Recent feeback and filming the three interviews with King fans

Recent Feedback
I have recently filmed my first interview with a Stephen King fan. For most of the day, I wanted to prepare the lighting so that I got it correct. I filmed the interview and the interview was successful. But my lecturer and I looked through the footage and it needed alot of improving. The lighting wasn't correct and it was too orange, the angle looked bad and the sound was too quiet. So I took what needed improving on board. I asked the fan for a retake and he had no problem with it, which is really helpful. Here is what the footage looked like:

The filming of the three fans + the retake with the first interviewee

Recently I have been filming three interviews for my Stephen King documentary. And I have to say, so far so great. Plus I filmed a retake of the first interview.

My biggest fear was that the fans I chose to interview were going to give very small answers but they gave out very detailed points of view and very interesting answers which is great.

I used the blackroom again for the second fan and concentrated more on the angle and the lighting. I looked back at the footage and it looks so much better because the lighting and the angles were correct. Here is an image to prove this:

Because the black room was no longer in use because it was fully booked, I needed another location to use. So I thought of using the library because its bright and colorful and there is good use of lighting. This is where I did the retake of the first interview and and the third interview.

The retake of the first interview went brilliantly well. The first take I took, the angle didn't look correct. So I did a second take and here is what it looks like:

I had another problem of trying to find a female fan of King. I wanted to do this because the documentary wont show just male fans. One of the interviewees that I made friends with (well I made friends with all of them) was talking to a female friend about the documentary and she happened to be a big fan of king. I went to the library to meet them and asked the female fan if she was interested. And she was.

On the friday I met with her, her boyfriend and her friends and filmed in the interview in the library. Her friends and boyfriend were really cooperative and they kept quiet through out filming which was great. I did two takes of it just in case and it is a success so far.

My next plan

My next plan is to continue editing and try and find people that arent fans of Stephen King so I can get different points of view. My mum sais that if I cant find them, she'll be happy to be interviewed as fan. This will really help if I cant find any non-fans.

My trip today at Staffs Uni, meeting two professional filmmakers

Recently, I received an email from my lecturer about two guest lecturers coming to Staffs Uni to see us students. I took the offer and went today.

The two guests were two filmmakers called Christine Molloy and Joe Lawler, who have made many films. One of these films is called 'Helen' and I have borrowed the DVD off John Bradburn. The filmmakers were talking about making their experiences in film making and gave us many advises on our futures through out the industry. It was very fascinating to listen to their stories and points of view. Even when the gave out their advices, I have taken them on board. The whole conversation has been recorded on my Dictaphone.

I will now take out the file and put it on my computer so that I can replay their advice's and stories.

A day well spent.

 

Yesterday's Interview and last nights live event at StaffsTV

Documentary Interview

Yesterday, I got everything prepared for my upcoming interviews. The studio was set up and the paperwork was up to date. I was expecting two interviews and one turned up. I told him what the documentary was about and what sort of questions I was going to ask. He was really interested in taking part. Unfortunately he was 15 minutes late but the interview itself didn't take as long as I thought it would. The interview itself, I thought, went very well. I took two takes of it so I can choose which take to have.

I then took a shot of the interviewee reading a Stephen King book I borrowed from the library. This is for a quick action shot for the documentary.

I met the second interviewee after I completed the first interview. He apologized for not coming because he didn't have any update on what was going on. This I blame myself because I didn't ask him for his email address. So we exchanged mobile numbers. This way, I can keep in contact to give him updates.


Last night's live event with StaffsTV

Last night, I joined the StaffsTV group at the uni campus. We had to film a live show that was being aired at many parts of the country. So this was a bigger show and this time there were two sets to film at. I was at the Legend's Lounge set which is just next door to the studio. The Legend's Lounge was where we had to film live bands and solo artists. My role for the night was to be camera assistant. I was at the front of the stage where there was a crew member doing tracking shots. I was next to him and I had to help clear the track of cables. I kept hold of them and tracked with him so that we can have a smooth tracking shot.

There were a few hiccups with the event, for example, one of the live streams at another uni in the country went down, so we had to have that live stream aswell and bad signal with our live feed etc. But other than that, I think it was a successful night.

Production Scheduled tweaked and tomorrows tasks

Because of differences of days of filming my documentary, I have just re written my production schedule so now its updated.

Tomorrow I am filming two interviews in the late afternoon. I do feel prepared. Equipment is booked and in the morning I'll print off my question sheet and shot list. Also, If I have time, I'll record my dialogue for the commentary.

Studio Prep Sorted and 2 interviewees down and one to go on King Fans

On friday, My tasks for the day were to sort out the studio and lighting I need for the interviews and collecting interviewees for next week Wednesday.

With a helping hand, I sorted out what lighting is needed and what percentage of the brightness was needed.

To begin with, this was a challenge because lighting is my weakness through out filming. So I asked my lecturer for a little help on how the lighting looked to begin with. He gave very constructive criticism on how it should look. He suggested to use the three point lighting method, which is the key light, fill light and the back light. He also suggested where to move some of the lighting gear in position. I then moved the lighting and I asked a friend of mine to sit down infront of it, so I know how it looked. He even helped me move the lights aswell. It took me some tine to figure out what percentages I needed for the brightness. I then figured it out and now this is how it looks:

  
I also took images on my camera, of when I started sorting out the lighting. So I know how it looked. I used my friend for this. Here's two of them for example:

After the lighting was sorted. I used a small camcorder to see how it looked on camera. I used myself for this by turning the view finding screen. I didn't take any photo's of this but I did take one of the camera infront of the desk:

Collecting interviewees

Also, during that day, I went around a couple of classrooms and asked a few students if they were fans of Stephen King and were interested. I needed three people. One gained interest but the rest of them didn't know Stephen King. I was happy that I gained one interviewee but I needed more. The one interviewee suggested asking someone he know, who is in the college. That person he knew is someone I know aswell. So I then messaged him on Facebook to ask if he was interested. He said he was up for it which is great. So now I have two interviews booked for Wednesday and I'll need one more for Friday. I just need to ask if I can book the studio for then and then I'll ask a friend if they are up for an interview.

Equipment is booked and I'm now prepared for Wednesday.

My little location scout for my short film and the next stage of my documentary

Short Film
During this morning, while taking my dog out for a walk, I took my camera and taken snap shots of the locations I'm planning to use for my film. I thought these locations would work because they are very normal and something you would see everyday.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but my film is going to be about a young boy, on the way home from his friends, being stalked by a hooded figure. A lot of the inspiration came from the film Halloween, with the stalking idea. For this piece, I mostly want to focus more on the cinematography and create suspense without too much dialogue. This will be also for some action shots for my documentary. Here are the images I have taken:

Documentary
The next stage is that during tomorrow (if the weather doesn't worsen) I'm going to go around the college and ask students and lecturers if they are interested in being in my documentary and give them all the details of where I'm planning to interview them, filming extra shots of them reading their books and the dates of the interviews. So hopefully this should work. If it doesn't, I'm planning on going to the uni to the StaffsTv group, which I'm a member of. I will ask some of the students there if they're interested.

Date change for documentary filming and the finishing of my short film for the editing exam

Documentary 
On Friday, I had to take a day off uni because of the snow. So, next week, my plan is to try and ask a few students (Stephen King fans) from classes if they are interested in being part of the documentary. All my other paper work for the production is done. I'll have a check through just in case.

Editing Exam short film
For this small project, I will be making a very short film for my editing exam. It has to be very short so I can edit it in a day. I came with an idea about a young boy, being chased by a stalker. Simple I know, but I really focus more on the cinematography and the suspense.

I have just finished writing the script. It does sound very good but I want to check it with a family member by having a read through tomorrow. Fingers crossed lets see if I can go ahead. I have a thought in mind to film it next weekend but lets see what the feedback is first.