Documentary evaluation

Evaluation
Learning about documentaries has been insightful yet challenging at times. Personally, I have found studying the idea of ethics in documentaries intriguing. There are many views /  stories explaining the lengths filmmakers can morally go to before it bothers and becomes an issue for the subject, this being a person or topic, some in which  I have found shocking, such as the documentation photographer Kevin Carter and the story ' The vulture and the little girl. ' The photographer captured an image of a struggling, hungered girl in South Africa with a vulture behind her. Instead of scaring or helping the girl, he captured an image and won a Pulitzer Prize award for feature photography - a journalism photography award. Months later, had committed suicide due to the guilt of not scaring the vulture or helping the girl. Ethically, I think there were issues when the photographer captured the photo and the balance between work and being emotional / human was challenged. This striked questions, such as "What is the ethically appropriate response of a documentarian faced with human misery?, What is the documenterians commitment to the truth of a situation?" all according to filmmaker professor, Linda Williams. Examples of other / further opinions include filmmaker Steve James' view, said in an interview with Filmbase - "I think you have to be willing to not film things that you really desperately want, if it helps build a connection and trust, just like you have to be willing to take things out of your movie sometimes if you feel the subjects want it out. In the best films you want to get to a place where you’re not making a documentary about your subjects but you’re making it with them."
Researching ethical issues has provided me with many filmmaker views and has provoked the thoughts and interests I hold in photography documentation. The knowledge provided has allowed me to realise ethical issues in documentation can be controversial, along with challenging the question as to what documentary truth is, and the difference between whats caught on camera and reality. 

Expository documentary
Personally, one of the most challenging topics has been expository. I have understood the concept of trying to tell a story to an audience, however I feel as though I need to practise filming myself to fully understand the style.
Our practical expository documentary is based around women's basketball and how it has changed over time, with similar themes to Ward Sirrills ' The heart of the game.'
Within the practical, there were many advantages and disadvantages. The advantages included successfully including an interview with a participant from the college in the women's basketball team along with a student in the team. The framing of the shots was successful, as the use of rule of thirds made the final footage cinematic and professional. The message itself within our theme about women's basketball changing over time was executed well through the use of voiced-over facts, along with the historical footage added in the edit. This developed and supported the story line, and is parallel to the voice over. For example, when the voice over states facts about Nancy Lieberman, a professional player, the footage is of her shooting in games, etc, adding overall clarity to the story.
However, aspects that could be improved include the sound at times. As the music in the background may be distracting at times for audiences, mostly in the main interview at the end of the documentary, where sound levels for the participant speaking could be heightened. I have
learnt, for future projects, to be sure to film in a location where not much background noise is evident / if outside, film at a particular time where students have a lesson and there are not many people surrounding in cars, etc. Other aspects such as adding another participant or footage of modern professional basketball players could be added at the end of the doc instead of the whole interview, to keep the audience interested more throughout the crucial answers of the participant.
Whilst filming, our group faced some organisational issues. This included scheduling to be able to film when the basketball court was free whilst getting our participant, the captain of the team, to also be free from her timetable. To overcome this, we decided to film the cinematic dribbling shots of the student in the team in the morning, when the court was quiet, then, film the other participant shots at lunch when they had no lessons. As this had background sound issues, I have learnt for future projects in these situations to have other locations if the desired location has a problem, or is unavailable. As we filmed in the morning, we had thoughts that the lighting would be an issue in pre - production, however during filming it proved to make the shot more visually pleasing and was not a major concern. However, if the lighting was an issue for future filming projects depending on the availability on time of day, we could fix the issue by colour correcting in post production or changing the location to a room (for example) that has windows with an outdoor view. This would therefore overall give our desired end product, by making the shots look as polished as possible.
Our documentary did not have major ethical issues, there were no shots reenacted, etc however there may have been sensitive subjects in the footage of the captain of the team being filmed. where there were people in the background of the shot playing football. Our team did not warn them about being in shot, which may have bothered them if they knew. For my final documentary, I would overall attempt to have minor ethical issues with surrounding people, along with being careful on the recording and use of sound. From this style, aspects I would use in my final documentary include a factual voice over.

Participatory documentary
The participatory documentary was an interesting learning experience through filming and editing independently. The theme of the documentary was art, and my message-  how art tells stories and creates meaning in the world, is one aspect in which I felt went well.
As the style of documentary was an interview, permission for the participant had been asked beforehand along with the only people within then documentary being me and the interviewee, meaning no unauthorised filming of anyone else. However, when filming the answers to my questions there were a few retakes to allow the participant to search up a fact about an artist. In the interview, this is perceived as the fact being from previous memory, therefore making that section of asking the question problematic. To resolve this issue for any future filming processes, I could style or change the question so it's purely based on the participants previous knowledge and nothing affecting that once hearing the question.
What went well cinematically was the location, which was in the TV studio of the college. I had placed the props so that there were a few colours evident in the background, from a green and white curtain, pink sofa and black wall. Cons in the documentary including the framing, which is a mistake I had realised when editing. I had attempted to use the rule of thirds however placed the subject too far out of the grid, which also proved to be an issue when scaling and positioning in Premiere Pro. I have learnt, for future projects, to consider the rule more and be sure that the subject has some space on both the left and right side of them, to edit and make the footage as professional as possible.
Independent editing  however allowed me to experiment and apply knowledge I had learnt outside the course, through a masterclass with a professional Ben, teaching BFI academy students on the 3rd of November, 2018. For example, being able to cut quickly between videos due to shortcuts learnt such as  'Q' to cut the start of a video along with deleting the gap, & 'W' for the end of videos and a sequence.
The video itself is clear and has issues which have been resolved in editing for example using the flip effect in Premiere Pro. I had also learnt this in the academy, with a professional editor, named Kate. This has helped me develop my knowledge within the software and has resolved issues with continuity. However, though the continuity issue with the footage of myself was resolved, there were issues on trying to cut when I am looking at the participant answering her questions, as I spoke too soon before and after each question. From this, I have learnt to always give two to three seconds between speech to allow time for cutting. I also learnt this when helping other groups film, along with filming outside the course - giving a few seconds for each action and cut to help in the edit. Also, in editing, to trim on action and cut from the director when possible / if appropriate. ( not appropropriate in times where the cut must start mid way during a characters action, etc)
I will take forward all skills learnt in the editing for my final documentary along with using cinematic rules like the thirds if an interview is included within my final footage. Other factors I may experiment with and consider in an interview situation is to allow the participant to answer freely without being concluded by another question, and allowing the idea of this to flow in the edit. To prepare for this, I could make the participant start the beginning of their sentences with a response to the question, so that the audience have clarity on what the person is answering without the actual question, for example, " who is your favourite artist " cut out to the answer" my favourite artist is..." I had also learnt this skill when helping a filmmaker ask teachers within the college various questions.
Other issues I faced in pre production of the participatory documentary included organisational, scheduling issues. The initial locations to film were the photography studio with a student studying photography, with the questions based around creative subjects sometimes being not as supported as core subjects would be, whether the participant agreed with the idea of that or not, etc. However, due to scheduling issues the participant was not free to film at times I was, along with the availability of the studio. This therefore meant I had to ask another student, however the delay meant I had less time for editing. From my last reflection about time management and backups, I had a few students in backup for unreliability. My questions and theme therefore changed to art, also because I wanted to stay in the same path as creative subjects and platforms, and concluding a message from within an art form.

Observational documentary-
I found this style of documentary most appealing to experiment with & found the concept of attempting to show a message or story interestingly challenging when the filmmaker traditionally has no input. Our example was based around a member from our class and their photography process - behind the scenes of the photos, etc. What went well was the cinematography for some shots, ranging from using shallow depth of field, close ups & hand held shots, following the photographer from a lesson to their habitat of the photography studio. The idea of having aesthetic shots and practising some of this within our documentary is a skill I would like to continue for my final documentary and in future projects. A cinematographer who I have therefore researched and aspire to follow in the industry is Darius Khondji, with examples of stunning shots in 'The beach,' directed by Danny Boyle. Viewing more of his work in the lead up to our final documentaries will give me insight / inspiration on viewing a location through the lens for final cinematic footage. Unlike the filming schedule for the other two styles of documentary, our crew finished and edited the final footage in time, though the process was elongated by some shots and attitudes.
There were also issues that were evident in editing where footage that made the observant not seem as professional or serious had been added in, along with an ethical issue of footage that the group did not know was being recorded, added into the final cut of the video. One of the filmmakers, the editor of the group, therefore did not consider a subjects desires by asking permission. To avoid this in future situations, we must make sure the whole group is certain on a final edit &  has viewed all footage and the subjected person is exceptional on what is being shown before it's finally exported. 
Issues I may face when filming an observational documentary may include what happened within our group where there may be filming when the subject is unaware. As my views on ethical issues agree with statements such as " You owe your audience to tell the truth, to get to the bottom of the story, to be accurate in what you’re presenting.” said by Gordon Quinn, a documentary director. I would be considerate as to what the subject would like to be finally shown. If the observant theme requires the subject to not know they are being filmed, I may, instead of releasing footage that they are unaware of, plan the scenes to portray the same messages without the subject being hurt in the end. Although, some may disagree with the concept of this as the question of documentation being real is raised as stated earlier from Linda Williams. Overall learning about observational documentaries has intrigued me and I have set goals to challenge myself if I chose this style of documentary finally. 

Conclusion - 
Learning about all 3 documentary styles has proven to be challenging, but also insightful as I have learnt much more about this side of filmmaking and aspects behind it. Researching into ethical issues has provided me with knowledge that I will consider in all future projects, along with now being more skillful at things such as editing in Premiere Pro by having the opportunity to develop and express what i've learnt. In my final documentary, I would definitely attempt to film in a way that allows a message and story to come across for the audience.

Bibliography -
Ethical research: 
https://cricketnthebrain.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/the-ethics-of-documentary-intervention-dennis-orourkes-the-good-woman-of-bangkok-linda-williams-documentary-ethics-lecture/
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/the-wolfpack-and-the-ethics-of-documentary-filmmaking
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/film/gaines/documentary_tradition/Williams_EthicsofIntervention.pdf
http://filmbase.ie/an-interview-with-documentary-filmmaker-steve-james/#.XBkv0mj7RPY
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2014/20-directors-who-are-good-at-making-visually-stunning-films/


Expository documentary:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2024238/

Observational documentary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_Khondji
https://www.indiewire.com/2014/10/the-ethics-of-documentary-filmmaking-69007/

Participatory documentary practical

As part of initially learning about documentaries, I filmed a participatory documentary using someone who studies art within sixth from. The footage includes me as the filmmaker gathering information using my own knowledge, as a typical style of participatory documentary would, though there are improvements to be made. For example, framing the participant more into the grid of rule of thirds.
I have, to my fullest, attempted to get a clear message in which I wanted the audience to know - how art tells stories and creates meaning in the world.

Link to video:

Photographers

Karl Shakur - Landscape photographer 

Karl Shakur is an adventure / travel photographer who goes around worldwide capturing photographs. Themes within the photography include nature and astrology, and overall have the main aim of capturing the natural world.  

His work also includes working as an ' influencer with a growing audience of over 180,000 ' helping small and big brands tell their creative stories through their own creations and content.

His photography can be interpreted as intriguing as to where the photograph has been taken and when etc, along with his point of view of using the camera. The angles are original and unique, adding depth to the landscape.

To give more strength to his work, there are character and human traces e.g a person them-self or a car somewhere within the frame, which is insignificant in the presence of the wider world. 

Recreation of Karl Shakur's work -
To further explore and understand the photographers work, I have taken a photo in the style of Shakur's, exploring a similar forest setting and colour. The angle at which Shakur's photograph has been taken at is interesting and creates somewhat of unevenness, as to where the road may lead to, along with the photo being straight yet the road having a turn. There is also an interesting aspect added to the photography, the small car which may be a symbol for something deeper that the photographer would like to show. This theme is added throughout the photographers portfolio, for example in the astrology photos where person is sitting at the edge of a cliff in a landscape environment. This gives an important to insignificant ratio, symbolising a natural monumental to a human aspect.

My photo-

Pre production - participatory documentary

Person to interview: Currently studying art
Filming location: A room in my house with lights and art related ornaments
Subject: Art tells stories and allows people to express themselves.

Questions:
Do you enjoy art & why?

What is your go to / preferred type of art technique?

Who is your favourite artist - have they done something impact that's stuck in your head -

Are there stories behind their art pieces?

What is the one thing you wish you knew when you started in this creative platform?

When you practise art, do you usually have a message or something you want to say behind it?

Do you think people in your class and yourself do art to express something, this being an emotion or something you would like to say?

and finally -  Do you think art plays a big role in creating meaning and telling stories in the world?

Photography studio practise - Gel lights.

Experimenting in the studio has allowed me to explore more effects and professional looks, along with initial use of gel lights. The use of these lights have given an interesting and different effect along with adding depth to the shadow left side of the photo, with no light reflecting to the vibrant yellow side, highlighting the clothing and upper parts of the face.

The setup of these photos included a black backdrop and all 3 setup lights switched off. One main focus gel light had been placed at a 45 degree angle on one side of the model to give a light to dark contrasted effect. The render on the models face from a dark to light colour creates some sort of mystery, along with the yellow giving creating uncertainess as to the colours the model may be wearing, skin tones, etc.
One thing that came out well within this photograph was the use of the gel light and the effect it has created from one side to the other, however I could experiment with the positioning of the main subject, for example attempting the rule of thirds by placing the model to the left of the photo using the grid template and taking the photo horizontally, allowing the subject to blend into the backdrop from the right, then a shine on the right side of the subjects clothing then faded into black again. The shine of light onto the piece of clothing without any initial light reflecting into it could create unease or uncertainess, further indicating a way in which these photographs can have deeper meanings. This would require many experimental shots with the settings of the cam

The orange / yellow lighting acts as a warm filter, and the use of shadows within this photograph is interesting & intriguing. The two shot brightens the right side of the frame and model, with the left side shadowed out, as if the subject is fading into the backdrop. The shadow in a particular shape covering everything but the eye creates a sense of  ambiguity as to why the subject is covered.
As the photography is low-key with dark contrasts and shadows, the camera settings included a low ISO and a high F stop, meaning less light into the lens. In the beginning, we adjusted these settings various times to fit the lighting setup and be sure that the backdrop was completely black, but with clear subjects still being visible in the foreground.

Participatory documentaries

Participatory documentaries involve the filmmaker and is a collaborative process, engaging audiences to hear someones story by the filmmaker asking questions to someone /people about a story they are carrying out. This could be as minor as the filmmaker’s voice being heard behind the camera, prodding subjects with questions or cues — all the way to the filmmaker directly influencing the major actions of the narrative
The process involves designing a storytelling process which may reflect the voices and leadership of people impacted by an event or ongoing situation. Some communities / people may wish to ' expose ' a certain story, therefore are in a unique position to offer expert documentation, analysis and research. 
These documentaries are one sided and come from the directors point of view. They strive to show a story or message that the filmmaker wants the audience to see.

Post production - silent film, idea changed

Plot - 
Two main characters who are best friends - Veronica and Anastasia, they always hang out and are liked by many people within the college. They're known and popular.

There's a character who's jealous of these two and is less popular - Camila. Shes always in the background, viewing the actions of the desirable best friends.  
There's a party coming up, Camila's confidence is broken as she is not invited. But the story changes when Camila is subtly invited in a way by Sumaya, another popular character that helps her realise shes just as desirable as the best friends. She turns up to the party, Sumaya gets Camila to show who she is at the party, overall making her feel confident and slowly introducing a friendship between Veronica and Anastasia 
Message - have self confidence & don't put yourself down.


Overall 4 characters -
Characters - 
Anastasia:
- middle class
- popular girl, studies textiles and has many friends

Veronica:
- also popular and middle class
- studies art & photography
- has a YouTube channel

Sumaya:
- Most liked person  in school
- Always has parties, not much family therefore finds comfort around her friends
- Does preforming arts

Camila:
- Jealous character
- Lower class
- Finds comfort in her artwork, introverted into herself and her artwork

Location:
- art department
- photography studio


Shot list:
( Seperate noted ideas: 
2 security guards standing outside the studio - using two characters within the class. 
shots of security tying to let the girl in, checking guest list etc

shallow depth of field with whole class walking out, unfocused on the class then from the hallway then focus on the two girls & jealous character. 2 girls walk out class, other girl is behind, another girl gives out invite to the 2 girls, jealous character looks at the invite being given, gets sad. have a close up of the jealous characters expression of reasoning she can go to the party )

Editing - 
Start - black screen with text saying date and time
Middle - another black screen with text to show next day - text therefore indicates the day of the party. 
Split screen of Anastasia and veronica doing their makeup in the bathroom - makeup as props. Camila also gets ready,
Split screen continues as the 2 girls walk into the studio (. party will take place in photography studio with lights & red backdrop ) 
Cut to shots of security letting veronica and Anastasia get in, then shortly after not letting Camila in.

Props:
- Poster, paper
- Fairy lights
- Makeup
- possible reflective jackets for the security

Post Production - silent film

Our story begins with clear shots that one character is better than the other. Ends with A/V actually winning with a clear message that the audience should believe in themselves and have a passion. The protagonist is jealous because they want to be good at dancing. Set at college.  Theme - jealousy.  A dance / music character who is successful at what they do.  A partner of theirs in the same class - the main character who is jealous of the successful character.
There's a dance competition coming up and the successful character sadly sprains / injure themselves. The only one to fill in their place is the main character . Through this, the character finds their drive \with the end message -
Message - believe in yourself and realise your passion.

Characters:  
Successful character:
Male: Edwin
Female: Anastasia

Main, jealous character:
Male: Aaron
Female:  Veronica

Location: Dance studio
Music room
Theatre
TV studio
( if the dance idea and characters are not available, the music idea and location will be used instead )
Shot list:
Fade in - establishing shots of locations we are going to use - dance studio and theatre 
Wide shots of the dancers in the theatre / dance studio practising - Begins with the class dancing in different places - successful character always in the front and jealous character positioned in the back.
Try position the characters and camera in the same place, but change location. Make this look natural when editing.
Cut to -
Long / wide shot of hallway
 - successful character walks out with and the main character looks at her from behind in jealousy. Use shallow depth of field over shoulders, etc. have a close up of jealous character.  clearly show the emotion. Have a close up next to walls and the character's face. Aaron's / Veronica's  action - shaking head, sad emotion etc.
Fade out to -
Wide shot - Use rule of thirds - position jealous character in the background grid and have the successful character with a few people around them practising near to the other side of the grid.
Cut from this to a close up of Aaron / Veronica tying their shoe lace, then slowly fade this again in the same position but with Aaron / Veronica wearing a different outfit. This is to symbolise the next day.
/ or have the rule of thirds wide shot, close up of the jealous character then blackout and edit text ' the next day... 'After this, film shots of Edwin / Anastasia on crutches ( crutches provided by group member, if this is not possible we can film the character acting hurt )
Cut to hallway, Edwin or Anastasia give a poster to A/V to symbolise the competition. Close up of the poster, in particular the date.
Use symmetry rule.  Both nod at each other from two sides.
Fast pace cutting between the jealous character dancing and getting better.
( Attempt to keep the character in the same composition in the shot and change the location around them. )
Cut to the date therefore showing the day of the competition.
Use after effects and add images of aesthetic dance rooms or film some footage of an aesthetic room / create a nice atmosphere.
Cut to 3 people in first second, third, show Aaron / Veronica coming first. Use shallow depth of field or have a normal two shot of Edwin / Anastasia and A/V smiling at each other / hugging. Have text at the end saying ' believe in yourself ' or any slogan relating to finding your passion etc. / shoot a long take of a certificate of winning the competition - edit the colour effect of this on premiere pro and add the text over this. Fade out to black.

New idea - 
After given feedback and further reflection after this within our group, we had decided to change the idea from the close up shot of the jealous character and to cut out the dance competition. Our given feedback was to include a different idea as the shooting time for the dance competition and locations would not make the scene look realistic and therefore would not make our film professional. Instead of the dance competition, the successful character will confront the other character and ask to do a dance off. Around this will be an audience which will hype up the dance off and will include people in the college. This therefore includes more of our audience and will attract the desired 16-20 target audience. Through this reflection, I have  therefore learnt and made sure to consider the target audience more during post production.

New shot list -
Fade in - establishing shots of locations we are going to use - dance studio and theatre 
Wide shots of the dancers in the theatre / dance studio practising - Begins with the class dancing in different places - successful character always in the front and jealous character positioned in the back.
Try position the characters and camera in the same place, but change location. Make this look natural when editing.
Cut to -
Long / wide shot of hallway
 - successful character walks out with and the main character looks at her from behind in jealousy. Use shallow depth of field over shoulders, etc. have a close up of jealous character.  clearly show the emotion. Have a close up next to walls and the character's face. Aaron's / Veronica's  action - shaking head, sad emotion etc.
- Cut to close up of jealous character tying their shoe lace. have their facial expression annoyed and get them to sigh. Get character to go up to successful character and make some gesture to show that one character has challenged the other to a dance off. Have a constant panning shot from this and try edit using the fast movement technique.  
Get music playing loudly in the background - desired location will be the dance studio, have people from around the block or from other places in the college hyping up the competition and making the whole thing funnier and appealing to the target audience
- Attempt this as a constant shot / have cutaways in between times of cut of the people are around in the circle.
- End with claps etc
- Medium two shot using rule of symmetry in the studio, zoom into the two shot and have a handshake and actions between the two characters / have them hug, etc. Get people around to hype this up again and show that they are now good partners within the class
- Have text at the end - something to do with believing in yourself and believing your passion. Have this text over blooper shots. Have the blooper shots slightly blurred, have laughs in the background etc - all done within the edit

Extra notes -
- Focus will be in making the dance scene big and fun-
- Keep recording - get bloopers for the end titles
- Use modern music, one which will attract the target audience
- Attempt the pan shot and cut
- ( notes from character profile ) Have a possible end shot of the person that the jealous character likes speak to them after seeing how good and competitive they are.

Sound including music and Foley sound:
-  Background music for establishing shots - find any suitable or starting music to any other song which suits the jealousy hallway shots
- Sound for when character breaks their leg - ( research )
- Dietetic sound of music in theatre or dance room


Props / costume design:
- Costumes for dancing actors include all black clothing.
- Own clothing


Character profile:
Successful characters: Edwin or Anastasia
- Have a hands on, middle class family - reason why they chose to study something creative
- Originally from Colombia
- 18
- Has loads of friends and a boyfriend, popular and liked character in her class and within the performing art students.


Jealous character: Aaron or Veronica 
- Lower class family, deeper meaning behind why they picked a dance course - come from a lower class family, feel the need to express themselves in some form of art
- from
- 18
- Has a few friends, not many. un-supportive family ( changes at the end when character wins competition )
- Not in a relationship, but likes someone in her performing arts class. ( person likes her back, but she does not have the confidence to speak to him )
-

Adobe Audition editing practise

To practise with sound effects after researching examples and Foley sound, I have experimented with audios recorded by our group by adding certain effects and playing around within Adobe Audition. This has allowed me to initially use and learn about the software and will come in use for future projects when editing audios for short films, clips, etc.

My example on sound cloud - Audition edit

Special effects

Special effects are used within many films to create an outstanding atmosphere to support the visual of a story. They act as an illusion to create a realistic world. These effects can be categorised into mechanical / physical effects and visual / optical effects.

Visual effects (VFX) - could include using CGI and animation. 
VFX are image manipulated effects created digitally to create a desired environment which would not be possible to create in real life as there may be obstacles, such as the story line including a made up world, the expense, dangers etc. 

Film examples 🎬
- Interstellar 
- Life of pi
- The Hunger Games
- The Wolf of Wall Street 
- Harry Potter

Mechanical effects - 
Unlike optical effects, physical effects are created live on set rather than in post production and often include large scale props and makeup. To create realistic character effects, prosthetic may be used, the same for location or settings where cars or buildings may be blown up etc. 

Film examples 🎬
- Independence day 
- The dark knight - makeup
- Edward Scissorhands - makeup 
- Alice in wonderland - makeup

Inserted is a clip I have edited in Premiere Pro, initially learning how to use and do some visual effects with the features the software has.

Observational documentary practical

 For our observational documentary, we decided to follow around one of group members. We had based it on one of his passions, being photography. No input had been put in by the filmmakers and crew, being the rest of our group, in observational style.

The documentary had some pros such as some cinematic shots and following the  main character and using the camera as a 'fly on the wall ' however the lighting of the shots could be improved and more information as to the editing of the photographer could be added as more insight to their life.

Observational documentaries

Observational documentaries - documentaries shot in a specific style of following action around as it happens like ' a window of the world ' therefore having not much post production input - no voice over or much editing. There is also no input from the film crew, these documentaries are shot so that the audience has their own opinion with no input.
These documentaries may make the audience feel part of whats happening therefore provide insight to information this way, instead of feeding it to them through a voice over. They allow the subject to ' move ' freely without much editing and connect the audience by making them focus solely on the story line and narrative of whats being told.
These types of documentaries were popular during the 1960's and are referenced as being a type of ' fly on the wall ' presentation.

Some common and set characteristics of observational documentaries include:

• Speech which is overheard and not directed to the camera or audience
• Synchronous sound 
• Do not hear or see filmmaker, no voice over
• Zoom lenses and hand held camera - further in-forcing the idea of the audience being real and close with whats happening along with camera following the action

Example: Salesman 1968

In this example, it is evident that there is no voice over, and the story line is carried out through the dialogue of the characters. Music has also been added, which is parallel to whats happening on screen and enhances the story. Though not the longest, some takes within the scene are long and take a few seconds to cut compared to an expository documentary. An example is with planet earth. Though some are long, most takes are cut quickly and include a voice over at every scene providing detail. This documentary however is an opposite example.

Further techniques included in Salesman are synchronized sound. 

Expository documentary practical

To initially explore expository photography, our group decided to chose sport as a topic and focus around women's basketball. The idea of women's sports is modern and will intrigue a similar aged audience along with intriguing them to watch. The documentary gives more information than what an

audience member would know by solely watching a game, by providing many role model names and historical stories / events.
Within our group, we each gave ourselves different roles in order to complete on time.These were shared and doubled at times, for example , cinematographer and editor, screenwriter and voice over, interviewer and interviewee etc.
The scene includes an interview with the captain of the colleges basketball team along with historical facts and figures of women's sport and basketball overall worldwide.

Script for documentary -https://writerduet.com/script/#VWRJW

Silhouette lighting

This type of photography includes a white background created using a light box along with the outline and features of an individual in black. This photography portrays some mystery into the individual - things such as up close detail & emotion is not shown. The ambiguity of a models facial emotions is therefore creatively intriguing. 
The setup includes the following:

• Turn the light up to 6
• The model cannot be too close to the light box
•  Adjust the flash e.g diming the flash by turning the light down from 6 to 4, 
• On 6 - the features of the model may still be visible.
• On 4 the features of the model are dimmed, and the interior area of the model is black

.

- Reflecting the poly board or white board would add some highlight to the models face.

- Does not matter what backdrop you use, the frame will always be the soft box



-  Be imaginative - the more soft boxes lined up the bigger the photograph backdrop.

Expository documentaries

These type of documentaries usually give insight into certain topics and provide information directly to the audience through voice overs and titles. There is a constant link between what we see and what we hear as an audience in these documentaries, keeping us focused onto the information. The crew behind expository documentaries include commentators, a director, camera operators etc. There may also be a professional figure providing information about the specific topic.
Compared to a observational documentary, sound is a big, key aspect.

The clip shown is a scene from planet earth which is based around wildlife and landscape documentary. David Attenboroughs voice in the background gives insight of what's happening and informs the audience. Its in sync / parallel to the action shown on screen, and is a prime example of an expository documentary. The side of wildlife is exposed and there is constant information given by the specialist. 

Foley sounds intro

Foley sound: Sounds created in post production using everyday items to create a sound in sync with whats being shown on screen to enhance audio quality than recording the sound on set and the sound not sounding overall professional / realistic.

Our example: 
Our narrative of a short scene was a shooting and included the sound of screams and a bomb. As this cannot be physically done using the actual story motif, we used the sound of bubble wrap being stepped on and actors screaming along with the sound of a water bottle dropping. This created the sounds successfully and was clear to our audience that there was a shooting and some sort of bombing however could be improved by being longer and in more sync with each other. This means that the the sounds would overall sound more natural and portray a good short scene of a story.

Examples of films which may have used Foley sound & sound effects:
- Baby driver:  music and sound effects in sync with the characters movement, every action matches the musics timing.

- Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the lost ark: sound of rocks exploding replaced with the Foley rolling a car without a motor running.

- Jurassic park: sound of the T-Rex placed by mixing animal noises together, from using an elephants squeal to a tigers snarl.

Nikon D7100

DLSR - digital single lens reflex

M - Manual. Front dial controls aperture.
Back dial controls shutter speed
A - aperture priority. Only front dial works here. camera automatically sets shutter speed
S - Shutter priority. Only back dial works here.
P - pre-set. saves different shutter speed or aperture settings e.g. can go back to different light settings in situations.
Green camera - auto.

Top screen - LCD screen - controls.

Black pixel in screen - dead pixel. Therefore means there's an issue in the sensor system / screen has a technical issue.

Number on screen at the top - shutter speed 

in diagram - 200.
Next to shutter speed is the f stop
in diagram - 15 

Other number  in brackets is the number of photos that remain in the camera therefore the amount of photos you can still take
in diagram - 560

' L fine ' is file settings, bottom left. ' Fine ' has the highest settings.

If all the memory is taken up on memory card 1, memory card 2 will automatically be switched to & used.

Top silver middle part - hot shoe mount. Flash guns go on top / used for flash. Examples of this include paparazzi photographers or a dial attached for studio lights in a photography studio.

                                                                                    

Small  button on top left -

S - Single fps - frames per second. ( amount of photos taken every second )

Cl - 3ps

Ch -  6ps

Timer symbol next to Q

Play icon - used to view footage - photos / videos.

Pressing up or down on images will show different quality settings on an image. To exit this, press up or down again.

To set a photo into monochrome or colour -
Menu - second icon down - 3rd option down - set picture control - vivid / monochrome

WB - white balance. shown in the top LCD screen. If you want to change the setting, use the back dial.

ISO - use back dial

ISO button when viewing photo - zooms out

Button underneath ISO - zooms in

Small button next to viewfinder adjusts focus - use if front settings aren't focusing etc.

Info button - gives all info about aperture, shutter speed, manual etc. All settings shown here. gives info photograph by photograph. 

L toggle - L locks the photo. 

Next to lens -

A - auto

AF - auto focus

Photographs taken using the camera -

Low key photography - photography studio

Lowkey photography includes using a low ISO and a black backdrop setting. The idea is opposite to high-key photography and creates more shadows than highlight.
Lowkey photography can be used with the boom light. The usual number of this is 4 however can be adjusted to 3 when used for a models profile etc.
A gradient of light is created when a shadow goes across one side of a models face from light to dark.










When using light which is not diffused - reflect this light onto 2 poly boards. The poly board allows the light to reflect onto the board and back out to the model. This gives further light for the model.







Silver umbrellas -
These are best for low-key photography as they create a good contrasted light. Using a diffused white umbrella may lead to different results. The results from using the silver umbrella are as shown in grey scale. Evidently, there are highlighted parts of my face from one side and my hair on the other side dark. However, there is also a faint line outlining my hair as a result of the light from the umbrella.





- Light reflects onto features of face 

- Faint outline of hair shown at the rendered end of the photograph

Evaluation & Reflection of film-making exercises,

Screenwriting: 

The initial process of learning screenwriting has been exciting and challenging at times. This included learning about features of script such as slug lines, dialogue, actions and how to use these in the correct context, along with making sure the layout of the script is in line and correct. The first script written based around a horror theme scenario was challenging as the genre is different to my interests but exciting to experiment with by deciding the start location and new characters. 

Within the script I chose the initial location of a party to make the later events shocking to the audience, with the mindset that the script would accompany a film. Visually, the back party lights would contrast with the later location of a dark, abandoned house. Though I found the location of the script successful, the characters dialogue was rushed and could have been adjusted to make the party situation seem more exciting and real, along with the journey of the characters from the party to the house. The characters leaving the house seemed rushed and when filming, would not make sense. The script itself also has some technical issues such as using colons after characters names which is not needed, along with no capital letters when first introducing the two characters. For future scripts, I must take these technical factors into account and ensure the layout is professional, along with understanding the timing and imagining the time and movement of location when writing the scripts action.

The second opportunity to script write was based from scratch including a new story, characters, location, etc. Following advice from my last script, I made sure the colons were not used after a characters name and that actions were thought through.

What went well in the second script titled ' adventure ' was the description of characters such as describing their costumes. I did this to give insight to the audience as to who the characters may be from viewing them in a single scene. To improve and challenge myself for future scripts, I could remove some dialogue and add action instead to emphasize something in a more powerful way. This could have been done in ' adventure '  when Maliha, the main character, replies to her best friend Abby after asking about Timothy, Maliha's boyfriend. Instead of replying to Abby in a frustrated way, Maliha could have shook her head and ignored her by looking down or the other way whilst 

scoffing. Other weaknesses within the script included using EXT. and INT. before receiving feedback, the script had ' EXT' and ' outside art gallery.. ' after this. This did not make sense as the scene was already set by using exterior. This means I must read over the script carefully and ensure technical factors are not just added, but make sense and fit the script when used. 

Overall skills I have learnt is how to use dialogue and actions, both writing as a story and technically using these as part of script-making to portray / impact a story line.

My overall goal for future script writing projects would be to use the 3 act structure and make this & the story-line strong. I could do this by making the middle confrontation different or having an unexpected end resolution making the audience feel shocked or any type of emotion, meaning they are engaging with the story. 

Cinematography:

Within cinematography, in groups we explored the 180 degree rule, tracking and panning shots and using focus pull.

Exploring a tracking shot was interesting and allowed me to visually experience how no editing effects a shot and story and how this can be more effective in terms of making the audience feel more connected and not be distracted by editing. Though our panning shot was successful by being one shot and included no editing along with the story making some sense, no shot types were specifically used and the video does not seem professional. The camera follows the character at the start making the audience feel as though they are also being chased but then is forgotten about and does not follow the characters too far after. The shot was also not cinematically pleasing and could have evidently included the symmetry rule in the beginning etc. To improve this, by being the cinematographer I could make the camera  follow the runners slowly along and and get the actors to slow down to keep a relationship with the camera and characters. To approach the filming in a different way beforehand, the group could plan out having different characters playing and different people controlling the camera. This could ensure that everyone experiments with their idea and gives us a wide range of videos to view.  The shot could therefore follow the first runner and stay panning slowly in front as a wide shot, and have the actors positioned so that they are in equal distance from each other and have the main runner behind the middle character allowing a line of symmetry making the shot more aesthetically pleasing & professional. Instead of following the actors to the end and them just stopping, the camera could pan away into the surrounding, giving suspense as to whats happened to the characters for the audience but also giving a taste of the location. This also prevents the end of the shot from looking messy and adds to the scary genre of the story.

For future panning shots, the camera could follow just a singular character who meets others and the camera could pan to switch to them. This gives different perspectives and allows room for experimentation, between the shot types that may match the character / symbolise something from them. This therefore would allow me to be more creative and play with the story, though there may be issues in the duration of the shot depending on location. To overcome this, we could get the characters to walk from one location to another e.g from a hallway to outside the door and have a more than 1 person behind the camera to help out. The pace of the characters could also be fast depending on our time given. 

By using a travelling shot, I have learnt a skill of using a Steadicam and figuring out / thinking about ways to use this and when most suitable.  

Learning about the 180 rule has been exciting and has personally made me realise the importance of the rule in terms of making a shot and story make sense - dialogue between two characters and the direction of them both etc. Though I have mentally processed this skill, I would like to experiment with it more and film more using the rule in order to fully understand it. 

The footage still needs to be edited and exported onto my blog. To ensure this is done as a reflection of the whole project I need to improve on time management. The video itself has strengths such as being filmed correctly from a front angle of the two actors and sides of both of them, with the camera facing from their separate directions. This was successful as it shows our understanding of the rule however the location we filmed in was not as successful. We chose outside to show the scripts location of outside an art gallery. This was done to make the story clear however the weather and lighting affected this at times. This means some of our footage could not have been used due to it looking as though it does not fit together and as though the scenes were filmed at different times of the day when the conversation was continuous. When editing,I would like the shots between both the actors to show reverse shot reverse in perfect timing to show the conversation between the two. To tackle the lighting issue for future filming, we could have a backup location and thoughts of where, in order to get cinematic shots whilst still allowing the story to make sense and have clarity.

Focus pull intrigues me as it involves using shallow depth of field onto a moving image rather than still, meaning the focus can go back and forth from separate subjects.I have learnt technically how to adjust the focus on a Sony and Nikon camera, which has been fortunate. Though our group has not filmed the footage for the focus pull we could have added and experimented with the effect in our 180 degree rule video. This would have allowed us to experiment with both techniques using the same story line and duration of video. As we cannot use the same location or story as the 180 degree video (focused on my script )  due to different costumes and different weather, we have decided to film using a different story and separate location. Though the videos will not follow the same story line, I would like to still experiment with the technique and show some exploration of this in any way. After this or for any future explorations and projects, our group could film both the 180 degree rule and focus pull technique in one video. Moreover, I have learnt to plan backup locations for future situations when the main location may not be available.

Editing:

Our group are in the process of editing the 180 video, and are constantly sharing ideas with each other on the pace of the video, desired cuts etc. One thing that is a strength in the video is the initial tracking shot from Abby walking towards her friend, though the transition to her sitting down could be improved to look realistic / shot as one scene. To allow the whole group to reflect and learn for future projects, the whole group is watching the footage and editing as one. To further challenge the video, we could add audio within Premiere Pro for the initial shot and carry this on throughout Abby and Maliha's dialogue. However, challenges we may face by doing this is distracting the audience from the main speech. To ensure this is not the case we could turn the volume levels of the music down and still keep the dialogue clear. The background music may add more atmosphere and to the video and make it seem / sound less empty. 

Also within Premiere Pro we could experiment with transitioning or fading in and view how this may look. This may make the video start in a smoother way, though it could also look unrealistic and not match the initial shot or story. Our group can experiment and only learn by using it with our footage. As part of reflecting I would also like to learn more about using Premiere Pro and challenge myself with editing for future project, for example the use of key-frames. 

Conclusion:

Overall I have been challenged across the film making exercises in terms of starting from scratch in situations such as screenwriting and not having as much experience when editing in Premiere Pro but learning from others around me in my group and through experimentation. I would like to work more with a camera in order to fully understand and incorporate all techniques and rules as much as possible to create a cinematic shot along with expressing the idea that cameras must be moved around to fit the action, and not the action to fit around the camera, in order to create a successful story. Future goals for projects therefore include challenging myself in various ways to ensure a story line is engaging and visually pleasing for audiences viewing. I would like to overcome my personal weaknesses within using cinematic rules and learning more on how to edit. 

180° rule

The 180 degree rule means that two characters must keep the same left/ right relationship to each other. The camera must be positioned between two characters in  a way which shows them having a conversation. In certain contexts, breaking this rule may mean characters will  both be looking in the same direction shown evidently in the background and will not make sense.

Things that went well in our experimentation with the rule included the location and composition of the frame. The two characters are viewed clearly and the timeline of shots makes sense. However, improvements must be made including the smoothness of the editing and audio. Therefore we could make the video look more natural & professional

Focus pull

The focus pull of a camera includes using shallow depth of field during a shot. The camera focuses on one main subject, then transitions to focus on the other subject etc. This effect may be done in film to emphasis something  important to the audience whilst also making sure they do not forget the background. It could also show two different perspectives, or focus on what one characters eye sees.

Though these clips do not fit into our script / match the exact composition of our tracking shot, I have taken videos which demonstrate the technique in order to have explored it in some way. The videos have allowed me to experiment using the technique and can be used as a recorded example to look back on if / when I am reflecting or would like to use this technique in other projects.