Voice Overs

In week 9 we were going to carry on with editing and getting things done however there was a change of plan and we learnt about voice overs. I found this particularly interesting as I'd never learnt anything about it before. We were then given a task to use the sound rooms to record a clip (we were all given the same script and footage). We then had to edit it together which helped get me more used to Premier Pro as well.

Below I have attached the voice over that we recorded as well as my notes and pictures from the workshop:

VOICE OVER TASK

Sound Studio


















Laura and Melissa doing some editing on Adobe Premier


NOTES

What type of documentary uses voice overs?

Expositry Documentary - 'Voice of God'

Style -
Natural Voice - affected ('telephone voice' - over pronounced) and unaffected delivery (normal speech pattern)
Should match the style and theme of your film
Avoid colloquialisms and slang - You don't know who the audience is
Don't be over dramatic or theatrical.
Emotion, character, tone and pace.
Conversational tone to voice.

Points to remember 
Avoid describing anything that is already evident on screen - It will patronize your audience.
Voice over content must only act as a driving mechanism for your narrative.
Choose a style appropriate to your film
Timing - no more than 140 words per minute.


These notes will be very helpful to remember when possibly doing a voice over in our documentary.

Extra Research in to Health Benefits

The sea has been used for health benefits for so many years and in this article I found, it shows how long people have been using it. Even now when people go to the beach for a weekend break and they come back rejuvenated and relaxed. Below I have copied what I find the most interesting section of the article.

"William Buchan wrote in 1701, in his book 'Domestic Medicine', that he advocated the practice of sea bathing as it was thought to have medicinal benefits. Indeed, this idea soon spread, with the introduction of bathing machine at various resorts around the coast.

 In 1753, Dr Charles Russel published a paper entitled "The Uses of Sea Water", which recommended the use of sea water for healing various diseases. This had the effect of drawing people to the coast in droves and the opening of Marine hospitals in parts of France and England, which were very popular for all kinds of health disorders. In earlier times, both the Greeks and the Romans had recognised the the therapeutic effects of sea water. Until the early 1800's, few people considered bathing in the sea for any other than therapeutic purposes."

http://www.medclick.co.uk/content/article/157/Health-Benefits-of-Sea-Bathing

First Group Meet Up

On Wednesday, we had our official first group meet up at 1pm where we brought all our ideas together and discussed what to do for the next step. The main focus was looking at the health aspect of the sea and seeing who we can interview and what fill shots we may do.

Below I have copied down the notes I made:


FILL SHOTS

• Sunrise/sunset - Timelapse of sun
• Waves and pebbles
• Moon - reflections on the water
• Seagulls flying across the sky
• Tracking shot of around the beach e.g. people walking past, the pier

PEOPLE TO TALK TO

• MA student? - Did a documentary looking at seasides
• Marine museum
• Psychologist - mental benefits of the sea?
• Doctor - water therapy?

Next week we will start by storyboarding and looking in to filming some fill shots. We will also be contacting people about interviewing them at a later stage.

Mindmap

I have attached my mindmap of ideas below to show my thought process before our group meet up. This was so I had something to bring to the table and we could develop our ideas from there.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Editing Workshop

In session 7 we were introduced to Adobe Premier Pro - the editing software we will be using throughout the course. In A Level I used Windows Movie Maker and nothing else so I was excited to learn how to use another editing programme. I learnt some of the basics which were pretty straight forward - such as cutting a clip down and layering it however, unfortunately, I felt really sick during this workshop and had to leave an hour earlier than normal. Due to me feeling ill I have put in some extra time to play around with the software myself and I feel like I am more familiar with it now. Although I still get stuck on some aspects I believe our group will be fairly confident when using it.

I have also been looking at tutorials on YouTube so I can gather some more information. Below I have attached the one I found most useful.

Apps and Clips

Since smartphones - I have noticed more apps showing sounds of waves and the seaside to help people sleep. Personally I actually downloaded one as the sounds of waves, the soft wind and seagulls relaxes me. I have attached a clip I found on YouTube of a tropical seaside however there are so many more with over thousands of views. Showing how much these sounds can effect people in a positive way and help them sleep or relax.

Initial Research

As my initial research for looking in to health benefits of the seaside, I used Google to find out some basic information. I came across this article from the Daily Mail.


Research shows that the sound of waves alters wave patterns in the brain lulling you into a deeply relaxed state. Relaxing in this way can help rejuvenate the mind and body.

Also, floating in water means blood is diverted around from our lower limbs and pumped towards our abdominal region - the part of the body near the heart - because we are no longer standing upright. Fresh blood being pumped around the body brings more oxygen to our brain which makes us more alert and active.

Fresh air for sleep

If you've ever wondered why we always sleep more soundly after spending the day on the beach, it's because of the sea air. Sea air is charged with healthy negative ions that accelerate our ability to absorb oxygen. Negative ions also balance levels of seratonin, a body chemical linked with mood and stress. Which is why after a holiday you feel more alert, relaxed and energised.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-102698/Three-health-benefits-sea.html#ixzz3KTpyTJJU

I found this really interesting and it led me to my next research on Martha Gunn who was a 'dipper' - someone we will be looking in to for the cause of the documentary.

Morgan Spurlock Script

Below I have attached our script from the presentation:

Slide 1

Maddie: We have researched in to Morgan Spurlock for our presentation due to his interesting choices in subjects. Morgan Spurlock is a documentary director as well as producer and screen writer.

Slide 2

Melissa: Morgan Spurlock was born on the 7th November 1970. He graduated with a BFA in film from New York Tisch University School of the Arts in 1993.

Adam: He used to be a playwright before making documentaries. Spurlock struggles with wanting to make movies.

Laura: He spent time as a stand up comedian in California but struggled to pay bills which resulted in him being homeless. Supersize me was made for $65000 all out of his own pocket. Spurlock's relationships with wives and girlfriends have suffered due to his occupation.

Slide 3

Maddie: He is most known for his documentary "Super Size Me" in which he consumed 3 McDonald's meals a day to see what effect it had on his health. he also directed "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden" and "One Direction: This is us".

Melissa: He is also known for other television bits such as 30 days and Inside Man, as well as creating "I bet you will£ for MTV. I Bet You Will began as a popular Internet webcast of five-minute episodes featuring ordinary people doing stunts in exchange for money.

Adam: More recently he directed the documentary "Mansome" which looks at the metro sexual man. Compared to his other participatory films, he is only in this one for a brief amount of time.

Slide 4

Laura: Morgan Spurlock's documentaries are in a participatory style, meaning in interviews him and his interviewees are both of camera or switching between the two whilst conversing.

Maddie: As his films are usually following Spurlock's personal journey, for large portions the camera is soley on him as he describes the problems he's faced so far, his realisations and the possible challenges ahead.

Melisssa: In both "Super size me" and "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" these often occur in his own home or hotel room, allowing the viewer into his personal life and creating more of a connection with the audience. He also does this by putting himself in everyday situations like ordering a McDonalds or going through a supermarket and speaking to the camera, making jokes and little witty comments.

Adam: Spurlock also likes to include informative animations and slideshows, he usually incorporates the animation with him giving statistics or telling little stories relating to the section of the film just shown or what's coming next. Although he usually has a comedy element to his films, he has a serious side to him as well. Morgan has a TV series where he focuses on important popular issues and takes on various jobs, including being a fruit-picker, a teacher, gun salesman, paparazzi and working in a marijuana dispensary, along with many more. This shows again his willingness to gain the best understanding possible by putting himself in the middle of it.

Slide 5

Maddie: Morgan Spurlock uses participatory documentary style. This means Spurlock immerses himself within the documentary topic by becoming the 'test subject'. This is a clip of TED talks featuring Morgan Spurlock.

*showed clip to class*

Melissa: In comparison to Louis Theroux, Morgan Spurlock integrates himself in each and every documentary to not only understand the environment but also the position and point of view of the focus groups of the documentary. He takes more risks and this shows how passionate he is to understanding groups of people for not only himself but also the audience.

Slide 6

Adam: Morgan and Louis are both participatory documentarians, often conducting their interviews in the same way. There's a lot of differences between them though.

Laura: Louis' topics are often informing people of a certain person, community or institutions and the problems within them, allowing people to have their own opinion on something that doesn't necessarily affect us or our society, as his most hard-hitting documentaries take place in America, like spending a few days with the Westborough Baptist Church, a group of radical Christians famous for picketing funerals of dead soldiers returning to USA and being extremely homophobic.

Slide 7

Maddie: At thanksgiving dinner, Spurlock watched news broadcast of two girls wanting to sue McDonald's due to their obesity. This inspired Spurlock to create his most famous, Oscar nominated, documentary called Super size me.

Slide 8

Melissa: Spurlock went 30 days eating nothing but McDonalds for three meals a day. He started the documentary with exceptional health and throughout the documentary we watch his health rapidly decline.

Adam: By putting himself in this situation, the verisimilitude establishes the dangers to the audience without having to cause their own bodies any harm.

Slide 9

Laura: After just a few days into the documentary, the experiment had already taken its toll on Spurlocks body.

Maddie: As a result of this experiment, Spurlock suffered mental and physical health problems. He was told by professionals early on that he needed to stop but persisted on for the purpose of the documentary. He gained 25 pounds, suffered from depression and liver dysfunction.

Slide 10

Melissa: One day before Super size Me was released, McDonalds made a 'Go Active' menu and claimed their food was nutritious.

Adam: 6 weeks after Super size Me was released, the 'Super size' option was taken off of the menu. McDonalds refused to admit to the accusations that their choices to remove the super size option and to introduce salads was anything to do with Spurlock's documentary.

Slide 11

Maddie: Ethics - Participatory directing in documentary can bring up some ethical issues especially when it comes to being biased. Although he looks at sensitive issues such as political issues in 'Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden', he takes it quite light heartedly and adds comedy into his films.

Melissa: Ethics in 'Super size me' - "Super size me" is a reflexive documentary in which Spurlock tried to emphasize the obesity problem America has using facts and an experiment. he uses himself as a human guinea pig and even when he started to get ill as his liver was starting to get damaged, he'd carry on with his experiment.

Adam: In Super size me, Spurlock started off an at an average health level after visiting a GP and nutrition centre. By the end of the documentary he put his health at risk by gaining so much weight and suffering from the issues previously mentioned.

Slide 12

Laura: Michael Moore is his biggest influence. Proved to him you can add a comedy / entertainment element to documentary.

Maddie: Morgan focuses on political, economic and ethical issues. Having documentaries on advertising and product placement, the commercialisation of Christmas and of course fast food.

Adam: He usually sticks to a traditional interview style, with almost every interview I've seen being a mid-shot.

Assignment 1: Presentation

As part of the course, in groups we had to do a 15 minute presentation on a Documentary director. Many came to mind however as a group we settled on Louis Theroux. I watched his documentary 'The City Addicted to Crystal Meth' which I found really interesting. I found a few things online about Louis Theroux and did some research which I would bring along to our first group meet up.

Below I have copied my research from the word document that I was going to bring to the group session:

Introduction
We have researched in to Louis Theroux for our presentation due to his extreme choices in subjects. He is interested in the hard hitting topics and is not afraid to ask sensitive questions. "The subjects I'm interested in are quite extreme. They're so far beyond the pale of normal human interaction that you're never going to get a reality show on that territory."

About Him
Louis Theroux works for the BBC and is most known for his documentaries in television series such as 'Louis Theroux's weird weekends' and 'when Louis met...'
He has also created many other documentaries. The most famous being "The most hated family in America".
Theroux has won 2 Baftas for his television show and won the Royal Television Society Award for his documentary - "A place for Paedophiles".

Ethics
Louis Theroux researches and films his documentaries on very sensitive subjects. For example, his documentary on Paedophiles, plastic surgery and more recently "The city addicted to Crystal Meth" which shows him talking to people who have lost their families and people having to turn to prostitution to fund their addition. We noticed his interview style is more conversational and he actually sometimes uses leading questions rather than open questions. As mentioned, Louis Theroux looks at hard hitting subjects and is not afraid to take chances. Statements and questions such as "You've chosen drugs over your children" are common.

"...Well, I really do like to be open, I don't like that feeling of holding back difficult questions. I feel like the more I can be transparent in the way I approach a story, the more it makes a satisfying programme" - Interview from The Guardian

However, as I have mentioned in a previous post, our group was given an extension due to personal problems. In week 5, the other groups both presented on Louis Theroux. Melissa, Laura, Adam and myself agreed that we didn't want to follow in their lead as we didn't want to seem like we were being lazy and just copied them. We also wanted to be a little different from everyone else.

Instead we chose to look at Morgan Spurlock. I watched his films 'Supersize Me' and 'Mansome' in order to be ready for our first meet up which went smoothly.

Overall we met up 4 times to do the presentation and practice. On the day of the presentation our group met up at 10am to make sure the presentation worked on the mac computers and to practice once more. We were able to get all the facts in and although I believe we did well, it didn't go as smoothly as we'd hoped considering the amount of time we had spent working on it. The negative aspect was that we unfortunately got the mode of documentary wrong, stating that Spurlock had done a participatory and reflexive documentary when doing 'Supersize me' when in fact it was performative. This made me look back to my notes so myself and the group won't that mistake again.

Now we have completed our presentation it will be nice to fully focus on our documentary 'The Sea'. 

THINGS TO REMEMBER

• Shoot with the 'edit' in mind - thinking about it being on the timeline
• Shoot 'cutaway shots' - SHOOT EVERYTHING
• Capture some ambient noise (natural sounds)
• Shoot a variety - YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MUCH FOOTAGE

Pitfalls of Independent Living

Before we were put in to our groups to do our actual documentary, we were told to do a few exercises to learn how to use the cameras. We will be using the Sony Z1E kits which include the camera and microphone as well as the tripods.

My group was myself, Anna, Sadie and Jean

Below I have attached our 2 minute documentary on 'Pitfalls of Independent Living'.

There are many errors that I have been able to learn from however it was good to go out and get some practice interviewing people and using the cameras.

Mindmap

Before being put in to our groups we were asked to come up with some ideas of what we would like to possibly do a documentary on. Below I have attached my mindmap.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Notes from Session 2

In session 2 of Creative Production: Video, we learnt about the modes of documentary. I will use these to help me when making my own one in our group of 4.

Below I have listed my notes I made during the session

• Observational Documentary - Fly on the wall, to observe, covert or overt
• Poetic Documentary - Creative treatment, arts, symbolism and metaphors, if we can't physically capture something we can use symbolism
• Participatory Documentary - when the director comes in front of the camera, can be subjective, manipulating the truth?
• Expository Documentary - 'Voice of God', commentating
• Reflexive Documentary - About the film making process, looking at the genre and bending the rules
• Performative Documentary - It's about something that's happening in our culture and exploring it, human led and socially critical.

What is Documentary?

In week 1 we were asked to read the introduction to Rabiger's "Directing the Documentary". I found this reading really interesting as it gave me an insight to what Documentary really is. Throughout the weeks, I will continue to read this book as it will give me an insight and help me when attending my workshops and practical sessions.

The two quotes I found most helpful were the below as it explained everything clearly and simply. 

"Documentary is that rare medium in which the common person takes on large, important issues and shakes up society. Directing documentaries involves handling a fragment of power, and this brings ethical issues and moral responsibilities" - Michael Rabiger, Fifth Edition, 

and

Documentary as the "creative treatment of actuality" - John Grierson (in Michael Rabiger's 'Directing the Documentary', page 11) 

Introduction

For my module of Creative Production: Video, I am making a blog to demonstrate my research and development as well as the process when making a documentary.

I have been put in to a group of 4 people - myself, Melissa, Laura and Adam. We will be looking at 'The Sea' - mainly the one in Brighton.
Originally we thought about why people live by the sea and thought about interviewing locals however we thought deeper and believed the most interesting topic to look at would be the health benefits the sea has, physically and mentally.

We are also going to be completing a presentation on a documentary director that we will be showing in week 7. The other groups had to do theirs in week 5 but due to some problems our group faced personally, we were able to get an extension however we still had the same amount of time as the other groups.