This week the student continued research for their documentary film project. They analyzed responses to a questionnaire they distributed to gather information about audience interest in documentaries and religion. The student used this information to define their target audience and aims. They also contacted potential interview subjects to schedule filming. The student reviewed existing documentary films and styles to inform technical decisions for their own film, such as camerawork and crew size. Researching film festivals helped the student plan for presenting their completed film. Overall, the research is helping the student tailor their film to better engage their target audience.

1. Reflection
Georgia Brown

2. 21st – 24th January
This week we started the final major project and began with the pre-proposal and the real proposal. When I wrote the pre-
proposal I had a certain idea in mind however I still wasn’t quite sure how I was going to streamline the main idea to make it
interesting to the audience by having a theme throughout. However when it came to making the real proposal I had found the
storyline I wanted to follow with my documentary and so I changed the concept to fit that. The reason why I changed it is because
I felt like it had more depth to it and would be more interesting for the audience. Having to do the proposal and all the points on it
made me have to think very carefully about what I wanted to make and that is why I came up with the idea to find out why people
took this vocation rather than talking about the church and young people because it’s a very big and compelling question for the
audience to understand. Making this decision early on was key to making this a good project as I have to now aim all of my
research and planning towards this idea and if I had have changed my mind mid-way it may have disturbed my project and made
my final product worse. I think writing my proposal went well as it helped me to simplify the project concept which is key to
making something manageable yet enjoyable for the audience. When having to write my rationale it helped me to remember all
of the projects and issues that I’ve faced and how they have really helped me to create better products today. I definitely think
that I now have enough knowledge to proceed with this project as I know what I’m making and I have my specific task list so that I
can keep a a track of all the things that need to be done and when by so that I don’t fall behind. This list will help me to make sure
everything is completed on time and hopefully create the best final product that I can. I do think that I have done enough work as
I have been concise and to the point because, especially in a proposal, if you aren't specific then people wont really understand
the true concept you are trying to create. I need to keep updating my bibliography, especially during research, because I will be
using new sources throughout, however apart from that I feel like my proposal is thorough enough. I definitely need to do some
further research into existing products so that I can take as much knowledge from their technical and creative aspects and take
them into my own work to make mine as good as possible. I also need to to a lot of audience research so I can figure out who I am
directing this at as that will change the way I confront the project. To do this I will do a questionnaire and then look at some
secondary research information about viewers and ratings. Another thing which I completed during the first week was the
director research that we did to look at existing styles and why and how people made things in a certain way. This was different to
existing product research because we weren't looking at products, but their makers to see why as people they did things and what
led them to it etc. This was really interesting especially since I was looking at documentary makers as they weren't specifically
filmmakers but often journalists or in some cases just normal people who had been led into it. Overall I think it showed me how
over time I will have to find a specific way that I will make my films so that I can stand out from existing people in the market place
and make something worth watching.

3. 28th – 31st January
This is our second week on the final major project and we started to do our research which was to take around two weeks. I
started off by doing my questionnaire where I asked people questions about their documentary watching habits and how
interested they were in religion as a topic, I asked 10 questions. I got fairly mixed answers but they did show a pattern that,
recently at least, people re very into documentaries and don’t only watch them when they are on the TV like people used too, but
look for them specifically on Netflix or other streaming platforms. This was very positive for my project since I am doing a
documentary as it showed that in the 16-30 market people would be more likely to watch my product. It also showed that whilst
not everyone was interested, a good amount of people would be interested in watching a documentary about religion and that
will help me to aim it more towards this audience as I know that they will be into it. After receiving answers from my
questionnaire that I had posted on my Facebook and Instagram I analysed and evaluated the responses on my research
PowerPoint so that I could see what each set of questions and responses meant for my project. I then started to research the
audience that I wanted to aim my film at. I started off by looking at the points from the audience specification PowerPoint and
answering those on a slide on the research PowerPoint. This helped me to lay out what exactly the people I wanted to target were
like and hopefully will give me enough information to target something toward them that they would be interested in. I then used
websites like YouGov and Cameo to get detailed secondary research information and statistics on the kind of people that would
watch my documentary and on my target age range in general. Having all of this information and analysing and evaluating it has
helped me to understand how to make it a documentary suited to them rather than to different groups. I also looked at statistics
online for different documentaries that were directed at my target market or that were similar to the story of mine. This has
helped me to see which kind of people watch what shows and when and where they watch it too. Overall having this information
should help me when I plan and edit my documentary as it will help me make creative decisions as to how I will make it and what
I want it to look like so that it appeal to my audience but still feels like its my own. However I don’t want to just make decisions to
impress and aim it at certain people, I want to know that I’m doing it for a creative reason not just for the sake of it. I also
contacted cast/interviewees this week to start planning specific dates and times as to when we will meet. I started contacting
them a month or two before Christmas as I knew that it could take some time for people to get back to me and I didn’t want it to
delay or completely stop production. I then re contacted them to say exactly when it was I was available to film from and which
days so that they could tell me when was best for them. I contacted the teacher and he responded within the day and we
arranged a date. I also contacted the nun/sister again and I am now waiting back to conform the date and time but she is
definitely happy to proceed with the documentary. I have yet to contact the priest as he doesn’t have an email and I will need to
phone him directly however that will happen over the next week or two.

4. 4th - 7th February
This week I started on the second part of the research by doing existing products. I looked at lots of different documentary films
and TV shows from ones like mine to Louis Theroux and Stacey Dooley to real investigative pieces of journalism. I analysed the
way that they were made and the main focus points of them. I also looked into the technical ways that they film each
documentary so that I can decide which way will be the best for me to film mine. Looking at all of these made me understand how
different each of them are edited and filmed so differently from each other depending of what type of documentary they are and
what audience they're aiming towards. I then looked into different technical ways that are generally used and that I will need to
try out myself when filming documentaries. This mainly consisted of how many crew members you have, and which way you film,
with a shoulder mount, a steadicam or a large camera set on a shoulder. Obviously not all of those are suitable for my film
however I need to research and evaluate all the possibilities so that I know what works best so that I can create the most
successful and professional product possible. This also helped me to decide what it is that I will need to experiment with in the
few weeks when we do problem solving as I will need to experiment with a few different kinds of technical pieces of camera work
so that I not only know how to use the equipment successfully, but so that I can decide which best fits my production and which
will fit with the style that I am wanting the present. Doing this existing product research gives me a deeper and more detailed
knowledge of the area in which I am filming which should hopefully make me a better film maker and help my vision to come to
life in the way I want it too. Whilst I did look at some documentaries that were based around religion, the majority of them
weren't. This is because I was looking at both the way in which documentaries confronted religious issues and just how all
documentaries were made and presented and edited in general. Obviously looking at the religious documentaries helped me to
see how they used the music and the surroundings to capture the audiences attention, and how you should approach a topic
which is slightly touchy. However I couldn’t only research these as I am not doing research into my topic at this point, I am doing
research into how to create this film and looking at all of these films and TV shows really helped me to see how I can create mine
in a unique way. I also looked into how I will be presenting my film once it has been finished. This meant looking up lots of short
film and documentary film festivals in the UK and online to see whether I could enter my film into them if it fits the eligibility
criteria. I will also be showing my film at the end of year presentation in front of parents, teachers, students and friends. I also had
to do a little research into how I am going to realise this project, however thankfully since I made something similar to this in my
factual it shouldn’t be to dissimilar and filming it should be okay. I am going to try to keep t s simple as possible so that the
content and the music can help to sway the audience rather than by having loads of specialist equipment or crazy editing as I just
don’t think that they fit the subject matter.

5. 11th – 14th February
We started this week by doing problem solving which include our projects experiments. I started off by doing the
theoretical/creative and technical/practical mind maps to point out the issues that I have within and in the future of my
production so that I can solve them before they disrupt my project. The main issues I had were what I will use for sound recording
and what I would use to film it. I also need to decide whether or not I will have a 3 person or two person crew for filming. The
main issue with my sound is which is the best way to record it and whether or not I should have a back up incase one of them
fails. To decide this I experimented with using the handheld sound recorder, the shotgun microphone, the rode mic and the
camera’s microphone. I experience a few issues the last time I filmed in the factual rotation with sound as my microphone didn’t
work and then another time my camera audio was the only one which recorded and it was a little fuzzy. Therefore I wanted to
make sure that this time I knew exactly how to use all of the equipment and which one was best. However instantly I experienced
issues with the shotgun microphone as it wouldn’t wok. After ruling out that it was me not knowing how to use it, we changed
the batteries and nothing worked still. Then we changed the cable and still it didn’t work and so we decided that the actual
microphone didn’t work anymore. This meant that I had to practice again with another one which did work however even that
one had a faulty cable. I definitely learnt from this that I need to test all of my equipment before I leave the premises because it
could ruin my production and would be very unprofessional. I also tested the rode mic however it was too fuzzy and so was the
camera’s audio. This led me to the conclusion that I should definitely use a shotgun microphone when I film my interviews for this
project and just have my camera audio as backup incase that fails. I also practiced using the boom pole and the table stand for the
shotgun microphone and I have decided to use the table stand and have it just out of shot on a table and it is easier for my sound
assistant to monitor the audio recorder and listen to it without having to hold the boom pole as well. If she has to do all of those
at once there is a higher chance that something would go wrong and I cannot risk loosing my audio because it would be
unprofessional and unacceptable to have to re-shoot it as it is an interview for free not a paid acting job. I also did a few camera
experiments where I experimented with the ISO and aperture and white light. I decided to do this since I may be walking around
with the people I am interviewing and therefore will be walking past windows. However last time I filmed near a window the light
was so bright and over exposed that it ruined the shot and so I wanted to make sure I correctly knew how to change the settings
and adapt to the surrounds as we are filming.

6. 18th – 21st February
This is the last week of problem solving and experiments and I started off the week by doing some camera and equipment
experiments where I tested out the steadicam and the shoulder mount with the standard DSLR camera that we use to film. The
reason I wanted to do this experiment was because I might possibly walk around with the interviewee and talk to them whist we
are walking and if so I will need a camera assistant recording the footage, whilst a sound assistant gets the audio and dialogue.
However to film this they will need some kind of shoulder rig or something to hold and steady the camera so that the shots are
steady and aren't wobbling as that wouldn’t be acceptable. Therefore I decided to experiments with the shoulder mount and the
Steadicam. I myself and the person who will be my camera assistant practiced using both pieces of equipment and we both
strongly felt that the shoulder mount was the best one. This is because it was the most comfortable which is necessary if they are
to be walking around for a long amount of time holding the camera up. We also felt that it was easier and better for this specific
task compared to the steadicam. The steadicam is slightly more technological and that was unnecessary as the shoulder mount
worked perfectly for what we were wanting. I also had to finally ring the priest to see if he would consider letting me interview
him for my documentary. However when I range he didn’t pick up so I left a brief message and my number and he rang me back
within a few hours saying that we was happy and willing to work with me. He the gave me his email address and so I emailed him
some more information and then gave him the dates and times that we could possibly film in and I am now waiting to hear back
from him. However this is very positive as if he had have said no I would have had to find another priest and it may have halted
production or in the worst case I would have had to carry on without a priest. On Wednesday morning we did audits for cameras,
audio and software to make sure that we all new at least the basics of how to use the equipment so that if we did encounter any
problems whilst we were out filming that we knew how to fix it ourselves because if we didn’t then it could ruin that day of
shooting and set back the whole project. We answered the questions on the audit and then practiced doing things that we may
not have been completely 100% about for example changing aperture or ISO or shutter speed. Now I am very confident that I not
only know how to use the equipment, but I know how to use it to my advantage when filming so that I can make the best possible
product I can. I then finished off experiments by writing it all up on the problem solving PowerPoint. I analysed and evaluated all
of the experiments that I did to see how they positively or negatively impacted my production and to see how I can learn from
them in the future. After doing these two weeks of problem solving I defiantly feel that I know what I am doing when it comes to
equipment and I feel very confident that I can film some good quality videos and audio. I am also very happy that I have all three
of my interviewees on board for filming as it took a long time with my last production and it nearly ruined the whole factual
production.

7. 4th – 7th March
This week was the first week of planning and pre-production. I started off the week by making sure that all of the work I had done
was uploaded onto Slideshare and then shared on my Wix website. This meant that I could get some feedback from my tutor on
how to improve my work and additionally he may be able to spot anything that I have missed out on. I also emailed all three of
the interviewees a few times in-between the 21st of February and the 7Th March (since one of those weeks was half term). The
teacher finally got back to me after I asked if we could push back our filming date and he was more than happy to oblige and so
we are filming on Thursday the 28th of March at 14:45 at the school, instead of this week. The Sister also emailed me back
confirming our meeting on Monday the 11th of March at 09:45 at the Convent which was great as we had suggested a time yet
she hadn't confirmed it and I was concerned that she may not be available as it could disrupt or ruin my production. I also spoke
to the priest after a few weeks of silence since his wife had died. I wasn’t sure whether or not he was still willing to partake in my
documentary but he seems keen and has given me a date which fits in well which is Monday the 18th at 11:30. We will be filming
it at his home since he no longer belongs to a parish anymore. He has taken a slightly different route into being a catholic priest
since he was married however I’m not sure if or how much I should broach that since it it is her funeral only next week and I need
to be considerate of his feelings. I then spent the week planning for all of these production dates. I started out by collecting al of
my communications with these three people to show what and when everything has been said. I then booked out the designated
kits for all the occasions so that the right kit will be available for me to take out when I need it. It is important to book it out as
early as possible as as the weeks go on more and more people will be filming and there will be a shortage of equipment available.
I then did a contingency plan so that if anything goes wrong I have something in place to fix it so that my production doesn’t stop
or get ruined. I also made a table of the issues and solutions of health and safety so that everyone partaking in the production will
be safe not only to protect the,, but to protect myself from being sued if someone gets injured. To add to this I did a risk
assessment however there are minimal risks involved and they are easily avoided or solved. I then wrote out the schedule on a
table so I could see what was happening when and where and then made call sheets so that everyone who needs to know where
and when to be somewhere will know so that my production is successful. I also wrote out any necessary information about the
cast and crew so that if anybody needed to contact them they would know how. Finally I did a digital storyboard of how I would
like my documentary to look when I edit it, this will help me to know what shots I need to take and what material and
photographs I need to find so that when I edit I can make a professional and aesthetically pleasing product.

8. 11th – 14th March
This week I had arranged to film with the nun at 09:45 on Monday morning t the Bar Convent. I collected my kit and tested it all
out to make sure that it all worked as I have previously gotten to the interview location and then found out that some of the kit
didn’t work. This then led to the footage and audio not being as high quality as I needed or wanted it to be. However all of my kit
worked well so I went to meet my other crew member so that we could leave at around 09:15 and she was delayed in heavy
traffic and so I had to go and film on my own. I could have possibly taken another student with me however I was in a rush
because I didn’t want to be late and I also felt that it would be unprofessional of me t turn up with someone who didn’t really
know what was going to happen and who hadn't been briefed on the nuns or the situation. Because of this I went to film on my
own which was slightly difficult however in the end went okay. I had a lot to carry and then I had to set up all of the kit alone. I
then set up the sound and microphone but I couldn’t keep the headphones on because then I wouldn’t be able to hear the nun
properly and it would be unprofessional because I wouldn’t have been listening to her. I additionally had to watch the camera and
also interact with her and so I am lucky it all went well. The interview was good she was interesting and gave long detailed
answers. The only issue was that we were in a room at the front of the building, ‘The Great Parlor’, however that meant it was by
the road and then windows are very thin and so even throughout used a directional microphone, you can still hear cars and police
sirens in the background through some of it. This however wasn’t really under my control as they assigned us a room and they
were doing me a favour letting me interview them so I had no right to request a certain room. The only thing which I could have
done would have been to use a lapel mic but we didn’t have one available and so it wasn’t an option. Once I got back into college
I looked over the footage and the audio to make sure that it was good quality, in focus and that it had recorded everything. It is a
good job that I recorded the sound separately because there is a constant buzz over the audio taken from the camera and that is
not usable, even as a back up. I then synched the audio and the visuals together on premier which worked well and it is ready to
be edited when necessary. I then scoured the interne looking for photos and/or videos of sister Agatha when she was young and
throughout her life as a nun. I managed to find around 6 on Google on articles on the Daily Mail and such like. I also emailed her
to asked her whether or not she has any more that she could send over to me. However she said that they are all in the book that
she has written ‘A Nun’s Story’ and that I should buy it if I want to get good quality photos. While a great sales technique, it wasn’t
quite what I wanted but I will have to go out soon and buy the book and scan the photos into the computer. I then looked for
videos of people doing the kind of things she talked about in her interview for insert shots or sort of explanations to use in my
documentary however it is very hard to find anything like that. The issue is no matter how rich people were not may had cameras
never mind video recorders and so there isn't really any footage of the sort I am looking for that is real and not fiction made for
TV. I will just have to use generic videos or nuns or any that I find in the future that fit with the topic in hand and the photographs
that I have and that I will get from the book which is written by the Sister herself.

9. 18th – 21st March
I did my second interview this week and I filmed with a priest called Father Ross Thompson at his home in York. When I arrived it
was clear that he had forgotten that I was coming to interview him although he said it was his fault for not checking his diary
enough and he welcomed us in. I was wary or interviewing him and what questions I should ask him as his wife had died three
weeks prior to interviewing and the funeral was only the week before. However despite that he seemed fine, very nice and willing
to talk. For this interview, unlike the one with Sister Agatha, I used two cameras and two tripod so that I could capture two
different angles. I though that this would diversify my documentary and make it more professional. I only experienced two minor
issues when filming. Firstly was that one of the batteries for some reason, even though we had checked them all and they were
full, died around two thirds of the way through the interview and so I had to stop and change it once I had noticed. This meant
that on one of my cameras there is a few minutes of footage missing. I don’t know why this happened as they were all full but
either way to make sure it never happens again I will be sure that every battery has full charge and that I have a spare in my bag
with me. Additionally, another issue was that the other camera had some footage on it already like the establishing shots and
some photographs from outside and this meant that after about three quarters of the way through filming the SD card was full as
I was only given an 8GB one. Where as the other camera had a 16GB one. Next time I will make sure I use the highest possible SD
card I can so that I don’t miss out on any footage from any angles. However a positive is that since I had two cameras, the footage
lost from each one is covered by the other one. Once we had finished filming and I was back at college, I emailed father
Thompson to thank him for letting me interview him and to ask whether he had any photographs from throughout his life that I
could possibly have a copy of to use as insert shots and still images in my documentary, however he said that he didn’t. I feel like
he obviously does however he is very busy at the moment sorting his wife’s things out and so I will have to live without them in
my production. Filming this was much better than when I filmed with the Sister and I had a sound assistant like I was supposed
too which is great as she sat there with the headphones on listening to the audio and checking the cameras. The clothing that she
wore wasn’t exactly appropriate, I would have liked her to wear something a little more conservative just so we were respectful of
the priest however since she was doing me a favour I couldn’t really ask that of her. However in the future I will as I want to make
good impressions on the people I work with and for so that I create good contacts. I then uploaded all of the footage and audio
recording onto my Mac and then onto one drive so that it it is safe and secure and if something does happen to the Mac then I
haven't lost all of my footage.

10. 25th – 28th March
This week I filmed my last interview which was with the teacher Mr. Anthony Devanney at All Saints R.C. school. I went with
Sophie Grantham who is my sound assistant and we got there at 2:40, ready to film at 2:45. Mr. Devanney was very kind, funny
and welcoming and he found a quiet room for us to film in. Again this week I decided to take two cameras and two tripods so that
I could have two different angles which worked really well. It will help to diversify the shots in my film making it more interesting
to watch and more professional. Actually interviewing him was great he was very open and honest when answering questions and
came across as very charismatic with his replies. We filmed for about 40 minutes which was perfect as we ran out of space just as
the bell went for end of school and so we finished filming then. I did come across a few issues. The main issue was the fact that
the camera shuts off and stopped recording after about 20 minutes which meant I had to pause the interview and then restart the
camera. Apparently this is built into the DSLR camera’s settings and there is nothing you can do other than not using one which
isn't an option I had. This meant there is a pause in my interview and I may have lots a few lines of him speaking in between it
stopping and my and Sophie realising. I now know that in the future if I record anymore interviews I know that if possible I need to
get the use of a higher quality long form video camera/recorder so that my interviews don’t get broken up. If possible I would love
to have a proper, big video camera that sits on your shoulder and you walk around with however at this stage it isn’t possible to
get equipment like that. Another issue was the sound recording. I was given a new directional shotgun microphone which was
brand new. However once we started recording the sound wasn’t coming through into the headphones and so the sound assistant
thought it wasn’t recording it anymore. We checked and then she said it sounded normal again but soon after it faded away. In an
effect to make sure we got the sound recorded well we stopped using the microphone incase it wasn’t recording and just used the
handheld microphone instead, and the quality and volume was very good and it sounds great. I did experience a little personnel
issue when filming. When this happened with the sound the assistant, Sophie, just interrupted as soon as she noticed the
difference. Now whilst tis was diligent and there is not exact way to go abut this, it was rude and embarrassing for me as my
interviewee was talking and was interrupted by Sophie. Additionally when I was interviewing I was obviously having a
conversation and asking him questions and sometimes she would but in and speak too, which again was not necessary and
unprofessional. I didn’t have a chance to tell her not to do this as there wasn’t a time when we were alone and so I had to just
leave it. To make sure nothing like this happens again I was directly brief my sound assistant on what to and not to do whilst we
are with an interviewee and how to act professional when we are filming.

11. 1st – 4th April
This was first week of post production since I had finished filming with all of my interviewees. I started off by sorting though all of
the footage and audio clips for each of the interviews and linking them together with the audio. The main issue I encountered
even just while synching the audio for the nun’s interview was that there was a lot of background noise. When I went to film I had
been let down by my sound assistant and so I was filming on my own which meant that I couldn’t wear the headphones whilst
filming. This meant that I didn’t know that there was so much background noise. The reason there is so much noise is because
there was only one room available for us to film in and it happened to be a room with very old thin windows next to a busy road
with a lot of cars and busses stopping and starting outside. It doesn’t overpower her voice because the microphone is directional
however it is very loud and I will have to try to edit it out when I start pulling the film together. Next time if I were to film this
again I would probably go to the location to meet them and scout for the location where we would film so they could arrange for
a good room to be free. Or to specifically ask for a room which suited the needs of the film crew. I then started to arrange the
priest footage and audio which showed me that I had another problem. Since we were using DSLR cameras to film they shut
themselves off after around 10-15 minutes and stop recording. I at first didn’t realise this as we had never been told and my
interviews were to last around 30minutes each. If I had known I could have stopped it myself after 10 minutes and just clicked
play again and it would have meant I obtained all of the visuals that I needed. However instead it stopped recording without my
knowledge and I lost around 5 minutes of footage which were actually the most important part. When I am at university or in the
future when I make projects I will make sure I hire and use equipment that is designed for filming not photography like the
colleges DSLR cameras. I then arranged the teachers interview which was okay. Again the camera did stop part of the way through
but thankfully what we were talking about wasn’t too important and I wasn’t going to be using it in my film anyway. One major
issue which is something that I have mentioned before is that Sophie my sound assistant kept interrupting quite rudely if the
sound didn’t seem right. Of course it is necessary for her to do so however it was unprofessional and in the audio you can hear it
fine so there wasn’t an issue but you can just here the interrupted interview of the teacher which I couldn’t use as his point
therefore didn’t make sense anymore. In the future I will have spoken to the sound assistants on the right way to handle
themselves whilst filming so as not to ruin the project or make us look unprofessional like we did when filming with the teacher. I
then started to export separate interviews as separate pieces so that I could put them on YouTube as full length almost 30 minute
interviews as I felt that they would be interesting for people to watch if they wanted to know more about the nun I interviewed.

12. 8th – 11th April
This was the second week of editing and I started off editing the nun’s interview. I started off by separating the bits of the interview
I thought I wanted to use in my film and then once I had them to a side I ordered them into a storyline that was interesting for the
audience and that told her story well. I then started using photographs that I found online on articles and from her book for the
insert shots in the documentary. At first I had emailed sister Agatha whom I did the interview with to see if she could possibly send
me over any photos that she had of herself as a child or throughout her life so that I could put them in my films. However she told
me that she didn’t have access to them and that I would have to get them from her book. Once I had put together a relatively good
sequence on PremierPro I started to look at the audio which wasn’t great. One of the tutors who knows quite a lot about music and
audio helped me to put a high and low pass filter over the top of the audio tracks as to try and block out any sound that was
created by the cars and vehicles driving by. This did work very well at getting rid of the excess noise however it did make the
interviewee sound slightly like she was in a submarine. We had to tweak the levels and sounds a little until it was the best that it
could potentially be. This isn’t something I thought would happen as I practiced using the microphone and tested it out that day to
check it worked and I had everything with me that I needed so I was expecting it to go well. Next time I do an interview I want to
clip a lapel mic onto whoever it is I am interviewing so that I have close recording of the audio as the sound is so important as I
cannot re interview someone. Another step I would take to make sure that this doesn’t ever happen again would be to go to the
location before hand and secure a room that is both esthetically pleasing for my film and quiet, however since I didn’t have the time
I wasn’t able too and it gave me an issue, yet I think I mainly overcame it. However despite that, the nun interview was very
interesting and seemed like it was going to turn out well. At this point I have around 5 minutes 30 seconds which is what I was
aiming for. I also then had to find some music to fit over the top of the interviews as some of this would envelope and drown out
the submarine and car noise that was created from the high pass filter. I found a lovely track that was loyalty free and that fit well
with the female, and religious aspects to this part of the documentary. In retrospect I wish I had arranged privately to have
someone create music for my film rather than to use royalty free music however people take too long to get back to you I didn’t
have enough time or money to get professional people to record track. Other than that the film seems to be coming along well and
this part, along with the graphics that I made looks professional and what she says is intriguing and interesting.

13. 29th April – 2nd May
This week I started to edit the teacher’s interview. After importing the audio and video clips and syncing them up I started to go
though the interview pulling parts that I thought seemed to work well. After getting a few minutes worth of clips together I began
putting them in an order that I thought would be suitable. I then put them together and had length of around two minutes thirty
seconds. I was worried at this point because the nun’s interview was at 5 and a half minutes and I wanted them all to be similar
length. However I felt like if I made this 5 minutes 30 then I would be putting in content for the sake of it and I wanted it to be quality
over quantity and so I decided that instead I should shorten the nun’s interview down from 5 and a half to three and a half because I
felt I couldn’t go any shorter than that without cutting very important parts of my interview out. I could create a plan for the next
time I create piece like this however in all honesty I wanted the content of these documentaries to be guided by what was said by
the interviewees not by what I wanted them to say and so I feel that in reality it would be very hard to plan against this. I then had
too source music for the piece and I did find one which I feel is very suitable. I decided to do the same as what I had done in the
nun’s interview and that was to have music running throughout the documentary. I decided to do this as it is done in a lot of
professional productions and it creates more tension and feeling for the viewer. I emailed the teacher multiple times to try and get
some images and photographs of him from his childhood and throughout university and his whole life. I wanted to use these in the
documentary as cut away so that I wasn’t just using the interview constantly. However he didn’t respond and there were no
photographs of him on google and so I had to come up with a different plan. I decide to use religious paintings of parables that
related to what he’s talking about. I think that this works really well and I am very happy that I decided to use them. I think that it
backs up his knowledge when he is talking about his beliefs and about religion and it also looks very aesthetically pleasing. I didn’t
really come across any issues when editing the interview and I think that my end piece is exactly what I was wanting as it ends with
him saying something very powerful and interesting. One issue that my tutor did disagree with me on was the placement of the
teacher next to the paper boxes. In his opinion they were unattractive and the teacher could have been placed better however in
mine, and a different teachers, opinion I think that it sets the scene as it looks like a typical school as that is what you would see and I
wanted the surroundings of each interview to be obvious in where they were or what they were about in someway.

14. 6th – 9th May
This week I began editing the last interview which was the priest’s one. As usual I started off by listening to the
interview over and over and pulling out parts which I felt were the most interesting and that I could weave
together to create a story. At first I was worried that it was not going to be any good because he wasn’t as
interesting as the other two interviewees had been, in my opinion. This was mainly down to the fact that for
the whole duration of him talking about women priests, the most controversial and interesting part, the visuals
had gone. I previously talked about this in an earlier reflection and tis issue meant that I was faced with having
a great part of audio with no video to o over it. To get around this I decided to use images from google and
online to help explain and show the viewers what he was taking about. I actually think that in the end it came
out really well and really intriguing as you can clearly see how what he is talking about is happening; it brings it
to life. Another issue that I faced when editing this was that just like with Mr. Devanney, I couldn’t get any
images of Father Thompson as a child or growing up though his life, and there were none on google. This was
mainly down to the fact that his wife had died about 3 weeks prior to me filming with him and so his life was
little bit up in the air and I didn’t feel therefore, like I could push him to et anything and so I accepted that I
would have to just use found footage and archival images from google. If I could go back I would take more
crew with me and film more insert shots and cut aways. This would mean that it is less necessary to use images
I found on google as I could have shown photographs or crosses or images from around the home that linked to
what he was talking about. The reason I didn’t do this was partly because I was nervous and was genuinely
down to lack of courage to ask for him to show me around. However it was also down to the fact that I didn’t
have anyone but Sophie Grantham helping me and she was doing audio and I also had to set up all of the kit
alone. Next time I will definitely take more crew with me, enough to look after the audio and camera and light
so that I can entertain and talk with the interviewee. This will leave me more time to collect more footage and
to make my documentary or production more professional and it will give me more footage to use in my films.

15. 13th – 16th May
This is the final week of production before we needed to finish up and start our evaluation and then get onto
presenting our work. I started off by fining up every one of my documentary shorts. I then had to create credit
and title sequences for them all which I used the same font I used on the graphics. I used this because it
looked old fashioned and handwritten and they are talking about the catholic church and the bible and so I
thought it seem relevant and fitting. I then exported each one on it’s own and uploaded it to YouTube and to
my website on Wix. I then had to copy and past every attribute and video, audio file and photograph onto
another sequence so that I could create the full 10 minute length version which contained all three
interviews. Did this because they are a part of trio but I thought it would be easier if they were in one file for
view to watch and the by uploading this to YouTube and Wix I have given the viewer the opportunity to view
them singularly or as a triplet in one video. When adding it together I realised that instead of having separate
credits I should have one big credits at the end and so I rearranged them around so that it looked appropriate
and the timing was right. As you can see on the photograph above there were lots of audio and video and
photographs files on the final version and this came to 9 minutes 26 seconds which is great as I was aiming for
around a 10 minute documentary. I then exported this too and uploaded it onto my various platforms. I also
entered this into the ‘Into Film’ film festival for students aged 14-19. I thought that this was a good way to get
my film out there and see if it can be shown to more people than the ones which see my YouTube since that
isn’t man. The whole point of making content is for people to see and so I hope that it gets through. I will now
be starting my evaluation, this will help me to see what I have done and how it has effected my work and I will
then realise how I can improve from that in the future when I’m at university or when working professionally.