I am really happy that I have pushed myself in this unit and strived to create something utterly unique. I have felt from the start that this would always be the biggest video project of my life and it certainly has been that. I was a little sceptical at first whether the rest of the team would be as dedicated to my project as myself. However, I have been pleasantly surprised to see how much time they have spent and that is massively appreciated on my end.
I completed some research early on in the month looking at how we work on the relationship between our roles, as this was our only main issue from February. This research allowed me to look at myself in a more critical light and understand what I could be doing better, as well as my colleagues. Since this research has been completed along with a few major group discussions, we have found a pleasant balance and we are working really well together. I also completed some research towards the end of the month which looked at how I can still improve as a contributor. As this was only done relatively recently I have not been able to put this into full use yet, but I have changed my approach to shooting dates so that I can step even further back from the video production side and focus solely on being the person in front of the camera. I know in myself I have been getting better since our first shoot date back in January, but this research has allowed me to fully understand how I can change my approach.
Importance of Feedback
Over this month we have had a number of great feedback sessions from Simon, Helen, Beth and our peers. This has allowed a new set of eyes to look at our work and understand what we should change and cut in this project. This has been helpful as we know our project is quite far over the 20-minute length allowed for this documentary. As creators of the project, it has been hard to cut some sequences as we have been attached to them in different ways.
We have cut a lot of sequences thanks to this feedback and cut down others quite significantly. The first of which was the interview with disabled racing driver Bobby Trundley. This was hard for all of us as we loved meeting and interviewing Bobby. However, when looking at it with a critical eye it is clear that this interview doesn't really move the documentary along in any way and the message that "If I can do it, anyone can" didn't really come across in his answers, meaning we had to cut it, especially with the length of the interview.
We got important feedback on the Diary Room which prompted me to make the decision to re-film it. It was only a suggestion from Simon that we film this again, but I was insistent that we do it again as it was one of the few places in the documentary that I had full creative control of the Mise en Scene as well as the lighting and sound. The fact that the original shoot missed the mark was down to a lack of lights and equipment due to others at the university booking it out. However, my second take of this scene actually worked out a lot better anyway which was great for the documentary and its message. I am very happy we did this shoot again, even if it was just an advisory from Simon.
After taking on board advice in January and February we continued with our test shoots and extensive location recces. This meant trips up to Donington as well as down to the South coast. However, while they may have taken time, they have been invaluable in terms of how they are allowing us to prepare for the actual shoots and I am very happy that I convinced the team to come on these with me as they allow
Major Shoot Dates
Over March we had a number of big filming days once again. As mentioned, the scale of this project only started to hit home in March as we seemed to be continually either filming or editing. We filmed the first part of our gym sequences as well as the Diary Room along with a re-shoot. We also captured the Go Kart scene which has since been dropped due to time restrictions.
We also filmed two emotional sequences at the South Downs and a moment with my Dad at Brands Hatch which helps bring home the message of our documentary and its importance to me. I was particularly happy with these two shoots as my camera plans before the shoot allowed these sequences to be cinematically powerful as well as having some impactful words to go along with them. These sequences look really good now they have been edited and I think this documentary is going to hold more weight thanks to these two powerful reflective pieces.
The end of the month hosted one of the largest parts of this project which was the main test day at Donington Park with my race partner Sam. This shoot went particularly well as we got both fantastic visuals of the car on the track and its surroundings, as well as some great actuality of myself and Sam. We also got some great "interviews" with myself and Sam where we talk about the day and the experiences we had. I was impressed with the amount and quality of footage we had and hoped this would be taken forward to the race day. Overall, this month yielded some great shoot dates and I think the lessons learned over the months prior allowed these shoot dates to be smoother. We go into April with only a few more shoots to film and I am excited to see how these go, especially the race day.
Edit Progress
After realising the situation we were in after a tough February, we started to knuckle down on the edit as a team and we were making serious progress. By the end of March we had caught up on all of the shoot dates we had filmed, bar the test session with Sam, which has literally just been filmed and we are a few days away from having a full draft cut of this sequence.
We had struggled to find music throughout the month to underlay in some sequences, especially after critique of Cailan's choice of music for the "what else I did montage" which really did not suit the tone we were going for in this project. It has been really hard to find music which has either not been used a lot before and also fits the tone we want to keep in our project. After trawling through a vast amount of songs, we started to find some that fitted the scenes which needed music. Cailan also took control of some of the editing to ensure that George could get back on track with the edit while doing work for his role as producer. This has worked well and we have
Sequences such as the "what else I did montage", the ones at the South Downs and those with my Dad needed exactly the right backing track to create a feeling within the viewer. While we did not all agree on the music being the best for this scene, we were happy to allow the majority to make the decision to ensure we all have creative input into these decisions. An example of this was the sequence with my Dad. I personally think the music used creates a sad tone but the whole scene is about recalling a great memory and in my opinion, the song brings back sad thoughts rather than happy ones. However, as the other two disagree with me I was happy to allow the song to stay as the majority of the crew think it works.
Overall the edit is now in a good place and, as we head into April, we need to focus on getting all of the draft cuts within the edit to a fine stage, so we are ready for further feedback with our tutors and peers. We need to work on the stings that we have to transition between some scenes as well as allowing the documentary to have a sense of jeopardy. These along with some subtle colour grading to some scenes will be needed to ensure the documentary doesn't have scenes which look entirely different from each other. I am very pleased to have a more active role within the edit as it means that decisions are now being made on the spot rather than through long text chats. Working more closely together has allowed us to get through the edit much quicker and I am pleased that we took the approach to split the edit between Cailan and George as it means we are even more productive.
Aims For April
April will hold the end of filming for us, so my aims for this are to ensure these are carried out with the same professionalism that we have had throughout this project so far. Assuming these shoot days go as well as the rest of ours have, we will be spending the majority of our time on the edit and ensuring we get everything together for a group screening towards the end of this month.
It has become apparent that Cailan has financial issues towards the end of this month which means that we will have to work around him a little more in the coming month. We understand his situation and are doing everything within our power to make sure we go to his home in Crawley and spend time editing with him. Of course, this is not ideal for us but it is something we have to do to ensure the documentary still progresses with the edit throughout the next month and a half. We are more than happy to help out Cailan in this situation as we do not want to put him through any more stress.
By the end of April, I want the whole documentary to be at a stage where it is nearly ready for grading and final colour correction. After April is complete, we will only have just over a week left so we need to be in a good place by the end of the month. We also need to decide about more parts to reduce in length or cut, as we are still over the time limit set for this documentary.
The overall aim for April is to continue the good work we have completed through March and ensure that the pressure does not get to us and change our style in our final shoot dates. I am very happy with where the team is at and the dynamic between us all is in a place where we trust each other so much more than we did at the start of this project in January, which means that we are being much more productive and making some great decisions. I am really proud of this team, they took on a massive project and have dealt with it well and we are now in a very good place with the whole documentary.
March Overview
Typically, March was better than the previous two months as we made a lot more progress with the documentary which now sits in a very good place with just a couple more shoot days to go. I am happy to see the commitment within the team and the morale has only improved throughout this whole process. I am actually a little surprised at how dedicated the team are to this project considering it was all my idea. I appreciate this as it is allowing this documentary to be much better than I ever thought it could be.
March was a great month for this project as it allowed us to capture a number of key sequences as well as allowing us to get back on track with the edit thanks to splitting the role between George and Cailan, as well as myself having more input on the decisions being made. This is allowing this process to be much more of a team effort, rather than one person alone being tasked with making important decisions.
Overall I could not be happier with where we are right now with this documentary. Our main issue is what parts we cut from the project to ensure we are within the time limit. However, with some long group edit sessions planned for the Easter break, I think we will be able to cut a lot of time out of our current sequences in those weeks. We need to have some time left over for the final interviews and race day sequences to go in. I am very confident that we can do this and I am in a much better position to make decisions about what we should be doing as a team. I look forward to another challenging month, but at this stage we know we can do it, so we must not let ourselves down with the pressure in the final 6 weeks.
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