Co-op Hall first interview

These are photos that I took at our shoot yesterday. We were interviewing an old couple that used to go to the Co op Hall in the 1960s. During the day whilst preparing for the shoot we encountered some problems. First of all we were going to do the interview in the studio with a white screen for a background but we discovered that it was too loud in the studio to film as it was next door to the art room and people were making a lot of noise sawing wood. To overcome this problem we searched for another quiet location, we decided on using the upstairs of the library as it would be silent in there. We took all the equipment such as the lights and white screen down there and we had another problem! The white screen collapsed and unraveled, so running out of time we decided to scrap the indoor filming and do it outside as it was a nice day. Once we had gone to various locations to find a good outdoors place to film, we decided to film where the old college hall was. This location turned out to be very fitting for the interview as Joe (interviewee) used to come the college and also had an old photo of his class standing in the same location.

Filming and Audio Equipment

Now we had decided on the location we had to think about how we would film them, what cameras we would use and also what angles we would film them from. For this we decided to use two cameras, a Cannon 600d and a Cannon 5d, We set them both up on tripods and positioned the 5d at a straight angle to the front of the interviewee and the 600d to the right of them at a close up shot. By doing this we could capture there actions, gestures etc from two different angles and also this gives us a good amount of footage to edit cutaways into the final product. We also recorded our own sound using two different microphones. One was a zoom mic which we used as our external mic and the other was an external mic that we plugged into the camera so that we would not have to sync the two together.

Overall I would say that the shoot went well but there were some mistakes such as what equipment and different locations that we will learn from for next time. I feel like we got some really good footage and got the interviewees to answer some really good questions, and I hope that we get to do more of them and help towards the Co-op Hall documentary project even more.

Production Log

Production log

0-5- Opening shot is of Dave who is the artist and protagonist making a statement on his ideology of graffiti. He will be framed infront of a graffiti wall in the garden of the Railway Tavern pub. The camera will be at a low angle only getting his mouth in the shot.

5-10- Stock footage of graffiti on the news (mixture of good and bad etc Banksy)

Music to be edited with the footage with correct connotations.

10-15- hand held footage of the protagonist and my self walking to the location he has decided to paint which should be at Stoney Road. Music starts (Hip Hop).

15-20- Multiple panning shots of the wall protagonist will paint on at Stoney Road.

20-25- more footage from interview asking how he started, framed the same but containing cut aways of his hands or cutaway to a side shot.

25-30-Interview with some one affected by graffiti, shop owners etc. Framed behind the counter/bar if a business.

30-35-Close up shot of spray can when artist is starting to paint. Diegetic sound of spray can rattling and spraying.

35-40- Long shot of protagonist painting. Framed in the centre of the shot. Music starts (hip hop)

40-45- Interview footage asking if it’s an obsession whilst cutting away to show his hands again.

45-50-interview footage from some one affected Framed in front of location or in front of some graffiti if still there.

55-60-Stock footage from news of a graffiti artist that died on the train tracks. Non diegetic sound of music over the top but so you can still hear what the news reader is saying.

60-65-back to long shot of protagonist painting. Framed to the left of the shot so the other graffiti on the wall gets in the shot. Non diegetic music starts.

65-70-staged or real chase scene located at Stoney Road. Diegetic sound of running.

70-80-interview with him answering a couple of questions about does he get scared when he goes out in the middle of the night. Camera cuts away to side shot.

80-85-close up of protagonists hands with paint on them and different panning shots and hand help camera movements of graffiti walls located around Digbeth in Birmingham. Non diegetic sound from music.

85-90-footage of trains going past in a field that’s located at the bottom of my street (a lot of trains with graffiti on go past). Diegtic sound of trains going past.

90-95-hand held shot of walking through the field at the bottom of my street. Non diegetic sound of music.

95-105-interview with victim on if its affected their business. Framed behind counter/bar.

105-110-stock footage of what’s classed as vandalism (tagging). Diegetic sound of news reader.

110-115-interview asking why he does it. Cutting away to over the shoulder shot just getting his mouth in the shout.

115-120-shot of him showing me different pieces he’s done in various locations. Diegetic sound of him explaining where hes painted.

120-125- ill ask the protagonist if he has ever been caught or if he’s had any close calls.

125-130-panning shot of the wall as he’s painting it. Non diegetic music.

130-145- montage of lots of different shots with people painting graffiti edited at a quick pace with non diegetic sound of the song souls of mischief -93 til infinity over the top.

145-150-back to interview and asking if theres any political reason behind what hes doing or if he just enjoys vandalising stuff.

150-160- more close up shots of him spraying the wall at Stoney Road. All diegetic sound of the can.

160-165-Interview with victim asking them if they find any part of graffiti as art or whether they see it all as vandalism.

165-180- Another montage but of different pieces of stock footage that contain victims of graffiti. This is to show two sides of a story through two montages. Non diegetic music will be used over the top.

180-200- Interview with Katrina, a trainee police officer to get her opinion on the effects of graffiti and how it could be prevented.

200-205- interview with protagonist asking him if he ever feels bad for the damage hes caused whilst cutting away to a side shot or close up of the mouth.

205-210- Non diegetic music starts again with him painting  the wall located at Stoney Road. Filmed at a low angle.

210-220- Interview with land lady of the railway Tavern pub getting her opinion of graffiti and the people that do it as a lot of graffiti artists drink in there. Framed in front of the big graffiti wall.

220-225-panning shot of the graffiti at the Railway Tavern pub to show how good the artwork looks and how its not just vandalism. Non diegetic music.

225-235- A time lapse of the protagonist painting from a long shot whilst on screen graphics show stats taken from Nuneaton council on how graffiti has risen or fallen in the last so many years. Non diegetic music.

235-240- Final statement from one of the victims of graffiti to conclude their side of the story. All diegetic sound.

240-245- Final quote from protagonist to get his final say on the effects of graffiti. All diegetic sound until music starts to get louder at the end of the film.

Prep For Oxford Shoot

Prep For Oxford Shoot

This is an example of pre Oxford filming day prep. We all got together and discussed what equipment we would need for the day. Sammy then sent an email around confirming this just incase we needed anything else or forgotten  something. The whole day went really well and to schedule and this was down to planning.

Production techniques

Yesterday we went to Oxford to do some filming. Our main focus was to get some establishing shots, shots with high colour contrast, cutaways and getting some interviews using the boom mic. The day was successful and we got some of everything done. I think the shots that worked best were the establishing shots we did on the high street because its one nice fluid panning shot which can be used to set the scene nicely.