INITIAL IDEAS

 

When we were forced to abandon our group project and instead create an individual project, I was both rather nervous as I would be working completely alone, and also a little relieved as I wasn’t extremely confident in the product we were going to create before the lockdown was put in place. My fears were that I wouldn’t be happy with the product I was going to create as I hadn’t been happy previously with our products and that was when making use of great pieces of equipment whereas I would be working with my phone or a camcorder this time which was slightly worrying. However, I was excited as creative control was something I had been waiting to have for a long time and now I would finally be able to create a product that, although may not be of great quality, would be a work of my own.

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Before considering any ideas, I first began assessing the obvious limitations and listing things that I would have to consider given the circumstances. I immediately disregarded the idea of creating a narrative-driven product as I would be working alone and would have to be behind the camera. The first idea that came to me was to create a ‘Come to Henstridge’ video that used the conventions of a tourist video to satirise and bring attention to all of the negative aspects of where I live. However, I knew that to make this work, it would have to be perfect, and I wasn’t entirely confident that given the obvious restrictions, I would be able to achieve this.

 

My next idea was the one that I eventually decided to go with which was a documentary/ commentary on the village that I live in. When developing the idea, I had no intention of making it an expository documentary but instead something closer to a poetic or performative documentary that was personal to me and aimed to reflect a mood or a feeling instead of aiming to educate or inform as this would’ve been very difficult without a great deal of comparative footage and a certain level of skill on the editing software I was going to use.

 

I chose to proceed with this idea as it seemed the most suitable given the restrictive circumstances. It was a very simplistic and rather personal which seemed the most appropriate way to tackle the demanding deadline and the limited duration.

 

The genre of the film is probably somewhere between a poetic and performative documentary as it doesn’t focus on a dedicated topic nor does it aspire to inform or get across a singular message. It is much rather focused on getting across a mood and subjective personal opinions and experiences. The reason I much preferred this format as opposed to an expository, factually-charged, documentary was that the subject matter wasn’t suited to it given the circumstances.

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RESEARCH & PLANNING

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Given the very limited time given, (fourteen days) the ability to conduct research specific to the new product was obviously extremely difficult, if not impossible. However, the extensive research that I had already conducted and collected as part of the group project we weren’t able to create, was very relevant and very helpful. Specifically, the research that I had collected on the conventions and different styles of documentaries as well as the analysis I did of ‘Grizzly Man’ a documentary by Werner Herzog which I loved and learned a lot from, especially how to partially conceal certain feelings and sentimentality beneath the surface of a seemingly simple subject.

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Although I wasn’t able to conduct any primary research for the individual project, I was, however, able to for the group project. Before I began brainstorming or developing any ideas, I conducted a survey that I would use as a way of improving my knowledge of culture. The survey consisted of numerous questions related to culture and asked those completing it what it means universally as well as personally to them. I also included some questions surrounding the rough ideas we had at the time as a way of gaging which format and duration would be most suitable to our audience of thirteen to nineteen-year-olds. The responses given helped us develop ideas and further improved our understanding of culture.

 

The secondary research that I collected for the group project was very helpful to me when developing the idea I had for my individual project as, although a lot of this research surrounded the topic of our planned documentary, much of it was focused on the structures, conventions, and styles of documentaries which was extremely relevant to the product I intended to create for the individual project.

 

I was aware fairly early into the project that the visuals were likely going to consist of the country roads and fields that surround my village. Because of this, a film I watched in the hopes of gaining influence was Tarkovsky’s ‘The Mirror.’ Although this film is so obviously beyond anything I am capable of, to the extent that I hesitated to even mention it, the way that nature is used to create images of unparalleled depth was something that I thought might, at the very least, spark an idea in my mind.

 

The secondary research that I completed for the group project surrounded the subject matter and focus of the documentary. The topics I looked into were culture, race, religion, sexuality, and hate crimes. Although I was obviously unable to make use of this research, I did, however, benefit tremendously as it gave me the opportunity to learn a lot about important subjects that I hadn’t previously known a great deal about.

 

The validity of my research was something that was on my mind constantly throughout the process and was something I knew I would have to be extra careful with considering the possibly sensitive subjects that I would be looking into. This is why I tried my best to avoid websites that gave members of the public the ability to alter the information as I didn’t want to end up using inaccurate information or unintentionally offending the audience simply because I didn’t take the time to find the information from a more reliable source.

 

As I stated before, the ability to incorporate the knowledge and influence I had gained through my research was limited as a result of the lockdown that was put in place just before we were to begin filming for our group documentary. However, certain aspects of the research remained relevant despite the obvious change in the subject matter. For example, what I learned about culture, specifically what it means to an individual, was extremely helpful when considering ideas for the individual project as it allowed me to evaluate my own personal culture and how I could possibly incorporate it into the product I was going to create. 

 

It’s difficult to assess my research fairly, especially when comparing the amount of time that was spent collecting it, and my inability to appreciate the impact it had on my final product. However, I understand this wasn’t in my control and was obviously a result of the circumstances that forced us to switch projects and prevented me from putting my research to good use.

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THE PROCESS

 

As I said before, my intention was never to make an expository documentary full of statistics and pop-ups but instead to reflect a feeling. Exactly what that feeling was, I wasn’t entirely sure, but which, through feedback, I now understand to be one of melancholy. To say this escaped from deep within my subconscious would be perhaps a little too creative as the feeling of isolation was one that was impossible to avoid and one that I knew would be interpreted as a result of the content of my narration and the symbolism of the final image. I also believe the slow pace and my drab tones may have unintentionally implied a feeling of melancholy. As well as the cold visuals and the unavoidably desolate images of fields. However, the fact that the film was able to elicit an emotional response or at the very least allow subjective interpretations of my intentions, I consider the film, even if in a very subtle way, to be a success.

 

Given the circumstances, I fully anticipated there being numerous problems that I would have to accept because of the short deadline and the lack of equipment. I tried convincing myself to only focus on problems that were salvageable and not those that were caused by the situation in which I was making the film. This allowed me to, in some ways, eradicate my obsessiveness as well as dampen the pressure involved with working alone. 

 

Here are some examples of the problems I attempted to fix:

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1.  Camera shake

 

An issue that is present all throughout the film is the unsteadiness of the camera. This was caused by both my inability to find a tripod and the conditions in which I filmed most of the footage. I also don’t have very steady hands which I should’ve considered a little more before setting out to film.

 

How did I rectify this?

 

Although I knew I wouldn’t be able to collect completely steady footage, I attempted to rectify the problem in two ways. Firstly, I found the stabilisation tool on the editing software I was using, which was helpful in some cases but rather useless in others as it essentially just cropped the image and cut off a large chunk of the outer frame. Some of my footage was only steady for very brief moments before quickly reverting back to shaking badly. Another way I attempted to rectify this was by taking the short clip that was steady and duplicating it, reversing it, and then adding it onto the clip to make it appear steady for as long as I required it to be.

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2.  Lack of subjective footage

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An issue I noticed whilst editing was that the objectivity of the visuals didn’t at all match the personal and subjective content of the narration and that it desperately required a point-of-view.

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How did I rectify this?

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This was a problem that I was worried would present itself as I was working alone. However, I attempted to rectify this by collecting footage that had subjective movement. It was essentially just me walking with the camcorder out in front of me, but I believe this gave the visuals, at the very least, a hint of the subjectivity that the narration had.

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3.  Footage looking different

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When reviewing the footage that I collected after the second day, I immediately noticed how much different the new footage looked when compared to the previous. This was something I should have anticipated given the vastly different weather conditions but still couldn’t do much about at the time.

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How did I rectify this?

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The way that I attempted to resolve this problem was by using the colour-grading tools that the editing software I was using possessed. Although it was extremely difficult to get the footage to match the gloomy, foggy tone of the previous footage, I was still able to dampen the brightness and increase the contrast which made each clip fit reasonably well.

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FINAL PRODUCT

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I also experienced some difficulties that were not precisely problems but rather limitations because of the situation in which I made the film. An example of this was the obvious lack of good equipment to make the film with. However, I knew that the focus was on the ideas and creativity rather than the execution which removed some of the stress caused by using the equipment. I was very relieved when I found the camcorder as it gave me an alternative to using my phone which I wanted to avoid because my phone’s camera quality isn’t very good and I would’ve struggled even more at keeping it steady. Although I was happy using the camcorder, the microphone quality wasn’t very good which limited how reliant I could be on using the audio picked up through the footage.

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I wouldn’t say that time was a great issue for me as my film was very simplistic and I finished it rather quickly. However, the reason I decided to make such a simplistic film was because of the limited time given and so it could be seen as an issue in this sense.

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The only ethical problem that arose was when I was out filming and saw across the road, passed some form of a car park, were the bulls that I included in the film. However, I wasn’t entirely certain whether it was private land or whether I could cross it to get footage of the bulls. Eventually, I decided to cross it but very wearily as I was scared of being chased down by a farmer.

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I am entirely aware of the simplicity and the lack of variety in the types of shots used in the film as this was something that I had to accept very early on given the lack of narrative and characters. Because of this, the majority of shots used are wide shots and shots of specific objects that I thought were relevant to what I was saying in the narration such as the vandalised signposts and the gate at the very end of the film. Although the film could be seen as simply a collection of B-roll footage, the shots of fields and village roads were vital in creating the mood and feeling that the film did. Many of the images are rather melancholy and, to enhance this, I used the colour-grading tools on ProDirector, the software I was using, to add a blue tint. This gave the visuals the coldness and the feeling of isolation that were vital in successfully reflecting the atmosphere of the village I live in.

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The pace of the film is very slow, only interrupted briefly by the montage of passing cars. This disruption was followed by the cut to silence which was used to emphasise the contrast between the village and city. I also used a few dissolve transitions as a way of slowing the pace to how I wanted it. I believe the pace of the film was likely the most important factor in creating the moodiness that the film did.

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GROWTH

 

In terms of practical ability, this module has probably taught me the most, simply because I was forced to work alone and solve problems that I wouldn’t have previously. On other projects where I have worked within a team, the amount that I was able to improve my practical ability was limited to a certain extent because each group member was assigned a role, and working in the same group for a number of projects, these roles hardly changed resulting in a significant gap in my knowledge.

 

I also constantly avoided being put in charge of editing our projects as, more often than not, each of our opinions would differ vastly and this became frustrating. However, knowing that I would have to edit the film by myself and had nobody to make me question my decisions, I was able to learn so much more about editing.  

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When listening to established filmmakers giving advice to aspiring filmmakers, something I constantly hear is ‘go and make films’ but without the task we were given for this individual project, this isn’t something that I would have likely gone out and done, especially without access to good equipment. However, after completing this project, this piece of advice is something that makes so much more sense as, despite the amount of time spent reading books or studying various techniques, practical ability is something that can only be improved whilst working practically.

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I would say that my biggest strength throughout this project was my time management. And all though that is something I didn’t at all expect considering my previous projects, the strict deadline forced me to work quickly and not procrastinate as I had done before. The way that I managed my time also helped remove any pressure or stress related to the deadline. This allowed me to work calmly and not rush to get a finished product.

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A weakness that I expected to cause great problems during this project was my obsessiveness and my deflated motivation caused when things don’t go well. However, the way we were forced to conduct this project has helped me greatly as I knew the final product wasn’t going to be exactly how I wanted it, yet I knew not to focus on this or lose motivation because of this, and instead identify how I was able to rectify this and what I have learned from it. This is why I believe this project to be one of the most helpful. 

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CONCLUSION

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If I was able to do this project again, I would probably ensure that there was at least one central message or theme but still allow multiple interpretations as I believe my film lacked a main goal which led to the film seeming to have no specific intention. However, this was something that was extremely difficult given the two-minute duration I was told to aim for. Whether this helped it, I am not sure. But personally, this is something that I feel the film suffered as a result of.

 

Although it was a result of the strict deadline, something I would do if given the opportunity to do this project again, is to conduct more extensive planning so that when it comes to filming or editing, I know exactly what to do and what is required to improve the product or achieve what I set out to. I would also attempt to give the film a stricter point-of-view visually which is something I attempted to do midway through the project but was ultimately not very successful at.

 

Related to planning, another thing I would try and fix is how stable the footage was. Although at the time, I couldn’t find any way of doing this, looking back, there were maybe more available options than I had originally considered.