Log 2 05/11/2014 - Today i have contacted a few interviewees and am waiting for a reply i have also looked into sending my documentary (when its finished) of to the BBC fresh web page. This will help my film and also i have completed several forms that are to be added to my pre-production folder.
Log 3 10/11/2014 - Today i have gave a small presentation of my idea and also I reviewed my fellow classmates ideas and gave some feedback. I have also received good feedback on my idea and this has built my confidence in my idea and i now feel that by the end of the week i can have my location and interviewees all sorted and then i can organise my production.
Log 4 - 17/11/2014 - I have spoken to the guys that run the Rude Grooming Hair Salon in Middlesbrough and they are willing to speak to me and help me with my film, i will have a conversation with the man who does beards tomorrow over the phone with the view to going over to them and filming. This is a huge step forward in my film as this moves me closer to the fact that i might have a location soon.
Log 5 - 25/11/2014 - I have been out today doing Vox Pops in the town centre and i have got 6 minutes of footage which i have already went through and cut down to 30 seconds and the footage is my first piece of footage for my documentary. Now I'm ready to move onto the Friday were i will go to the hair salon to film for a short while. For my vox pops i used a shot gun microphone as its fast to set up and i just need to point it towards my subject and i would get good and clean sound.
Log 6 - 26/11/2014 - Today we went out filming i was on camera for this member of my group and it was all looking good and it looked like this member would be the first to be finished when we got back to college we found that the tapes was broke so we cant capture the tape but we are going to go back there soon to rerecord, although a hiccup it is redo able. When it came to set up the camera top microphone, during the interviews we used the lapel microphones which were good for getting just the sound of the interviewee.
Log 7 - 27/11/2014 - I have guaranteed my location now and its looking really good. I am still stuck on the time and the date of whether or not i can film my interview and if not i may have to settle on just interviewing the manager and owner of the salon where i am going to film. I am currently working on my voice over script and on how long my voice over would last. I have been working further on my 30 seconds of Vox Pops to go into my documentary and i will get more footage tomorrow. Although I'm still nervous I feel that in a way its all falling into place.
Log 7 - 28/11/2014 - I have been down to the hair salon today Rude Grooming in Middlesbrough and i got 13 minutes of footage, including cut-aways, interviews and a short bit of footage of a man having his beard trimmed. I have arranged to go back on the Tuesday and i can say that i am feeling confident nothing has gone wrong and at this point I'm checking everything to make sure nothing can go wrong. When i go back i aim to get interviews with the owners and managers of the salon and when i get back i will record my voice overs. While i was at the salon i used the camera top microphone to gather some background noise to put over some of my voice overs and also what the camera sees the microphone will record the sound, its also easy to set up and once its on and set to the right settings you can leave it to do its job. I also used the lapel microphone for the interviews because its the best way of doing gathering sound for them as there is no background noise.
Log 8 - 2/12/2014 - I went down to the hair salon again today and i have got some great footage, I'm looking forward to editing my documentary together and making something out of this. I want to send it in to the BBC fresh competition which deadline is in January and I'm looking forward to trying to get my factual piece on their website. I have finished all the filming that I need to do although the rest of the week will be spent working on my fellow classmates work. Today when I went back down to the salon i took similar equipment that i used in the visit and i came out with similar great results. The sound equipment that i used was a camera top microphone and a lapel microphone. The camera top microphone was used to gather sound the cut aways and also for one interview outside because it had to be done quickly because the guy had to leave but the sound was OK we just needed to turn it up a little bit.
Log 9 - 4/12/2014 - today we went out on location to a vegetarian restaurant for one of my groups factual programmes, I was on sound for this production. We have brought a lapel microphone and a camera top microphone to capture background sound and the lapel for the interview. When we arrived the staff were expecting us although the restaurant was empty and none of the staff were vegetarian we managed to get an interview with a staff member. I made sure that we got background sound was captured and i made sure that the sound was OK or the interviews with the staff and that it wasn't to loud or distorted.
Log 10 - 5/12/2014 - Me and my group have now finished all filming today and from the looks of it all is well, I started the day working a little bit on sound while we were waiting for the final member of the group to arrive and i also did camera but because all the equipment went like clockwork then there was no problems. When it came to set up the camera top microphone we had some issues with the settings to get the volume up to the right level. During the interviews we used the lapel microphones which were good for getting just the sound of the interviewee.
Log 11 - 8/12/2014 - All footage is captured and we have found a few problems such as the sound in one or two clips isn't the best but this is a fixable problem but its something which will slow the editing process down. We are going to do some pick ups today on one of our groups work which isn't difficult at all since its in college. My editing is going very well everything is falling right into its carefully set out place. To say its looking good for me and my group may jinx it but the futures bright.
Log 12 - 11/12/2014 - I have been though all of my footage again today making chances and noticing different faults that have slipped through the net upon previous viewings. All looks set and ready for next weeks viewing of my documentary. I have also put on my sound and I have went through and edited the sound to certain parts of the documentary. After the last assignment about sound and the use of sound this has really helped me a lot on my and my teams documentaries because sounds makes an audience feel. I have also spent today looking for a soundtrack i have a few pieces of music that i am considering using and they will be put on my work to see what is does to my film and to what it does to my audience
Log 13 - 15/12/2014 - I have been through my documentary again to day to check over any sort of faults that i may have. I have taken parts out that i feel are boring and that i feel don't make any sense i have exported the film to the BBC specification and now I'm ready to show the film.
Soundtrack Blog
I have been through my factual piece of film and wrote down all of the musical pieces in my film and voiceovers using a sound spotting sheet. I have been through all of my spotting sheet and I've made note of all of the music and voice overs used in my film.
This is my finished Documentary please watch and leave a comment with your thoughts and views.
Conclusion
I think that overall, the whole production went well. This was a first for me as everything fell into place and all the equipment worked as I wanted it to and nothing stopped working or ran out of charge. The pre-production went well because once I had my chosen my topic well and the research i gathered from places such as the History Channel and the Movember website. In the production i had planned my production well and had no complications and i had a great team behind me. The post production was even more enjoyable for me as i had all the music I needed, and my voiceovers we're already recorded and this made the editing easier and faster. Overall i am proud of my finished product and i hope that i can match and then better myself in future ventures.
