Production - Kickstarter Video Updates

As a part of our Kickstarter, we are creating behind the scenes videos of our progress as a group. These videos can all be seen here and show the extra dedication we have to this project and our supporters. As we have a lot of footage that won't make it into the final cut, we are excited to show this in these videos and give something back to viewers who have supported us. While this is not technically a part of this project, I want to show that we are producing consistent updates of this project, as thanks to our supporters we raised nearly £900! Enjoy these extra videos as they allow us to show our personality as a group and address how incredible this journey is for both myself as a contributor and the rest of the crew.

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Production - How To Be A Better Director/Contributor [RESEARCH]

As we are about to head into the most important months of the year, I wanted to further my research into being a director and contributor. I had spent an extensive amount of time researching my roles in pre-production, but I believe that I can always improve and learn ways to be better within our team. As my role of scriptwriter is mostly complete, I will be focusing on being the director and contributor in this research blog post.

Director
One of my issues in this documentary is that when I am in front of the screen, I cannot be the director in the traditional sense. All of my plans need to be made before we go into a shoot date and all the information I need to get across has to be done so in advance along with it. There have been a couple of occasions so far in our filming in which we have disagreed on what we should do which has led to us all feeling like we could have done better on the day. This is definitely somewhere where I could improve as a director. Even though I cannot direct when being the contributor, when there is some downtime I should focus on bringing the team together. "One of the main issues I've seen working on sets with amateur directors is one that the video seems to address over and over again: take care of your team... You could be the most creative, groundbreaking...director in the history of the universe, but if you don't know how to be a leader and rally your team to work together and be creative and be excited about the work they're doing on-set, it'll show in your film." (nofilmschool, 2015). I feel that on a few occasions so far I have been dragged into issues, even if they have been small, which has led to the overall crew morale dropping at some of the shoot dates so far. I now know that it is part of my job to ensure that the crew  doing their job and also happy and feel like they are capable of doing their best. Part of this will be achieved through even more detailed plans to ensure the crew are completely aware of  what I want from each shoot date. I know as a director I can go into further detail and that this will only help the final film as well as crew spirits. Alongside this, I will be doing my best to allow the crew to relax into their role, as I have been struggling to take a step back and allow this as a contributor. "Tension shows up on-screen, believe it or not, so it's imperative to not only express your creative vision for your project, but to express your respect and appreciation to your cast and crew." (nofilmschool, 2015). I am learning and improving and I feel that once I am able to fully let go on these days, Cailan and George will be able to do their best too. There is a lot of trust involved in this, but I am absolutely sure that it is possible to achieve within our team.

Something I am aware of so far is that I could continue to improve my communication before shoot days to ensure the actual shoot goes to plan. Going into every one of these, I have a clear plan of what I want to get out of it, but there is a limit to how much detail can be shown with plans and shotlists. It is vitally important that I speak more about my plans in person or even through a voice chat, to ensure I maximise the amount of information I can get across to the crew "A good director must possess strong communication skills. If the director cannot be understood, the production team will not be able to fulfill the production design. The director may have a brilliant idea in mind but if they cannot communicate clearly it is all for naught." (ossiemills, 2011).  Knowing this makes me believe that I need to spend extra time before every shoot having this key conversation with the D.O.P and producer, as they need to know my thoughts to ensure the shoot goes to plan. Doing this will also allow the rest of the team to speak about different ways we could film the scenes which would ensure the whole crew is having an input into how the film will look. My plan is to hold a meeting a week or at least a few days before each shoot, allowing feedback to be given to me so I can adapt my plans to what the whole crew thinks. As has been mentioned in my work already, I will be setting out my plans after these conversations but these will mention all the shots I require, but not saying that this is all we need to film. I am very aware in a documentary with so many unpredictable moments, that the production team needs to be aware at all times of the need to capture important actuality and b-roll which will be essential in the edit. It is impossible to plan this actuality so it will be up to the team to be proactive and get these shots.

A part of my role that I know will need work is that of being a director in the edit. I understand what I need to be doing before we film, but knowing how to be a good director in the edit is just as essential. "A good director will have a good sense of timing. The timing will control whether or not cuts or dissolves are used, the lengths of scenes, the type of shots that are used, the pause lengths, etc. Timing is the intangible element that is hard to put your hand on, but you’ll know when you don’t like it." (ossiemills, 2011). This shows the importance of a good relationship and trust between myself and George who will be editing the film. We have disagreed on a few issues so far and we have overcome these through lengthy discussions. I personally feel we need to be able to work out issues quicker as we will not have unlimited time in the edit to do so. I will be working with George on production flow between us in the edit to ensure the tension does not rise and we manage to have a productive and enjoyable editing phase. "Great filmmakers must be able to make firm decisions and stick to them to help ensure production stays on track." (http://filmschools.com, 2019). The edit will be hard as we will have a number of sequences that undoubtedly have to be cut due to our time limit. This is where I can impose an educated view on the story in the edit. I will need to be able to make these hard decisions and have back up from my team for it. As well as what we cut, I will also need to be decisive on what parts of individual scenes are trimmed. We have long sequences and getting the right point will be essential. We will work out what works as a team but ultimately I need to be the one making the decisions about the story. But this links to my earlier point about listening to the crew. I hope we will have all understood each other enough by this stage and that we agree on a lot of the decisions in the edit and do not take anything personally. I am ready for the challenge of making these key decisions in this project, as I know it is heavily linked to its success.

The last part of my extended research into being a better director looks at being decisive under pressure. "Great filmmakers are able to handle pressure well. They understand that complications will arise during the filmmaking process and are able to handle the stress" (http://filmschools.com, 2019). Some of the decisions I will be making throughout this project will be extremely tough at the time but they will ultimately ensure the documentary is one that is consistent and tonally correct throughout.  I know we can work well as a team and it is part of my duty to bring us together, especially when we may disagree on something. It is a learning process for me and I have felt the stress on a lot of occasions in this project so far, but I do feel I have made the right decisions on the majority of occasions for the overall project. This mostly leads to re-shooting and test shooting sequences or scheduling within the limited time available. It has been very tough to ensure we are all available for the upcoming shoot dates but I see this as part of the challenge we have taken on with this project. "Great filmmakers have terrific vision and can see the film from its conception through to its final product. They never lose sight of the ultimate goal. Great filmmakers must (also) be able to make firm decisions and stick to them to help ensure production stays on track." (http://filmschools.com, 2019). A lot of my decisions so far are looking towards the end goal and making sure we leave ourselves enough time, in the end, to get the edit together. This is the reason I have been so involved in items such as scheduling as I want to ensure we do not put ourselves into a bad place. I know what the goal is for this project and I am doing everything in my power to ensure it happens, I know the resources I have available to me and I am understanding how I can best use them on this project. As the director, I am continually thinking of ways that I can get the most out of people and understanding their way of working to allow them to be at their most effective. I am happy to have involved myself so much in the small details as I think it allows everyone to perform at their best. This research into being a director has allowed me to understand further ways that I can improve as well as getting the most out of others. I am excited to put this research into place and get to work on our next filming days!

Contributor

Working out how I can become a better contributor has certainly been one of my hardest challenges in the project so far. I have already involved myself as a director and writer on this course before, but being a contributor is a role I have not researched much over the past three years. It is certainly an exciting challenge for me as I am always looking to improve myself in every area, but I have found the balance between being a contributor and my other roles to be a tough challenge in this project. Finding research on contributors and how to be a better one was a very tough task, so I expanded my research into presenters, as I will be able to take a lot of the advice for that role as it is so similar.

Being a good face for the documentary starts with having an interest in the subject. "A good presenter therefore understands the process of television production. They should be interested and involved in the subject they are presenting and they should have a good understanding of the audience – who is watching and why – because a good presenter is able to engage with the viewers." (http://wanttoworkintelevision.com, 2011). In this regard, I am already doing something right as I was the one who wrote the project and the one who has the dream and interest in going on this journey. I have been told on a couple of occasions so far that I am pretty good in front of the camera which allows me to think that I should be somewhat engaging to the viewer. Motorsport is exciting so that will help my cause, but allowing myself to relax before we start filming will allow the messages I am trying to tell in this story to be brought out in the best way possible. I know that I am not the best contributor in the world, but at the same time, one of the ways I can improve is by understanding myself and how I work. I already see marked progress of my on-screen presence since the first shoot dates over a month ago. This is partly thanks to research like this along with having a team I trust behind me. I know by the time we get into the last few filming days that I will feel at home being filmed without asking any questions. However, I realise I am not there yet and I still need to allow them to be a gap between myself and the camera and the decisions being made at the moment.

An interview with TV presenter Dermot O'Leary gave me some useful tips at how I could improve my screen presence and allow myself to be connected to the viewer: "Whether it’s in one-on-one interviews, with the studio audience or down the camera, an ability to connect and communicate is vital. If a presenter can do all three at once, making everyone think they’re talking directly to them, they’re onto a winner." (telegraph.co.uk, 2016). I have been looking at documentaries which are similar to the one we are trying to create to allow me to work on how I communicate my key thoughts as the main contributor. I have worked on my delivery, even as a contributor, because otherwise my points could easily be mixed within other messages if I do not make the key points clear. I've also seen in my work so far that it is much easier to connect with a presenter or contributor if they come across well when on screen. "The most elusive attribute of all: the ability to gel with viewers, who must like you enough to invite them into their home and spend hours in your company. Which, let’s face it, isn’t something many of us want to do with our own families." (telegraph.co.uk, 2016). I doubt I will be able to connect to the viewer in the way a TV presenter would, but I hope my passion for the subject matter along with my personality will mean that the viewer will be able to connect to me on a somewhat personal level. It is important that the viewer can do this, as it allows the story to come across better. The more a viewer can relate to me, the better that connection becomes, which will mean the ending moment will hopefully mean as much to them as it does for me. I want to make it a journey for myself and the viewer, and being a good and likeable contributor is a part of that.

External factors such as facial expressions and posture are things I would not expect to be thinking about, but when I am spending so much time looking at the small details, this is something I should be taking note of. "Most of the experts agree that the majority of communication takes place in a non-verbal manner. This means that your posture, gestures, and facial expressions can change the ways that your viewers receive your messages. As you film, consider what things you might be doing that could send an unintentional message to your viewers." (uscreen, 2016) This is certainly something I can work on to add the extra small details to this project. The biggest thing I have been told on the run-up to the production of this project is "Just be yourself", which is actually a lot harder than it sounds when you have a production crew with you, filming every move. "Nothing, absolutely nothing succeeds like enthusiasm - it's infectious. Once the audience spot that you have a passion for your subject they immediately begin to warm to you and will ignore any imperfections or omissions in your presentation." (virtualstudio, 2010)

I have determined that the best way to work on this is to yet again to try and forget the cameras are there and focus on my journey and what I am doing on any given day. I have seen the progress in my overall appearance in front of the camera since the start of filming, but it can still improve. "One of the hardest things about presenting on camera is that you can easily become hyperaware of your flaws. In most cases, you will be your own toughest critic. Over time, self-criticism can start to drain your energy and chip away at your confidence." (uscreen, 2016) There is not much I can do in terms of practice but I need to remember to reflect after every shoot date and see what I could do better. This will allow me to come across in the most natural way possible.

While I need to be natural within this documentary for it to be grounded, I have started to work on my speaking skills so my point comes across in a much clearer way than it would have done before. "No one wants to hear a rambling speaker. The moment you start rambling people will begin to tune you out. Have clarity with it comes to your ideas, opinions, philosophy, and beliefs. Once you are clear and focused, start by communicating your thoughts while continuing to modify and clarify them even more." (magneticspeaking, 2019). Being honest with myself, I know I am prone to ramble at times and I have got a few comments on my YouTube page about this over the years. The way I am tackling it for this project is to think about the question in a little more detail before I answer it. Sometimes the most powerful message is the one that comes naturally, sometimes it is one that has been thought about, it is all down to the situation. I am learning when I need to make my points more clear and it is allowing some of the scenes we are filming to be much more powerful. An example of a sequence in which we need a clear and concise answer is the Diary Room. Of course, these answers need to come from the heart, but they need to get to the point. In our tests, it may be a few takes for us to get to the point where we are happy. These shots still look natural but they were mostly not done on the first shoot. Making sure the answer is what we want for the story is very important as the viewer does not want to sit through me repeating points over the 20 minutes. This is also where we will need to work on the edit as it will allow slight editing of any annoying quirks or sayings I have throughout the filming process.

Overall, I can see the progress I have made so far in this project as a presenter and my biggest aim is to continue to develop and relax into my role further. The best I can really do is to be myself. Saying this, as detailed in this research, there are small areas which I can work on to allow my personality to come across the right way. I am happy I conducted this research as it has allowed me to fully realise what I need to work on going forward. It gives me clear aims as to what I should be doing and why it is important to do so.


References
nofilmschool, 2015 https://nofilmschool.com/2015/04/15-tips-becoming-better-director
ossiemills, 2011 http://ossiemills.org/2011/01/social-media-outlets-for-non-profits/
http://filmschools.com, 2019 http://filmschools.com/resources/top-10-qualities-of-a-great-filmmaker
http://wanttoworkintelevision.com, 2011 http://wanttoworkintelevision.com/what-makes-a-good-television-presenter/
telegraph.co.uk, 2016 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/09/03/what-makes-a-good-tv-presenter-x-factors-dermot-oleary-makes-it/
uscreen, 2016 https://www.uscreen.tv/blog/10-tips-for-presenting-like-a-pro-on-camera/
virtualstudio, 2010 http://www.virtualstudio.tv/blog/post/13-10-tips-to-become-a-better-presenter
magneticspeaking, 2019 https://magneticspeaking.com/8-qualities-make-great-speakers-unforgettable/

Production - SHOOT DAY 9 Formula Ford Shoot

Another exciting opportunity arose in which I was invited to drive a single seater race car (A Formula Ford) by an old friend who had recently rebuilt one and was looking for someone to shake down the car and ensure it was working correctly. Steven who owns the car came and saw me as I passed my racing license towards the end of January. He told me this news after I passed which was an exciting opportunity for both myself and the team as we could include this in the “what else I did” montage just before the main race sequence.

Being honest, I was very nervous about this day as I had never driven a car like this and was aware that I would be surrounded by experienced professional drivers on track, as this test session took place on a media day for a local racing club. Before the event, I spent time preparing for the experience at home, but also needed to prepare detailed camera plans and shot lists for the day to allow the group to capture this day in the best possible way.

After the success of the “Puma Test” shoot day, I used the plans created for that day and slightly adapted them to ensure that all sequences were somewhat different. I also knew we had the help of both Alex.H and Katie.J from our year group which made me confident that with my camera plans we would capture a vast amount of footage from this day. These camera plans allowed George to make a “pack” for all crew showing them exactly where they were filming and what shots they should be getting. The material that I created can be seen below, it is similar to that of the Puma sequence but has been adapted to allow unique angles for this specific scene.

Formula Ford Shotlist

• Pitlane Camera: Sony AX53
• Alex Dad Camera: Panasonic G7
• Cailan’s Panasonic: Alex H
• Uni Panasonic: Katie J

Formula Ford Trackday Shotlist:

1. Shots (in car) entering the track. Signs, road signs, scenery (Cailan CAM on way to track)
2. Drone shots surrounding Brands [MUST BE DONE BEFORE 9AM/ IN LUNCH BREAK 1:30-2:30PM - CARS ON TRACK ELSEWHERE & WE WOULD GET IN TROUBLE]
3. Alex walking along the pitlane to meet team (M/S from behind)
4. M/S - Alex greeting the race team
5. C/U Alex Unzipping helmet bag and 
6. C/U Alex putting on helmet + equipment 
7. M/S - As Alex speaks to the team 
8. W/S Alex gets in the car, directly infront of car / Repeat from various angles
9. M/S On CAR looking forward (Go Pros)
10. Trackside shots (In detailed plan)
11. M/S Alex speaking to team when in pitlane
12. M/S Alex debreif to Cailan
13. UW/S Alex walking into the distance with luggage 

Brands Hatch Alex debrief:

• W/S of scenery
• C/U of scenery
• M/S [static in pitlane] Alex speaking to Cailan  
• C/U Alex when speaking

Camera Plans [Excuse the Poor scan]:

Call Sheet:

I being in this unique position of both director and contributor has been a tough journey but I certainly feel at this point I have adapted to this role and now feel natural in it. Before I was constantly worried about camera positions, lighting etc, but I have seen the work created which makes me fully confident of what the team can do. Knowing this allows me to focus on being the contributor which means that the actual project itself is much better. I was worried about today and when reviewing the footage you can see it in my mood. Cailan has been learning quickly and the actuality he is filming is exactly what I wanted. The mix of close-ups, wide shots and everything in-between means we will have a large amount of coverage to use in this short sequence.

George did a fantastic job at organising the crew, which further allowed me to focus on driving and being the best contributor possible. At this stage, I feel we are certainly working much better as a team and understand how to effectively get the most out of each other. The packs created by George were a great idea and allowed all of the camera crew to know exactly what was required of them. The fact we also had two people we knew well from our year group meant the we were confident that the quality of footage would be fantastic.

I managed to get 12-15 laps in the car over two sessions as problems with the car meant we could not get out for the three 15 minute sessions we had planned. This meant that my three camera positions for each camera operator could not be completed but this is not an issue as this was completely out of our control. Reviewing the footage allowed me to be very excited with the quality of the content we had filmed. The huge variety from static shots, to panning and actuality, meant we had a large number of shots available to us. We also had a 4K Go Pro mounted to the car which will give us a very exciting perspective to this day.

We did film some actuality with me speaking but not as much as was listed on the shot list. When first reviewing the footage I was frustrated that we had not captured these as they were listed in the shot list, but I understand that the team possibly was preoccupied with the car issues and may not have reviewed the shot list before we left the venue. In our documentary, this sequence will not include any actuality with me speaking, simply included in a montage on the build-up to the race. However, I wanted to record actuality speaking/questions & answers so we would have it for future use and a possible extended cut of our documentary. That means this missing actuality will not affect our University documentary, but my idea was to capture as much as possible in case we may want it in the edit or in a longer version.

The team worked incredibly well today, especially around the car issues which cost us a lot of opportunity for extra video footage. From what we did manage to get, the team impressed me with the variety of shots as well as the quality. Tracking cars and framing up at race tracks is not easy so the fact the team have learnt so quickly and understood the shots that will be powerful in our sequences is fantastic for me as a director. I was very impressed and I can see the improvement from the Puma test and the racing license before that. These extra opportunities are also allowing the crew to gather experience at a race track which means by the time we come to the race day in April, they will be able to know exactly what they should be getting.

Overall, barring the issues with the car and a few missing shots off the shot list, the day went really well and I am very happy that I am able to step back to my role as contributor and allow my work beforehand to show what I want as a director/writer. While I know I am getting better at this, I still can see moments where I am possibly not as natural as I should be, but I am learning and it has improved vastly since the start of this unit. This means I am confident that by the race day I will be completely zoned out as a director and fully focused on the race and being the contributor. I am very proud that the team is allowing me to relax into my role as it is hard for me to let go of all my ideas and assume my advice will be followed, but as has been evidenced over the past few shoot dates, the team is fully engaged in my creative vision.

Another very helpful experience for myself and the crew allowed us all to be happy with the day and know we learnt a lot of lessons going forward. I will be researching what I should be doing to become a better contributor, especially how to merge that with my role as director. This research will be evidenced in a future blog post and will allow me to understand how I can continue to become a better face of this documentary. The only point I raised with Cailan specifically was that he should probably refer to the shot list a little more frequently as it might allow us to not miss anything going forward. Overall, however, I would say today has been the best day for shooting cars and the footage captured today was even better than that captured on the Puma test day.

Production - Being an Effective Director/Writer in The Edit [RESEARCH]

With the edit already in progress, I wanted to spend some time researching what I can be doing to ensure I am effective as a director and writer in the edit. I am taking on another new role in the editing phase, as I have typically been in complete control of the piece, but this time I have a very talented editor who I believe in. However, I am always looking for ways to improve myself and understanding how I can be of help in the edit as a director will be key to its fluidity. My research will be looking into how I approach the edit and how I work with the editor to ensure there is harmony and at the same time, giving the editor a chance to be creative and make their own decisions. "The relationship between the editor and director is critical for many reasons. The editing process can be seen as a second phase in directing or the final rewrite. When selecting an editor it’s important that they can relate to the director on a more personal level. The editor and director should be like-minded and compliment each other’s styles" (pixelproductionssd, 2017)

My first research led me to understand that the edit will probably start earlier than expected. We have already completed some filming and in reality, we should already be editing all of the footage and I realise this has been an error on all of our parts. This research has allowed me to gather information to ensure we go into this edit with the right mindset. After gathering the clips from each scene together, we should go about editing sequences. I know George and the way he works so I think it would be beneficial for us to work together, especially in the assembly otherwise the core values of the film may be missed. "The rough cut can take up to three months to complete. Each editor works differently. Sometimes the editor works alone and shows the day or weeks work to the director and producer, Sometimes the editor and director work together, discussing every nuance. In the rough cut, the scenes are placed in order and checked for continuity. This all-important step in the editing process allows for revisions and new ideas to be tried and tested." (raindance, 2012). My idea is to work on the assembly with George and then allow him to craft the sequence in the way he thinks it works. I will work with him every time he sends a new cut of the sequence and we can discuss options to allow each sequence to follow the story I have set along with maximising usage of the footage we have available to us. Strong teamwork in the editing phase is really going to allow our project to flourish and we need to ensure that is the case. I do not want to stare over George's shoulder when he edits as I know how he works and he would not appreciate that. He works better with a meeting every few hours to discuss changes before he works alone. I am happy to work around him to ensure we work in the best way possible as a team. It will no doubt be a stressful process and we will probably have moments where we disagree, but that is all part of the learning process which I will take in my stride.

One of the hard realities of the edit for me is the fact that I have a lot less control over the end project than I have done in the past. However, it is part of my role to hand over this control in the edit and allow someone who has that skill set to craft my project into a reality. A blog by Dan Selakovich allowed me to understand the reality of being a director in the edit. "If you do have an editor, stay the hell away from the editing room until a first cut is completed. This will give you a little time to forget principle photography, and your eyes will be a little more fresh. Show your first cut to an audience before doing a second pass." (shootingpeople.org, 2014) It seems that as a director I could be detrimental to the process of editing if I am too heavily involved in how it looks. I think this links back to my plan of staying out of George's way while he edits each sequence. It will enable me to have time to think about the scene and what needs changing. If I were to be involved throughout, I may lose sight of what I initially wanted from this documentary. Having these constant breaks from the edit should allow a much clearer perspective on how we overcome any issues. While it will feel odd to work like this, it is part of the learning I need to do as a director and if I fail to learn this then the documentary will be the worse for it. I am working with George on how we maximise our time in the edit, as with these breaks we will have less time to go over important points both in the edit and outside it. As always, it means that time management is very important in allowing this style of editing to take place. I have agreed with George that we both make notes before we complete an "edit day" together to ensure we maximise this time and get through all of our points.

My research then took me to an article by Pixel Productions which allowed me to understand how my relationship with the editor on a personal level is important to a successful edit. Luckily I have one of my best friends as the editor, so we hopefully know the best way of working together. "Editing is an artistic collaboration, the director needs to be able to communicate the vision they want for the overall piece. When the director has a more hands on approach to working alongside the editor, it makes for a stronger collaboration, and sometimes a stronger film." (pixelproductionssd, 2017). While this somewhat contradicts what the last article suggested, I can read a happy medium into both of them. As a director, I need to be able to make clear and rational decisions in the edit and the fact that George and I are good friends should allow this to be an easier process. While doing so, I understand that I need to allow George some time to edit by himself because I know that is when he is most productive. George being the editor also allows us to have the best film possible as he can hopefully be more objective about what we can cut. I will have a lot of personal attachment to some scenes, which means that George should be able to make those decisions for me. "When it comes to working in collaborations, sometimes directors and editors don’t agree on which shots should be cut or not. Usually the editor comes from of a more objective standpoint. They usually don’t go
on set so they won’t be influenced by how much work was put into a particular shot or scene, for an editor if it doesn’t fit, it will be cut." (pixelproductionssd, 2017). Our edit will also be helped by the fact that George hasn't yet involved himself with the motorsport community and because of this, he will be able to understand what clips are relevant and what clips we may possibly cut. It will also allow us to realise if any area need more information, as the general viewer may be slightly confused as to why certain things may be happening. This means we may need some voiceover to help fill in small pieces of information and I hope George will be able to spot these throughout this creative process.

I looked into an article written for editors which speaks about how they best  work with a director. This insightful article allowed me to realise how I can work with George in a way where we both get to share our creative vision and express a clear style in our work. The general premise is that as we will be spending a lot of time together we need to know how we overcome issues when they arise. "Filmmaking is collaboration... As an editor, you’ll be showing your cuts to a variety of people. Producers, clients, sometimes even a lead actor; but there is no one you’ll spend time with more than the director." (Yuri Baranovsky, 2017). As we will be spending a lot of time together it is important that the workflow is progressive for us all. As mentioned above we know how we will go about the opening stages of the edit but we need to understand how to progress after that. "After the rough cut is complete, the director will join you and want to watch the footage, take notes and make changes. Generally, the director is going to run this process and her thoughts will overrule yours. This is one very frustrating part of being an editor – while I very much respect my editor’s thoughts, ideas and artistry, at the end of the day, the final decision is my own. That can be a frustrating experience for anyone in post-production." (Yuri Baranovsky, 2017). 

Something that both George and I need to learn quickly in the editing phase is to not take decisions personally. As the director, I will have to make some hard decisions about the edit and I know George may take it personally. Likewise, if George is saying a scene is having issues I would probably do the same as we are both passionate about our work. My methodology on how we adapt to this is we go into every day with a fresh perspective and take time to make detailed notes so that when we have difficult conversations, we can see each others viewpoint, which should lead to a decision being made. Along with the help of Cailan, I hope to not have many issues regarding big personal differences about certain scenes. If there is, then we thankfully have the opinion of Simon and Helen to help progress our project. This will enable a smoother edit process and one which should be very enjoyable. The main issue that I know I must improve on is taking feedback as I have not had to take it in such a way from a peer before. This will be a tough progress but will ultimately allow me to be a better director, which leaves me excited about adapting to whatever is ahead of us.

I looked into some professional opinions about the relationship between directors and editors which further allowed me to understand the approach I should be taking when involved in the edit. Chesse of the editor-director union said: "I think it's a trust-based relationship, you see all the warts and all the stuff that nobody gets to see, and you shape it into something that hopefully leaves people without any doubt of the director's vision." (hollywoodreporter, 2008) This tells me that the director and editor both need to believe in each other, otherwise the project will not reach its full potential. I agree that I need to allow George more freedom and, in other projects we have worked on together, working too close has been negative. I trust George to take the material I have directed and written to craft a sequence we both know works. There will always be changes, but making sure the majority of our thoughts are on the same wavelength will be key.

Director Adam Shankman was very precise with editor Michael Tronick about the cut of New Line's "Hairspray. "I gave him very specific notes while I was shooting about what my favorite takes were, so he understood the direction I was going in with the performances,"(hollywoodreporter, 2008) This is certainly an area I can help George with from a directors standpoint. Before he starts editing, Cailan and I will be going through the rushes recorded on each shoot date and reviewing what we think is best for the tone of the project. I will not have as much input in the pieces to camera and speaking segments as it would be easy for me to be biased. My reviewing of footage would primarily be of the b-roll recorded which would allow George to craft an entertaining sequence. Cailan and I will be able to pick out the best shots which will give more time for George to edit. This simple change to our workflow will allow a much more productive phase of this project. This style will be a big benefit to our project and I am very happy that I researched more on this subject. There is a lot to be doing as a director in the edit, but I certainly need to give space to the editor to allow him to make his own creative decisions. I fully believe we have a great few months of editing ahead of us and the lessons learned from this research set us up to be much more productive.

I am looking forward to getting into the editing phase of the project and I am certainly learning how I can be most effective in this stage to make it a success. I realise that this process is going to be really hard and there will be issues that will take weeks to resolve. But, I am willing to rise to this challenge and take a lot of valuable lessons from it. "The relationship between the director and the editor can be tremendously fruitful, but it can also be quite hard. In essence, you have two strong characters dissecting, analyzing, and arguing about the film for days on end. When you agree, it's fine, but when you disagree, the air can get quite hot. Yet, when you finish, you usually have something finer and better than if each had worked separately on the film" (jukolart, 2018). Undoubtedly there will be some tough nights in the edit when we disagree on how a scene will look, but I think, thanks to the research I have conducted, it will be for the greater good. It will be impossible to agree on everything so the way we work together in these situations will be key to the productivity of this project. We all know our individual skillsets and if we ensure they are utilised I am sure the editing phase of this project will be a lot of fun. "As a director, I find that working with a talented editor is one of the most dynamic and stimulating parts of filmmaking, and most films are better for having that person around." (jukolart, 2018). I know the importance of learning from others and it will be a valuable asset to myself when I enter the industry after finishing university, so I expect to learn a lot of lessons about film making over the coming months, ones that will help me when making this a career. I feel this research has allowed me to be realistic and look at myself, accepting what I can do better in the editing phase. I now know what boundaries should be put in place with the editor and how we can overcome issues when they happen. I am very much looking forward to getting stuck into this part of the project in a new role.


REFERENCES

raindance, 2012 - https://www.raindance.org/the-6-stages-of-editing-as-a-film-director/
shootingpeople.org, 2014 https://shootingpeople.org/discuss/view/063fed65c6b98257a0aeb2ac
pixelproductionssd, 2017 https://pixelproductionssd.com/blog/the-director-editor-relationship
Yuri Baranovsky, 2017 https://blog.frame.io/2017/06/28/working-with-a-director/
jukolart, 2018 - https://www.jukolart.us/documentary-films/the-directoreditor-relationship.html#download
hollywoodreporter, 2008 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/relationship-between-director-editor-key-104746

Production - Documentary Review: Free Solo [RESEARCH]

I wanted to look into another documentary for research to ensure we are doing all we can as a team to allow this documentary to be a success. I have already looked into a few documentaries for this unit as well as pre-production which has allowed me to make decisions which have been crucial on our shoot dates so far. Today I am looking into "Free Solo" by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi which follows professional rock climber Alex Honnold as he attempts the first free solo climb of famed El Capitan's 900-metre vertical rock face at Yosemite National Park.

Free Solo Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urRVZ4SW7WU

The first thing that stood out to me when watching this documentary is the power of silence in its introduction. This silence mixed in with low naturalistic sounds allows this opening scene to hold the viewer's attention. The silence is mixed with incredibly powerful visuals which show Alex climbing El Capitan. This mix of seemingly peaceful audio with powerful video is a slight juxtaposition but it allows the viewer to be drawn to the visuals and the incredible bravery needed to take on this challenge. The natural sounds could be seen as showing that this is very much a normal day for Alex and this challenge is part of his everyday life. But, for the viewer, the sheer difference between the visuals and video allows them to take in the reality of what Alex is doing. The fact he could fall and die at any second also brings home this message of skill and bravery. This has made me think once again about how we tackle audio in our documentary. The fact that our subject matter is loud and visually stunning will definitely play into our hands as it gives us many options. The fact that motorsport is filled with powerful sounds will give moments of silence in our film so much more power. Therefore I have gone through my script and showed George and Cailan the moments where we should consider having these powerful moments of silence and reflection. I think we have identified the Diary Room sequences as well as the South Downs where we want to show reflection and the audio in these scenes will be vital. We have considered paying for a soundtrack for our documentary which is crafted just for us, but because of the cost elsewhere in the project, it simply is not possible. Therefore we will be maximising the fantastic creators on the internet and ensuring our documentary has a consistent theme throughout. We will then be focusing on the scenes which I have highlighted as areas where we can use the backing track or natural sounds to create powerful and honest moments of reflection in Dream Chaser.

The use of exterior contributors in "Free Solo" allows the viewer to be informed about this journey and how they are preparing to be involved with it. These moments are very important to the narrative of the story as they give further context to who Alex is and why he wants to go on this journey. It is important for any documentary to have these other opinions, as otherwise, it is very easy to miss a whole portion of the story from other perspectives. Knowing the importance of these personal moments, I have put emphasis on ensuring the scene with my Dad and the ones with my teammate Sam are given enough time to explain their side of this journey. Without these more personal moments, our documentary lacks the depth and reasoning and could lead the viewer to feel as if they only know me through my own words. Having the voice of another person in this documentary allows the viewer to be further connected to my story as they start to see all of the different angles. This backstory and further knowledge is very important as it allows the viewer to have the story of why we are going on this journey. This will also be very important in our documentary as we need to establish rather quickly what this journey means to me and give the viewer a better connection. Knowing this has allowed me to make decisions as to where in the story we will hear from these contributors as well as thinking what kind of answers we want to get out of these filming days. Without this, I feel I may not have ensured we have the right questions and prompts for our contributors which could have led to the message we are trying to highlight being lost.

The use of minimalistic graphics in the Alex Honnold documentary really ensured the viewer is connected to a unique subject like rock climbing. Without these graphics, I personally feel the magnitude of what he is attempting would have been lost. This made me seriously think about the use of graphics in our documentary. Like rock climbing, motorsport is a very niche sport and one that needs some explaining. Some of this can be done through voiceover but we should definitely use graphics at points in our project to ensure the viewer knows exactly what is happening as well as the scale of the challenge. The two main areas where I can see a visual graphic being useful are for the Kickstarter money going up as well as how the money is distributed. The Kickstarter is a fundraising source that is not very interesting to explain so a visual graphic showing more money going into the page could be much more exciting. Without a graphic showing distribution of these funds, it is an arbitrary number which does not mean much to the viewer. If explained to them, they realise the importance of funding in motorsport because every part of it is very expensive. The use of graphics will be important in explaining some of the more boring aspects of motorsport and this is a way we can make it visually interesting. We may feel in the edit that we want more graphics, but I am wary about having too many as then it would feel too much like a "How to do Motorsport" documentary, which is something we are certainly trying to avoid. We will see in the edit if we need more than the two I anticipate.

Off the record chats with Alex Honnold really allow us into his mind, especially before such a big adventure. These chats take place in his motor home (where he lives), on the road in his car as well as when he is out and about. They all allow us to connect to Alex in a way which is much more authentic in comparison to when he is prompted to say something by the production team. I see this style being very important when we are following someone on a journey and allowing the viewer into the main contributors deepest thoughts. It is vital in allowing us to connect to the story and therefore I have adapted my current plans to ensure we capture these moments of honesty along our journey. We have already seen on occasions in the making of Dream Chaser, the importance of these scenes and we have filmed them to good effect. These work well alongside the more staged sequences such as the "Diary Room" which is very controlled. They give us the backstory to this journey and these "off the cuff" chats are important in showing the viewer how I am changing along this journey. I think we can further improve these sequences by capturing them on a more frequent basis. We have captured them when scripted up until this point, but there is no harm in doing more to give us a choice in the edit. This along with ensuring the composition of the shots are better than we have previously completed will ensure cinematic consistency throughout our documentary.  Going deeper than what we may see as comfortable also ensures the viewer gets to really know the character. That was especially powerful in "Free Solo" as we heard Alex speak about subjects where he was not in the comfort zone. This gives the viewer the full perspective on who he is as a person. We should use this to our advantage in our project and I have changed some of the questions in the Diary Room accordingly to ensure I am challenged and we get to see my honest thoughts. Generally the "off the cuff" chats we have done really ensure that viewer connection is as good as possible, but I feel in the edit we will want to have more of these to show my progression as a contributor.

The film grade and backing tracks allow "Free Solo" to have another layer of depth. The subtle film grade allows the key colours to pop as well as ensuring the rockface looks as daunting as possible. This is done by taking out colours from scenes building up to the clip which include the rockface. Taking out these colours ensure it has little emotion and brings out the challenge and shows how unpredictable it could be. The subtle backing track in the documentary allows the viewer to feel a further connection to Alex in whatever scenario he is in. The music sometimes subtly fades in to build up the tension. But at other times, the production team suddenly cuts to music with a different effect. This sudden jump doesn't allow for emotion to be brought in slowly, rather it shocks the viewer and in doing so it makes these moments hit the viewer hard as they did not see it coming. We want to follow a similar style grade for Dream Chaser, a simple but effective one. This will still take its time as we have filmed on a number of different cameras and matching them up in the edit will be a task in itself. We will also be changing the grade in certain scenes with further meaning, such as the Diary Room and the South Downs. These sequences will stand out to help enforce the message we are trying to portray. This means we will have to spend some time as a team in the editing phase deciding what exact grade we will be using. I have reference material from pre-production which I think will allow us to differentiate between our key scenes and other parts of the journey.  The backing track is already something we have been looking into and I have found a number of possible options for us already. We are going for a very mellow and minimalistic style of music and that needs to be consistent throughout. This work on music will get more intense once in the edit to ensure we have a consistent style, but one that is still powerful. This will be a big team effort to ensure we do not jump from one style to the next.

The old pictures and video used in "Free Solo" allow the viewer to connect further with his story and understand where this journey started. Without these, the viewer lacks a lot of the context as to why he is going on this journey and why it means so much. They ground the story and make it much more personal and doing this gives the end result of achieving the climb much greater impact for the viewer. We feel a part of the story and because of that, everything that happens is much more powerful. A lot of this is down to the backstory and pictures that we are shown at the start. Before even viewing this documentary, we had a similar idea in the form of the "Diary Room". We initially, however, were not going to include pictures on the screen as we had a whole sequence dedicated to sharing old pictures. However, I feel we should definitely include some pictures in the Diary Room sequence before my Dad as it allows us to build up to what we speak about in that part. Thankfully I have some high-quality picture as well as some video from my first time at Brands Hatch and that will ensure the viewer knows that this has been a dream for a long time. These pictures will be edited in a way which allows the viewer to know it is the past and I think they are essential in showing the viewer how I have grown alongside the sport I love. I think this addition will ground the documentary and I am hoping it will work when we get into the edit. The resources available to us will allow our documentary to be even more powerful and I am excited to see how this increases the impact within these scenes.

Other opinions are important in "Free Solo" as we build to the climax. These opinions increase the jeopardy as they allow us to see what other people, who know how hard the challenge is, are thinking. This perspective is different from that of the main contributor as they can see the realities of some situations which the main contributor doesn't want to touch on. It allows us to see the whole picture of the journey and its scale. Without these interviews, I feel we lose the full challenge and these extra opinions really underline the scale of the project. External interviews are vital in "Dream Chaser" as well because, without these, we don't get the expert opinion on what I should be doing as a contributor. I would like to include more family in the documentary as they would be able to further show the challenge I have ahead of me. If people who are close to me could broadcast what they think about my journey, it would be powerful for my documentary. However, we have so much content to include and already a similar sequence with my Dad, we may not have time to include it. I would like to have included more in my script but I have to be realistic about the time limit we have and I cannot see us having time to include any more than the sequence with my Dad. Nonetheless, the challenge of chasing my dream will be really clear in our project and it will be exciting to see it come together.

The drone shots in the "Free Solo" documentary are powerful as they are used sparingly and are all unique. The documentary lends itself to drone shots because of the crazy challenge Alex has set himself. However, I was impressed that they were not overused. It would have been easy to use them in every single sequence but keeping them to only the most powerful moments helped the documentary feel controlled. We have access to a drone in our documentary and we shall be using it most in sequences to get an establishing shot. However, when on shoot dates we have been obtaining a number of possible establishing shots as I realise a drone shot to start every sequence would feel very repetitive. It will be our job in the edit to ensure we space out the drone shots accordingly and when we use the drone, we use shots that are powerful and add something special. We have been recording a lot of options, which will give us the choice in the edit which is very important.

Finally, the "Free Solo" documentary did a great job of using the actuality and b-roll they had recorded throughout each sequence to transition from one to the next. Doing this and using L-Cuts ensures that the sequences transition smoothly and allow them not to be jarring as a viewer. We can use this tool in our documentary as we hope to continue our pattern of obtaining a large number of b-roll on every single shoot day we are on. Doing this will allow our edit to be a smooth process and ensure that scenes link together. On the mock edits we have done so far, the biggest issue we have is the transition from scene to scene. I know we have the capability as a team to continue capturing this content and it will benefit our documentary in the end. The use of music and archive material will also allow us to have seamless transitions. These transitions are vitally important in our documentary as otherwise, it would be very easy for it to feel like a bunch of separate sequences that have no link. Of course, we have the running link of "chasing your dream", but that needs to come across in the edit and it is all of our jobs to make that the case.

A lot of lessons have been learned through watching "Free Solo" and the knowledge obtained has allowed me to further update and upgrade my plans to be on a level where I would expect our documentary to be. The key points going forward are to continue capturing actuality and then focus on ensuring the story is broadcast in a seamless way in the edit. It is very exciting to realise the potential that our documentary has, we just need to ensure we give the attention to detail it deserves and I can see the story being very powerful.

Production - SHOOT DAY 8 Go Kart Drone Shots

Our next shoot date was a relatively short one, but one with importance no less. Today we had intended to film the PTC from the karting track as well, but due to Cailan falling ill the day prior, we thought it was best for our D.O.P to be present when a key scene was being filmed. Therefore, we decided to focus on capturing the drone shots needed for the kart sequence that did not get properly filmed when we did the PTC test shoot in January.

The drone shots looked much better this time around which was thanks to more time being dedicated to understanding how they are best utilised. Before, these shots where too high and did not give the sense of speed that we wanted to create in this segment. This time however these shots showed the karts going fast around the track which will enable the edit to be more intense in this scene. As stated before, these shots will be linked into a PTC where I speak about the importance of this track and how it is part of my journey in trying to achieve this dream.

Example 1 of Drone shot:

Example 2 of Drone shot:

Cailan captured a large amount of high-quality footage in the last shoot at Filching Manor which means with these drone shots we will have a visually pleasing and interesting scene. I was impressed with these drone shots and I think that it was worth doing them again as it allows the sequence to have the visual style I intended. As we are also one month further into the project, our understanding of it is evolving, meaning each shoot date is becoming smoother. This shows we are working better as a team and understanding and learning from the issues we have faced.

Even though Cailan was ill, I wanted to once more test the PTC for this segment, so when Cailan is healthy once again, we can film it. A further test shoot would also allow us to get more feedback from Simon so we can craft the best scene possible. Connor was available to be on camera while George asked me the various questions. The questions went well and I felt a lot more natural than the first time we did a test shoot. This does show how we are evolving after every test shoot which I am happy about as it means we are improving.

The footage itself wasn't great, however, as Connor didn't quite get the perfect focus. I was not worried as Connor was new to the camera and this was only a test shoot, but the focus is certainly something to watch out for when actually shooting this sequence. When reviewing the footage with George, we also picked up on the fact that the eyeline isn't very natural, as it shows me looking very far away from the camera. That means this scene doesn't come across as being very personal which is its purpose. Knowing this means I have adapted the camera plans slightly so that I am looking slightly off camera rather than drastically off camera as can be seen in a screenshot from this test shoot. This subtle change will allow this scene to be much more personal and allow the viewer to connect with my story and its importance.

We have spoken to Cailan about these changes and we all agree that we should film this PTC on the Universities Panasonic as it will allow better, manual focus and a much better depth of field. This change in the camera will allow the scene to look much better as it is a "sit down" chat rather than one on the go. This means that the Panasonic is actually much better for this and we are glad to have picked up upon this in our test shoot. George has since booked out the equipment and I have booked a kart session for the 23rd of March which means we can film the final part of this sequence.

While only a short shoot and test shoot, it was important as it helped fill in the gaps that were present after the first shoot date at the track. We could have been more effective and shot the whole sequence including PTC on the first date, but we decided the importance of a test shoot outweighed filming it all in one day. Cailan's illness meant we felt it was best to wait until the full crew was available before filming the PTC. In hindsight, we could have probably done this in one day but I honestly feel the quality will be much better because of the 2 test shoots we have conducted. It is clear that we are still learning as we found a few small issues such as camera focus in the second shoot that was not apparent in the first. This means that this sequence will not be exactly as I intended and that is thanks to us dedicating time to this test shoot and re-shoot of the drone footage.

Production - SHOOT DAY 7 Silverstone Interviews

Our seventh shoot day involved a trip up to Nottingham to shoot our third round of interviews with Team Brit, a disabled motor racing team. These interviews would be showing a singular or group of drivers who allowed nothing to get in the way of their dreams of being a motor racing driver. These interviews allow an area of motivation for myself as I push past my hurdles and race myself. These interviews will be inspirational and will allow the viewer to understand the significance of achieving your dreams.

I had suggested Team Brit, and Bobby Trundley in particular, to George and he did a great job in setting up the shoot date at Silverstone. After understanding more about the contributor's story and their journey to race in motorsport, it allowed me to write up questions specifically about them. This personal touch to the question enables the answers to clearly show the issues they have had to overcome. The planned contributors where Bobby Trundley + Jon Allen. These are the questions that I put together and I knew they would allow the interviewee to elaborate on how they overcame adversity to achieve their dream.

Bobby Trundley (Team BRIT):

1. So Bobby, growing up, how did you first find your love for motorsport?
2. As a child, did you think that autism might affect you achieving your dreams of being a racing driver? 
3. How hard was it to overcome the issues you faced to actually race a kart?
4. How much of a role have your parents had in getting you racing?
5. When getting in a kart for the first time, did it affect you, or did racing come quite naturally?
6. You’ve gone on to win some large UK kart championships, do you think this proves to anyone that you should never give up on your dreams?
7. What advice would you have for any other children growing up with autism, who want to be racing drivers?
8. Does the emergence of teams like Team Brit mean motorsport is now much more accessible to people with disabilities? 
9. What is the ultimate dream going forward?
10. Thanks, Bobby, good luck in 2019! 

Jon-Allan Butterworth (Team BRIT):

1. Jon, where does your love of motorsport begin?
2. So instead of taking up a motorsport career, you joined the RAF, was it hard not being able to follow this dream initially?
3. So in 2007, while in Afghanistan, you were involved in a rocket attack, what were your thoughts as it was happening? 
4. So how and when did you realise you had severe injuries? 
5. What was your first reaction when you realised the decision was made to amputate your left arm?
6. Something that astonishes me is that pretty quickly you adapted and joined the Para-cycling programme in 2009, is it in your nature to push yourself and make the best out of any situation? 
7. You went on to win a number of medals in Para-Cycling, how did you motivate yourself and go about finding new challenges?
8. So recently you have turned your attention to motorsport, when did you realise this could be a possibility?
9. So when getting behind the wheel for the first time, what were the biggest challenges?
10. Do you feel you’re at any disadvantage now when racing?
11. Bringing this back to where this all started. When you first realised you had your left arm amputated, did you think you could go on and achieve the amazing things you have?
12. Do you have any advice for anyone with a disability who wants to get involved in motorsport?
13. Well great, thank you Jon. Good luck in 2019!

After creating the questions I produced a shot list for this segment. As we have to interview a number of drivers on this journey, I wanted to ensure that every interview felt different. Therefore, I looked back through my reference material and found an interview in which both interviewee and interviewer were in the same wide shot, with close-ups focusing on each person. This reference material led me to adapt my original shot list and create one that would engage the viewer while giving the viewer a perspective of the location. This would be a sit-down interview like the one with Jamie. However, this time I would appear on screen, giving each interview its own, unique identity within our piece. 

Bobby Trundley + Jon Allen (Team Brit) - Overcoming Adversity - Location: Silverstone 

MAIN CAMERA - SONY AX53

SECONDARY CAMERA - PANASONIC UNI

THIRD CAMERA - PANASONIC G7

BOTH USING CLIP MIC

• Drone shot of Circuit (If possible)
• MAIN CAMERA Various C/U coming into Silverstone (Iconography)
• MAIN CAMERA C/U Alex in car
• MAIN CAMERA From in front: M/S Alex walking to “Sign in”
• SECONDARY CAMERA C/U, M/S Iconography of Silverstone (ON TRIPOD)
• MAIN CAMERA M/S Alex greeting Bobby & two speaking (Covered by voiceover)
• SECONDARY CAMERA (on tripod)  ULTRA W/S Two sitting down on chairs (in pitlane / near garages?)
• SECONDARY CAMERA (on tripod)  (punch in from UW/S) W/S of Interview
• MAIN CAMERA (Handheld) C/U of Bobby in Interview
• THIRD CAMERA (Handheld) C/U of Alex in Interview AND C/U of items being shown (ie. Helmet, special controls etc)
• After Interview MAIN CAMERA to capture M/S of cars on the track, down the pitlane
• SECONDARY CAMERA to capture C/U various people speaking/laughing etc
• MAIN CAMERA to capture GV’s Drivers getting in the car, firing up etc. 
• MICROPHONE to capture RAW Audio of cars going around the track (ATMOS)
• MAIN CAMERA or DRONE capture sunset
• MAIN CAMERA Alex in the car after the interview, reflecting on what he was told (hold for the contemplation)

After the preparation was complete, it allowed us to feel confident about the actual shoot date. We arrived early at Silverstone which allowed us to sign on and speak to the team about our plans for the day. Unfortunately, we had some bad news which was that Jon, who we intended to speak to, was not at the event today due to a last minute change of plans. This, while unfortunate, was not the end of the day as we had a number of very interesting people we could speak to. This was nobodies fault as it was a last minute change, but it did mean that we had to write some new questions, which George did while I was preparing for our first interview with Bobby. Due to on-track noise and further interior factors, we waited a little longer than expected to film this interview. 

The interview itself went well, I had a great rapport with Bobby as he knew me from my YouTube channel and this meant our interview was much more like a conversation which leads it to feel natural and honest. Bobby gave some great answers, which I think was thanks to the time spent on creating detailed questions. I was happy with my job as a contributor but I struggled mid-interview when George suddenly expressed a problem with his camera [George was on camera due to no other operator being available]. He was worried that the camera was not exposed correctly and expressed concern about the quality. We had to stop the interview halfway because of these concerns, but there was nothing myself or Cailan could have done as we did not know how to solve the issue. I understand that George had concerns, but disrupting the interview halfway was probably not the most professional way of solving this issue. After reviewing the footage, it was clear that it was not as bad as George had thought anyway, meaning some adjustments in the edit would most likely solve the under-exposing. Below is an example of the wide shot on a tripod, then the close-ups of myself and Bobby on handheld rigs. Some colour correction is needed on both handheld cameras, which could possibly have been due to an oversight of the camera operators, not white balancing their cameras. 

I am a little disappointed in the simple mistake not to white balance, but it was a singular issue that day which was improved upon for the rest of the day. It may take some time in the edit to match the colours from the main Sony to the Panasonic's capturing close-ups, but this will not be an issue for our editor. Overall, I would say this interview went really well and we got some fantastic sound bites for our documentary, showing an impressive and inspiring story of "never giving up". 

Our second interview was with Sean Rose, an ex-RAF physical trainer who is paralysed from the ribs down. George did a great job to write up some interesting questions while we were preparing for our interview with Bobby, these are seen below.

1. So, Sean, you’ve done a lot of extreme sports in the past, but what in particular drew you to motorsport.
2. Was it a natural progression, something you’ve always wanted to try or more of a spontaneous decision?
3. Considering your long history with extreme sport, how does motor racing compare to that, especially in terms of the mental and physical strength you need as a newcomer?
4. So I understand that you flew planes before in the RAF, and you’ve obviously been driving on the road for a number of years. How difficult have you found it transitioning into racing on track?
5. How much of an impact do you think your injuries have had on your learning process?
6. With the high risk associated with extreme sports like motor racing, how supportive have those around you been towards your passion for these things, especially given the injuries you’ve already sustained from your time in the RAF?
7. How hard has it been in general for you to keep pushing yourself to such extremes for this many years?
8. Given the success that you’ve had despite the adversity you faced do you feel that anyone can follow their dreams and succeed in this industry with enough determination?
9. So I’m going to be entering my first-ever motorsport race this April. Even though you’ve just started in your racing career, being in a similar place to me do you have any advice or experience is to pass on that you think are important for me to know at this stage?

I thought on the spot and had to slightly adapt my camera plans. My new plan was to have Sean sitting in the pitlane to give a great atmospheric shot, as I did not want to somewhat copy and paste the Bobby interview. Therefore I had the main camera on a tripod at an M/S with Sean looked slightly off camera towards the source of questions. Two other cameras would be focusing on getting C/U, punched in the version of the first shot and one handheld camera getting various, unique angles. An example of each of the shots can be seen below. As seen, the white balance is much better and I would suggest that is thanks to more time being available to the camera operators when setting up the cameras. While slight differences, it means the edit time for this scene will be drastically reduced thanks to the time taken to white balance beforehand. The interview went well, but Sean gave answers which often ended after one sentence, meaning viewers may struggle to connect with him. Bobby was our intended interviewee for this scene so we may only use him as first intended. But Jon, then Sean were back up options if Bobby didn't give quite the desired answers. Overall, between the two interviews, we have some great messages that exactly portray the dedication needed to follow your dreams. 

One thing, as a team we have been great at during this project is capturing B-ROLL and cutaway shots for our sequences to ensure they are consistently interesting throughout. As can be seen in the shot list, I wanted to capture scenes from around the track that would give George opportunities in the edit to make this scene as interesting as possible. The team captured shots of me on the teams' simulator using the hand controls as well as general scenes with me interacting with the team and Bobby. These will be great in allowing the scene to have the hard-hitting narrative I want along with showing the reality of the day and the great family feeling within the team.

We later then went around the track as a team and caught the Team Brit car out on track as much as possible. Like the other shots, the importance of cutaways in these segments is unquestioned, so myself and Cailan both used a camera to capture as many shots of the car on track as possible. I was happy that we worked really well as a duo and captured a large number of usable shots from various different locations, meaning we will have a lot of choice in the edit. This was one of the first times in this project that I was able to be behind the camera and as George was not confident tracking cars, I actually filmed some footage as well. 

It is hard to imagine that most of the scenes filmed in this project will only be present for 60-90 seconds, which at first was a little demoralising considering we have put so much time into each segment. However, it is clear that if we want a consistent production throughout, this time needs to be dedicated to all scenes, not just ones which are longer in length. After reviewing the footage I was pleased with how it had come out and I think my planning beforehand was also key in allowing the shoot to be as smooth as it was. Nobody was at fault for the camera issue and the contributor changing, and we adapted well to still film two full interviews as well as a large stock of cutaway material for this scene. I will have to slightly change the script to fit the new contributors but that is the case for other portions of this script so a full re-write of the script will be completed within the coming weeks. 

As a team, we also picked up on other points that could be improved to ensure smoother shoot dates in the future. George had decided to pick up a camera in one scene but in doing so had ruined Cailan's shot. Of course, both Cailan and I were annoyed that the producer suddenly decided to film but, we cleared this issue up in the car and I made it clear that George was not to use a camera unless specifically stated in the shot list or was told to by Cailan. This had led to a number of shots being unusable because George is present in the background, but I am impressed with George admitting he was wrong and taking a step back in the future to ensure that Cailan is in complete control of the camera operations. This was our only real issue in the day as all others were adapted to on the day. The amount and quality of the footage was great and certainly meant the trip to Silverstone was a successful one. All that is needed now, is for George to catch up with his editing and show us rough cuts of each shoot date. It was a great day and we left with some fantastic interviews with some thought-provoking answers. This will certainly be a scene where the viewer engages in the stories told and hopefully questions why they have not chased their own dreams.