Production - Crafting a New Shooting Schedule with George

Over the past couple of weeks, it has been important to craft a detailed shoot schedule for the upcoming months. I worked closely with George to ensure all of the dates would generally work for us as a team. Our biggest issue when creating this schedule was to respect Cailan's work schedule. He currently works 3 of the 5 mid-week dates which left us with issues when trying to create a schedule in which we could also visit University weekly to show our work to tutors and peers.

This restraint on the potential days we could film sequences meant George and I spent a lot more time than ideal to accommodate Cailan. This challenge means that we now shoot almost every Tuesday and Thursday until the end of March. Some contributors have now also said they cannot do their original days, meaning we are having to work when Cailan is not available. As can be seen in the current schedule below, we have also tried to fit in two sequences in one day, to ensure Cailan can attend these sequences and focus on being the director of photography. 

Currently, our contributors (Interviewees) are on the following days:

• 12th February: Daniel Rowbottom speaking about the basics of motorsport (How to prepare, testing, what to do on track etc)
• 14th February: Jamie Caroline speaking about the costs of motorsport
• 21st February: Team BRIT (Disabled Motor Racing Team) speaking about overcoming adversity and struggles to fulfil a dream and be a racing driver
• 22nd February: Katie Milner speaking about why strength and fitness is important in motorsport
• 6th/7th April: Michael Crees speaking about the equipment needed to go racing

All bar one day (The track/test day in the car I will be racing) is now confirmed. We are really happy with the contributors we have already arranged, but are continually looking to see if we can involve other drivers in some way. Our schedule is packed with shoot dates, but George and I found a way to fit in every segment, while mostly fitting around Cailan's work schedule. Ideally, we would not have had these restrictions, but careful planning has allowed us to mostly shoot on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Because of the issues we faced, working around Cailan, we asked as a group if he could drop his hours so give us a few more options when/if we get anymore shoot dates. We are aware that interview shoot dates could change and that is why we need further options, rather than just Tuesday and Thursday. Cailan has understood our issues and put in a request to work one day less. As we know this schedule will most likely still change, a further day could really benefit the professionalism of this project.

Overall, it took a long time to work out how to fit our 25+ test/shoot dates into just two days mid-week. But, as George and I spent hours figuring out possible options, we now seem to have found a solution. As the director, I would ideally not like to be so restricted as to when we shoot sequences. These restrictions could leave us with a number of pick up shots which would not be the case otherwise. I will detail in a research blog post "how to work around a limited/restricted filming schedule" where I will explore how to best make use of our limited shoot dates.

Production - Documentary Review: Danny Macaskill - Riding The Edge [RESEARCH]

My first research into documentaries for this unit has been "Danny Macaskill - Riding The Edge". It is a sports adventure documentary like mine, so I thought it would be great to analyse as I assume it has a lot of similarities to what I want ours to look and feel like. Danny Macaskill has some of the highest viewed sports-related videos on YouTube in which he takes a mountain bike to crazy areas of the world, this time it was the Isle of Skye on one of the highest peaks of a sheer rockface.

Link to the documentary: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04kntlk/danny-macaskill-riding-the-ridge

The first part of this documentary that really stood out to me was the use of its drone shots. Obviously, the landscape they are filming in is incredible, but the use of a drone shot in a documentary is one that allows the viewer to ease into a section of the film. The drone shot helps set the scene and that is very important when showing a journey with so much meaning. In this documentary we are based in the same area for the majority of the documentary, however, in our documentary, we have planned a number of locations which I will be visiting along my journey. I think we could use the drone we have available to capture a number of stunning openers to allow the viewer into each scene both cinematically as well as more naturally. After watching "Danny Macaskill - Riding The Edge", I have incorporated in drone shots into a number of our upcoming shoots, but highlighting the fact that they should all be unique so it does not feel similar from scene to scene. I also think we should be very selective of the drone shots we actually use in "DreamChaser" as we do not want to overuse this tool.

The voiceover used in "Danny Macaskill - Riding The Edge's" introduction allows the viewer into the story and gives them a brief overview of who Danny is, as a lot of the people watching will not know his background. I think this is also essential in our documentary as well as I doubt most people will know why I am going on this journey. Therefore, as shown in "Danny Macaskill - Riding The Edge", I will ensure that my opening voiceover is concise and to the point but also making sure it says enough about the importance of the journey. After all, this voiceover is what engages people with our documentary and I need to make sure it is right. This voiceover is also used to set up the documentary for the normal viewer, as they may not understand what the presenter is doing. In the case of Danny, his journeys around the world get crazier and the viewer needs to know why he puts himself through the pain and effort to make these movies. Typically, I will need to do the same for my documentary as, without set up, the general viewer may be confused about why we are going on this journey. This shows the importance of a voiceover and other specific pieces of information throughout, as without these the documentary is not opened up to the wider audience who won't know a lot of this information, unlike Danny's fans or my family for example. Once again, it is important that these voiceover sections do not drag on too much otherwise it starts to feel too factual and guided by the voiceover, which could lead the viewer to have a lesser connection with the person on screen. We need the key information from the voiceover, but a lot of the emotion and feelings come through the actuality seen in the documentary. This balance is key in making our documentary appeal to a wider audience.

One element which will be vital in our documentary being a success is the use of action cameras. I noticed that they were used quite heavily in "Danny Macaskill - Riding The Edge" as, without them, we are not able to get the perspective of the main contributor on screen. Danny uses a few cameras on his person when attempting his challenges. This point of view allows the viewer a very unique and somewhat terrifying perspective of what is happening. The use of these cameras allows the viewer to get somewhere they probably would never be able to go themselves, making these shots particularly powerful. These cameras also heighten the drama as the view shows us almost what the contributor is seeing and allows us to completely understand the risks he is taking. These shots allow the viewer to immerse themselves in the story. This shows me we need to utilise these cameras in our documentary to fully bring out the excitement of the sport. I hope to have two cameras inside the cars in every single track experience I take part in. These action cameras will hopefully be able to show the struggles I will have gone through in this process as well as my reactions or feelings in the car when driving. These shots will give us a very unique angle on the sport and used in conjunction with our exterior cameras, we will have a lot of fantastic footage at our disposal.

The backing track used in "Danny Macaskill - Riding The Edge" allowed the viewer to understand what we should be reading into the scene. Although the music backed up the emotions we were supposed to be feeling in this documentary, I think the creators did not spend much time on this aspect because it did not lead me to better relate to the piece. It feels as if the makers left the audio until the last moment, which means that the music and backing audio does not quite match what I would have expected for this documentary. This shows how hard it is to get the right audio for the documentary, which has led me to ensure that this is of high importance through our edit. The audio is half of our film and if we do not optimise this, then we could easily set the wrong tone. We aim to be working on the audio for our film in the next month which will allow us to have an idea about what sounds we should use to set the correct tone. I am excited to work on this aspect as I have often not paid as much attention to audio in my projects as I would have liked. This challenge will be one to test my skill set and that's very exciting for me.

The actuality in "Danny Macaskill - Riding The Edge" allows the documentary makers to craft a genuine events cycle in this documentary which allows the viewer to feel much more connected with Danny. This actuality shows Danny for who he is, without a lot of the editing which goes into his YouTube creations. I personally felt this actuality allowed me to understand Danny and think about why he keeps going on these crazy missions. This connection kept getting stronger throughout the documentary and I realise how important authentic actuality is in a documentary like this. Therefore, my plans for "DreamChaser" going forward are to record as much actuality as possible on the shoot dates. This footage can be used to show my journey in the most authentic way and I am sure it will allow the viewer closer to me because of it. I personally feel the camera operators should be recording as much as they can as it allows us to have options in the edit. We have the batteries and SD cards to ensure this is possible, so it is down to the camera operators to ensure we get all the shots needed. My plans as a director are now going to be more in-depth and stress the importance of capturing these shots as well as the structured parts in which I speak to the camera operator about my experiences. They can be used together to allow a wider perspective on this story.

Some of this actuality includes the crew in the shot, in "Danny Macaskill - Riding The Edge". I was unsure if this was planned but I think it worked for this documentary. This is because the documentary is as much about its creation as Danny's adventure. I had thought about including the crew in my documentary, in scenes where they are clearly in the shot, but after speaking to Simon in pre-production I took it out of my plans. I understand why Danny has allowed the crew to be visible in this documentary but I personally feel it takes away from the journey he has been on, as this 30-minute documentary includes as much of the crew as it does of him. This somewhat subtracted from the story for me as it took the emphasis off the challenge Danny is completing. I think I made the right choice not to include the crew in my plans, at least on screen. I think it is important that we hear both the D.O.P as well as the producer as it allows questions to be set up and for me to answer those in the most natural way possible. I am going to stick to my original plans, even though "Danny Macaskill - Riding The Edge" did tempt me to reconsider my plans from pre-production. Without being vain, the documentary is about my journey and if we introduce too many characters into it, we may lose the story and the meaning of it. Therefore, we will keep me as the main contributor and include a few along the way, but it is better for the documentary if we keep the crew out of shot at all times.

Finally, the sense of danger really comes across in "Danny Macaskill - Riding The Edge". This is thanks to breathtaking visuals as well as powerful audio. It is clear to me how important it is to mix these two together to create a strong piece. Missing one or the other will detract massively from the story and I want to ensure both are given as much thought. This controlled danger is thanks to time spent before the shoot working out the angles which make these scenes as visually interesting as possible. This puts pressure on me to go out and scout locations as well as complete test shoots where possible, to ensure the visuals we get are powerful and heighten the drama in our project. This danger comes through also thanks to the music, as it heightens the messages being shown in the video. The importance of music is unparalleled and without this, our project will surely have less impact. As explained, I will be ensuring we have the right audio for our project and I have decided, thanks to this research, that we ought to plan further test shoots to ensure we are in a good place for each sequence. This requires much more effort, but I feel it is definitely worth it to ensure we have a documentary with both stunning audio and visuals.

This documentary research has been great in enlightening me about how we can ensure our documentary is one with power and meaning. I have realised the challenge ahead of us and have dedicated myself to ensuring that we partake in extra practice days as well as more location scouts. This will allow my plans to be more detailed and allow the crew to understand what is required of them. It certainly highlights that this project is a team effort and I am excited to get to work with the rest of our filming. After reviewing this documentary I have taken onboard a lot of advice and changed my workflow which has been spoken about above. This will allow this documentary to be one which we are all very proud of.

Production - Team Debrief [Monday 28th January]

On Monday we needed to have a group conversation about how the weekend went as well as understanding what we can improve on going forward. It was a hectic three days, with the dissertation hand-in on Friday, Race license on Saturday and the karting sequence on Sunday. This was very early to be shooting key sequences, but as a producer, George decided he wanted to get the race license scene completed as it was the least predictable.

Having a chance to view the majority of the footage that was shot over the weekend allowed me to come to our group conversation with a few notable points for discussion. We had agreed as a group not to take any critique to heart, as it was all about improving ourselves and creating the best project possible.

My questions & topics of discussion for this initial team meeting were: 

1. I thought Cailan's footage was great on all three shoot days, he had followed my sequences very well and had got the majority of shots I had asked for. I thanked him for his efforts which ensured we have a lot of possible cutaways from his camera.
2. I felt the Karting PTC  that I did was not very natural. This along with questions that did not allow for great answers meant we will need to re-shoot this sequence. I  was disappointed with myself in that I did not liaise with George about these questions. Even though we want a natural and honest reflection on the circumstances, what is said needs to hold value and I think I could do a lot better in this instance.
3. A few of the miscellaneous sequences involving the race license should be re-shot. This is typically only obtaining some extra B-Roll, rather than any PTC. Apart from Cailan and Jon (My friend who is a great camera operator), we did not obtain much worthwhile footage from the other two cameras. I have expressed my disappointment George because we cannot re-shoot me doing the license so we will have to work around the lack of on-track footage. 
4. I was getting worried about the contributors and locations as of right now, we do not have any bar myself, my Dad and Sam [My race team mate]. I have told George that while it is my job to pick the people we want to include, it is down to him to sort out how and when these will be filmed.
5. I brought up that we needed to definitely scout the diary room sequences in the next few weeks. I have put George in contact with a race team owner who hopefully is allowing us to film in his car garage. The dates for shooting are yet to be finalised, but a test beforehand is vital.
6. New opportunities have arisen, meaning we could have extra sequences where I am driving a car on the track. Both would be at Brands Hatch allowing me to have more knowledge of the track before racing, as well as allowing further opportunities for us to craft cinematic sequences. These are yet to make it into the script, but I want to speak to the group about how we could include these, as they are great opportunities. 
7. I wanted to work on the schedule with George, remembering to try and cater for Cailan's availability, as he currently works MON, WED, FRI. This is fine for the most part, but there will be a couple of events that involve us shooting on those days, and which he needs advance warning to book them off.
8.  I wanted to give George some interview footage I already had, allowing him to show me how he would edit an interview, as well as telling me what other shots he would like to make the scene more interesting.
9. I had thought about the audio, as we had not used a clip mic for the majority of the stuff we had shot so far. I realised that the audio quality was not perfectly clear in all areas. This led to me bringing up the point that we should probably always record with a clip mic, as then we will always have clean audio.
10. Also, I just wanted to mention to George that we would need to book out kit ASAP, as Ferg had already said the track and dolly were booked out for a large segment of February.

Notes from Meeting

• It was decided we would re-shoot the karting sequence on February 24th [Sunday] which would allow us to shoot the PTC where I speak about my memories of this track and what it means for me. Before we re-shoot these, I want to clearly plan out exactly how this scene will look and sound. The reason for this being, our last take did not fit the tone that is being set throughout our documentary. The fact that this is an early scene means that the tone needs to be right, or it would really throw off the viewer. I will also be subtly adjusting the questions to ensure they give me the opportunity to naturally speak about how I feel about this track, expressing how important it is to me. 

• As a group, we realised that we could have benefited significantly from further camera tests before one of our big shoot days. The karting footage genuinely looked great and we have a vast amount of coverage. Brands Hatch, however, was a struggle due to a rapid change in circumstances. The fact we did not have trackside access also massively hindered my plans. As a group, we should have been proactive and done a shoot without trackside access just in case, but sadly we did not find the time when we were all free, alongside writing the dissertation. The main issue here was that we organised a key sequence too early and did not give ourselves enough time to plan accordingly. The footage we got there was still good and I am happy with what we got, I just know it could have been better. Going forward I have now currently scheduled 5 extra days just for recces and practice shoots before we shoot the real sequences. This will allow me to become the director and understand what shots work and which ones we should avoid. While this was a slight oversight, thankfully we are still very early on into the project and we have been able to learn from our mistakes.

• We noted that we had missed a couple of miscellaneous sequences over the weekend, that did not need to be filmed on that day, but would have been useful to prevent another shoot day. This goes back to being rushed while planning, as I had my mind focussed on the dissertation and creating camera lists. To help ensure we filmed every shot we needed, I should have made it clear that the shot list below was not a guide, but was all the VITAL shots needed to be captured. As we did a good job at allowing me to focus on the examinations rather than be a director, I honestly don't know what I could have done to ensure all shots where completed. Maybe some communication with George ensuring the shot list was being used, should have happened at some point during the day. I admit I was very much "In the moment" which meant I was not really thinking about creating a documentary, rather focusing on the test. It worked as we captured some very natural shots and I passed! 

• Furthering a point from earlier, we should have not allowed ourselves to get into the situations that we found ourselves in over the weekend. George should have read his emails, ensuring we had trackside access. Cailan should have followed the shotlist and spoken to George. I should have also spoken to the team before the shoot day about the importance of coverage, as we left Brands Hatch with much less than we wanted. This has made us realise that we need to push harder and understand the possible issues sooner. Further knowledge would have allowed us to not run into these problems, which would have left us with more opportunities in the edit. 

• A little side note was mentioned: We need to film the behind the scenes videos for our Kickstarter backers. This is a reward we gave for people that donated £10 or more towards our project. These will be weekly or bi-weekly videos published exclusively for these donors. We need to stay on top of this to allow our supporters to have the content we promised in the fundraiser. This is something that will not be pushed to the side and will become a weekly task as a group to produce these videos. It is an exciting outlet for our documentary that will allow us to share scenes and sequences that may not be included in the final cut. 

• We spoke about the diary room sequences which allowed me to think of some key items that we want to include in these sequences. Stylistically I know exactly what I want from the diary room, along with the message I want to put across. My biggest hurdle was knowing what items would hold the most significant meaning. Old pictures where always the plan, but I think we can involve some other props that could help create a stronger meaning. My ideas currently are: My first karting helmet, First race suit and possibly my first kart trophy. These would be further visual clues to how much I love motorsport and why this dream is so important to me. We will test out how best to involve these props in our test shoot for the diary room on the 7th February. For this test shoot, I will also be producing detailed camera plans and shot lists to allow the team to understand my vision. Any issues can then be sent to me which will allow me to change things before our actual diary room sequence on 7th March! 

• It was also mentioned that we need to incorporate an establishing shot for the majority of sequences throughout our documentary. These quick shots will allow the viewer to establish where I am and what is happening. This was an initial oversight in my original script and I agree with the team that these need to be accounted for. I have now written down ideas for scenes that need an establishing shot into our script. I will also be testing out with my own drone, how best to create an effective establishing shot. Not all establishing shots will be using a drone so I want to practice how else we can craft an establishing shot. This has been added to my plans for our upcoming test shoots and I can reveal the findings in a later blog post.

• Lastly, I raised the point of contributors, as currently, we do not have many. Only myself, my Dad and Sam. We have plans for 5 interviews in total, none of which have currently been confirmed. I have a strong lead with a touring car company who is also sponsored by one of the companies we have partnered with. This tie-up is not confirmed but I am liaising with George about how we further this idea. Billy Monger and Natalie both declined our request for an interview, which was a big hit for our project, but one we did expect. I have spoken with George about a number of other fantastic contributors who we could include, who have not let a physical or mental barrier prevent them from racing. George is in discussion with a number of possible interviewees, but as progress is slow, I may not know who is up for an interview for a while. We also have 3 generic interviews with racing drivers that we want to conduct. As mentioned in a prior post, we have contacts at Team Hard who are willing to be involved, but no final interview has been scheduled. I also really want to include a female driver in our documentary, and one of these interviews would be a great way to go ahead with this. Over the coming weeks, a lot of these details will be sorted, and a strong communication line is present throughout the team, especially between myself and the producer. This means that issues are being sorted and we are getting all of the resources needed to complete this project. I have set a deadline of mid-February for when all contributors need to be confirmed. It will then be vital to organise shoot days as quickly as possible to ensure the drivers are actually available.

Production - Creating A Powerful Doc & Adapting To The Unknown [RESEARCH]

Adapting to the unknown seems to be a vital part of creating a powerful documentary. I wanted to conduct some research into how I can become a better team member by knowing how to react in situations that do not go to plan. I want to learn if these situations are actually beneficial to the project as well as how to adapt to scenarios that could change the story of our documentary if that were the case. This will also help me ensure we are creating a powerful documentary with a very personal story.

I started my research by looking into an interview with Michael Moore, an esteemed documentary filmmaker who has continually created powerful and successful documentaries. In an article written by Moore in 2014, he states: "Don’t tell me that nuclear power is bad. I know it’s bad. I’m not going to give up two hours of my life to have you tell me it’s bad. All right? Seriously, I don’t want to hear anything I already know". (Indiewire, 2014) This thought made me question some decisions that I have made for our documentary. I thought that I had possibly made some areas of my documentary too much like a "How to do motorsport" style which could both bore the viewer and give them the information they already knew. An example of this being, "Motorsport is hard". Most people may think or know this already, so telling them it is hard would be boring. We can make this point interesting by showing the challenges someone would face as well as the personal toll it takes. However, our documentary is focused on what it takes to achieve your dreams and from that aspect, we are not telling people something they already know as it is a personal journey. That being said, we need to touch on some of the basics to ensure our documentary has a solid base and this means we need to highlight some of the challenges. The way we best engage our viewer is showing the hard truths about motorsport along my journey and together they make the documentary a special event. We gauge the interest of motorsport through reflective sequences with myself, but then understand the challenge through external collaborators. We will then have further reflective pieces to see how I deal with the challenges. Overall, we need to touch on a few basic areas but they will not be the centre of this documentary as that would probably lessen the impact.

An interview with Brian Cox shows the importance of powerful documentary film making. It helps me realise why I should be spending so much time getting together the right contributors as it will allow for this documentary to have more meaning for the viewer: "In an age when television drama is predictable, docs offer us real, often alien voices. They also fill some of the void left by the emptiness of much television reporting ...  somewhere between journalism, film narrative and television entertainment. They appear to thrive on contradictions, between the stubborn reality they purport to capture and their necessarily limited means, between the impositions of storytelling and the desire to interpret or analyse." (The Observer, 2011) This allows me to understand how powerful our documentary can be. It can give a viewer an honest reflection on chasing their dreams, this is something that is often not talked about. This could be due to a lack of motivation for people to follow passions or because they cannot dedicate the time to it. A prime area which we are going to hopefully show in "Dream Chaser" is that you can do something if you dedicate your time to it. We achieve a powerful outlook within our documentary by allowing the viewer into who I am as a person and showing the hard decisions that I will have to make on this journey to make it a reality. I believe our documentary can be incredibly powerful and it is our job to film it in such a way that ensures the viewer can connect to me on such a deep level. Without this connection, it means a lot of the trust needed from the viewer will not be present, meaning our documentary would be lacking a powerful tool.

The problem with some of the documentaries that I have analysed in pre-production was a lack of a vision to tell a story, rather telling us something for the sake of it. Col Spector wrote: "At the end of a day, a great documentary has to have a strong vision, and that vision informs every creative and editorial step along the way... Your music guy has to share your vision; so does everyone else in the process. Only when everyone is on the same page can the documentary achieve its intended goals." (raindance, 2011) This allowed me to consider how Cailan and George would be working within "Dream Chaser". They do not have a distinct passion for motorsport which could easily lead our documentary to not have the grounding it would if made by a crew of motorsport fans. As I want this documentary to be a powerful one which allows the viewer into my life, I thought it would be very important to get the crew up to speed with the basics with motorsport, otherwise, it would be easy to miss a lot of key areas within this journey. Over the past week, I have been speaking to the team about motorsport and the key areas we should be focusing on in the plans as well as future shoot dates. This started by looking at some of the footage from the Race License and examining what we could have done better in that sequence. My thoughts from that can be seen in that blog post, but I was determined to ensure my crew knew as many motorsport related facts as possible. I have gone through these with particular reference to Brands Hatch, the track it looks like I will be racing at. This information should allow Cailan and George to be in a better place going forward and I trust them to capture ever better sequences, even though the License Day was a good start. I am excited to help them along this journey. I hope they dedicate time to learning the sport somewhat, as it will allow the documentary to go deeper, which will ensure its success.

I now wanted to think about what I should be doing as a crew member if things were to change along this journey and, for whatever reason, something significantly affected the storyline. I want to know what I can do to adapt to these changes and this research will allow me to take a methodical approach with any issues that may present themselves.

The first part of useful advice that I came across was by PremiumBeat which suggested "Take real inventory of your surroundings and your resources. Still try to creatively adapt, but make sure your documentary film is practical.... Documentaries are much more than just interviews. The real meat of many documentary films is found in the coverage and B-roll which merely uses the interviews as narration. Your subject will dictate what types of coverage are most important" (PremiumBeat, 2016) Our documentary is going to include a number of scenes where the camera operators won't know exactly what is going to happen. We've already had a case in which the camera team did not acquire exactly what they should have due to an issue like this. The race license sequence did not work as planned as the camera crew had not thought about all the possibilities. This led to us getting a number of rushed shots when in reality the camera crew ought to have been ready. We have learned from this issue as a team and realise the importance of time management now. This means that going forward the call sheet provided by George should not be seen as gospel, the crew need to arrive earlier than expected and must all expect there to be changes with the call times. Thankfully the sequence recorded is only going to be a 2-3 minute section in our documentary and we should have that covered with what we have filmed. However, the choices we have available to us in the edit will be fewer because of management on the day. The crew still managed to get b-roll which will enable us to make something of this sequence, even though I realise it is not as good as it could have been. For myself, going forward I need to continue to relax into my role as a contributor as it will allow my on-screen presence to be much more natural. I was worried about the creation of the film too much on this shoot date and that is partly down to not yet building up enough trust to let go as a director. I am certainly improving but I realise it is going to be hard to hand over all of this control, especially when I know exactly how I want these sequences to be filmed. Thanks to this advice, I have improved my plans for the upcoming shoots, ensuring inclusion of finer details with mentions of the important key shots which will be needed. I hope this addition will allow the crew to work at their best and allow me to relax into my role.

Some of the natural panic I felt within the license day may have actually led to the sequence being more true to life than if we had filmed exactly as planned. As we were all rushed as a team there was little time to make perfect shots, we filmed the actuality at the moment. While I am visibly a little stressed in this sequence, I believe we did capture a natural events cycle from the day. "Preparing for how to make a documentary is about laying out what you need, and being open to the natural changes that emerge." (studiobinder, 2018). While we all admit to not performing at our best on this first shoot date, I think it is fair to say that, thanks to the quick decision making by all, we managed to obtain enough footage for a sequence. I was still being asked questions as if I were the director on the day which meant that I had to forget about being a contributor when off-camera. I made the decision on the location of the camera crew on the spur of the moment before we had to go and do the license which was much earlier than expected. I feel that this decision was done with good intentions to ensure we still had enough footage to create a sequence, even though we were caught off-guard. Even though the crew and I admit we could have done better, we all adapted at the moment and pulled off the sequence. The crew got enough shots and I passed my license test. Really, those were the two main outcomes we wanted from the day and we achieved those. Saying this, going forward I would like the crew to be making more decisions without me, as it would allow me to settle into my role as contributor and I feel being a natural contributor is very important for this documentary to be a success. As mentioned above, we have all decided that we need to go into further detail with our plans before shoot dates as this means that issues like this will be less likely to happen. And, even if they do, we will be in a much better place to understand how to deal with them as all of the possible information needed will be in front of us.

My final piece of research material led me to think that a lot of what is great with a documentary is the fact that things may happen which are out of your control. However, instead of taking these as negatives, evolving your story around them actually makes it a more compelling watch. "You see, as your documentary process evolves over time, you might just find that the film you set out to make has grown into something more. Go back to the story points you identified in your original outline and try and identify the footage and interviews that you have that will fit those points. Don’t be afraid to play around with the outline at this point. If a certain scene or interview that you shot was originally supposed to be at the start of the film, but now you believe it will be more compelling at the end: do so." (filmlifestyle.com, 2018). This somewhat changed my outlook of the events on the license day. I know it did not go how I wanted it too but that is now part of the appeal of that sequence. Even though areas are rushed, we captured some great actuality and it was possibly more authentic than planned because we were so rushed. It is clear that adapting to the unknown is part of what makes a documentary powerful. Ensuring moments of actuality are not staged in any way allows the viewer to connect to me as a contributor. This does not mean I will say to the crew "just film whatever I do". I will be making sure that I address more outcomes in my plans to ensure that if something unpredictable does happen, the crew know how to react to it. If they have a reference for how these moments will be filmed, it will allow our documentary to look visually fantastic while not disrupting the actuality and journey that I go on. It is very important that the crew film substantial footage on days like the license day, upcoming test days and the race, as without these shots, we don't get the full picture. I have full trust in my crew to learn from the issues we have had and move on to create a very powerful documentary.

I conclude this blog by realising that adapting to the unknown in a short space of time is what makes a documentary special. If everything goes as planned then we could have a pretty boring documentary. I can plan possible outcomes and shot styles but in reality, it is down to the camera operators on the day to take my work and adapt it to the situation. This way we get a cinematic style without losing the integrity of the story. I know I can create better reference work and I have already started planning for our upcoming shoots. I have spoken to the crew about what they would want from me on these days to ensure they know what they are doing. These plans will allow each shoot day to be a success, one which progresses the story. I am excited to see where this journey takes us, we do not know what hurdles we may find along the way but the way we plan before each shoot date will enable the crew to adapt to the unknown. Essentially, the plans made beforehand ensure that the shoot day ends with all of the required material. I am happy to know what I can be doing going forward and I have complete trust in my crew to film it the correct way. This will also allow me to relax into my role as a contributor which can only be of benefit to the documentary. Exciting times are ahead and I'm looking forward to seeing how this journey plays out.


References:
Indiewire, 2014: https://www.indiewire.com/2014/09/michael-moores-13-rules-for-making-documentary-films-22384/
The Observer, 2011 https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/mar/20/documentaries-brian-cox-nick-fraser
raindance, 2011: https://www.raindance.org/5-simple-mistakes-documentary-filmmakers-make/
PremiumBeat, 2016: https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/a-complete-guide-to-documentary-filmmaking/
studiobinder, 2018 https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/how-to-make-a-documentary/
filmlifestyle.com, 2018 https://filmlifestyle.com/how-to-make-a-documentary/

Production - SHOOT DAY 3 [Go Karting] + Kart Sequence Test + South Downs scout

Our third shoot day was yet another busy event. The day after the race license we had planned to obtain footage of me karting, as well as testing the piece to the camera which we intend to shoot at a later date. Like the day before, I worked with George in the week up to the shoot date to organise an effective schedule. This schedule can be seen below, which left us time to capture all of the karting footage alongside practising the piece to camera and a location scout of the South Downs at the end of the day. (This was another location we intend to use and was close to the kart circuit) We were making the use of our time wisely, as we knew Cailan was not available for a lot of days because of work.

We all arrived at the track for 11:45pm and proceeded to walk the track as a team and decide the camera locations. This was a great opportunity for us all to understand the creative vision of this scene and which areas would provide the shots needed. We would have liked to have scouted this location before the day, but Cailan's work schedule along with University meant this was not an option. We spent 45 minutes plotting the camera locations (4 different locations for Cailan, 3 tripod shots as well as two action cameras located around the track. We had 5x 5 minutes sessions to get all the footage we wanted.

George took control of the drone (Because it was his drone and he knew how to use it) for the first practice session, while Cailan drove the kart. We really wanted a mixture of drone shots to use, so this was important. Cailan would still have four sessions to obtain footage with a moving camera. After George completed his drone footage, he packed up and took over Cailan's kart, while Cailan proceeded to get to his first location. Looking at George's drone footage, he did not quite capture the excitement from the race that I was expecting. Thankfully we are in a position to re-film these shots at a later date. We have intended to re-shoot these drone shots on Sunday 24th February. I did give George a list of shots he should have captured, but he struggled when the pressure was on. We have decided more practice is needed before we re-shoot this sequence, as these shots can add another dimension to this karting sequence. 

Cailan changed position for each of the four races as decided on our track walk. Each shot captured a different part of the track and enabled each shot to be very unique in its own way. I had shown Cailan some reference material I had shot at this track in the past, to allow him to understand what I was expecting. The shots Cailan created gave a great sense of speed, allowing the viewer to understand why people find karting/ motorsport an exciting sport. I was impressed with Cailan as he followed my reference material well but also chose to film at his own angles when he thought they would benefit this sequence. This has allowed us to have a wide range of footage for the karting sequence in which we will need a lot of cutaways to overlap when I am speaking. Overall, Cailan and the cameras placed on tripods around the track captured a great variety of angles, which leaves us in a great position going forward. 

While it was a less stressful sequence to film than yesterday, Cailan had clearly taken on board the feedback I had mentioned, meaning that he kept rolling, ensuring we have more footage to cut around. The majority of the shots were clean and in focus so I look forward to seeing a test sequence along with the test PTC we recorded after racing.

We wanted to test the PTC sequence before we actually filmed it on the 24th February as we had learned from the issues experienced on the license day. We did intend to film the actual PTC on this day, but we decided testing it first would allow us to understand how this sequence would look, before shooting it for real. It was important we did this because I realised that I had not created the best questions, meaning the responses I gave for this segment could have been improved. This along with the positioning of the camera are going to be changed, as I feel the totally static camera throughout doesn't give the best impression of a natural scene. When we come to the actual PTC in February, we also need to capture a couple of cutaway shots of me putting on my racing overalls as well as parts when I am walking to the "interview point". These extra shots will be vital in allowing this sequence to have full coverage, ensuring the edit does not run into any issues with showing a natural sequence.

We did a practice PTC about why Filching Manor is so important to me. It was good but as mentioned, I was not a fan of the totally still scene. I little bit of movement or actuality would have allowed this scene to be more engaging. Therefore, I have changed the script and adjusted my shot lists so that we can film these sequence for real soon. This test shoot was very important and allowed me to understand how I actually want to shoot this scene. I liked the angle and shot size, but I feel more movement would have helped this sequence engage with the viewer in a way that makes it look and feel more natural. We have learnt from the mistakes of the license shoot day and it leaves us in a good position going forward, allowing us to have a clear idea of how we want this sequence to look.

As well as shooting and testing the sequence at Brands Hatch, we went to the South Downs to recce the location for a future shoot date. We got to the site and it was very windy and we did not have enough daylight hours to complete a proper scout. This was because we had overrun with the karting session, which meant everything thereafter was delayed. This was through no fault of our own as the people karting before us had overrun. Thankfully we can re-scout the South Downs as a team at a later date. We still picked up on some useful information in this scout, such as out of bounds areas and the potential for a lot of wind noise. These observations have allowed us to update the equipment needed along with allowing me to understand where best to film this scene on the Downs. The later location scout will allow us to cement the ideas and how we will film this sequence.

Today was a much more promising day, and we had clearly learnt from the mistakes made on the license day. Going forward we now have a clear idea of how we want to film the karting PTC as well as how we are going to tackle the South Downs scout. All of the footage of me in a kart looked fantastic and it is going to give us a lot of options when in the edit. I'm very happy with myself and the team, we proved how effective we can be as a team when we know exactly what we are doing. 

Production - SHOOT DAY 2 [Race License]

It was already apparent that my shoot days would be very different to normal directors, as I am in the film myself. I learnt a lot on Monday's shoot, which allowed me to relax into my role as a contributor and go about my business of trying to complete my racing license. As can be seen in prior posts, I spent a lot of time creating an in-depth shot list with all the key shots I wanted, along with detailed camera plans of exactly where every camera would be placed along with the shots needed. I have devised a schedule with George showing how we wanted the day to pan out. This allowed us time to understand the track as a team once again, while also ensuring we captured a raw and honest view of events.

Before starting the test, I wanted to film the build-up to this big moment. As planned in the script, George asks me a few questions about how I am feeling, while I am packing up before the race. This sequence went as planned and we got a nice and honest reflection of myself before I went into one of the biggest days of this journey. I was happy with my "performance" and I have gone back and reviewed this footage since, to understand what could be improved. While keeping this documentary natural, we also wanted to ensure it was as professional as possible, meaning plans should be in place for every scene. Looking back at this scene, I think the framing and natural lighting was what we needed. However, the audio should have been much better, we should have used a clip mic instead of relying on the shotgun mic on the camera. This was an oversight by myself and Cailan and we now know that we want the clean audio from a clip mic, along with audio from a shotgun mic which can capture atmospheric sounds. I am disappointed that we did not think about this before this shoot, but in a way, I am also thankful this happened on our first major shoot day, rather than realising at the end of a shoot week. This will now not be an issue going forward, as I will now always have a clip mic on when we are filming an actuality sequence.

 On the journey to the track I also aired some thoughts to the camera, this will give us a lot of possible opportunities in the edit. You can see from the picture that this is a very personal scene and captures a similar emotion to the one seen in my reference material. I am very happy that Cailan followed the material I gave him and replicated it well in this sequence. With a slight grade and audio adjustments, this scene is exactly what I was thinking of. Looking back on this, I do wish we had also used a clip mic, but as stated this is now something we know going forward and have ensured we have booked from the store for every new shoot.

We arrived at Brands Hatch for just after the originally planned 10am, because the actuality sequence took longer than expected. This was not an issue, however, as we wanted to capture a raw and honest timeline of my day, overrunning by 10 minutes enabled us to capture my honest thoughts instead of feeling rushed. Along with the car journey to the track, we also filmed actuality of my walking into the testing centre to sign on, collecting the equipment needed. Looking back, this footage is going to be very valuable in the edit and I am happy with what is shot. One criticism I have of the shots is that Cailan was constantly adjusting the shot, as the key moment was happening. He had a tendency to cut shots instead of continuing to film. After reviewing the footage I have suggested to Cailan that he continually record, as it allows us much more to use in the edit. There are a number of shots where Cailan is adjusting the camera, which doesn't help create a professional style to these shots. Along with this, there were a number of instances throughout the day, where a key sequence was happening, and Cailan would cut. I was a little frustrated with this looking back, as I had given clear instructions to "keep rolling" to enable us to get all the right shots. Unfortunately, this will be an issue in the edit and our lack of coverage in some areas of this day could hinder us. This day has allowed me to understand how the team operates and how we can improve. Knowing this has allowed me to change how I word shot lists and the importance of each scene, as well as the need for extra footage through the camera continuously rolling.

After signing on we realised a big issue that would massively affect our day. George had told me with confidence, that we had secured trackside filming, ensuring a closer view of the track. However, once asking at the media desk, we where told that this was not the case and under no circumstances would we be allowed trackside filming on this day. This was a big disappointment for me as I had taken the time to craft a shotlist and multiple camera cards, under the impression that we would have this trackside access. This changed our plans, but as I was the contributor I did not want to break my mindset at the time and worry about this. I wanted to stay focused and be natural when on camera. I offered suggestions to the team which allowed them to make the best of this situation, including new angles and areas to film without trackside access. However, as this was done at such short notice, it was impossible to know how these shots would come out, as my test was just minutes away. I was really disappointed in George, as his miscommunication of this meant I planned the whole day's worth of filming with the wrong impression of what access we could get. This was a big learning experience for myself and George, and I now feel that I have to be more active in helping George with arranging access. It was clear when reviewing the emails that George had made a mistake and that we could have got the right access if he had asked correctly. While this was a big issue and one that frustrated me, it is one we can learn from, meaning future dates are not an issue. George has realised his mistakes and has promised to keep me updated with further issues. This problem did mean we did not get the footage I required, but we made the best of this situation and still got some high-quality footage that will be useful in the edit.

While I was preparing to take my written test Cailan was following me, capturing the actuality as I was anticipating this big moment of this racing driver journey. Looking back at this footage, Cailan did exactly as I wanted, capturing moments on contemplation and concentration as I took the various written tests. We have a breadth of footage available to us in the edit for this written test, as the camera continued to roll. I was very happy with Cailan's work here as he followed my shotlist and reference material, which will give us a lot of choices in the edit. As we have a large amount of coverage it means that we can choose the best shots, instead of relying on a solitary one. Reviewing this footage filled me with confidence as Cailan did a fantastic job at securing all the vital shots, listed on my shotlist. He also went out his way to get further angles and actuality moments which will really help us in the edit.

However, another problem arose after I passed the written test. Even though we were last of the runners, to allow for setup time of our cameras, we still ended up being 90 minutes earlier than expected. As can be seen in the schedule, we had been advised by Brands Hatch that my driving license segment would start around 3pm, giving the crew time to go and properly set up the cameras, as well as our producer briefing an extra camera operator who came to help at around 1-2pm. However, we were called up for this sequence much earlier than expected, meaning everyone was rushed. George and Cailan did not have time to properly brief Laura, meaning she had little knowledge of what she was required to do. As this was the one and only time we could obtain this footage, the team being rushed was not a good start. Everyone had basically got to their positions in time for me to venture out on the track, but more issues did arise.

While the rest of the crew went to set up cameras around the track, Cailan and I went to the car and Cailan continued to film the actuality of my thoughts and feelings as I got strapped in. Cailan set up the action cameras as planned while I was briefed on what was happening. Looking back at this moment, we would definitely need George present in the future, instead of being on a camera. This is because Cailan should have been recording actuality instead of setting up cameras. (We could not set these action cameras up earlier as someone was in the car before I was). George should have set these action cameras up and helped Cailan obtain the best shot thereafter. Going forward, and after advice from Simon, George will not be using a camera for the rest of this project, allowing him to focus on his job as a producer. We would need him to be by Cailan's side at all time and it would be his duty to find any extra camera operators.

We had some issues with the action cameras while I  was doing my test as well. One kept falling off its mount, which was very unfortunate as it was the camera focusing on me. This same camera was also set up incorrectly by George (It was his camera) and only recorded 90 seconds of footage from my on-track experiences. Thankfully my instructor relaxed me as the camera kept falling off because he put it back into place. But this is where more rigorous testing of this camera would have been a massive benefit. I had questioned George to see if this camera was working, which he said it was. I did not want to continually ask as I did not want to step on his toes, but I should have forced the issue and tested the camera myself. The time lost when we planned to have a group meeting could have resolved some issues, but this was one that should have been brought up before the license day. It was my fault for not personally testing the camera to ensure it continually recorded, but at the same time I did respect George's opinion and did not want to frustrate him by continually asking if his kit was prepared. Since we realised this issue, we seem to have sorted the issue with the camera, as it now loops recording rather than stopping after a certain number of minutes (7 minutes). Going forward we also have prepared a more secure way to attach our action cameras, the issue was that the test car did not have a roll cage, so we had to rely on suction mounts which failed to hold the weight of one particular camera. Once again, a disappointing issue to have on the main shoot day, but I am thankful we knew this before we shoot the actual race sequence in April.

Unfortunately, our camera issues did not stop there. Both Cailan and Jon (One of our extra camera operators for the day) had a lot of success and followed the guidance I provided to get some fantastic shots. However, George had a lot of issues with his camera. As we did not have the trackside access I had been promised, his camera position was compromised, meaning he had to stand in an awkward position to try and replicate the shot. Unfortunately, this did not work and all of George's footage was out of focus and had metal fencing in every shot. This along with the fact that we had a damaged tripod meant George really struggled to get any worthwhile footage. With a tripod that was not damaged, George could have got shots similar to the ones planned, but this issue along with not having trackside access meant he did not get any footage that we can actually use in our project. As for Laura, she was running late and did not have a briefing session with the filming team before she was set to work. In hindsight, George should have walked through each shot with Larua. I am happy to accept blame for this as George asked me what he should do and I told him and Laura that they should get to their positions as quickly as possible.

With hindsight, I should have told them to get to the locations quickly, but then understand the shots that were needed before shooting. We got a good amount of footage from both their cameras, but little of it was useable. If I had been a little more relaxed,  I should have suggested that they worked together and framed up the shots perfectly instead of rushing to get any shot they possibly could. Overall, these two cameras had a number of errors that all linked together to mean we did not have any useful footage from the cameras operated by George and Laura on this day. I have learned that I need to be calmer in situations like this, I rushed to the decision that they quickly get to their location and just start filming. I should have told them to get to their locations then assess what shots they needed to capture. This would have left us with a lot more opportunity in the edit. Of course, this whole situation started because we were called up 90 minutes early to my test. Without this, I have no doubt we would not have had these issues. It was an unfortunate turn of events, but we now know how we would tackle this situation in the future. It was mostly out of our control, but I accept that I could have handled this situation better. As a team we should have thought about all the possible outcomes, this being one of them.


As stated, Cailan and Jon did get some great footage which will give us something to work within the edit. I was slightly disappointed that the key shot in which Cailan asks me if I passed/ failed is somewhat ruined by rain all over the camera lens, but at least we got the shot. It is an actuality sequence and as it was raining I don't think this would be as much of an issue.


I realised this issue as it was happening, but I did not want to break the immersion and say it to Cailan. As a camera team, everyone should have been more aware of the shot they were getting and what obstacles (barriers, fencing, rain on the lens) could be present. Overall, I think we may struggle in the edit, but we do have a lot of footage for a segment that will only last for about 90 seconds in our film. My issue is that the coverage is all from two cameras, whereas I have planned for it to be from four. I will see how this looks in the test-edit from George. This will allow us to understand if we adapt or shorten this sequence.

We recorded the last parts of actuality as I reflect on passing including possible cutaways of me walking to the car and driving back home. These were all nice shots and once again Cailan and Jon did a great job at capturing these, I was happy these were close to the reference material and exactly what I had put on my shot list. It shows that when not under pressure we perform really well as a team. We now need to know exactly how we deal with situations like we encountered in this shoot, and how to ensure we still come out of the day with the best footage. As a team, we will be working to understand how we can achieve this.

We shot a quick reflection sequence after I had arrived back at the house. It was filmed as planned, but unfortunately, we had fading light and the bedroom light meant the shot actually looked terrible because of the grain. We can refilm this sequence if we really want to, but I am not sure that we want to break the authenticity just for this sequence. I am suggesting we see how this looks in a preview-edit before we decide how to resolve this issue. I should have realised that this would be the case, with shorter sunlight hours. I probably should have filmed something the day after instead, if we wanted a natural reflection sequence with good light. There are ways around this issue which we can resolve without much hassle, but I want to see a test-edit before we decide what to do.

Overall a catalogue of errors meant that we came out of this shoot day with less usable footage than I intended. It started with the lack of trackside access and got worse when we were called up for the test over an hour early. I'm not going to dwell on the issues encountered today, as the team knows their mistakes and we are all working to ensure they never happen again. George's role as a producer is clear and he needs to find extra camera operators as well as taking his role as a producer more seriously, ensuring we don't have miscommunication like on this shoot day. Cailan did do well today, but his tendency to cut the camera left us with less of the key actuality moments than desired. I have also realised that I need to work more closely with the other guys and their roles. I have implemented a more rigorous and in-depth planning routine for each shoot day, as well as helping the rest of the team with any issues they may have. Going forward as the contributor I also want to allow myself to open up further to create a more natural response to the questions and situations I find myself in. It was a tricky start to our project, but we have understood the flaws and are now going into each shoot day with a better idea of what is needed. It was not great to have these issues, but I am thankful that they were understood now, not later on after we had filmed multiple other shoot days.


In a future post, I am going to research how to deal with situations like the ones we encountered today. I want to understand as a director/writer what I could have done to ensure this shoot day went better. This research will be key in allowing me to relax as a contributor and know that the team are aware of exactly what they should be doing. This research can be seen in a future post.

Production - Creating Annotated Circuit Map & GoPro Layout for License Shoot

Before we film the racing license scene, my job as director was to help out the camera operators as best as possible, allowing them to understand what shots they would need to get. I had sent the team the reference material I had taken inspiration from, allowing them to understand why I wanted these certain shots. These have been discussed and the team is prepared to capture the angles I have planned. First I created a shot list of all the vital shots that Cailan needed to get as DOP. He was in charge of all of the cameras, making sure they all got the right shot. The plan is for Cailan to be on the main camera with George and two fellow camera operators on the three other trackside cameras when I am on track. Here is my shotlist for the license scene:

• Shotlist - License Day
• Alex packing to get ready for License Day [At home] M/S,C/U
• Alex leaving the house, shutting the door & getting in car M/S
• Alex driving M/S,C/U
• Car driving into the venue UW/S, EST SHOT [Iconography, Brands Hatch sign] 
• Alex walking into license office & signing on MW/S
• Following Alex as he listens to instructions/ gets ready for written test M/S
• Alex reacting to George saying “Good luck” M/S
• Alex taking written test M/S, C/U [If not allowed, fade to black after going through the door]
• Alex coming through the door and reacting good/bad if he passed or failed written section M/S 
• Alex waiting for practical test [Sitting down somewhere] W/S,C/U
• Alex walking down to pitlane for the practical test M/S
• Alex being shown around the car, preparing for practical test M/S, C/U to see emotions
• Getting in car M/S - C/U as Alex sits in car, through side window
• M/S Go Pro facing forward [out windscreen] during the practical test
• M/S Go pro facing Alex during the practical test
• M/S, C/U,EC/U of Alex on track driving the car
• Car coming into pitlane and Alex getting out M/S
• Celebrating [Hopefully] passing test M/S,C/U [Not sure where this will be confirmed but keep rolling]
• Alex speaking to George after exiting the main building M/S,C/U [Capture the relief]
• Alex walking back to Car & getting in M/S
• Alex driving home M/S
• Alex getting home, lying on bed and contemplating what just happened. M/S, go to C/U to see the emotion [Its really happening!]

After sending this to Cailan, I got to work creating a camera card for the four cameras we had around the track when doing my on track license test. While doing my written tests, Cailan will be capturing a variety of mid-shots and close-ups, trying to create tension around this moment. Jon (An extra camera operator) will be capturing different angles (if directed by Cailan) on a secondary camera in these written tests.

My camera cards for the on-track test are very detailed and show the variety of shot sizes that I want the camera crew to attempt. As we only have a fixed number of minutes (20 max) to capture these shots, each camera will be asked to slightly move locations to allow us to have the maximum amount of coverage. When scouting the track on the day I took my medical assessment, I took photos that I have used to help create these cards. Before we shoot the scene, it will be Cailan and Georges' job to walk through the information with the rest of the camera crew. I will be "in the moment" therefore I will not be worrying about the camera shots on the day. This has been decided in advance of every shoot day that I am in front of the camera. Cailan and George will take all the resources I have provided to create the sequence. It is a challenge now being able to direct in the traditional sense, but it is how we must be to ensure this documentary is as authentic as possible.

Using my own photos and ones found online, I created these camera cards which can be seen below. They go into detail about exactly what I want from each camera and how the camera operator can create this shot. These have been changed over the past few days, thanks to suggestions from the crew, meaning they should all know exactly what they are doing. You can also see where each camera is placed around the track in the bottom picture.

I am pleased with how these camera cards came out, as I think they give everyone a clear indication of what they need to get when I am out on the track. As I have shared them with the crew already, it means that we are in a good place going into this shoot day. Knowing the team are happy with what they need to produce is going to allow me to settle into my role as the contributor. I am very confident in the abilities of my team to take over my role for the day and capture all of the necessary shots. Along with the exterior cameras, I also plotted where I wanted the action cameras inside the car to be placed. 

George, Cailan and I spent the past few evenings testing out potential shots from inside George's car. We are confident that we have chosen the correct locations to capture the best view of me and the track. Completing this will allow us to have a vast array of coverage for this 90-second sequence. I am looking forward to seeing how this footage comes out, as any issues can be understood and rectified for our next shoots. Ideally, we would have had the chance to do a test shoot, but we did not have the time nor budget to complete one. Along with this, it is very hard to replicate what will happen in the license test. I know that I have prepared as much as I can for this, now I just need to rely on the team to carry out this shoot day! 

This is how we intend the cameras to be placed around the car, we are not aware of any issues that would stop this being a possibility. These camera positions have been chosen because they give both an opportunity for the viewer to see my reactions, as well as the track around me and what I am seeing. These shots, along with the footage captured around the track by our four cameras, will allow us to have a lot of choices in the edit. We are giving ourselves as many opportunities as possible to have a huge amount of coverage for the edit. I am really happy with the amount of planning I have done, which should mean everyone can capture the right shots. I do wish we could have had a test shoot, but unfortunately, it was not a possibility with so little time! 

GO PRO 1 - Looks towards Alex, capturing a close up as he drives around the track. The point of this camera is to see Alex's expressions and concentration as he drives. The edge of the steering wheel will be in the shot.

GO PRO 2: Located just under the rear view mirror, this camera will give the viewer an idea of what I am seeing as a driver. This will be pointing out the front of the windscreen and be almost a first-person view of the track. This will be great for cutaway shots, mixed in with the footage shot around the track

GO PRO 3: This camera will look out the rear windscreen, enabling the viewer to see people as I overtake them. This unique angle will be yet another useful shot to cut to in the edit to create a sense of speed.