Unit 4: Initial Ideas - Documentary Planning Powerpiont Presentation

First Pitch presentation for my documentary

View more presentations from Maro Lafif.

Unit 4: Pre-Production Paperwork- My practice titles and new title

I have produced my first title on Photoshop as a way for my to practice on my creative skills and decide what I does look good and what doesn't. The image on the background on a naked animation was too sexually explicit and inappropraite for my formal documentary.

The above image is my second idea of title, which I wanted to name dream worlds because it sounds different but it is short. However, it didn't relate to my documentary at all and the name didn't reflect what contained in my documentary. So I went for the third title that was more appealling to my target audience as they wanted something that was bright and bold.

The picture above is for my documentary. I have decided to chose this style for my title because the typography is bold and noticeable. Every word relates to my documentary and represents in three words my documentary. Blue, red and purple connotes youthfullness, it is lively colours, bright and eye-catching. The image behind the title denotes a picture of Rihanna who is the figure of a sex symbol. I wanted to use an image of her that is more sexually explicit but as there may be younger viewer. I remained this image as it is one of Rihanna's images that are not too sexually explicit. Her image also connotes music videos.

However, I have decided to alter YouTube to RudeTube as it is more appear more interesting, different and unique. The word, ''Sex'' and ''Censorship'' are two words that reflects what will mainly appear or what will mainly be talked about in my documentary. The titles connote that my documentary is about YouTube, which consists of sexually explicit videos and censorship is considered.

The overall representation of my title is bright, youthful and attractive.

Unit 5: Production Log and Post Production

Week 1 

On 07/12/ 11 at 10.45 a.m. I filmed my Vox Pops and I was accompanied one of my counterparts who helped me with filming.  She was my camerawoman and we went Lambeth college to obtain the opinions of young people in that college for my documentary.

I asked questions to three students who have prior knowledge of Media Studies and asked them about the issues raised in my investigative documentary. The filming of the Vox Pops went successful and without any restrictions or constraints. I finished filming at 11.30 a.m. 

I filmed the 4 young people in the college for my Vox Pop interviews. The Vox Pops were successful but some mistakes were made during the filming as I had in some occasion poor lighting and there was no proper location available for us to film in the college. Therefore, I overcame this problem by being well familiar with the college and the people in the college. I found a suitable location, as I knew where to exactly film and where the location was in the college.

But, during the filming we did do re-shots when things went wrong or went the interviews wanted to do the filming process all over again.

I think I organised this week very well as I had contacted through personal phone calls the Vox Pop interviewees in advance and they were aware that I would come and film them. They gave me the permission to get into the college. It was done without any obstacles and I was easily let into the Lambeth college to film for my documentary.

I knew where the location of the college was and I did some test interviews with the members of the Vox Pop in advance as well, which was very helpful for building my skills. I planned my work and then went filming. Nothing changed as I filmed what I wanted. 

Week 2

SWOT:

The strengths of this week are that I’ve done my shot list to know exactly what I have to record.

I have done a practice title on Photoshop to play around with colours and investigate what is suitable for the title of my documentary.

My other strengths are that the crew sheet and the Health and Safety/ Legal and Ethical are completed.

The weaknesses are that if I do have archive footages at the beginning of my documentary with a secondary footage of SKY News it will make my documentary appear effortless, as it is better for me to introduce my documentary as a presenter.

On the shotlist I have to arrange specifically after each second what is being shot, as it has to be in order.  

The title won’t fit in my documentary, as it appears fake and too childish for a formal and serious documentary. Therefore, I need to practice producing my title on LifeType.

The opportunities are that I have to know what archive footage I’m going to use for my documentary. I am going to film my scripted voice-overs.

I will be more likely to arrange a solid date for my interview with Mr. Sadiq Khan and Keera after the Christmas Holidays.

-Storyboard need to be done.

-Cutaways need to be filmed.

-Call sheet need to be filmed.

-I need to know what my exact cutaways are.  

The threats are that as I cannot control my interviews, I’ve to just be patient and keep on sending emails or texts to my interviewees for them to make a convenient time for us to meet.

The first week didn’t really involve any filming because I was gathering all the information together and started to organize my interview with Mr. Khan as it was the bone of my documentary.

This week I have started to send emails to Sadiq Khan via his website. 

My main priority was to book an appointment with Mr. Sadiq Khan who is a Labour MP as it would look good on my documentary and my target audience like to see famous or positive inspirational role models.

What I have achieved was that I managed to get hold of his assistants and I’ve provided my contact details to them and what I needed Mr. Sadiq Khan for?

I went to Sadiq Khan’s constituency office in Balham after I haven’t heard anything from him or his assistants when I send an email on his website.  I met in his office one of his assistance, which was very helpful as we met face to face and she could see who I was and what my intentions were to meet Mr. Khan as I have given her a note with clear explanations of my work.

By doing this I have achieved to obtain important contact details of the assistants working alongside Sadiq Khan. I used my communication skills effectively as this was very helpful because my skills made the process of booking an appointment with Mr. Sadiq Khan became simple and formal.

What I mainly achieved from this day was that I presented myself well to his assistants, got important contact details from his assistant who works in his office right across his office.

I worked independently during this week but did inform my mentors about everything.

In addition, I also meet Keera to talk to her in person and ask for her permission about whether she would like to participate in my documentary. We exchanged contact details too.

This week at 4.30 p.m on the 12/12/11 I went to complete my test interview with Keera as she is one of my interviewees too. 

I worked independently as I had not buddy to work with or help me.  I went to the Tooting Hub where Keera’s studio was located. She does all her work in there. I’m very familiar with the Tooting Hub and this enabled me to be well organised as I knew what to do and where to go. I recorded Keera’s introduction where she introduced herself. 

The main thing that went wrong was that as I went in late to do the test interview so I had no natural lighting as it went darker and other people used the studio that we had to film in. So I overcame this problem by finding another suitable place where there was less background noise and better illumination. There weren’t any problems that stopped me from filming my interview with Keera. 

Week 3

After waiting for about 1 or 2 weeks, since I have send Sadiq's assistant an email. I decided to go to Sadiq Khan's consituency office on Tuesday 6th December. It was around 3.30 p.m. and I met Katy there who was working there. I explained myself to her and she obtained all my personal details and what my course was about. I said to her that I contacted Luke Waterfield, which she knew and she called him and talked about me to him.

The reason why he didn't send an email back was because my email contained the word, ''sexual'' because the automatic mail perceived it as ''porn'' and was not send to Luke as it goes through formal regulation to Mr.Khan.

However, Luke than contacted me and asked me to send all my questions that I will be asking Mr. Khan and said that Mr. Khan can't do it before Christmas but asked me to send him 3x times and dates for the week commencing 9th January and I send him these times and dates that I am available.


These days were provided to me:
-Monday 9 January  10.05 a.m. 
-Wednesday 11 January  at 12. 30 p.m.
-Friday 13 January  10.00 a.m.
Luke Waterfield will, then, let me know when the exact date is that I will have my interview with Mr. Khan.

By week 4, I have managed maintain constant contact with Sadiq Khan’s assistant as he was the one who enabled me to meet Mr. Khan. On the 16th of December 2011, I received a reply back from Mr. Khan's assistant who gave me optional days when I could interview Mr. Sadiq Khan.

I first said that I wanted to meet Mr. Khan in his constituency office on Friday 13^th January near Balham High Road but I wanted to challenge myself and I’ve decide to interview Mr. Khan in his office that is located in Central London, so the date was altered on Wednesday 11^th of January at 12.30 p.m.

Now I have decided a date for my interview with Mr. Sadiq Khan I am extremely thrilled and delighted that I am going to meet Mr. Khan. I always wanted to meet him. I taught a lot about what I should wear, planned my route and printed relevant paperwork such as my questionnaire for him, I made a list of what were the things I required for my important interview, I also organized a camera man who accompanied me on the day.

Luckily nothing went wrong during this week, everything went as smooth as it should I expected.

But, as I knew my interview was going to occur. I started to do test interviews with my classmates and learned what my mentors were teaching us for how to professionally record someone during an interview. I learned this by helping my counterparts in acting as an interviewer and I noted down what my mentors were teaching us. Through learning and practicing I knew what to expect for my interview with Mr. Khan.

 In accordance to the interview with my friend Keira, I have send her multiple texts and messages to keep in touch with her. I did mention to her that this time was my final time for filming her because she was going through difficult family circumstances and it would be appropriate to know exactly when I should contact her and when is she in the Tooting Hub.

If Keira does not want to be filmed anymore, my alternative decision would be to find a character that is similar to Keira but pretends for my documentary.

However, this is the text that I have send to my best friend Keira again, which I have used for evidence.

''Hey sweetheart, I hope you are fine after you texted me weeks ago. I am texting you regarding the final filming that I would like to do with you. This is the last time I will I will nag you about filming because I understand you are busy but I really need you for this Media Production course. I will promise after this final filming I will leave you alone. But thank you very much for always being there for me. Please let me now when you can film again for the last time in the Tooting Hub Studion. Many thanks Maryam''.

After this message, we arranged a real appointment together and the final filming took place on Friday 13 January in the Tooting Hub Studio at 4.00 p.m. until 5.30 p.m.

This week I didn't do any filming but instead I finished thoroughly all my pre-production paperwork including my production log. 

Week 4 

 On Wednesday 11 January  at 12. 30 p.m. I recorded my interview with Sadiq Khan and filmed Keera's interview in the same week. I went to Central London where his office is located. 

I worked with a cameraman who came along with me, I was prepared to use my team working skills and communication skills to work together with the camera man. I knew the camera man, which made it easier for me to go on a journey with him and I knew he would be a trustworthy and sensible camera man. 

In this day me and cameraman finished at 5.00pm. We finished very late because we had many difficulties with the sound of the microphones as it didn't work very well and we had to constantly re-shot my parts, as a presenter, where I will be asking the questions to the interviewee. 

As the cameraman was very skilled we managed to fix the sound and overcame the problem by reshooting and re-filming and checking whether what we have is good and satisfying. 

The things that did go well was the interview with Mr. Khan which went smoothly and with no problems as we had good sound, good lighting and good mise-en-scene. 

I organised my week thoroughly and very well by the use of researching the location, conducting test interviews and learning my scripts and organising all the relevant paperwork for my interview with Mr. Khan. I also took pictures of the maps and emails that I have received from Mr. Khan's assistant who send me the address of the office and what I will expect when I get there as there was high levels of security and check ups. Fortunately, the problems did not effect or alter my production.


In addition I also went to the Houses of Parliaments  in Central London on 29/01/12 at 12.10 p.m. to record my cutaways and film the introduction for my documentary.
I came back at 5.00 p.m. The reason why I have used The Houses of Parliaments is because it is a symbolic representation of the law, government, rules, MPs, reforms and so on.


Fortunately there was no problems that occurred on this day as I managed to film what I wanted. I was accompanied by my buddy, class counterpart, who was the camera man and who helped me during the filming. 
I have provided a picture below for evidence. 

During the same week 4 I also filmed Keera. I went to the Tooting Hub to conduct my interview with Keera. I went independently and had no cameraman, which affected my filming as I was doing everything by myself. 

The main things that went wrong was the lighting was too dark and made Keera's face invisible. The sound was too low as we were in Keera's studio and the wall were made of special material that affected the level of the sound recorded. I overcame this problem by putting the microphone closer to Keera when she was talking but the lighting could not be altered as there were no lights available in the studio and I didn't bring with me a spare light as i was on my own. 

I did do some re-shots when things went wrong but as Keera was on a rush because she had a meeting. 

To some extend, I didn't organise my interview with Keera very well because I was skeptical whether she would attend her interview with me or not. As a result, of this I poorly prepared for my interview with Keera and this had an impact on the quality of my filming. This problem did include alter and change my filming as I went to the hub to get a high quality interview with Keera but certain things affected the filming. 

Below I have also included a picture and a video footage when I went to Keera's hub for evidence. 

Week 5 

These are the images from the footage that I have filmed and used for my documentary. It is the video footages of my interviews with Mr Khan, Keera and the Vox Pops.  

 This is the edited version of my documentary that I have edited on IMOVIE. 

During this week, I was editing on Imovie using all the footage that I have filmed the last 4 weeks as I had difficulties to get used to the editing process on Final Cut Pro. I was advised by my mentors that I had to edit my work on Final Cut Pro so I compressed my work on Imovie and uploaded it on Final Cut Pro. As I did this I did have some technical faults, which ruined my work. For instance, I could edit my work but the sound of my video footage was combined with other sounds in the footage. This made my documentary appear unprofessional and awkward. Therefore, I upload the whole original footage from my tape onto Final Cut Pro.

My main priority was to learn as much as I could during this week on Final Cut Pro the process of editing so that I can edit all my work on Final Cut Pro without having to make more work for myself. I was taught by my mentors step by step. After a week or two I became independent and progressed gradually with my skills in editing on Final Cut Pro as it was all new for me.

On 31/01/2012 at 2.15 p.m. after having a discussion with my mentors and obtaining their feedback, I was advised to conduct another two Vox Pops who were young females.  I went to look for young females who could participate in my documentary, yet also, I wanted them to look formal and youthful.


I have included a picture of the female that I filmed as my Vox Pop for my documentary. I have used the first Vox Pop footage from the young female because her body language and dress codes suited my style of documentary as she was dressed formally and professionally. She talked to me, as a presenter, in a serious and respectful tone. I was happy with the opinion she gave me and it was a productive session. 

I borrowed a camera, a microphone and a tripod from Ibrahim, who is the media departments’ technician. My filming took place indoors so I didn’t have to worry about bad weather conditions.

I learned to use professional techniques for framing an image during filming the Vox Pops, which I need to consider always presenting effective framings.  I recorded the Vox Pops with the female speaker. I obtained valuable information for my documentary from the female Vox Pop. She was the exact person that I was looking for as the information that she talked about was relevant, interesting and appealing to my target audience, whereas another female Vox Pop that I recorded wasn’t talking properly to the camera and what she was saying was irrelevant and she didn’t talk fluently, which will make my documentary appear unprofessional and dull.

Week 6

I filmed another Vox Pop with a female but I haven't used it as I didn't like the way the footage sound and when I edited my work it didn't sound right.


In week 6, I have upload everything onto Final Cut Pro and started to learn editing on Final Cut Pro after I did extra editing on Imovie beforehand as I had technical difficulties to be able to edit on Final Cut Pro but it has made me become more confident in learning  to edit. 

Below I have also included the voice overs that I have recorded during this week. I wanted to use it for my documentary but as it had bad quality I didn't really use it for my documentary. This affected my documentary as I didn't have a voice over for my conclusion. I worked independently but with the guidance of my mentors. I didn't go anywhere filming as I was trying to edit my documentary and know I may need to complete my work. But as this stage the most important thing for me was to edit all my work as it is the vital part of my documentary. 

Week 7 

As I have decided to initiate my documentary by standing in front of the HMV shop that shows all the CD covers behind me or the logo of HMV to represent that my documentary is about music videos and well known singers.

Before I started to film, I went on 08/01/12 at 01.00 p.m. to the Centrale Croydon Shopping Centre and I discovered that I required permission from the marketing management to be able to film in the shopping centre.

Secondly, I also discovered that it is better to close down the building away from the public where HMV is located because I had difficulties with filming, at the same time, the members of the public interrupted my filming by passing by or looking into the camera which ruins the frame of the filming.


The next day, on 09/01/12, I called the manager of the shopping centre again on this number : 02082561304 and introduced myself, also, I asked her whether I was allowed to film in my chosen setting. I gave her all my personal contact details and she said that she will contact me in the next working days. I did notify to her that I need to film during closed hours so that nobody disturbs me. 

25/ 01/12 After I have called the manager of HMV, they said they would call me back but I have heard nothing from them since. Therefore, I have called them again and they said that I am unable to film in the Centrale Shopping Centre due to Health and Safety purposes. Yet also, as it is used by the members of the public the manager was extra cautious and decided to not allow me. 

Health and Safety precautions form had to be filled in for this scene too because I am filming in a shopping centre where the marketing management have to take serious rules into consideration as it is used by the members of the public on a daily basis. 

I had to film infront of the HMV for my introduction because it would have made my documentary much more exciting and appealing to my target audience.

Week 8 

on 29/02/12 at 4.00 pm,  I thoroughly finished editing my interview with Keera, Mr. Khan and the Vox Pops.

I have also by now transported all the work that I have done on Imovie onto Final Cut Express.
The main problems that I had was that Imovie combined all the sounds together automatically. This problem was a nuisance as I had all the sounds of my interviews together and messed up. This didn't sound and look professional so I had to delete all the edited files that I have exported from Imovie to Final Cut Express and start editing some of my work that was ruined all over again.

This was hard work and annoying but I managed by the end of the week to finish some main parts of my editing for instance, the footages that I had to edit all over again such as Keera's versions and Sadiq Khan's video footages.

I have included the main pictures of my editing board to denote all the work that I have done or edited throughout the week for my documentary. I have completed almost the conclusion section but I still need to do a lot of work for the conclusion as it is the hard bit. 

Week 9 

Week commencing 16 April 2012 until 22 April 2012. 

16/04/12 AT 10.00 PM,  I went to film a lot of cutaways that were very necessary for my documentary to make it appealing to my target audience. I have recorded YouTube, BPI footage from the BPI website and filmed from some magazines sexually explicit images to denote that the mass media is full of sexually explicit contents. 

During the recording of the cutaways I worked on my own. I organised my work by borrowing a camera and tripod from the Media Technician. I filmed in my cutaways in a well lighted room using effective framing and shots. 

There were no problem, which could have influenced my documentary as I had knew what I was doing and organised the week properly. 

I have provided below the pictures of all the cutaways that I have filmed during this week. 

After filming my cutaways I preceded with editing all the cutaway footage and my other footages on Final Cut Express. The editing process was very long and I have edited now for almost more than 6 weeks. 

Week 10 

During this week I have completed all of my titles for the my interviews so that I can display them underneath the screen of my interviews in my documentary. I have worked independently but asked help from my mentors. I used my preferable style of font and the colours that I wanted to use. When I finished I just added them to Final Cut Express.  This was very easy and straight forwards. 

At the beginning, I did make mistakes on the style of my typography by choosing the wrong fonts as some of the fonts on LifeType are irrelevant and wasn't appealing to my target audience. It also didn't look professional and appealing, therefore, I overcame this problem by asking help and deciding what is suitable the style of my documentary. 

I have included below for evidence some imageries to show what I had completed during this week.

Week 11


I continued editing again and edited a large of my work again by now I am almost finished to hand in my work.
I have included images below for prove that I have completed editing again.

I have edited a large part of my work today but I've been very specific by editing in detail any footage that I don't need. 

I have also produced a title for Keera as I will display it beneath during her interview when she is talking.

During this week I also filmed my interview with Mrs. Lattimore as I have included a picture below. The main things that went wrong in this footage but I overcame it through effective editing were sound and mise-en-scene.

Week 12

Above pictures are from my editing board taken to denote that everything is neatly edited. All files are collected together 

During the final week 12 I achieved to edit my whole documentary thoroughly and perfectly using all the footage that I have filmed and recorded throughout the production process.  I brought all the video footages together and edited my whole work bits by bits and added anything that was required from secondary and primary recourses. 

On 29/04/12 at 12.00 pm. I went outside and filmed all the necessary and left over cutaways tht

Below I have included below my filmed cutaways that I have filmed in week 12 as I needed for my documentary more cutaways and more primary resources including pictures and cutaways.
During this week nothing much went wrong. All I had to this in this final week was edit constantly and finish off my documentary before the deadline. I worked independently but did as help from my mentors and the Media Technician.