(MP3002) individual Project Log 20 30/12/08

I have an update on the location shoot at Stanton Drew. After the events of the last few weeks and some careful consideration I have decided upon a two camera shoot for stanton drew. There are three stone circles at the site and I have decided to use the smallest of these, the south west circle for the ceremony. This will give me more control and enable me to capture more of the action. As you can see from the map if you zoom in a little it is enclosed by hedgerow, which will give us more privacy.


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I have enlisted the help of freelance camera man Exley Que. He has agreed to operate the second camera and function as a consultant for the shoot. He has his many years experience and owns his own equipment, A Z1 and a Manfrotto tripod. I had hoped to get Sacha Aitkinson, a professional sound man involved in the project but unfortunately he's out of the country at the moment. I need to research the sound set up as I'm still unsure which route to go down with it. I need to get it right.



Brian will choreograph the event, which will feature him, his apprentice Nick, his wife Mary and possible two or three more. That is still undecided but there is a possibility that Nick's wife Linda may be in the ceremony. Brian and his friends tell me Stanton Drew has dark energy which needs to be cleared before they can have ceremony at the circle. I'm not sure what dark energy is but its a question I will pose to them when we reach the location. As far as the sound setup goes there are a few questions i need answers for. How many people will take part? Who speaks? Do they chant/sing? Do they dance? How will they be positioned in relation to each other? I spoke with someone who suggested a possible set up of a lapel mic for brian and a boom for the other participants but i will need to investigate it further.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 19 29/12/08

I spent some time going through the rushes and reflecting on the project so far. I have been shooting for a month now and I'm still not getting it right! I may be being a little hard on myself and it feels like really hard work but i guess thats because it is. I have had lots of challenges so far, from my own indecision on the form the film should take to locations falling through, illness and technical problems with both equipment and technique. I guess a steep learning curve is to be expected as I have had no training of such in how to make a documentary. I have learnt things that sound like common sense when you think about it but when your shooting you don't realize, for example making sure I'm stood next to the camera man when I ask a question so that the contributor looks toward the camera when he replies and testing all the equipment before I leave for the shoot. These things although small or mundane can make all the difference. Had I have done these things yesterday maybe more of the footage would be usable! In an effort to eradicate these kind of mistakes i decided that i needed to get to know the equipment I'm using better. I downloaded manuals for the Z1 and the Sennheiser Evolution Wireless Mic, which had caused me problems yesterday. I quickly discovered the problem with the lapel mic, the frequency or the transmitter was different to that on the receiver! I'm not sure how that happened as Danny set it up for me when I hired it, perhaps it just drifted out over time. Anyhow I calibrated the devices to the same frequency and tested them. They work fine now. As for the boom mic I have decided only to use this in situations where my subjects will be some distance from the camera because I have found it inhibits spontaneity as far as filming is concerned. Also using a shotgun mic attached to the Z1 spatially, gives the audio a natural sound. It seems that not only have we become more comfortable with Brian and his friends but they have also become more comfortable with us. I have noticed Brian becoming more open as the weeks pass. He shows off in front of his friends at times and when i ask him certain questions he can look quite vulnerable and sad.My feeling is without the boom mic, which is cumbersome and quite intrusive that he will open up more and more as time goes on. the rushes from yesterday arent as bad as i first thought. There is some footage that is unusable but a lot can actually be saved with some clever manipulation of audio and a three way colour corrector.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 18 29/12/08 - Shoot Journal

I thought I was well organized for todays shoot. I had budgets, shot plans and even maps of locations!


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But today has just been one thing after another!! I arrived late for the shoot due to circumstances beyond my control. When I got there I realized I'd left the bracket for the boom mic at home. We improvised with electric tape which, as i found out later was a mistake! Most of the sound from the boom wasn't usable due to sound conduction from the pole. In hindsight I ought to have attached it to the camera instead. To make matters worse there was intermittent crackle on the clip mic that I didn't know how to sort out. I changed batteries and moved its position but to no avail. I came to the conclusion that it must be a frequency band issue but i didn't know what to do to remedy that.



Those were the issues with the sound, now on to the video! Paul had been complaining of bad light all day and that he was having to use a lot of gain. In the pub at the end of the day I was looking back through the footage when I discovered that the LCD backlight was set to low thus causing the viewfinder to appear dark. Its so disappointing. We worked so hard all day in the freezing cold and maybe only a few minutes of what we shot is usable, maybe not even that! This is a set back I certainly can't afford both in a financial sense and from a time scale point of view. Below is the budget for todays shoot.



On the positive side though we got to meet Brian's apprentice Nick who has agreed to contribute along with Mary Brian's wife to the film. I have signed contributer forms from them. Also we have learnt more about the camera including how to assign the white balance gain to one of the shortcuts making it easy to adjust white balance on the fly. Paul and I will return to glastonbury on wednesday to film Brian doing some normal stuff like shopping and visiting friends. I think this may help show the juxtaposition of his two personas. Brain Conquer, Arch Druid and Del-Boy, Husband and Local Chappie!

(MP3002) individal project - sunset/sunrise calculator

Iv'e found a really handy website where you can caluclate the amount of sunlight at any given location. Handy if like me your planning to shoot on location. Click here to try it out
If like me though you are lucky enough to be the owner of an iphone then there are several solar calculators available. I have tested two of these apps, sunrise and darkness. Both work well and can be obtained from the app store via your iPhone.

(MP3002) Individual Project - Photo Bucket

Having read Mike J's post on the merits of photo bucket I've been inspired to try my hand at creating some slide shows from still images taken on the shoot for beyond the weird. Have a look.

you can create your own slide shows here

(MP3002) individual Project Log 18 23/12/08 - Shoot Journal

Filming went well today! I think both myself and Paul are learning very quickly. Last weeks shoot provided us with many lessons to learn and many questions to ask! This week we were much better organized and I felt we communicated really well. We have began to get over our initial trepidation around working with Brian, he was more than happy to pause whilst we framed a shot or changed angles - and boy can he talk! I had with me all the notes from the previous weeks filming and was able to pick up things that I'd either missed or needed to shoot again like wild track and noddy shots. Also in the notebook were plans for this weeks shoot, which i'd planned for winter solstice. Unfortunately due to illness the schedule has been pushed back by three weeks and the solstice ritual will be mocked up and not on the 21st as i'd hoped previously. This week we went to Compton Dundon on an expedition to collect material to make esoteric tools for the solstice ritual.


This week we made a change to the set up. Instead of using the boom mic we went for a clip mic on Brian and a shotgun mic on the front of the Z1. This allowed me to be in the film and direct Paul as to what shots and angles i required. It worked really well especially in the car where the engine noise was so loud.


Even though the shot gun mic volume had peaked the clip mic due to its proximity to brian, captured sound perfectly. We wrapped up the shoot with a drink in the local pub, a beautiful 17th century inn.


Whilst we were there I asked Paul to take some exterior shots because we could cut them together with the skittles scene i'd shot the week before. This way of working i think, is the advantage of a film maker who is editing as well as filming as he can shoot to edit. I recently had a 121 with Nic Jeune, who suggested I could include myself in the documentary as an interviewer and participant. I have been wrestling with this idea for a couple of weeks now as part of me can see the benefit of it. Having me in the documentary would certainly fill up time. But then, i'm not making this documentary to fill up time. I'm making this film to tell a story and after watching the rushes back with my brother who came home over xmas i have decided to keep my onscreen involvement down to a minimum. Most of my presents in the film will come from off screen. I will ask questions off camera. I wont be onscreen as an interviewer. This decision will mean I need to go back and re-shoot some stuff and spend much more time filming Brian. It will also free me up to operate the boom mic. I need to get under his skin and into his life! I am planning to spend the first two weeks of January following him around. I have also been planning the mock ceremony of which brian has enlisted the help of his druidic apprentice. Add him and Brian's wife Mary to the project and I now have a possible two more characters! That reminds me, I must print out two more contributer forms for them... I will post plans for the solstice ceremony as they develop.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 18 21/12/08 - Shoot Journal

After being ill and receiving word that Brian would be out of town for a few days on "druid business" I felt pretty frustrated. I decided to view some of the rushes from last weeks shoot. I took notes and as I watched it became obvious to me that I would need to get more cutaways and some wild track for the sound. So with that in mind i'm off to stanton drew to do some filming and I feel slightly better knowing that i'm being pro-active, not wasting time!

(MP3001) enterprise project log 21/12/08 - midsummer nights dream

I Have been trying to get hold of Phil Purves for the last week to discuss the project but I couldn't get contact details for him.
In frustration I logged on to the bathspa portal to see if I could get in touch with him and found that I had several emails from him regarding the project. I'd set up webmail so that it forwarded all mail to my apple mail but it appears that this hasn't been working. I sent Phil this email earlier today to try and arrange a meeting.

Dear Phil

I apologize for the delay in making contact with you.I have taken a lead role on the EGG project and I have some rough edits for you to view. I understand that you may be available on tuesdays or thursdays and I was hoping to meet with Kate and yourself on one of these days to discuss the project. I would like to propose a meeting on thursday 8th Jan at 1pm. Please could you let me know if this date is not appropriate and we can re-arrange. Kirsty and I look forward to meeting with you. I hope you have a merry Xmas and a happy new year.

Yours sincerely,

Mike Huck

I will wait for his reply before continuing with the project. It just occured to me that I could upload rough edits to youtube for Phil Purves and Kate Cross to view but I will need to check it out with Nic first.

(MP3004) creative Writing Log 17/12/08

I was pretty fed up about having to cancel the shoot today but i'm determined to do something useful whilst i'm off sick so I got on the phone and spoke to the members of my group. As a group we decided to each chose a script that we like then decide on one from those. Kirsty has chosen Kat Davis's Script and I know Lloyd has a script he'd like to produce. Im not sure about Adam. I've been going through the scripts that I received and have chosen one which I like. Its by Mark Errett and its called 'Suicidal Tendencies'. When Chris finds a book about the best places to commit suicide in his friends car, his life changes forever. This is a story of angst, comedy, obsession and suicide. From a writers point of view this script has all the ingredients of a great story. It has conflict, drama, resolution and character arcs. From a Production point of view this script is challenging. It has many locations including sea side resorts, airports, taxis and san Francisco! I believe this script is doable but would stretch our talents as producers. I think it will make a great radio play.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 17 017/11/08 - Shoot Journal

Ive come down with Gastric Flu and had to cancel todays shoot. Its so frustrating but I guess it cant be helped.

(MP3004) Creative Writing Log 16/12/08

Time is starting to tick by and I was starting to worry that no one was going to send in their scripts to us. After receiving this email from Steve May I thought that an update on the Facebook group may speed things up

Kirsty, Adam, Mike and Lloyd
I have now made contact with Paul Dodgson, radio drama mentor, and he is happy to work with you at the beginning of January. I have yet to fix exact dates and times, but I will try for 6th January 10-1 for first session, then a later session for editing. I'll reserve 8th 9th and 15th Jan as fall back dates for recording.
Please let me know if you have difficulties with this.
Steve

I sent out an email to members of the group asking them to email their scripts to us by the 8th of january and so far three people have sent me a script today, thats three more than before!

(MP3002) Individual Project Log 15 07/11/08 - Shoot Journal

On thursday afternoon after rushing around picking up the extra kit we needed Paul and I set out to Brian's house, which was the location for the days shoot. We arrived a little after two and before we got out of the car we went through the shot plans in my journal and primed the equipment ready to record as soon as we left the vehicle. Quite early on in the shoot I realized how difficult it was for the two of us to operate the boom, camera and present at the same time. It would have been impossible for me alone to operate all the equipment and I think on the next shoot day we wont use the boom mike. We will just use the shot gun mic and the lapel mike. I felt quite stressed out about the shoot and didn't give Paul the opportunity to set up properly - i felt I may miss some nugget of entertainment if we stopped rolling! I was also worried that Brian may get bored or annoyed but it seemed that he was more than happy to talk! This led to problems firstly because it led to Paul feeling as though he wasn't doing good work and secondly it was leaving him feeling as stressed as me. As a result we came away with footage some of which was out of focus, some under exposed and some where the white balance hadn't been set correctly. That being said there was some good footage and we will get the opportunity to re shoot what we missed. Its been a learning experience. Its important we take the time to set up properly otherwise the footage may be unusable, its also important that I take my time and get everything i need regardless of pressure from contributers because I may not get a second chance to shoot in certain locations.

(MP3002) individual project Video Diary Log 07/12/08

here is a video of me updating the group on what I plan to do for my individual project.

(MP3001) enterprise project - group meeting 07/12/08

what a mad morning! I woke up late and couldn't find my keys...I ended up being late for my presentation! Luckily enough they hadn't started when I arrived so I quickly set up the Z7 to record our presentations. We took it in turns to explain our projects to the group after which we then discussed the group projects. I gave an update on progress for the egg project. I have yet to arrange a meeting with Phil Pervis and need to liaise with Kirsty to find out when she is available to accompany me on the appointment. I also spoke to the group about the editing required for the project, of which there is still much left to do. I need to go through it and divide it up amongst the group members who wish to be involved. Kat Davis also updated us on the video project for the science department and gave us a rough outline for a schedule. She's asked me to act as a second camera man, and - there's money involved too! so I will get paid for filming! Happy days, money in the bank and something for the C.V!!

(MP3002) individual Project Log 14 04/11/08

Arggh nightmare! I spent last night cleaning the Z1 and priming DV tapes, then this morning I get a text from brian saying that he was i'll with a chest infection and wouldn't be able to film today. Its really frustrating! I will call him monday hopfully he'll be better by then and we can carry on filming.

(MP3004) Creative Writing Log 03/12/08

even though I'm not writing a script i thought it would still be useful to have a tutorial with Rachel Bentham. My concern at the moment is how and when us techies will produce this radio play. We have decided to choose the best of the bunch, the most interesting to produce and turn into a play. The difficulty is being able to communicate our plans as there are no more lessons until the new year. I came up with the idea of starting a face-book group. You can access it here.

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - Group meeting 01/12/08

There seems to be a flu epidemic about at the moment - there were only five of us in today! everyone else was off sick. We sat down to coffee and cake and began to discuss the weekly agenda.
Projects Group and Individual partic Egg
Web and Blogs
D&AD awards
Filming dates
AOB
We talked about the egg project, Kat, Jonna and Dan offered to help edit and Nic gave me the contact details to arrange a meeting with Phil Pervis from Bath Theatre. We went on to discuss other group and individual projects before moving on to a final cut workshop with Ollie. And excitingly the holding page for our website is online, check it out here