Magazine Article

Anscillary Pieces

Editing

Third day of filming

From the previous times we have filmed, we have struggled to film a scene from different angles because it is very hard to repeat the same act each time, and when tried, it didn't seem to flow very well. To 

Criminal face generator

In a lot of the Crimewatch episodes I have seen, I have noticed they include a computer generated image of the offender in order to help the public learn what he looks like. It is called an E-fit... like this:

In order to do this, we typed in 'criminal face generator' into Google and found a website that allowed us to create our own face - http://flashface.ctapt.de/. It allowed us to select different face, eye, nose and lip shapes in order to create a similar face to the attacker. This is the criminal face we created:

Channel 4's 'Coppers' Documentary

Coppers is a 5-part documentary series on Channel 4. It is described as, 'Giving unrestricted access, viewers will get the chance to see how officers and police staff deal with day to day situations in police custody.  The programme will feature the custody sergeants who book in suspects, the officers who arrest them and the detention officers who tend to the suspects whilst they are in custody.  Officers and staff can be seen giving personal views on the situations they routinely deal with and viewers can see how relationships with offenders are created in bid to encourage them to turn their lives around."

It is an observational and expository style documentary, allowing viewers access to see footage of police offers that they are not usually able to see. I began looking at this after a recommendation from my teacher, when we chose to look at crime, because it is full of CCTV footage, interviews and voiceovers like our documentary will be. 

You can view the episodes through this link:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/coppers/4od#3140416

Editing

After uploading the footage from the previous shooting, we went on to edit the interviews. In order to make Lydia a darker silhouette in her interview, I double clicked the clip and changed the 'Exposure' from 100% to 234%.

We then added the title 'Gradient - Black' to the scene to show the audience who is talking and to give them a little bit of information. In this case, we have not provided the victim's name because we have chosen to keep her anonymous, so we have said this in the subtitle bar.

 This is how it looked once we edited the lighting and added a title.

Second day of filming

Earlier today we started filming with our actor and actress - Lydia and Elliot. Tilly and I used Elliot in our film 'Prey' last year so we knew he would be the best person to use as we knew what we was capable of and wouldn't waste time with someone that wasn't any good.

Unfortunately though, Elliot couldn't stay long to film due to other priorities so with the time we had with him, we practised his scenes which we recorded in case they were any good. We filmed Elliot attacking Lydia outside as the re-enactment of the CCTV footage. They did a really good job but I felt we didn't get enough camera angles as I would have liked, and it was a bit too dark so the visibility was quite low.. Next time we film it I would like to perhaps use a light to enhance the lighting. We used Tilly's phone light but I don't think this was effective enough. 

Once Elliot left, we made use of the time we had with Lydia by filming her interview. In lesson we previously planned to make the 'victim' remain anonymous, as it would show a variety of different interview techniques and skills, as we would need to make her figure look like a silhouette. To achieve this, I brought along a floodlight from my house which we placed on a table behind Lydia facing the wall to light it up, whilst we turned the room lights off. This was really effective as Lydia was all blacked out so we almost completely couldn't see her, although we may need to edit the lighting a little in tomorrow's lesson to make sure she is completely dark.

Lydia did a great job and we got the scene on the second shoot. We are eventually going to split  the scene into separate clips and place it in between the CCTV and re-enactment footage, with the dialogue from the interview playing throughout most of the film as a narration.

After this was done, we filmed the interview from the "friend's" point of view. For this, we used Tilly as she does drama at A Level so is good at acting. We only need a short clip of her talking about how she felt about the attack of her friend etc.

Scroll over the images below to zoom in to them. I made this on www.photobucket.com

   

Editing CCTV footage

Today my group and I uploaded and edited last night's filming. After looking into different types of CCTV footage, I knew which kind of style I wanted to go for - black and white. To do this I double clicked the clips I wanted to change and selected the 'Black & White' option. This looked good, but it seemed too clear. 

In most CCTV pictures I have seen, the image is not usually very clear so to do this we adjusted the Video effect - found on the second tab of the window after double clicking the clip. We then adjusted the exposure which made the image lighter and therefore a little more distorted and blurry.

We then noticed that the handle of the window we were filming out of was in the shot at times, so we cropped the shot so that it could no longer be seen.

We then inserted the title named 'Upper' and filled in the date, time and camera number - I got this idea from some of the CCTV images I have found whilst researching. For the first scene, I put 'C5', short for Camera 5, then the time, with '24H' after it to show it is a 24 hour clock, then the date.

Once this was done, we watched the clip back and I felt something was missing. In all the images of Google of CCTV footage, the time always included seconds, and without the ability to do this on the effects I offered to make each title 1 second long and change the time, with the seconds increasing in each one. This took some time but once complete, it looked really good.

I did this by changing the duration to 1 second. I then switched the 'Fade In/Out' to manual and put it to 0.0s. This way, each title linked together without a gap in between which looked very wrong before we fixed it.

Finally, I searched through the fonts to find one which I thought matched the real ones I had seen. 'Synchro LET' was the most convenient. 

Types of existing CCTV

In order to turn our footage into what looks like a real CCTV image, I did some research into the way existing CCTV looks. These are the different styles I found...

This CCTV camera clip is in colour, with a green tinge.

It has lettering on it: 'C35' which stands for Camera 35. It also has the date and time

This clip is also in colour, with a ring around the suspect for TV purposes to help the viewer find the person quicker. 

Again, it has the date and time, but due to the larger room than above, the people are smaller which is why a ring was used

This camera is shot at a longer angle than the two above. Again, it is in colour and shoots quite a wide and long area. Like the others, it has the camera number, date and time

This one is a very wide and long shot, in vivid colour.

The suspect is placed in a circle of the image zoomed in, possibly to show viewers a clearer image of his face so he can be found. There is no text on this clip

I really like this way of showing CCTV footage. It is from different angles of the bus on a screen split into 4 sections. It gives a better image of the scene as it can be seen from different corners of the bus. It is also in black and white which I believe is more common for CCTV cameras and makes it look more like one. It also has text at the bottom of each camera image

First day of filming

To begin filming, we first had to have a written and signed consent form from on of your parents to show our teacher that we will be taking full responsibility of loss or damage for any equipment we use. 

The equipment we will be borrowing and using from the Media Department is a Sony HDD Handycam and a tripod - along with a Mac to upload and edit.

Today Tilly, Matt and I begun filming. Our main actress wasn't available today so we thought instead of wasting the opportunity when we were all free, we filmed the CCTV clips from the school car park. We filmed from two different angles, because most buildings have more than one security camera. This way the audience can view the assault from different angles which I have seen on some episodes of Crime Watch.

The view from the window we filmed the CCTV footage from

We started by finding the best locations to place the cameras in order to get the right angles. Once these were found, we tested out different ways for the scene to go, by moving my car in order to find out which location was best to park it in order for the victim (me) to get in it before she gets attacked. Because it was dark, the positioning was crucial as otherwise I would not have been very visible.

Casting

Casting is always an important part of film production, because if the actors aren't very good then the whole outcome can seem unbelievable. Seeing as our documentary is going to be on a sensitive topic in which we want it to look like a real story, we needed good actors. 

The roles we needed filling were:

FEMALE ACTRESSES:

- victim in the interview

- victim in the reconstruction

- friend of the victim

MALE ACTORS:

- attacker in CCTV footage

- attacker in reconstruction

- rescuer in reconstruction

- rescuer in interview

We needed the two different actors/actresses in the reconstruction and interview to be of a similar age as one would be playing the "real" victim and the events in which occurred.

Inspirations for our Documentary

I really like the idea of a crime genre documentary. We can use the skills we learnt from last year when making our short thriller film for this because it would need to be full of suspense to intrigue the audience and create the atmosphere the victim went through. After watching the clip in the link below, my group and I realised this is what we want to do. We could include a variety of different types of shots to show our knowledge and ability of camera skills and editing, such as; CCTV footage (which will rely mostly on editing), reconstructions (lots of different camera angles and techniques), police photos, voiceovers, actual audio (police call) and interviews.

This clip managed to engage me and make me intrigued to watch the rest of the clip. The interviews from the victim creates sympathy as we get a first hand source of what happened and how it has affected her. The audio from her interview is played throughout the different clips as she narrates what happened, which is supported by CCTV and reconstructions to show the audience what took place and how. The CCTV is chilling as we can actually see what went on, and what the victim went through, managing to mae the audience emotionally attached.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/crimewatch/appeals/2010/09_10/hayes_attemptedrape.shtml

"Teen Cribs"

In order to decide what type of documentary to do, Tilly and I thought it would be a good idea to make a mini documentary so we could get a feel for the style in which it would need to be filmed, and to figure out whether or not we liked it. After all, there is loads of different types of documentaries to choose from. Our inspiration for this was 'Teen Cribs'. It is observational and also expository, in which the camera follows the person showing the audience around their house and talking to the camera as though it was a person. MTV have a very modern approach to their series as they edit and film it in a funky way. They zoom in and out, rewind and fast forward and tilt the camera to different angles, which appeals to a teenage audience. I really liked filming and editing our version of Teen Cribs because it was funny and not something we had to think hard about because we watch the programme ourselves so we knew what sort of things to include.

I filmed and edited the clips, and Tilly Guess acted it in. I tried to make it seem upbeat and modern by putting a hip-hop song in the background, which I faded to 10% during clips where Tilly spoke, and leaving it normal (100%) volume during the other times. I set one of the clips towards the start to rewind because I have seen this effect used in the real programme and I really like it. I did this by selecting the bit when she jumped onto the bed, then copying and pasting it after the first clip of it. I then double clicked it and 'Converted the clip', which then gave me the option to have it in 'Reverse'. While she is in her bathroom, after watching it back I felt as though it went on a little too long. So to speed things up, I made the time she took to walk from her toilet to her shower, and her shower to her sink faster. I used the same technique I used to rewind the clips, in which i copied and pasted the clips I wanted sped up, then converted the clip and increased the speed. I also repeated some clips to emphasise how spoilt the girl is, as this is really what comes across during our short test documentary. I copied and pasted the clip where she says 'Dolce and Gabbana' and cut it to those exact words so she repeated it 3 times. When I showed some friends the clips this made them laugh which is the reaction I wanted to achieve.

Testing Out... Camera Angles

Watching Documentaries

In order to learn more about documentaries, how they are made and why they are made in certain ways, I am going to watch a variety of real life documentaries during the course of this year to further my understanding and to hopefully improve my final outcome when I make my own.


Seven Days:

Seven Days is the new TV programme that follows a diverse group of Nottingham's most interesting people, living and working in Notting Hill who want the public's opinion as to what they should do next in their lives. It is aired by Channel 4.


The documentary starts off with black sentences against a white screen reading 'What you are about to see, happened in the last seven days. To people who live or work in Notting Hill West London. Tell them what you think.' This introduction sums up the meaning of this documentary and "tells" the audience what they have to do. It entitles the public to not only have their own opinion, but the ability to voice it. This is a rare opportunity as most are only there to observe.


After this, it goes into 3 arial shots of the city to set the scene, then a few short clips of things happening that day; people dancing on the street, newspaper headline for that day, someone at the dentist. I really like this idea because it shows a brief insight into where these people live, already giving the viewers a lot more knowledge, only a few seconds in.


Following this, the characters are introduced. The first to be shown are two girls, sitting inside a cafe. They are introduced by white text with their name and their job beneath that. It doesn't stay on these girls for long. It then goes to two guys in their home, but they are not introduced. It then goes back to the girls, but this time showing the name of the cafe they are in. Not long after this it introduces us to someone else, Hannah, an Interior Designer. It then cuts back to the girls in the cafe, and then back to Hannah. It is showing two different locations with different people weaving into each other. This idea is clever because it shows contrasts between people that live there. It kept my attention longer because two different things were happening at once, so I wasn't stuck in the same scene for too long. These short scenes enabled the editors to cut out less interesting scenes more discretely. 
Not only does the text show people's names, it also tells us why someone is where they are or what is going on, like 'Malcom's new buy-to-let property', as he enters the house, because we would have not known this otherwise.


None of the actors hide the fact they are being filmed. They will openly talk about the cameras and if they are distracting them from they're everyday lives. This sometimes happens in reality documentaries, but you would never see this in an education documentary such as 'Life' - the nature documentary.


Most of the shots are mid- shots and long shots. All of them are level with the people they are filming; we're not seeing lots of sophisticated shots such as arial shots or with objects in the way. This keeps the viewer's focus, and enables them to feel like they are actually there. Sometimes during less intense conversation scenes, there will be shots of people's feet as they walk etc but this is discrete and I think it works well.
Each scene usually starts with a few short clips of the surroundings, and then the rest are usually long clips that have the camera panning the scene, instead of lots of different angles which would make me feel as though what is happening isn't real, but acted. It would seem more like a reality TV show instead of a documentary.


Throughout the show, a white box at the bottom of the screen appears with the show's web address on it, reminding the audience they can go on it and voice their opinion.


This sort of documentary is very similar to something I would like to produce because it follows the lives of people in a way I really like. It consists of hand held shots and steady shots, and makes the viewer feel as though they are there in the scene.

Testing Out... Interview Techniques

'Testing Out...'

In order to further develop our skills and knowledge, my group has decided to make a series of short videos showing us practising different areas involved in making a documentary to find out what we like and what we don't like. It is going to be called 'Testing Out...' and each one will show us testing out something different such as:

• Camera Angles
• Ways to edit
• Interview Techniques
• Documentary modes

Chosen Idea

From both the two initial ideas, my group and I decided on the crime genre idea. We felt it had more leeway for us to film and include a larger variety of shots and camera techniques to enhance our creativity and skill. Crimewatch has given us some great ideas and has been a real influence as to how we want to shoot our documentary. 


This Prezi will show you the storyline we have come up with and what we plan to include:

Initial Idea 2 - Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. Symptoms of bipolar disorder are severe. They are different from the normal ups and downs that everyone goes through from time to time. Bipolar disorder symptoms can result in damaged relationships, poor job or school performance, and even suicide. But bipolar disorder can be treated, and people with this illness can lead full and productive lives.


We came up with this idea because it is more personal. We wanted to do a documentary on someone's life, with the camera following them - like Seven, because it is a style of documentary that myself, Matt and Tilly like to watch. It would be observational and expository, as well as educational because it would follow a teenage girl with the disorder, and give the audience an insight as to how it affects her day to day life, and also how her family and friends cope with it. This way we could include interviews and maybe even a Video Diary where a camera is placed somewhere in their house/office and they come and talk to it when something has happened or they want to talk about their feelings.
We would quite like to make our documentary have a funny side and not too serious, but need to think of a way of doing so without making it look like we are mocking the disorder.