking and food education projects are designed to inspire everyone to make better food choices through practical, innovative and fun cooking workshops aimed at all ages and abilities. Debbie Fixter asked us to create a promotional video for her business' project, the video was to bid for more investment. 
Filming took place on the 22nd of September, 10am - 2pm at a building across the street from the hostel on Hartington Road. 
We were in two groups; one filming interviews and one filming the residents of the hostel cooking. I was part of the crew filming the cooking, I filmed with the camera and also helped with equipment etc. 
For Health and safety, we identified where the fire extinguisher was since cooking was taking place and that would be the immediate concern. We also had to make sure we didn't cause a disruption or block any walkways or fire exits. 

As we had such a short time to film AND edit the Little Sprouts footage I took the project home to edit on Premiere Pro on my own computer. This didn't go to plan and due to Premiere Pro crashing it took me hours to finally finish the project and send it to Debbie the following day. 

Induction Show - 3 hours

The induction show featured all 3 performing courses and we were asked to record it so that performers could use the footage to to learn from their performance and also as evidence for show reels and memories. 

Filming took place on 18th October, 6pm - 9pm at SRC theatre.
We set up the 2 cameras - one from the back and one from the side, the back angle shows the whole performance space where as the side angle cuts off a bit due to the available space. There were 2 camera operators per camera, myself and Jess manned the back angle camera. It was very close to a door that was being used therefore we had to make sure we were not in the way and obstructing it. 

River Tees Rediscovered - (ongoing) 24 hours

To create a promotional video for the organisation River Tees Rediscovered to raise awareness, increase interaction, encourage visitors to take part in activities and to be featured on their website to showcase the range of projects. Health and safety will depend on each filming project. Our contact for this project is Jenny until the end of October then Christine. Contact via email and phone. 

28th September 2016
1pm - 4pm, at college 3 hours 

We were given the brief to create a promotional video for River Tees Rediscovered to raise awareness and create more engagement with visitors, we scheduled a meeting with our contact to go over exactly what she wants. We started planning and coming up with possible groups for filming the projects and how we want each project to look on film.

5th October 2016
1pm - 4pm, at college 3 hours
We continued planning by researching the projects and locations we would be filming, we tried to figure out the best ways to get to the locations and the best way to get footage, especially exterior footage where it wouldn't look the prettiest.

12th October 2016
1pm - 4pm, at college 3 hours 
After a meeting the week before with Jenny, we managed to focus more on what we will film for the promotional video, we looked at the different projects with people contacting  the people involved to try and find a possible time or event to film. As Project Manager I made sure everyone was assigned a job. I contacted Jenny to find out if there was any available stock footage we could use in the video and began looking online for an events we could attend to film. We found it hard to start any shot lists or storyboards as we had no upcoming events that we had enough information about that we could visualise. We did make a calendar/schedule for the upcoming weeks to write events on so that everyone has access to see and participate in a filming event.

19th October 2016
1pm - 4pm, at college 3 hours 
It was decided that Adam, Rhys and myself would go and film at the Bat Box Building Event on the 25th so we used this time to prepare for that. Adam and myself created a storyboard but we agreed the filming will be reactive as we'll have to see when we are there as to what will be relevant to film. We printed off release forms and location forms. I contacted Jenny for some risk assessments templates, so we familiarised ourselves with that. Again, I contacted more people about attending their events to film and made sure everyone in the class was keeping on top of their work. 

25th October 2016

8am - 11am, at "Bat Box Building" 3 hours

Today we were filming at Preston Hall Museum. However, upon an early arrival quickly realised we had the wrong date and the event was taking place the next day. However we didn't let this phase us and continued to film exterior shots of the museum, as well as shots of the park itself, focusing around the river. Myself and Adam went between filming with the camera and directing, both of us suggesting the next shot and filling in appropriate paperwork. We kept health and safety in mind, not going too far to the water or up/down steep paths or hills with the equipment.

Post Production at college, with Mark Johnson: 

2nd November, 1pm - 4pm 3 hours 
I went through all the footage, labelling and sorting it into appropriate bins. I then spent time listening to different songs to use as the background, once I had picked the song I could edit to the beat, making it easier. I set up the premiere pro document and imported the footage.
9th November, 1pm - 4pm 3 hours 
I started editing the video, finding the best clips to use at each point of the song and in the best sequence. I almost finished the video, with only a small section left.
16th November, 1pm - 4pm 3 hours 
I finished editing the video and exported it, to share with the rest of the class and add to the main video we will give to the client. 

Unit 6: Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products - Task 1

Quantitative audience research involves using scientific or mathematical data, producing hard facts and statistics, (an example of this is audience ratings and measurement panels). BARB - Broadcasters Audience Research Board - delivers the official viewing figures for UK television audiences. A carefully selected panel of private homes is recruited that suit the necessary demographics, TV platforms and geography, as well as other variables. The BARB panel consists of 5100 households, which each represent about 5000 other households across the UK. In political campaigning this strategy is successful as it can show audience demographics and how each candidate's supporters fair with age and also income. This helps them understand the people they are appealing to and how they can be sure to keep that interest. It can also help them notify which demographic they need to focus on more to get more votes. Qualitative audience research contrasts with a qualitative approach, it uses a more social method, like interviewing people, questionnaires and focus groups, any strategy that offers extra detail.
In the U.S. Political Campaign 2016 Hillary Clinton's main target audience was defined as democrats, women, mothers and the working people. Through holding surveys and focus groups before the election she was able to work out what people wanted from her. She then catered to them and what they want from a leader throughout her campaign. She was standing to be the first woman president and was a huge supporter for panned parenthood (which republicans are completely against). She proved successful as the most popular of the two candidates, winning the popular vote - but unsuccessful as President-Elect.




Audience classifications are used to categorise people of different social grade and income, for market research, targeting, lifestyle statistics, and statistical research.
One way this can be conducted is through Socio-economics'. This takes into account income, education, occupation and neighbourhood. 

Psychographics is based on a person's personality, values, attitudes, interests and lifestyle. This strategy is proven most successful as people care more for what they want and aim to have in life. People are categorised into the following:

Geodemographic segmentation refers to a range of methods used for classifying and characterising neighbourhoods based on the principal that residents living near each other are likely to have a similar demographic. Geodemographics is great if another place wants to see how a programme/genre fares before you air something alike, somewhere similar. 

Unit 6: Critical Approaches to Creative Media Production - Evaluation

The media sector is diverse and continually developing. Media products have developed over time in response to changes in society, culture and technology, and more specifically, in response to changing attitudes within the industry. This years Presidential campaign has brought around the biggest media turnover to date. The way politics has been presented through different media sources has and will be changed forever. Most of the coverage has been aimed at the controversial views and actions of, (now President-Elect), Donald Trump. Reporters will give their own interpretations of what they see, which tends to influence our own judgement. The majority of the time only one version of events is offered and not the whole picture. With Trump, there is only the whole picture. The media has thrown every part of the campaign into the spotlight for everyone to see, there hasn't been a break for either candidates. I feel as though the media is dependent on, in times like these as they are the bridge between important issues and ourselves - whether they keep the bridge transparent for us to see the truth or dirty it for us to see the 'apparent' truth lies in their hands.

Documentary Skeleton Film Plan

My documentary will be in four parts to show four different perspectives. Each part will be three minutes in length. The documentary will be assembled from the following materials:

• Interviews with contributors
• Actuality footage of each contributor in their relevant surroundings/of the relevant surroundings
• Video footage of myself
• Photographs of babies
• An audio recording of myself doing voiceovers

Interviews:

Teenage Mothers - Elissa, Becca, Sky and myself.

I hope to interview the teenage mothers at home with their children.

Healthcare Professionals - Abi and Karen.

I hope to conduct these interviews in a professional environment, if not at work then maybe an office/study at home with their work uniforms/equipment present.

Media Workers - ONGOING!

Older Generation - Nan and Vox Pops.

As my Nan lives in London I will interview her over Face Time. I still need to decide where to carry out the Vox pops, though I am thinking Middlesbrough Town Centre.

Interview Techniques

There are two types of questions you can use that are very different in character and usage. Actively listening to all answers is vital in factual filmmaking.

Closed questions: can be answered with either a single word or a short phrase.

"How old are you?" "Where do you live?"

A closed question can also be answered with either "yes" or "no".

Characteristics:

• Give you facts
• Easy to answer
• Quick to answer
• They keep control of the conversation with the questioner

This makes closed questions useful in the following situations:

• Opening questions in conversations
• For testing a person's understanding
• For setting up a desired positive or negative frame of mind (asking successive questions with obvious answers)
• For seeking yes to the big question (e.g. do you think it's hard being a teenage mother)

Any opinion can be turned into a closed question that forces a yes or no by adding tag questions, such as "isn't it?", "don't you?", "can't they?" to any statement.

The first word of a question sets up the dynamic of the closed question, signalling the easy answer ahead: do, would, are, will, if.

Open questions: are likely to receive a long answer.

Although any questions can receive a long answer, open questions deliberately seek longer answers and are the opposite of closed questions.

Characteristics:

• Ask the respondent to think and reflect
• Give opinions and feelings
• They hand control of the conversation to the respondent

This makes open questions useful in the following situations:

• As a follow-on from closed questions
• To find out more about a person, their wants, needs, problems
• For the respondent to think about themselves more, something they haven't thought about before

Unit 27 - Task 1

There are many issues that face filmmakers when even in the planning stages of a production, more so factual filmmakers. They must be addressed before, throughout and after the filmmaking process to make sure there is no chance of upsetting or misleading their audience.

Accuracy: the quality or state of being correct or precise.

A documentary must be as accurate as possible, containing correct facts, quotes and statistics. The credibility of a factual programme/film is extremly important. The audience will trust what they see in a documentary. If something stated is wrong or a vital piece of information missed, the production company will develop a loss of reliability. Supersize Me is an example of a documentary that uses accuracy throughout. There are a number of professionals relevant to the film such as, health nutrionists and GP's; these push the 'realistic' thought in the audeinces mind, these are people they would trust in life if they were speaking to them themselves. Spurlock is shown in correct environments for the subject, hospitals etc. 

Balance: a situation in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions.

This means showing both sides of the subject and making sure that overall the documentary is fair. The topic for my documentary is teenage mothers. To ensure I am balanced I will be interviewing a range of different people each segment, not just teenage mothers. I will be speaking to members of the older generation, healthcare professionals, teenage mothers to be and individuals from the media industry. I want to be fair throughout  and therefore will show both ends of the spectrum, keeping the opinions balanced.

Impartiality: decisions should be based on objective criteria, rather than bias or prejudice.

Linking with balance, both sides of the story are needed equally, without the filmmakers personal opinions. A presenter must be impartial, somewhat guiding the viewer to their own conclusion.

Objectivity - refers to how someone's judgement is uninfluenced by emotions or  personal prejudices.

Direct cinema is a method of filmmaking that attempts to record events objectively, without manipulating the story and without any direction. This isn't a style of filmmaking but a method. It means recording life as it unfolds in real time; the audience are unaware of the filmmakers presence. Questions that are asked aren't posed on screen along with no narration. Objective documentaries show both sides of a controversial story in a balanced manner. A multi-sided or non judgemental approach helps build tension and depth. This can be done through including opposing POV and contrasting opinions. By including these opposing points of view, the audience question their own beliefs and understanding of the subject.

Subjectivity: refers to how someone's judgment is shaped by personal opinions and feelings instead of outside influences.

Michael Moore makes personal, opinionated documentaries. In these films the director is  normally a participant, either appearing on screen or as a voice behind the camera. In most cases they narrate the film as well. Although they  are representing an individual opinion, subjective films try to be truthful from the filmmakers point of view. An example of a subjective documentary is Blackfish, which follows the controversial captivity of killer whales. It continously pushes a number of opinions and feelings towards Sea World being in the wrong e.g. the conditions they are kept in are terrible, whales can't be trusted around humans. Alongside breathtaking shots of these creatures in the wild and in a tank there's no doubting the personal reactions from the audience this documentary would provoke.

Although documentaries are called objective or subjective, there is no such thing as totally unbiased filmmaking. Every choice that a documentary filmmaker makes about what to include in the film and how to structure the story reflects their opinions and attitudes not only towards the subject, but influences the audiences reaction. Even the editing will have some significance. 

Opinion: a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

A variety of opinions are needed in a documentary to keep a neutral standpoint. Going back to credibility, opinions are needed from people who are relevant enough to the topic that is being covered. For example, voxpops are a great way to fit in the general publics views on a matter in their society. However, a documentary on the 'theory of blackholes' is going to focus on the opinions of scientists, those trained in that specialist field. In my documentary, Healthcare professionals are involved with mothers of any age, before, during and after childbirth - their opinion is relevant to the subject.

Bias:

inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair.

Some topics covered in documentaries are controversial, they are what gain the most attention. But if bias is too strong it could come across as preaching a personal opinion. Sometimes in factual filmmaking there is an intended message but the necessary steps must be taken to keep the impartiality. People do not like to be told how to feel/think, an audience won't react well to an opinion being forced upon them. Especially if they are already bias towards the subject being covered.

Representation: the description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way.

How contributors are shown and represented on camera, can have a huge affect on a documentary. An example of negative representation in a factual programme is Benefits Street. The residents were rarely shown in a well interior decorated house, applying for a job. They were shown stood out on the front in their pyjamas, cigarette in one hand, can of Fosters in the other. The producers of the show knew exactly how to represent the contributors and furthermore push the bias most people have towards people on benefits. An audience are more likely to believe words coming from someone dressed smartly, with a professional background, rising through the high classes. The actual imagery must go hand in hand with the 'mental picture' of the people. In my documentary I will show the story how it is and let people make up their own minds. I will show the teenage mothers where they normally are, be that at home, doing their studies etc. I will show the healthcare professionals in a work setting.

Privacy: the state of being concealed.

Contributors have the right to withhold information (espcially personal) from filmmakers, they cannot be forced to spill every little detail of their lives. In some cases, victims will want their identity to be kept hidden. For this to happen their faces can be blurred and/or their voices altered to make sure their person is kept secret.

Catfish

A documentary following the development of an online friendship. Unintentionally, the Schulman's and Joost find themselves on a journey to discover what is actually real.

This documentary stirs up a lot of emotions. Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost start documenting the beginning of Nev's online friendship with a young girl called Abi. The documentary contains surprising twists and leaves you on the edge of your seat as the boys begin to question what's real. With the filmmakers unsure of what is coming next at the time of filming, it feels as though you too are on the journey to discover the truth. A brilliant, entertaining, thought provoking, (slightly scary) documentary.

Catfish is both a reflective and interactive documentary. It is filmed with all of the participants responding to questions asked of them throughout. Nev is consistently asked how he feels on the situation and at the end of the film even more questions are asked of even more people; as the filmmakers and Nev try to eliminate the lies and locate the truth. The filmmakers make their case as the film continues, this is because they had no idea how the story would play out. There is emphasis on how the film is made all the way through the documentary. They are as equally interested in the process of making the film and how reality is constructed. They show this through various shots of them holding cameras, asking questions etc.

The first lines have a significant impact on how the movie concluded. Nev's quote "set it up, organise a time with me, put together some materials, emails, we'll get the Facebook conversation printed out and really talk about it" shows how a documentary normally plays out. In normal circumstances filmmakers know the route they want the story to go down. However in this case, they didn't know what was going to happen - it was completely spontaneous. This adds to the film and helps drive the emotion in the film and out, felt by the audience.

If Catfish had involved the specific level of planning that you usually associate with the factual genre I don't think it would have been as good. When watching the film, you feel as though you are also on the journey to discover the truth. What you are seeing on the screen is people's true reactions to what is happening.