The Final Edit

Having chosen to import the tapes to my Mac, we decided to use Final Cut Pro to edit the 2 hours of footage into just 3 minutes. This at first appeared near impossible, however looking through what we filmed, we managed to narrow it down, slowly but surely, to the clips we liked best. There were disagreements at times, though we soon came to a mutual decision on the final piece.

Bellow are some screenshots taken of Final Cut:

Final Cut Pro

We organised all of our footage into bins, within bins, within bins. By doing this we found that when looking for the parts we wanted later in the editing process, we could find them instantly with ease.

Primary Bins.

Expanded.

Expanded further.

And even further.

We used Motion to add the title and credits, gradually changing the opacity to allow our names to fade onto screen.

Changing the opacity of the text.

In order to add a wind noise over the title and credits, we used Soundtrack Pro. Here is a screenshot.

The wind soundtrack.

We used some archive footage from films Mark has been involved in before, but we made sure we did not go over the 10% that we were allowed to use.

Archive footage.

The edit was a success and we are looking forward to our presentation on Thursday.

Reflection 4: Personal Critical Evaluation

Looking back over the whole production process for this assignment, there are many things I would change in regards to making the final documentary appear more professional.

Firstly, a huge point to make is that, as a group, we had planned to meet up the day before the intended filming to set up a practice shoot and to share our individual research with each other, combine our ideas and be critical with each other so we knew exactly what we would film on the day of the shoot.

However, on this day the weather changed suddenly and began to snow, changing everything we had organised. Mark was also available for filming on this day so we chose to film a day earlier. To an extent, I suppose it is only fair to say that we rushed, in order to get to the top of the Civic Centre 4 building before it either stopped snowing, or it got too dark to see.

Furthermore, having planned to film at an earlier point in the day, we hadn’t pre-booked lighting, thinking we wouldn’t really need it, as the footage would all be filmed in daylight. When we got up there, we found that soon the light began to fade and this became obvious when viewing the footage during the editing process. We perhaps should have used artificial lighting, however due to health and safety regulations we may not have been able to use them in such weather conditions anyway.

The light began to fade fast while we were up there.

Another critical error in the production was not renting out a buffer for the clip mic. We discovered soon on that the wind was a serious issue in terms of sometimes overpowering what Mark was saying. We managed to overcome this problem by both asking Mark to stand more with his back against the wind and also the use of a boom mic to record the sound simultaneously to the one on Mark’s jacket. In some respects the sound of the wind ironically adds to the story of the treacherous journey Mark has to travel, though we felt it detracted from the professional aspect we wanted to portray.

The boom mic proved useful in the end.

Additionally, while editing I found it incredibly difficult to find long, emotional pauses to use in order to allow the audience to absorb what is being shown and told to them. Sure enough, Mark has got natural pauses in his speech, as he is used to being in front of a camera, however, some of what he says is then instantly linked with another sentence, making some cuts hard to attain. Thinking back, we could have made it easier for ourselves by asking him to pause for longer or to perhaps not ask new questions directly after he had stopped speaking. Also, there are times when, during his speech, we offer encouraging utterances such as “yeah” and “uhm” which we should not have done, as we want the documentary to be about him, and his story of isolation. The fact that we interact with Mark at parts during the interview doesn’t support this.

Finally, during the shoot we couldn’t see it on the camera screen, but when it came to importing the footage to my computer, we found that a small black object that was part of the wall was in shot slightly. This was easily solved with the use of cropping on Final Cut Pro.

<- The part of the wall in shot.

Audience and Potential Screenings

This week I have been looking into where we could possibly screen our final cut of the Coventry People assignment.

To begin with this task I searched the internet for possible sites which promote short films. I started off looking into broadcast, internet, film festivals and cinemas as they are heavily regarded as main forces behind distributing films.

Firstly, in terms of broadcast distribution I found the website for Tarmak Films, a broadcast company based in Soho, London. They are extremely experienced within the industry and are dedicated to making high quality films and helping filmmakers distribute successful digital media. They have shown films on an array of channels, most significantly BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five and Al Jazeera English. They are currently working on producing the web documentary series ‘Love Lane’. Within their recent TV broadcasts I noticed the ‘King of Laughter: 3 Minute Wonder’ shown on Channel 4, therefore they are interested in screening short films.

In regards to web screening, I found another interesting website: Cinelan. Claiming to host the ‘world’s best 3 minute films’ and viewing some of the videos on the site I am truly impressed. Obviously the quality of videos shown on here are far ahead of those posted up on YouTube.

When asked “Why Three Minutes? they respond:

In connection to web distribution for our film, according to ComScore, the average online viewing time for video content is approximately 4.1 minutes.

Another possible screening location would be The BBC’s Film Network, whereby anyone can submit their own work on their site to be viewable by the mass public (after passing their content analysts). I viewed one 3 minute video on the site which captured my eye; entitled ‘The Black Hole‘ which I found quite funny. In terms of showcasing our documentary on the website, I believe this would be a good option to choose, as the viewing public can easily access the videos put up on there and the demographic would be huge.

Further research led me to the 3 Minute Film Festival to be held on May 22nd at the Lensic. The link can be found here. I took a screenshot of the rules for the competition.

The festival attracts thousands of aspiring and professional filmmakers, and with the level of competition here it is fair to say that submitting our documentary would be like a cat in hells chance, however there is always a possibility and a possible screening opportunity. Many film critics and documentary filmmakers will be in the audience for the viewing of these 3 minute films.

So, audience?

To distinguish who our potential audience is, I have taken a look at audience theory and researched genre and how genre attracts certain people to certain texts. The destination of any text is worth considering when creating and constructing a film; I find the way an audience receives and responds to a text is key in research production.

We aim for the audience to be active in response to our documentary, as we want them to be able to encode and decode the message that is being sent to them and interpret it the way they would like to view it. We found that during the interview Mark had natural pauses in his speech; it is these moments of silence that we want to use in order to express emotion and also give the audience time to absorb information. By this I’m not referring to the hypodermic syringe model, whereby the viewers are just fed information and told what to do with it, but possibly the audiences’ uses and gratifications and reception theories, where the audience is able to determine what they want to receive when viewing the text.

To sum up my evaluation, I suppose our intended audience is not for one particular demographic, category or group, but a wide range of different individuals collectively creating a whole. The documentary is made to appeal to all, not just those from Coventry for example.

Reflection 3: Research Production

Over the past few weeks, my continuous research has allowed me to feel much more confident in terms of producing a successful final product. The project is progressing fluently whereby now we are at a stage where we can create a suitable and interesting 3 minute documentary on our character.

Up until now my research has been mainly secondary, with the looking in depth at Mark’s website, searching polar exploration on the web and viewing some archive footage. However, since the shoot I have been looking more into the character of Mark, in comparison to his profession. This, I regard as an error on my part, as I believe I should have been looking into this in more depth earlier in the process.

I am currently focusing on researching documentary itself, looking at possible ideas from other short documentaries that I can put forward to the group as a whole and discuss what ideas we can adapt into out own final edit.

I am not worried about the footage we have taken whatsoever, as the shoot went extremely well, even putting into consideration the somewhat ‘rush’ to the top of the building to set up before it stops snowing or the light fades. My only concern is that we have too much footage and that it will be hard to trim it down to the 3 minutes we have been given.

Focusing primarily on this, I have looked at many online ’3 minute wonders’ including some from comedian Karl Pilkinton which I found amusing yet interesting in his style and format of portraying his views.

I found this particular video on street art from Channel 4:

Looking back to previous lectures, I have researched documentary maker Werner Herzog to find and elaborate on who, how and why he films the way he does. In particular, I have researched the way he likes to use local, ordinary people to portray the “truth”, using footage of them being themselves, as well as giving a role to play. Apart from eating his own shoe, he has achieved some amazing things throughout his time as a filmmaker; one that stood out most for me is his 1999 documentary “My Best Friend”, where he shows his unusual yet productive relationship with wild German actor Klaus Kinski. I liked how Herzog kept the camera rolling as Kinski went off on one of his mad rages, as it captured the footage that is most valuable to an audience; to an extent the ‘behind the scenes’.

Looking at both the 3 minute wonders on YouTube and Herzog’s documentaries, I have learnt that to produce a successful documentary one must go outside to box and create a piece that is different to many others. Like in the video above, I will be aiming to use cutaways of archive footage when editing to set up a template for the audience, so they can create their own character profile for Mark.

I am currently putting together a rough cut to show to the group.

50 Word Review

Having grown up in the urban jungle of Coventry, Mark Wood wanted to explore the world to an extreme. Going through the army and the fire service, he then chose to go further and experience the adventures of Polar Expeditions. From here he has chosen to attempt something no-one has ever done before… circumnavigating both poles back to back solo and unsupported. We question “Why?”

Filming – Day Two

On Friday we met up with Mark again, this time to take some details and video footage from him which he has given us permission to use clips from. We then went to the council building where we were given permission to access the roof of the Civic Centre 4 building.

Once up there we took some photos and recored some pan shots of Coventry. The view was incredible; we could even see Rugby and other nearby towns on the horizon. We took some amazing photographs too, but of course, due to health and safety, with there still being snow and ice still present, we could only be up there for about 30 minutes.

Filming – Day One

We had originally intended to film our documentary tomorrow, however with the weather conditions today we decided to take some footage in the snow, while on the 13th floor of the Civic Centre 4 building. Being critical, I believe the set-up was largely rushed, although the filming went better than expected.

The location was fantastic; we didn’t manage to get directly on to the roof due to health and safety, however we had access to the balcony on the highest possible floor, therefore an incredible 360 degree view of Coventry’s city centre.

Mark was more than happy to answer a few questions today for us. We gained some fantastic footage which we will be using in the final film. Is was extremely cold up there, enhanced furthermore by the strong winds and snow, therefore we only filmed for about an hour and a half.

There wasn't much room on the balcony to film, but we managed quite well!

The wind didn’t prove to be much of a problem in terms of effecting the sound, as Mark had his back to the wind while the tie mic was clipped to his front.

A great shot Alex took of us all in action.

The Second Camera

We believe the filming went well, and intend to meet up as a group with Mark tomorrow to do some more filming and collect some of his previous footage which he said we could implement into our documentary.

Group Photo

Reflection 2: Research Progress

My research has been advancing quite well. I have been doing some secondary research on my coventry character, Mark, and have found some extremely interesting things to possibly question him on when it comes round to the filming.

As well as his website, I discovered he has set up his own wordpress blog, which I am now following. He updates this regularly whilst he is on his adventures. His aim is to communicate with schools and universities from incredible areas of the planet and introduce young people to what he does. However, Mark is adamant that he is not trying to promote what he does, for others to copy, as it is a dangerous and solitary life to lead.

Here are some photographs taken from the top of the building we will be filming from later this week, Civic Centre 4. As a group we thought that filming at the highest point in Coventry would be ‘extreme’ enough for an extreme man.

The snow ironically exaggerates the fact that he is a polar explorer and enjoys the thrill of extreme conditions.

The view of the cathedral from here was outstanding. We wanted this to be our main backdrop for when we interviewed Mark, as it effectively portrays the fact he is from Coventry.

Incredible views of Coventry; we think these will easily portray Mark’s connection with the city for the audience. These visuals combined with what Mark has to say will really anchor down his roots as an ‘ordinary’ person from Coventry, but also as a thrill seeking adventurer who is attempting such an extraordinary challenge of setting an World Record.

Mark Wood – One Minute Brief Overview

The following one minute video is a reminder of who our character is, as well as explaining where we have planned to film him speaking about his life in Coventry and also his World Record Attempt.

In our group we decided that it would be best to find somewhere extreme to document/interview Mark, as it reflects his ambitious and outgoing career of being a thrill-seeking polar explorer. Obviously it would have been ideal to be in a snowy environment, however Coventry doesn’t exactly have snow to offer (although recently the weather has been a bit abnormal!)

We believed that by portraying his character whilst at the top of Coventry’s tallest point, the roof of the Civic Centre Four building in the city centre; we would be able to exaggerate his overwhelming interest in dangerous activities.

He has completely agreed to this and is fine with us interviewing him. Also the staff at the Civic building have been extremely helpful and understanding that this is for an important module for our course.

Our only possible problem would be the weather on the day of filming (planned for 19th February). Rain and wind would be catastrophic, however if it snowed it would really set the scene in terms of a interviewing polar explorer!

We have pre-booked 2 PDX10 cameras, 2 tie-clip mics, 2 tripods, XLR cables, tape, extension cables and boom mics; as well as this we have looked into the safety precautions needed to undergo the task of setting up the equipment on the roof. The manager at the Civic building is willing to sign a release form to allow us to film on the premises and is looking forward to our arrival next Friday.

Interview Planning

• What do we want to say about our character?

We want to explain that what he does, arctic exploration, and what motivates him to do it. We want to convey the emotions he feels towards such adventures and the mental strength required to achieve such a goal.

• What is the editorial hook or angle?

The World Record attempt. We intend to focus solely on his attempt and what motivates a thrill seeker such as Mark Wood to make such an undertaking.

• Decide on a visual treatment of the story.

We intend to intersperse footage from the Arctic with the footage of the interview on the roof of the Civic Centre Four building in Coventry’s city centre. We believe this outstanding, outside-of-the-box setting will not only reinforce his roots with Coventry, but also associate him with his adrenaline-filled, thrill-seeking career as an explorer.

• How are you organising each other as a research team?

We have been meeting up on several occasions discussing how/where we will film the footage and have all agreed on the decisions we have made so far. We have all done our individual research and blended them together in our meetings to create an interesting collection of possible ideas to use.

• Where will you find your secondary sources of research?

We have each been on Mark’s snowball expeditions website and viewed much of his work and previous expeditions. He also has his own blog, in which he updates regularly while he is on his expeditions or travelling around the world. We have been allowed access to previous footage which has been filmed of Mark, taken by Coventry filmmaker Steve Reynolds; some of this footage we have found to be extremely intriguing, which we may use, particularly during the closing credits of the documentary.

• How will you gather and order your research information?

We intend to collate it all onto this blog. Each of us will add information and research to the blog meaning we have a central place for all our research.

• What is the heart of the story that can be told in three minutes?

The heart of our story is explaining Mark’s inspiration to take something such as this on and to document his preparation. The passion he holds for the trip is a story in itself.

• Why would this appeal to your intended audience?

We think that something this impressive is appealing to many people – a story of inspiration and achievement. People from Coventry will also have added interest for obvious reasons. Mark Wood is from Coventry and therefore is of interest to people form the West Midlands.