Production - Meeting W/ Simon + Changes Thereafter

A few days ago we had the opportunity to get some very valuable feedback from both Beth and Simon on our project. This comes at a better stage as most sequences have now been condensed but still lack a storyline throughout as we have yet to record the voiceover needed to made scene transitions better. Knowing this, the feedback we got enabled us to progress the project and at the bottom of this blog you will see what we learned from the meeting and what we will be doing in the next few days.

Notes From Beth (26th Mar 2019)

Bobby interview - what’s the point of what he’s saying? How does it relate to Alex’s journey?

Jamie interview is strong, relates well to the story, where Alex needs to go from here.

Formula Ford Sequence worked really well, professional, wouldn’t look amiss on TV.

Great sense of jeopardy at each section, is he going to get there, is he going to do it?

Shame that Wil spoke over Alex, but good job accounting for it in the drive home

The pacing was pretty good, still at a point where we should cut out anything that we don’t necessarily need.

Jamie interview - Alex’s cutaways don’t really work despite Simon’s feedback, looks like he’s directing which is accurate, but doesn’t really suit the tone of the interview.

Less is often more, don’t feel like you need to include every contributor.

Sound design - music is great in a lot of places, highly entertaining.

Notes From Simon (26th Mar 2019)

When we do come to each of these bits, we need to be reminded of what we’re doing in Alex’s Journey. I.e. “I’ve come to fitness today to do X”

Don’t just assume the audience just remembered it from the list of contributors.

Does Fitness even need to be there in the first place? Fitness wasn’t the thing that stopped Alex from doing it as a dream. Might have to be ruthless?

Would be like doing the racing license and then being told: “Oh, well you don’t really need that to be a racing driver anyways.”

VFX in production this weekend, and the following week. Includes lower thirds, potential clock animation (confirm with George exactly what is needed of me)

Could fitness be re-arranged into a short montage-esque sequence with music and V/O to supply important context to what goes into becoming a racing driver, adds depth. Maybe they don’t set you a goal, but you’ve gotta be fit and it’s all part of the journey, we could potentially make it work without having specific goals.

Go through Timeline and ‘red flag’ sequences that are absolutely crucial - thing’s we can’t not have - Could end up spending a lot of time editing segments that we later decide to cut entirely. Let’s stay efficient.

Notes w/ Group Meeting (26th Mar  2019)

THOUGHTS AFTER THE MEETING:

• Condense Fitness Sequence w/ V/O + Music - 20-30 seconds
• Silverstone Sequence - What do we want to do with it? Give it a lot of focus or don’t bother at all? Perhaps it’s worth just leaving the Team BRIT segment as an extended featurette in the Director’s Cut. We will probably cut this segment
• The music in the "What else I did" sequence needs to be changed ASAP and also include the clips from the other track days as well.
• I am now certain we need to change the fitness segment as it is very boring as is currently and there are a few possible options as to how we change this. I will write a separate blog post on how we will be changing this sequence. 
• We need to get to work on the voiceover and stings between sequences. They allow the story to have meaning, which give the viewer a reason to be interested as well as showing them how hard this journey was. I know what I want from these segments, they just need to be recorded and we have not had any time as of yet to do this. These will be done on the "Pick Up Day" in the next week or so.
• Finally, we typically need to cut down all of our interviews bar Dan to ensure they are tight and get the correct answers. I will be going through the timeline with George and making sure we have the best bits
• Overall I think the feedback really helped me understand what I need to focus on and give more detail on what all of us will be working on in the next week which can be seen below!
  

Cailan to EDIT: 

‘What Else I Did Montage’ (~1 minute)

Montage of all of the track stuff, including Puma, Formula Ford, MX5. 

‘Brand’s Hatch w/ Alex’s Dad’ (~1 minute) 

Include all of the questions and answers, try to cut as little as possible.

George to EDIT: 

‘Diary Room Sequence’ (Look at script for timing)

First cut of the latest diary room sequence shoot. Incorporate the last track/dolly shot particularly and be wary of the direction Alex is facing in the shots. 

‘South Downs Reflective Sequence’ (~1:00 - 1:30minutes)

Use ‘Cinematic Drama Sad Song’ in the Google drive music folder (Music for Doc > Misc.)

This will need some minor colour correction. Increase exposure by maybe 0.2-0.4 and perhaps add 5-15 temperature. 

Bruno Interview:

Interview with Bruno, priority for Alex, but needs work.

After Effects Compositions:

- Kickstarter Page Panning + Vignette (4K) 

- Lower Third Templates?

Alex TO DO: 

- Shot-list & Camera Plan for Donnington

- Look through the script, double-check everything is good.

- Find the crucial sequences in the timeline 

- Think about possible sequences being moved and restructuring

- Work on the voiceover so that the documentary has more of a storyline throughout.