During the past few days, I have been finishing my module on Documentary.

I have added more cuttaways on the interviews by filming more shots of my book and DVD collection. I didn't have a script for this so I was being very experinemntal with angles and see if it would work. Since I didn't borrow a tripod from college, I borrowed my mum's tripod that is used for her digital SLR camera. This worked out really well. Here's a shot of this happening.

 

 

 There was a time of where I had to think of cuttaways to an interview where there was supposed to be a scene re-enactment. The scene re-enactment couldn't happen because the actress couldn't make it because of work commitments. So I thought I could add in shots of the book cover etc. Also I thought of an idea of addidng a shot of the paper with the repeated text 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'. I wanted to film it on my computer screen but unfortunately it show at all on the camera. So instead I printed out the document and filmed shots of it on my desk. Here is a shot trying to film it on the computer:

 I also had to film clips of me talking to the camera, saying what the next stage was and a clip of me at the end of the documentary. This was quite challenging because I didn't have an assistant camera op so I had to film it myself.


Scene re-enactments

I have recently filmed two scene re-enactments and they were from the stories Carrie and The Shining.

For The Shining, I filmed a shot of one of the interviewees whom I asked if he could act for it. He had to act a scene of where the dad is locked in a pantry, shouting at the door. I filmed this in the black room and Theo acted out the scene really well. I tried to use portable lighting gear to help light the scene better. But then I looked back at the footage and it looked really good without it. Here is a shot of it:

I wanted to film a scene with the main character's wife, by using the femal interviewee. But unfortunately she couldn't make it due to work commitments. So like I explained beforehand, at the end I had to think if cuttaways to film and use.

For Carrie, I asked a friend of mine if she could act as Carrie. I asked her if she's got any dresses in particular that she could wear for a shot or two. I also wanted to use a strong use of red lighting to show the mood of the scene very much like the movie.

I also caught up with all the paperwork that was needed. I scanned all the paper work that was needed and put it all in one document and its all posted.

The recent feedback I had from my documentary is that people have liked it. Also people said it was very interesting and well put together. One person said that it was slightly quiet at times so I'll see what my lecturer sais when he watches it.

With this I think the documentary has come out well. I think I could of improved on one angle where I talk infront of camera because its slightly out of focus. I also think I could of planned out the scene re-enactments better. But it was a good experiance of experinmentation of angles. For the scenes, I wished I could of asked the interviewees about their favourites before the interviews so that I could of had a head start.

Overall I think it came out well and I hope people will enjoy it :D

Through out my Easter break. Sorry that this is late but hey better late than ever

My documentary:

Recently I have made two scene reenactments for my documentary. I have filmed a scene from Misery, Pet Sematary and 1408. I also filmed the second interview with a friend who isn't a fan of Stephen King's novels.

For Misery, I asked a friend of mine Hannah to play the part of Annie Wilkes and she very keen on doing it. I asked another friend of mine to play Paul Sheldon the writer. Unfortunately he declined which was very stressful. So I thought I'll just film all of Hannah's parts and then think of solutions for Paul parts. My solution was for me to play the part but create angles that were subtle so that you couldn't tell it was me. The day went very well. But I changed a few angles because it was against a window.

For Pet Sematary, I asked my little brother and my stepdad to play the roles of a father and my brother to play the part of his undead evil son. Unfortunately I didn't write a script for this so I used alot of experimental shots to see if they would work. The good thing is is that they did and my stepdad and my little brother played their roles very well.

For 1408, it was very challenging to film because my location wasn't very hotel like. So again, I was very experimental with shots and tried to make it work. My stepdad played the part very well but I'll see if I should use it.

My second interview with a friend who doesn't like Stephen King's novels went very well. She came over to my place and I filmed it in my bedroom beside my King collection. She was nervous to begin with so we done three takes on the interview so I'll see what one is the best.

My studio production report

Today I have just finished the report. Yippee!! This took longer than expected because it was very challenging to find the appropriate quotes for my statements. I have three library books on studio production. They have been very helpful in alot of ways but there were times where it was difficult to find the right quotes I needed. There was only one time I used the internet for one quote. All I've got to do now is to add in images and email it to my lecturer to see what he thinks.