Documentary Unit - Script Finalised/ Risk Assessment/ Scouting Locations

In the final day before the easter break we made sure we completed the vital parts of our project. We got our camera booked as well as the fig rig and lighting equipment to make sure that we get the highest possible quality on the handheld shots, which in our documentary there may be a few.

We got the script finalised after a final meeting with Helen and a few adjustments were made as well as one big segment about pole exercising based in strood. An idea we'd never have thought of but Helen suggested it as she noticed it whilst driving and said it could be a more "extreme" exercise to make it a little more humorous. We haven't made contact yet, so it could be a no, but it's an addition we'd now like to add. As well as a few small mistakes about using COMM/PTC/SYNC in the wrong areas.

We also got our risk assessment sorted, after completing a few already for the course it was a lot simpler now and we got it signed off first time from Helen. It now means after easter we can collect all the equipment we need and start filming on the Tuesday. We need to get a timetable sorted so we know what we will film on each day - We expect to film for 4 days and have one day recording audio at Cailan's as he has a good microphone that will be great for voice overs!

Also George and I went to one of our possible locations - Weavering Heath, not that far from the studios and would be used for our running and cycling scenes. We think it would be a good location and if keep that part in the project we think it would be ideal.

Here are some pictures of the location - A lot of it is overgrown but there is enough usable space to make a good sequence. The road "Shepherds Gate Drive" might be a possible location as well we can film. 

Documentary Unit - Finalising Some of our ideas

1- Real story or Made up story

We were thinking about maybe going for a fake story for our project to add a bit of character but we decided as we would need to show the outcome most likely at the end of the show so we wanted to manage that by making it easy.

We decided to go with a story that follows the presenter that is an actor who is struggling to get jobs because of the way that he looks . We wanted to show that because he may be slightly plus size he may be struggling in comparison who is naturally blessed with good looks. The story will follow the presenter trying different ways to look better, including traditional methods as well as possibly harmful ways.

2- Talking to a personal stylist 

This was a possible idea that we were not sure if we were going to include or not, but George has been emailing around and we can get a personal stylist at no cost what so ever but the problem we may encounter is filming in a shop and whether the person helping wants to be filmed. As long as we get in contact very soon we will be able to sort out this quickly.

George has tried to book an appointment at House of Fraser and it was free at Bluewater so we are confident that we can get that booked and film there and it would be a good location to do so.

3- Slimming Belts / Undershirts

An idea that was brought up in one of our meetings was was using a slimming vest to see if it made you look better. The idea was to go up to people, with and without the vest and see if people thought he looked "healthy" or not. The idea would be that with the vest he would visually look a lot slimmer which may help when he is being photographed for his actor profiles.

4- The perfect Selfie 

We will get someone from the photography course to help our presenter take the perfect selfie, he will experiment with different lighting, locations etc to see which one looks best. ideally this segment will only last about one minute but will show the best ways you can quickly make your pictures look a lot better.

5- The photoshoot

To make the story make sense we hope to include a photoshoot so the actor can get some new shots for his page and it will make the story have a nice ending as we are trying to show that at least a few of these ways has worked or not. Ideally we want to show that it does make a difference and he gets more roles because he looks slimmer - At there lies the problem that people are too often judged on looks before anything else.

6- Diet pills

We want to ask the nutritionist about diet pills but not take them as we think that they may be dangerous, and we don't have the proper knowledge of them ourselves to test them. The nutritionist would be able to tell us what exactly these would do to your body - We assume it will be something bad with a long lasting effect.

7- Commentary

To make sure it's not too serious we will add in little facts in via commentary or a little side pop up annotation as we don't want to lose the attention of our viewers as we know it;s suppose to be a funny documentary so if we take it too serious then it could become awkward and confusing.

8- Instant Punch Line

We want to make sure we get our viewers attention right away so we may include a funny part of our show right at the start to let the viewer know what is happening and what the premise of the show is.

Documentary Unit - Script Update (Nearly Complete)

With our final meeting before shooting on Friday we needed to get the script sorted, as right now alongside getting a presenter that was the most important thing.

To maximise efficiency we set up a google doc which is pretty much an online version of word so anyone with the link can edit it. We wanted to make sure we all pulled our weight so we split the document into three parts (roughly a 1/3 of the script each) and we dedicated that part to each of us. (I was the first part, George the middle and Cailan was doing the end of the script)

Being online it gave us a bit of leniency on where we could edit the document, We all live far apart from each other and pretty far from the studios so it make a lot more sense to do it online and we all contributed a lot to the script with this method.

Alongside doing the script we each were doing other parts of the project. I was sorting through the actors, George was trying to set up interviews and Cailan was looking at locations. This way we all were once again splitting the project evenly.

Here is my near final version of my part of the script. I will probably adjust small things before the meeting on Friday but right now I think it is the best it has been so far!

 It was a strange challenge doing this script as this was the first time I had ever seen a script laid out like this but I think the way we did it meant we could all learn it and not put too much pressure on us to write a huge amount of pages by ourselves.

Documentary Unit - Interviewing Our Potential Presenters

Today we decided we wanted to interview everyone who had got back to us - We had 3 interviews set for today and we recorded them so that we can review the answers as well. We did get consent from all of them to publish these on the blog, they understood that it was for our work.

Firstly we had Andrew, from the start of the conversation through Casting call pro we had a good feeling about Andrew and in the interview he was great as well. He ticked all the right boxes and it genuinely felt like he wanted to be a part of the project. He fits the role very well and we saw from his showreel that he is very good at what he does - He's from London so travel should be fine and he was also up for the tasks/challenges that we wanted to do. He wanted to push his comfort zone by trying something different. First impressions are really good and he is a strong candidate for the role.

Here is the full interview (We struggled with the sound in all 3, the mac went crazy once skype, and the screen capture were open)

Next we had Dom, he applied through Casting call pro and he was very thorough with his answers, which pleased us because he really put time into answering back. Even though he looks thin, and at first thoughts we wanted someone a little larger to actually fit in with what we are saying, he really proved to us whilst interviewing him that he had a passion for the subject and he really wanted to prove the media wrong. We did wonder after our meeting with Helen that now we have slightly changed the idea, it won't matter so much about body shape - This could go in Dom's favour as he really had a lot of passion for the subject. It will be very hard to chose between him and Andrew as they were both so good - If we could we would pick them both.

Here is the interview:

Lastly we had Jon - From the pictures online he seemed like the perfect fit for the role and he did respond to out Email Q&A but was vague with his answers so it left it to the interview to clear up how passionate he was for the project. The interview was tough as he was out at a cafe which seemed odd and meant that we had to call him via phone - Whilst he was a great guy, we felt that he wouldn't fit our role as even on the phone he was very vague with his answers which gave us nothing to judge him on. He's done good work in the past but just won't fit into our project.

Here is the interview:

Documentary Unit - Notes from meeting with Zoe (Our Idea etc)

Key notes from our last meeting with Zoe, it was great to have this feedback as after Easter we will dive straight into the project. 

• A reason for making the presenter want to lose weight is key to make the story make sense and flow along
• Interview people on the streets and asking people if they have had ever done a diet or ever wanted to
• Voxpops in a gym, people are worried about weight but possibly people that have also lost a lot of weight
• Actor going uptight people that are thin and asking them how they got there and how they lost weight
• Have they done it slowly or done a fad diet to lose weight quickly
• Statistics cutting in between challenges to make them make sense
• http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/04April/Pages/WeightLossPillsQandA.aspx
• Is it dangerous to lose so much weight at a young age? 
• http://uk.businessinsider.com/weight-watchers-meetings-for-young-people-2017-3
• A lot of humour and a little bit of dark facts
• Skype - make sure the person we chose is good at improvising, charming, sense of humor

Script update from Helen:

We did get the script in on time which was good, however as expected it does need a good amount of work. We have got the order right, but now it needs to look like a script!

Email from Helen read

"Your script needs to make clear the sort of material I am watching as per the lecture notes and example I showed you on scripting - i.e. Is it COMM (commentary), SYNC (interview clip), PTC (piece to camera) etc.  You should fully script all commentary and PTCs and work out the pictures/sequence or actuality or GVs etc which accompany each element.

Also you need to think about the tone of your film – it feels a little impersonal and yet it features someone (your presenter) who is going to be your ‘guinea pig’ - who are they and why are they doing this?? Your film needs to set this up clearly at the top.

Also the tone is a little confusing in terms of whether it is a ‘serious’ or amusing look at the subject – it is covering a lot of serious content but without rigorous research or relevant testimony from experts to back it up.

Every time you change subject, location, people, places etc you need to set them up and introduce them clearly either through commentary or pieces to camera."

We're going to talk to Helen on Monday to get it sorted properly and hopefully by the end of monday we will have a finished script.

Documentary Unit - Script Work

So whilst Cailan is looking for locations and George looks for people to be interviewed, I started on the script and today I finished it. We were told to divide it into two sections, on the left "PIX" (pictures) and on the right "Commentary/Sound".

I had never done a script in this layout before and it was confusing to do but I got there in the end. We have currently got about 5 1/2 pages but I know we will probably have to add more after our meeting with Helen. When we go into the studios we'll go through the script as a group and we can make some last additions.

Here is the script before feedback from Helen and last additions with the group.

Documentary Unit - Filming on Location Final Cut (Chatham Dockyard)

Here is the final cut of our footage from the Historic Dockyards. Helen decided that Cailan had to edit as he missed the shoot and he did a good job piecing it all together.

Before editing I wasn't sure how good any of it was, as it felt like single shots were not great by themselves. However after Cailan put it together it did look a lot better. Still mistakes we made to be learned rom but it's better to do them now instead of on our actual shoot.

Here is the final cut edited by Cailan

These are editing screenshots courtesy of Cailan:

Feedback From On Location Workshop (Chatham Dockyards)

This is feedback from all of the groups footage, but all the feedback will come in useful because it will be easy to make similar mistakes when shooting ourselves.  

• If you pan the camera make sure it's not more than 45 degrees otherwise it can become disorienting.
•  10 -15 second hold on each clip so that you can cut around it
• Steady in and steady out points otherwise the clip isn't really usable .
• Moves from A to B need to reveal something.
• 1 Wide for every 3 Close ups
• Only zoom to frame up, zooming in shot generally doesn't work for these types of shot.
• Motivated moves
• Using the tripod is vital for shots like these otherwise they feel disorientating. 
• If it is bright outside make sure you white balance and also make sure there is no noise. 
• Re set the cameras, interlaced and progressive look different.
• Sequences - Get tight shots as cutaways (Hands - Faces)
• Make sure the shot is still, even on a tripod it can move and can look even worse if the object that you are focusing on is still.

Documentary Unit - Finding a Presenter! (Part 1)

We have now got a solid plan for our documentary, but we need a presenter to give our show some character. I have had experience with CastingCallPro so I thought i'd put up an advert on there and see if anyone got back to us. I knew from last time that an advert did not normally get many responses even though I put a lot of time into it, but I thought it would be worth doing it incase we did get some responses for this unit, even though it's for a presenter not an actor.

This is how our advert looked and read once it was posted to CastingCallPro:

Once it was posted we just waited for some responses! I didn't expect us to get any sort of response, but it was great that we actually got 3 responses within a few days of posting which was great. These where the initial 3 applicants, all of which are in the right age range which is good but one guy (Jon) fitting the requirements in terms of size better.

Once we got the three applicants I messaged George and Cailan with who applied as of course we want to keep up with who might be the best fit for the role. George and Cailan agreed with me that Jon in terms of appearance at least fitted what we are looking for but I messaged all three of them with a few questions so we can gauge who suits the role best.

Here is an example of what I sent to all three:

 We have a script deadline on Friday so I wanted to make sure that was right before we committed to an actor so I wanted to try and narrow it down with these questions. Jon and Dominic have replied to me as of posting this and here is what they said.

Dominic was first to message me back:

Dominic seemed very up for this role and when I messaged Cailan and George they agreed, he obviously put a good amount of time in replying to us which is really appreciated. Even though Dominic didn't really fit the "figure" we wanted he could still be a very good presenter and from the work he has linked in this message he really does know what he is doing. I think he would be great.

A few days later Jon replied, and we were interested to see what he said as he was the only one that replied who fitted the "figure" we were looking for.

It was a little disappointing to have such vague answers in all honesty. We had thought Jon would have been the best from just looking at his picture, however he didn't give us much insight into what sort of presenter he would be. I have talked to Cailan and George about it and we hope that we can get Jon and Dominic to the studios to interview next week. It would also be good to see their commitment to the role.

I sent them both back an email thanking them as well as saying that we will talk more about the role next week once the script is planned. Here is the message:

First impressions after this first post are that Dominic seems more committed to the role even in this early stage but Jon fits the character profile better. I think we will discuss this further as It's tough to know what the actors are like so we may arrange interviews for next week around our lectures. 

Documentary Unit - Filming on Location (Chatham Dockyard)

Today we were on location for a workshop at the Chatham Dockyards. We each got in our groups and got assigned an area to film in. We got an inside location where all the old vehicles were stored. It was great for still shots and that's what we mostly did as Helen and Ferg thought that they are generally the best for coverage shots like these.

We did try a few shots with a little bit of movement. They were ok, but not great. Luckily there were some very interesting vehicles inside that we could get some cool focus pulls and static shots.

The main issue with being inside like this was that the lighting was quite bad, we even used out phone cameras for a few shots to help with the lighting. It was a great lesson because for our documentary we will have a mixture of exterior and interior shots so it was an important lesson.

Most of our shots were on the tripod as you want a very steady shot for cutaway shots like these, however there were a few instances where we put it on a railing or something similar so that we could grab the shot quickly as setting up the tripod takes time.

For our actual shoot we will have a lot more time to plan what we are going to shoot, so we should be able to use a tripod for every shot, it would be bad if we don't, especially shots like these.

Overall it was a great learning experience which will help us make sure that our documentary comes out in the best possible way.

Documentary Unit - Sequencing and Actuality

Controlling the whole project is key

"Artistic representation of actuality" BASED On careful research

Close ups are key, repeat the action and beware of CONTINUITY

MAKE SURE - Sequences are INTERESTING - CREATIVE - RELEVANT  - PROPERLY SET UP

USE A TRIPOD!

Talk through it all with the people on screen, they may say no but be respectful and think of a way around it.

Make sure everything is planned before you start.

Gaining people's trust is key, make sure you make them feel comfortable

Shoot a wide variety of shots so that when it comes to editing that you have the chance to edit if the main shot doesn't work for some reason. DON'T ZOOM WHILST FILMING. Don't overshoot however as it wastes time.

"Peak moments" The key moments that move the story along - these are best for close ups

Coverage
- The art of getting as many options as possible
- Shoot different angles
- 3 CLOSE UPS FOR EVERY 1 WIDE SHOT
- Getting cutaways to "cover" yourself in your edit incase you need to drops something anywhere in the timeline.
- They must have the same eyelines, it will confuse the viewer if you cut away and back to something different. 180 Rule Key and if you move the camera and show it to us you can "break" the rule
- If you can control it, it should be perfect, in actuality however it can be slightly forgiven.

Cutting on action, compressing time and gives you the illusion of continuity

Actuality - It "feels" real
Rules:
Let the subject move into and leave the frame
Apply the rules of sequencing
Filming plenty of reaction shots
Cutaways, Establishing shots
GVs
Only shoot what you need
Use sound kit carefully
Buzz track

Briefing the camera op is key so you get the right shot

Interviews want to be real life, engage the viewer as quickly as possible

Nick Broomfield "Aileen - Life and Death of a serial killer"
Bio
"An English documentary filmmaker. His self-reflexive style has been highly influential, and was adapted by many later filmmakers. In the early 21st century, he began to use non-actors in scripted works, which he calls "Direct Cinema". His output ranges from studies of entertainers to political works such as examinations of South Africa before and after the end of apartheid and the rise of the black-majority government of Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress party.

Broomfield generally works with a minimal crew, recording sound himself and using one or two camera operators. He is often seen in the finished film, usually holding the sound boom and wearing the Nagra tape recorder."

Aileen

"Nick Broomfield's second documentary on Aileen Carol Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was executed in 2002 for killing six men in the state of Florida. This second installment includes the filmmaker's testimony at Wournous's trial."

Challenging the death penalty
This was the overarching thing that we are looking at in this documentary

Case Study: Should vulnerable people be put on death row without proper testing.
Are the police bent and are they trying to use her for personal gain.

Discussion:
Hypothesis - Questions poised? How are they tested? What enlightens us?
Character - what do each represent the hypothesis?  How do you feel about the central character?
Self Reflexivity - How and why used? What role did Broomfield play in the film and how did this affect storytelling and angle of the film.
Interviews - How do they add to the hypothesis and storytelling? Where conducted and by whom?
Sequences - Filmic devices
Actuality - How the story was told and what held the film together? The timeline
Structure and pace - what did you notice about how the story developed, the structure and pace of the film?
Music, Archive and Stills - Why are they needed and how are they used?

Contextual Studies - UFO TV Series

Wiki Synopsis

"UFO is a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. It was created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.

UFO was first broadcast in the UK and Canada in 1970, and in US syndication over the next two years. In all, 26 episodes (including the pilot) were filmed over the course of more than a year; a five-month production break was caused by the closure of the MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood, where the show was initially made.

The Andersons had previously made several successful children's science fiction programmes using marionettes, including Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Joe 90. They had also made one live-action science fiction movie, Doppelgänger—also known as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun—and now felt ready to move into live-action television and aim at a more adult market.

UFO was the Andersons' first totally live-action TV series. Despite the assumption of many TV station executives, the series was not aimed at children but was intended for an older audience; many episodes featured adult themes such as adultery, divorce, and drug use. Most of the cast were newcomers to Century 21, although star Ed Bishop had previously worked with the Andersons as a voice actor on Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons."

- Genre: Sci Fi / Comedy / Drama
- Audience: Probably 15-35
- Scheduling: We expect family viewing 5/6pm
- Market: British Speaking countries, Japan because of the genre

It has hints of a western genre.

The representation in the show could be seen as stereotypical, most of the males are seen in the way we would expect them. The women are not as prominent in this show but are then seen as sexual objects when they are seen on screen especially in the opening sequences.

The mexicans in the show are also stereotyped and have a the mustache that might be seen as "normal" as well as the way that they are dressed

I think the show also has weird expectations of what the future will be, they maybe think everything will be completely different when in reality it wasn't. But in some ways it is realistic in the choice of race in the show as it has realistic diversity which I think is good to see. Because at the time of making it was normal that only white people would have main roles.

Documentary Presentation For Helen and Zoe

Today myself, Cailan and George had our presentation pitch in front of Zoe and Helen. 

We have now got more of a solid idea going into the pitch about what we wanted our documentary to be about and we split it into three sections. I would do the first three slides and Cailan would so the middle two slides whilst George would do the last 3.

I think that it went well, I really don't think I do well in these sort of presentations but I felt overall it went ok and we got some good feedback from Zoe and Helen which was the most important thing to make sure the project gets more focused on a specific part.

The general consensus was that we needed to focus on one style. They felt that we were trying to do too much and that possibly going either down the factual or the more funny side would be better than sort of hovering down the middle. We talked after and felt that if we were going to do the serious option it would be more down to the presenter to carry it rather than straight up facts.

We are slightly unsure which way to go as of right now, but I think personally the funnier option with trying stupid ways to look better would be my preference. We talked about who could present it, and it's a possibility that Cailan or I could present it but Zoe and Helen said that the presenter / guinea pig would need to be a "larger than life" character but will look through possible avenues soon.

It was nice to hear they thought the idea was strong and the feedback should help us shape it into something good. We're currently getting all the rest of the prep sorted so we can start filming after easter. The main thing we need to find is a presenter and then I feel we have good facts and figures to make something either interesting or funny.

Documentary Idea - Presentation Notes and Focused Ideas

“How Much Does Your Fat Cost”
How the media is telling younger people that they need to lose weight (Social Media stars advertising to younger audiences about “slimming” products)

“Approx. 12.5 million or 17% of children aged 2-19 are considered as overweight and teens that considered as obese or overweight has more than doubled in the last 3 decades”Source: LIVESTRONG

With hopefully Ethan as our presenter we will look at 4/5 ways to look healthier “Spray tan, How to dress thinner, Exercise, Interview a doctor, Shopping Healthily)

Spray Tan – As a joke we would get Ethan to get a spray tan to see if it makes him look better, it won’t but it will add a little comedy
How to dress thinner – Possibly go to a shop and get a personal shopper to suggest what you should wear to look thinner
Exercise – Ethan can try a couple of different types of exercise and can tell us if he thinks he could sustain it every day and if he enjoyed any of them
Talking to a professional - Ethan can talk to a GP or Health Nutritionist about what they suggest is the best way to lose weight
Shopping healthily – how much does it cost to buy healthy food in comparison to buying cheaper unhealthy food
Ethan is unsure if he can present, but as he knows the idea he would be ideal, but if he can't we'll start researching possible presenters maybe through castingcallpro

How the media makes us feel we are fat.
Companies are pressuring people to lose weight by targeting social media starts with younger audiences to question if they are fat or not. When the media attacks people for being slightly overweight it makes you self-conscious about how you personally look and how other perceive that.
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/516901/Scott-Disick-Bootea-Instagram-fail-sponsored-advert

Interview an expert who explains fad diets and how they can be dangerous especially to young people because they are not fully developed yet.

Going to a fat camp and seeing how people with weight issues are trying to lose weight. If any are willing to talk to us it would be great to know how they got into this situation and why they think now is the time to lose weight. We also would like to ask them about how they think the media is putting pressure on us to be a certain type of figure.

We are in contact with a boot camp in Maidstone which has already got some success stories on their website and we hope that they will be accommodating in letting us film and get some insight into people who have lost a lot of weight and how they did it.

We also have as a possible back-up idea of talking to professionals (Maybe models) who have to be thin for a living and ask if they like having that lifestyle and if they ever have stress about eating certain foods because of the fear that it might impact their chances in getting other groups.

Documentary Unit - Scripting and Storytelling

Looking at our workshop footage:

Sound (Look for levels and Listen for quality)
White Balance
Exposure (Use Zebras - 80%) (Keylight and fill light)
Focus
Framing

Extra shots to cut away to in interviews are important, out of focus, close ups, different angles

If filming in a home, make sure you look around each room to see which room is best, maybe look for a natural light or interesting backdrop. Make sure you always ask before you move everything.
Take your time setting up the shot to make sure that it is right, and if it's not spend more time setting up.

Scripting and storytelling:

Make the title something interesting that people want to watch.
"Sells" your film
Encapsulates what your film is about
Adds meaning to the film

1 page synopsis for Tuesday 21st March "Treatment"
- Transmission time and channel

Sequences
Interviews
Reconstructions
Actuality
Cutaways/GV's
Sync
Commentary
Music
Archives
Graphics

Script written prior to filming, this forms a template for your finished film

Pix on left, Sync/Comm on the right Maybe even duration far right. (How much is a shot worth?)

Explore picture opportunities through your script

ALWAYS write to pictures - they shoudl work together

Write COMM or v/o FOR commentary
SEQ Sequence
ACT Actuality
C/A Cutaway
SYNC Interview clips
SFX sound effects
PTC Piece to camera

Do the commentary right at the end - Out and the in words are going to change before editing.
Line and a half spacing - makes it easier to read

Find a narrative for your documentary is essential
A central thread which holds the story together
Narrative influenced by characters, locations, period

Reasons for commentary:
1. Guide and explain the story
2. Information
3. Intro characters
4. Corner turn
5. Tension

Simple questions in actuality interviews

Actuality (Observational) vs Sequenced (Polished/Cleaner)
The filmmaker might also have their own views on this based on preferences

By 9th May you need to have transcribed all of your interviews

Keep changing version numbers and include the date so you know which is the latest version easily

CONTEXTUAL STUDIES: VIRTUALISM

- In media context, the simulation of "the real" primarily through digital construct and manipulation.
- The aesthetic tension between physical and digital material vs immaterial. "The uncanny valley"

Virtualism in visual media
- Game of thrones (Fantasy drama)
- Dramatic elements (narrative and character) relies on realism
- Fantasy (Non realist) elements relies on digital constructs

- Sanctuary fantasy sci-fi drama
- Dramatic elements (narrative and character) relies on realism
- Visual context (environment) entirely digital

Virtual news sets are purely representational
Simulated reality we decode by genre

-What is "real'?
-What is "created"?
-Analogue (practical) or digital
-How do we perceive difference

"The uncanny"
- An uncanny effect often arises when the boundary between fantasy and reality is blurred
- Heimlich - the familiar and unfamiliar
- Unheimlich - the unfamiliar and the strange

Following that theory the gap between what is perceived as real and that is almost real
It provokes aesthetic sense of discomfort, eeriness or revulsion

Audio Interview Workshop - Documentary Unit

Today we had a workshop to help us with our interviews that will inevitably be doing for our Documentary unit.

It was interesting to see how to properly frame up a shot, as well as how to get the audio right. We had some problems with our clip mic where it was picking up a lot of interference but after we talked with Ferg we got it sorted. It was interesting to finally use the clip mic and the quality was surprisingly good but we should always use the boom as a backup.

It was a great workshop in which a lot of lessons were learnt and will be applied when we get round to making our project. Talking to Sam, he seemed to recommend using the XDCam for this unit as the focusing is a lot more reliable. We have not yet decided what we are going to use but it is most probable that we will use XDCAM.