Alternative Documentary

As we have documented our film process, we have been discussing our seperate edits.

Here is my version of the documentary.



The decision not to show this doc in class for the final pitch was down to Harry and Amy, who we allowed to make the decision as they would not be biased towards any of our edits.

My understanding is that, they thought that the film was not in keeping with the brief and wasnt as Cinema Verite as Dans. I could see more elements of cinema verite in Dans work, but thought mine was technically & aesthetically better.

It was difficult to seperate which one would get us a better mark, content wise. The decision was made that Dans documentary showed more of the content they wanted to see.

I was disheartened by the decision initially because I had put a lot of work into the concept that I had came up with. However, this was a group project and I cant take plaudits as we all put a lot of effort into each production. I had spent hours in the edit suite making sure it looked professional, so I was sad it didnt get chosen given the good reaction it had got in my editing class but you have to take these things in your stride. Also, I was happy with the passion on display from the other group members as they really "sunk their teeth" into my idea, and it couldnt have been achieved without them.

To conclude, I feel both documentaries get the point across, but in different ways. Ideally, I feel we should of got an outsiders view on which documentary was to be chosen, but we had decided early on in the process that the decision should be from Amy and Harry who didnt edit the piece and they seemed to be clued up on what the teacher would be looking for. I think Dan has produced a great documentary and I hope he posts it on here aswell.

Today's finalities and decisions

After tweaking their edits, both Dan and Jonathan burnt their versions of the films to disc and presented them to myself and Amy. Having seen Dan's more recently than Jonathan's I knew more or less what to expect from his version but Jonathan, clearly having put a lot of work into his edit since I last viewed it two days ago, was radically different. It was a much tighter edit with interesting and relevant cutaways, the music ran more or less all the way through the film and overall the new version kept my attention more than Jonathan's previous edit.

Having given Dan and Jonathan some final improvements to tweak their edits, it fell to Amy and I to decide which of their edits we would submit as the finished item. This was a difficult decision to make as we felt both pieces had strong elements and where one lacked the other made up for. Dan’s edit includes more footage of the interviews which we were worried would contribute to the audience losing interest whereas Jonathan’s piece has the same relevant material but it had been intercut with more cutaways and music to fit the mood of the voiceovers. However, in the end we chose Dan’s edit of the film simply because we thought that his footage combined with the voiceover made for a more solid conclusion to our findings. This was an extremely difficult decision for myself and Amy and we talked at length about the pros and cons of each version of the film. If I was to produce this film again I would suggest that all four of us have a greater group input into a single edit of the film in order to incorporate everyone’s ideas and opinions more fully.

I have enjoyed working on this film more than any other I have made to date as it has taught me more about the importance of organisation and group discussions than I could ever have imagined before I had made it. All members of the group have been as equally hard working and we have worked brilliantly together on all aspects of production. I think that group communication is a huge part of achieving a good end result and though we have encountered a few communication issues in some areas, we have overcome these to make a piece of work that I am immensely proud of.

Voiceover Explanation for my edit

I wrote the voiceover ideas together with Harry awhile ago.

I think it was important that we colloborated on this as the voiceover was produced after the edit was in place. I found I could give good guidelines as to what I wanted to be said and we scripted the documentary together. Below I will set out which shots were coupled with the script we had wrote.

"Media students. We decided to make a documentary to find out what Sheffield has to offer them by way of a career. First we asked the public".


"People in the industry"

"And found out what it takes to get a foot in the door in an industry that's increasingly difficult to break into."

So with over 25 media related courses in Sheffield alone, surely the public have some idea of what a media student actually does? We ventured into the city centre to find out.

This was the opening for the montage presenting the findings in short highlights. I felt I maintained a decent pace to this opening, but also took myself away from the more truthful verite approach here, because I misconstrued the context behind what the people in these short snippets were talking about to make it sound like they were slanderising media students- which wasnt the case for some people.

This was so the audience could maintain interest in the documentary and want to know the truth behind what was being said in the highlights.

Further, this helped live up to the title "making trouble for public good", as I later corrected the wrongs during the main segment of the documentary, when the actual truthful interviews were presented.



No one really had an opinion. Until we met this man.

Here, I wanted to draw attention to the individual with strong opinions on media students. I feel he is a real character and provides the negative connotations I suspected would come out during my research. This was the whole reason I was making the documentary, to try to educate and inform individuals like this. I added a bit of humour to the film by using the Jaws music in the build up to his interview.

It was beginning to look like no one had anything positive to say about media students.

This was directly after the man with the strong views had labelled media students as "frauds". I feel it helped convey a negative more depressing mood to the film (which started quite optimistically). This was a bit of a metaphor for the ups and downs we encountered in our investigation- the success stories and the media students who hadnt achieved anything and had been left £10,000 in the red having finished the course.

So with all this negativity hanging over us we decided to head to the Workstation, home to several cultural and media companies all supporting each other. We spoke to Tom Gatis former Media student and currently working as a Project Co-Ordinator for the Sheffield DocFest about his experiences.

This was an introduction to Tom Gatis. Tom was pretty informative but I felt his interview dragged on initially which was why I cut him from 2:30 to 1 minute. This was because some of the things he was talking about was not relevant to the investigation into how worthwhile university courses are.


The message was coming through loud and clear, work experience is the key to success in the Film and Media industries and we could see the struggle facing media graduates. With that in mind we packed up for the day and headed back the next morning to meet Hussain, film programmer for the International Doc Fest held every autumn.

Introduction to Hussain. Hussain had very strong views, he sympathised a lot for students undertaking media degrees and we learnt that work experience was key to the industry. He informed us of success stories which I used in my edit as I found it would be interesting side story to some of the issues being discussed about success in the industry.

Stylistic changes from first concept.. My edit.

My first concept of the film was to have a presenter throughout the film coupled with voiceover, to suit the need for the documentary to be Cinema Verite.

However, when consilidating the footage I realised that it didnt have the same impact this way, and that the documentary would merely drag on.

I found influence in a dispatches documentary (below). I think this style maintains the audiences interest, and allows the seriousness of the issue to come across better than if, say, I produced a film which followed every meanial detail into the documentary process. I decided I would make use of music and voiceover to guide the narrative rather than rely on a presenter.


In keeping with the brief, I found I still used some cinema verite techniques, in particular, the use of the narrator in shot- rather than have the narrator talking to camera, however, he looks at the camera whilst the voiceover of his own voice discusses what he had learnt in his investigation. I liked this as it kept a bit of seperation between the audience and the viewer, which might be seen as being quite observational in a sense and thus being more like Direct Cinema.

More Cinema Verite techniques can be seen in the shots where the group is seen on camera, whilst the narrator acknowledges that they are the crew making the documentary.

Use of text in my edit

I have decided to emphasize some of the dialogue in the opening sequence.

To do this, I made a text layer and added my text. I then inserted it over the top of the video, then went into controls. I then positioned my text where I wanted. Each bit of text from the dialogue will flash up in the opening sequence.

Below I have screen shots of how this looks:

I will continue this theme in my edit, to make particular words stand out.

Music. My Edit

Music is important in all film. For my documentary I want the music to help convey a mood at a particular moment. There are parts of my edit that are optimistic, inquisitive, pessimistic, jovial and sombre.

Here is the music I have selected for each part of the edit.

Optimistic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQtfntyVTNU

This song sounds quite upbeat and optimistic. This juxtaposes the negativity conveyed in the film which helps to match the module title I produced the documentary for entitled "Making Trouble for the Public Good".

Inquisitive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFhJGwjfDBk

This song will help the feeling of trying to find out something. I feel that when the beat kicks in I will be able to time the visuals to match this, before delving into the public voice-box. The music will cut once the man with strong opinions starts talking as he is important to the narrative and I want to keep the tone of the documentary serious.

Pessimistic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rl1qbz5_nI&feature=related

This song is very depressing and melodramatic and follows on from an interview from someone who was fairly negative about the chances of Media Students breaking into the industry. I feel it will match the rainy drab shot of the Sheffield wheel and show a sign of things to come, when we interview the rather disheartening character of Hussain.

Jovial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-2H4-OGmpE

This songs bass line is quite jovial and melodic. I feel this will match the character being interviewed in the film quite well as I found him to be light hearted and laid back. I feel this shows elements of positivity which is important for this particular sequence.

Sombre:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vslbQNkFLl8

The songs mood is quite sombre, which helps to create feelings of rest and reassurance but not entirely positive. I feel this will be quite important to the concluding montage and help the documentary go out with a bit of a bang.

Influence. My edit.

I have been watching the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, I really enjoyed the film 'Ivans Childhood'.

I particularly enjoyed the opening, it conveys a very positive mood. I wish to convey positive feelings in my own work. I felt the music played a big part, it also used visually stunning shots.

In the article (link posted below), the writer talks about the rejection of montage in the work of Tarkovsky.

I intend to use montage but I still found Tarkovsky to be quite an interesting film maker.

Reading the article I have established that Tarkovsky tends to use long sequences, repeating shots to show the character trying to achieve his goals but without using a 3minute montage to glue together the 'struggle' of the character and how he/she eventually solves his/ her problems.

Instead Tarkovsky chooses to show the clip over and over again until the character solved the problem, even if this means playing the same clip over a 15 minute duration.

Unfortunately because of my time restrictions I will have to make use of montage but I agree in a sense that montage isn't truthful because it covers a vast array of information in a short time scale, wheras a struggle could take a long period of time.

An interesting quote on Tarkovskys distaste for montage from the man himself.

"The idea of "montage cinema"—that editing brings together two concepts and thus engenders a new, third one—again seems to me to be incompatible with the nature of cinema. Art can never have the interplay of concepts as its ultimate goal. The image is tied to the concrete and the material, yet reaches out along mysterious paths to regions beyond the spirit..."

http://www.ce-review.org/00/39/kinoeye39_halligan.html

Degrees of Seperation. My edit.

I have been reading a magazine article about engagement of the audience entitled, 'point of view'. The bit that interested me was the discussion of 'subjectivity' . We have shots of Mark Herbert talking almost directly at camera.

I think after reading the article it is clear that when the subject looks directly at camera it seems more personal.

I intend to use this for effect in my film. In my opening montage I will have some of the characters talk to the camera. Coupled with his dialogue, the shots of Hussain will aim to shock the audience in order to keep them interested for the rest of the doc.

Here Hussain looks directly at camera and says "Its crap, its going to be crap, youre just going to die crap". This was taken out of context for the purposes of shocking the viewer and served as a memorable quote which inspired the title of the documentary.

To have an acclaimed producer speaking almost directly to camera helps to show a more personal point of view. Mark is extremely informative in his answer and I feel this is best as my documentary serves to educate as well as entertain.

Presentation tomorrow

Having completed my edit and presented it today, it received a good response, similar to the one I believe Jonathan to have had with his cut. Steve didn't have any criticism really, other than that it seemed to suggest an underlying message that money is important for us media students, and that this 'success' is what we're looking for. I disagree of course, but can see where he is coming from, in my edit anyway.

It seems like we have got two very strong cuts to go with tomorrow, and today is the day we decide which one we choose. Either way I am very pleased with our progress on this film.

Editing improved.

Yesterday I received some useful suggestions from Jonathan to improve my edit. The majority of the improvements were made to the sound.

The first general improvement I made was using the pen tool to make the sound fade in and out to a more professional standard, rather than using the cross fade effect.

The screenshot shows how, especially with the voiceover sections, I faded the sound in and out with the pen tool to clear it up and give it a more professional standard. I also dipped the audio levels of the sound track where necessary, to give more emphasis on the voiceover. As Jonathan also pointed out, some of the audio levels were peaking into red and so I had to alter these slightly which meant adjusting some of the other levels also. Quite a few of his other suggestions on the audio were also to move some of the songs to start a bit earlier. I feel this has worked really well in parts where it overlaps the end of the interview, and the beginning of the next voiceover.

He had suggested to use some cutaways at certain parts of the film. Below shows one attempt at doing so.


However, I felt that the use of cutaways in this part felt lost because they weren't really relevant to what Hussain the interviewee was saying, and the only one I could find that remotely seemed relevant just seemed pointless on its own. Furthermore, I wanted to keep a Cinema Verite feel to the interviews, and this was the same with the Tom Gatis interview. Not only that but in terms of his suggestion with cutting parts out, although I did want to also, I felt that with all the information being given by the interview itself, it was too important to cut any out. In the end I decided to remove the cutaway attempt, and rather than go back to using a cross dissolve effect like before hand, I didn't insert anything and left it how it was. I was pleased with the end result and felt it is somewhat of a compromise. I haven't changed any other parts in the interview as I felt they worked better.

However I did have some slight problems with the soundtrack of 'Air France - No excuses' because when I tried to use the pen tool, it would insist on cutting the beginning of the song out, which was the section of the song I wanted.

This screenshot shows how I ended up keeping the cross fade at the beginning of the song because it had the correct result I was wanting.

Final Meeting

Meet at 11:30 at the downstairs cafe tomorrow. Harry suggested planning the presentation for Friday, so we'll definitely spend an hour or so on this. I also want everybody to have a last look through the group folder and see if I have missed anything.

See you then!

Group Folder - Research Materials

If anybody has any research materials, even a few notes on anything you've seen that might have influenced the documentary at all, could I have them for the group folder please?

Also Dan/Jonathan, if you have any notes on editing styles/influences I will need these too.

I'll need everything for the group folder by Wednesday at the latest! Thanks

Filming on Tuesday

On Tuesday we are meeting to film a few extra shots for the end of the film (Steve's suggestion). We will need to get shots of the following:

Dan editing - selecting clips, etc

The preparation paperwork that goes in to making a film (we will use the group folder for this)

Meet at 11:15 at stores and film in edit one. The equipment is booked and Dan has the edit room booked out all day.

Steve's Suggestion

In the tutorial today, Steve watched my version of the edit and had one suggestion that would improve it. The idea being that because we have manipulated the public interviews to include the positive things they have said at the end, we should show this process somehow, maybe by voiceover, arguing against the negative public views at the beginning. Amy reckons this would work well with some new cutaways recorded of me editing etc.

My personal thoughts on this are that it would be a good idea to incorporate into the film, especially with the kind of tone it has already. However I feel that at this stage of the production it may be hard to fit it into the piece, and organising equipment etc at the last minute just to change something that already works may stretch us a little, in my opinion.

Dan's most recent cut

This morning I went to see how Dan's edit is coming along. Overall, I was very pleased with what I saw and I think Dan has done a really good job on it. I do have a few things that I might work on if it was my edit. These are as follows:

A few of the cutaways that have been used in the edit seem to be a bit 'rough' and 'jumpy'. I suggested that it might be a good idea to fade the images in and out. A particular cutaway that stood out to me was the image of Mathieu Kassovitz, Director of La Haine. Today Dan worked on a few different transitions and I think he has stuck with a short fade in/out on the image.

Another thing I noticed about the image of Mathieu Kassovitz was that there was a zoom out. Before we returned to the footage from Mark Herbert's interview, the zoom out stopped and there was a second or two pause on the still image. I explained, that for me, it felt better to cut back to the interview with Mark whilst it was still zooming out, and miss out the couple of seconds on the still image. Dan also worked on this today.

Dan has introduced some new music in to the opening few shots of the documentary. He explained that he wanted to use some dull music when the public were speaking negatively of media students. I'm in two minds about this as I do really like this idea, but I felt that the montage of shots of the different members of the public was funny and the music may take this humour away. The interviewees were asked what they think media students do, and we are taken through a number of shots of different people struggling to think of anything that media students do ('erm'...'ermmm'...'ermmmm'). This made me laugh when I first watched it and, for me, the music takes the humour away. I think that we should perhaps discuss this as a group and see what the majority vote is.

The interviews with Tom and Hussain are really interesting and I wouldn't want to cut any of their responses out, but they do go on for a very long time. I think that, if we had more time, we could spread the interviews out a bit throughout the edit, perhaps using them at the beginning of the documentary and returning to them at various points throughout. It concerns me that focusing on one person for a few minutes at a time may allow the audience to lose interest/concentration. Again, this is a very small point and I wouldn't get rid of any of their answers- the cut is fine as it is, just perhaps these sections go on for a little too long.

conclusion voiceover for Dan's cut

So after speaking to the public and professionals alike, what seemed to be the common denominator for success in the media industry? Sheer hard work and making the most of your resources. Make films, write scripts, network. Always be one step ahead of the game. And maybe you'll get your big break.

Cutaway ideas for this would include shots of us, engaging in the film making process.

Also we need to get some shots for the credits to go with the two we already have. One idea is to film me attempting to approach people in the city centre to interview them.

more voiceovers

We tracked down Mark Herbert who was giving a talk much like previous guests including Ross Kemp, Brian Blessed and Boris Johnson. Mark works for Warp X and has produced Donkey Punch and Dead Man's Shoes, some of the best British films of the last few years. The talk at Hallam was the perfect chance for me to ask him about his time at the University. So as the audience gathered and Mark arrived I got ready to ask him if he felt his degree was worthwhile

Watching the edit so far

Yesterday I went to see how the edit is coming along so far. I'm very happy with what Dan and Jonathan have put together, and it was good to see the footage that the group got from Hussain's interview. Dan wanted some input in to his edit and how he could cut it down, here is what I came up with:

I felt that some of the cutaways and the establishing shots of Sheffield at the beginning went on for too long. As Dan pointed out, when I watched this the voiceover hadn't yet been added and the shots may fit in time with these. However, I do feel that some are still a little lengthy and so, if possible, should be cut down slightly.

During the opening of Hussain's interview, the camerawork is really wobbly and is going up and down past his face for a few seconds. I suggested that, if it was my edit, then I wouldn't include this shot just because the camerawork is so unsteady. However, we really could do with hearing Hussain introduce himself and so Harry suggested bringing in the sound of his voice whilst on the cutaways, then cut to Hussain as the camera steadies. I think that this would work fine and is probably the best option.

There is a shot of a computer screen which zooms in to a link. During the zoom, the camera goes in and out of focus. Therefore I suggested cutting out the longer shot of the screen and the zoom in, and beginning the shot from the still close up of the link.

A few seconds in to the interview with Tom Gatis, there are cutaways to a computer screen showing the website of Tom's new scheme. Although this fits with what Tom is saying, I feel like I want to see more of Tom before the use of any cutaways - we have only just been introduced to him and then he is taken away. Again, this is my personal opinion and I think both Harry and Dan thought that it was ok as it was.

I suggested cutting away a couple of the public interviews involving an elderly lady talking about how she remembers Sheffield when she was 5 years old - I wasn't sure that this was entirely relevant.

Again, despite these few personal views on points for improvement, I'm very pleased with the edit. I look forward to seeing how Dan has developed the edit today and will hopefully get to see it on Monday evening.

Update on the edit

Here is the latest screenshot of the edit I have been doing. At the moment it is still over 10 minutes but I will be looking into cutting this down further.It has developed a considerable amount since the last screenshots. It now includes music at the beginning of the documentary to create a certain feeling towards the negative things the public interviews are saying towards media students. These have been split up from the positive things the public have said, and will be used later on in the documentary.

I have also managed to get all the cut aways I wanted, and have included them into the edit. This is creating a really good rhythm to the piece. One of the cut aways I used which I think works really well is a clip from the trailer of SAW. This is used when Hussain talks about the film as a success story. I have also included still photos in the part where Mark Herbert is answering a question from Harry.

At the moment I am trying to think about the conclusion. One idea by Jonathan was to have Harry getting interviewed himself and to sum up our findings. But I am stretched with time as it is over 10 minutes already, and so maybe this wouldn't be a possibility.

DEADLINE

I've just had an email back from Steve, the deadline is Friday 7th May.

We will need to hand in a DVD of the project, group folder (I'll get this completed this week) and an evaluation from each of us. I'll also include the Project Statement in the production folder. I have already sent him the blog address but will do again before this date, just to make sure!

Voiceover ideas for Jonathan's edit

Media students. We decided to make a documentary to find out what Sheffield has to offer them by way of a career. First we asked the public. 7 secs.

People in the industry

And found out what it takes to get a foot in the door in an industry that's increasingly difficult to break into.

So with over 25 media related courses in Sheffield alone, surely the public have some idea of what a media student actually does? We ventured into the city centre to find out. 10 secs.

No one really had an opinion. Until we met this man.

It was beginning to look like no one had anything positive to say about media students.

So with all this negativity hanging over us we decided to head to the Workstation, home to several cultural and media companies all supporting each other. We spoke to Tom Gatis former Media student and currently working as a Project Co-Ordinator for the Sheffield DocFest about his experiences - new cutaways needed?

The message was coming through loud and clear, work experience is the key to success in the Film and Media industries and we could see the struggle facing media graduates. With that in mind we packed up for the day and headed back the next morning to meet Hussain, film programmer for the International Doc Fest held every autumn.

A list of cutaways we still need to get

I've been continuing editing today and have gone through all of it so far and made a list of potential cut aways i may need.

Websites:
On the Doc/Fest website, there is a section about the 'Skillset New Entrants' program that Tom Gatis talks about, this would be useful as a cut away rather than just having the shot of him all the time.
With this, I also want to get other general shots of the website, such as volunteering.

One potential idea which I would have to try out to see if I like it is to have a shot of the staff list on the website, and then scroll down and zoom into the staff member's name and role e.g. Tom, and then have the voiceover over the top to introduce them. But as I say I don't know if this will work.


Film clips:
SAW is obviously mentioned by Hussain and is important to include.
The Full Monty and Dead Mans Shoes have also been two that we have mentioned several times to use.

Others:
I realise that Hussain talks about the showroom bar and it would be really useful to have a shot of it to use as a cut away in his interview. This won't take much effort and I'm sure they would let us film/we could sneak in.

Second Email Response - Seb Marczewski

Sebastian got back to me earlier today with some very interesting and useful information. As mentioned before, we might need to consider shooting Harry looking at and reading out parts of the emails so that we can include them in the documentary. I can't think of many other ways to do it.

Here is the latest email from Seb:

"Hi Amy,

It appears you have created an interesting and eloquent brief. You have a clear visual style and it seems like you know what you want.

I am working as a freelance camera assistant so I work for various production companies and individuals. My next job coming up this week is for a guy call Simon Woodgate who I met at Pinewood ( he writes music for film and TV as well, he does Postman Pat :) ) who makes promos and he is an freelance cameraman as well.

The short I made was self funded. It required a lot of favours and diligence but it was worth it in the end.

During university I did a lot of favours for local filmmakers in Sheffield. I heard about running jobs that were posted around uni or met people at the showroom and went and worked for them for free. It really is about networking. I got paid a couple of times but it was more of a gesture rather than industry wage. When I returned from travelling I expected to have work from the contacts I had made but they turned out to have nothing for me, no even freebies. I effectively started again.

I started looking on sites like filmcrewpro, mandy, talent circle for film jobs and managed to get a couple in London, they were however, freebies as well. After building up a few more contacts I started to get more jobs and I would get phones calls for work.

Now I will illustrate one labyrinth of a way to get work: The reason I got onto a feature was because I did sound recording for an MA film in May 2009 when I was at uni. But is wasn't as simple as that. The director of that then was making a no -budget short film in October 2009 and she needed another sound person. I agreed but then it turned out that the DOP dropped out so she asked me if I could do it and I said; "Definitely" ( that is the response you have to have for work). After that she moved to London and was producing a short, she needed a camera assistant and I said yes again. It was a good learning curve but more importantly I got friendly with the production staff and after a week I got a phone call from the 2nd AD to see if I wanted to work on a feature in London. I said "Definitely". That is one of the chain of events that created work. And most of them are just as elaborate if not more.

Along the way you meet many people that are in the same boat, that may not be able to help just yet but in the future you could collaborate with them. Its important to have a good attitude, sociable, industrious and to be thick skinned as well. If you have a good positive energy people want to be round you and want to give you work.

I have attached a couple CV's for you to have a look at what I have worked on thus far.

All the best

Seb x"

Seb has attached a few CVs for us but I won't post them on here, I will print a couple of copies off and bring them in on Friday.

Production Folder

is a big requirement this week. If anybody isn't too busy then lets get this sorted.

Interview Tomorrow - Hussain Currimbhoy

I have spoken to Hussain today and he said to arrive at the Workstation around noon. If you could try and get there at around 11.45 to set up the equipment, that would be great - I think he's on a tight schedule. When you arrive ask for Hussain Currimbhoy (DocFest) at the desk in the entrance.

Sorry I won't be there, will give one of you a ring when I come out of my exam and meet you all.

Responses from Graduates

After searching the Facebook pages that Harry found last week, I have only managed to find three graduates who are still pursuing their goals in the film industry or who have managed to find work in film/television. Unfortunately, only one out of these three people have got back to me so far - Sebastian Marczewski. Sebastian is a former student of Sheffield Hallam, and graduated in Film & Media Production last year. His response was as follows:

"Hi Amy,

I can help you sure. My email address is sebjdm@hotmail.com

I'm working as a camera assistant/trainee/runner/whatever but predominately a camera assistant. My over goal is to direct and I have directed one short after graduating and about 5 other low production value ones at a 6 weeks film festival in Italy. I'm currently trying to get another short off the ground.

Most of the stuff i have done after uni was for expense only but i have worked on paid jobs enough to carry on my current lifestyle. I have worked on on feature (in london) loads of shorts, promo's and adverts.

That is my situation in a nutshell.

Peace

p.s. its all about mind-set"

I have responded to Sebastian and asked him whether he'd be happy to provide us with any information regarding the following:

Who he is currently working with/for as a camera assistant/runner

How he managed to get in to these roles

How he funded the short film that he's directed since graduating
get his work known

How he is getting his work known (for it to be funded/for one of his shorts to be at a film festival in Italy)

Hopefully we will hear back from him soon. I'll keep you updated.

Editing: Public Interviews

So this is what the timeline for the public interviews looks as of yesterday. I basically cut out the best parts of the interviews we conducted and started to organise them into a suitable order. Today I will be cutting them down because as you can see from the screenshot, they run up to around 9 minutes which is obviously far too long for what should be around 1 - 2 minutes long.


The following screenshot is how it now looks having been cut down.

The public interviews have been cut down to approximately 2 and a half minutes now and are looking really good, giving the whole documentary a really good structure.
Myself and Harry, whilst editing, decided to try out having a section at the beginning that opens up with 'How would you describe a typical media student?' to which the interviewees' natural responses are 'erm,' taken from the footage of all the interviews taken. This instantly describes what the documentary is about and gives it a great opening. Following on from this is a rough cut of the establishing shots of Sheffield, which would then include the voiceover that we shall record over the weekend.

Hussain

So we've got an interview planned with Hussain Currimbhoy of Sheffield Doc Fest on Monday. Myself and Dan are going to spend today coming up with some questions to ask him about his role at the festival. Anything we come up with I'll post below.

How long have you been working for Sheffield Doc Fest?

What are the key things you look for when you choose the films for the festival?

How long has the Sheffield Doc Fest been running and how would you say it's changed since it began/since you started?

How much of your time is spent publicising the event both in the local area and on a wider scale to reach directors and film makers from further afield?

I've heard that the doc fest has had a few screenings in other cities, Newcastle and Bristol for example. Is this going on at the moment and what has the reaction and reception to these events been?

How difficult is it to reach audience and film makers alike from further afield than Sheffield?

How many of the films you showcase each year go on to launch the careers of those involved?

I've heard about the Meet Market event that is held each year. Could you just tell us a little bit about it?

To what extent do you think the Meet Market helps film makers who might be struggling to get their film idea realised by helping them to find the funds?

Do you get many films put forward made by recently graduated students from media related degrees?

Could you tell us a little about the volunteer system for the festival, how many students from Hallam you get and your views on how rewarding that level of work experience can be for them?

I'd like to ask you a bit about your background in the industry, where did you start?

With more people doing media and film related courses now than there are jobs available in the industry, do you think universities are setting students up for disappointment?

What are your tips on how to stand out among the crowd of people with similar qualifications competing for the same jobs in the industry?

How difficult did you find it to get into film making? (I read that you have been involved with at least half a dozen productions)

How vital would you say unpaid work experience positions like the ones you at the Doc Fest offer are to young film makers such as ourselves to standing out to employers?

I watched a film at the festival last year, 1 Day, about gangs in Birmingham. At the Q&A after the screening the director talked about how she approached the young people of Birmingham with no previous experience and enlisted them as cast. Have you heard of any other similar opportunities in recent years for aspiring film makers in Sheffield?

We spoke to your colleague Tom Gatis who said it is a very small percentage of his former university course mates who are now actually practising film making despite all graduating with degrees. Can you offer any tips for people in their final year wondering where to start with moving into the industry?

Have you heard of any success stories of former students in the area?

How much has your area of work changed in terms of size and available positions at production companies and film festivals alike in the last 5 or 10 years?

Do you think the recession has badly effected young film makers chances of getting a job after they graduate? For instance, do you know of many production companies or offices that have been forced to downsize?

With companies working out of Sheffield itself, thinking of Warp in particular, how important do you think the culture and effect of films made locally, such as Dead Man's Shoes and This is England is for publicity, reputation and industry growth in the area? Especially for future generations of graduates hoping for media jobs?

The Full Monty showed the British public just how much Sheffield had changed since the height of the steel industry in the 70s, obviously Sheffield's going through a fantastic time for regeneration at the moment.

I know the film was released before you moved here but do you think films like that that reach the whole country change peoples' views of those in the industry?

Do you think films like The Full Monty help to raise awareness locally that the media industry can be a great force for good?

A lot of older people hold the view that media students come to University for a good time and that they're lazy and should get a proper job. What is needed for this stereotype to be shaken off?

some voiceover stuff so far

Sheffield. Becoming one of Britain's fastest-growing cities. With major regeneration happening all the time and two Universities in the area offering over 25 media related courses between them, the most intriguing development over the last two decades is the growing opportunities available to young film makers to get hands-on experience working with some of the most interesting and challenging British directors of the last few years. With films being made locally by production companies like Warp Films and ready access to less commercially successful releases being shown at the Showroom Cinema, directors like the acclaimed Shane Meadows, of Dead Man's Shoes and This is England, are constantly looking for young talent to help out with their unique approach to storytelling through film.

With many more students undertaking media related courses than there are jobs available in the industry in this country, we want to look at exactly what Sheffield has to offer the Spielbergs and Scorseses of the future. So who better to ask than the people of Sheffield?

The Sheffield of old, the beating heart of the industrial north as it was known, was portrayed one of the biggest budget films to ever come out of the area, The Full Monty. Set in 1997, it shows the decline of the steel industry and the rise in unemployment that followed, but since then, the sheer variety of industries and careers available for people in the area has risen considerably. Thanks to Warp Films especially, the company responsible for the release of some of Shane Meadows best work, Sheffield is now synonymous with a very different industry.

One of the most intriguing fixtures on the media calendar is the Sheffield Doc Fest, held every November at the city's independent cinema, the Showroom, is a fantastic opportunity for documentary makers from all over the country to network and raise funds for future productions. But we wanted to know exactly what the event offers the media students of Sheffield's universities hoping to break into the industry. We spoke to Tom Gatis of the Doc Fest to find out more.

Editing thus far, and script ideas for voiceover

So, today I have finally been able to get the footage we have so far, logged, organised, and started to make a rough outline of what the film may look like. However as this documentary is going to be very much voice driven, it is quite difficult to know exactly what footage to use and where. Until the script is complete however, I am still going to timeline the best shots I think should be used, and obviously get onto the public interviews which speak for themselves.

Whilst I have been logging, I have done a bit of research towards the script, mainly serving as a driving point for the beginning of the film:

http://targetjobs.co.uk/look-local/graduate-careers-in-sheffield
- here there is a good summary about Sheffield as a whole, it would probably need slight alterations, but it is something that would be good to narrate at the beginning of the film.


http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?s=9dcd9f5236039bfac5396cfb4e15d083&t=879015
- this is a forum site which has people discussing the course, in particular this discussion involves someone asking for help regarding finding a apprenticeship after graduating, something that would be useful to include briefly at the beginning as part of the struggle that students have in gaining employment etc.


http://www.graduatesyorkshire.co.uk/employment-training/yetiss/21/Design_Media/Film_Video_Production
- The latest recruit to CBBC's Blue Peter, Andy Akinwolere, studied at Sheffield Hallam University and gained his presenting job after he impressed the shows production team whilst working as a runner for the program.
- This would be an excellent example to use, and maybe we could find a clip of him presenting, and use this as found footage

-Also to add to the found footage list, The Full Monty is a key film in the success of Yorkshire film making and should be included however brief in the film.


http://www.jobsite.co.uk/corpages/sheffieldhallam/
- 'Sheffield Hallam University is a progressive and dynamic modern university with a strong focus on students' needs and interests and an excellent reputation for quality, applied creativity and enterprise. With almost 24,000 students, over 4,000 staff and more than 600 courses to choose from, the University is now the country's ninth largest.' More statistics available on the link.


There's a start.

Things I have been watching over the Easter period.

I have been looking at documentaries, things I find interesting that discuss things I often ponder. These are mostly to do with political disputes, and documentaries that really serve to shock and disturb you.

The first one is about Eugene Terre'Blanche who was murdered this week in South Africa. The documentary was first shown in 1991 so it is a bit dated. I find the content truly gripping, and Terre'Blanche as a person, quite disturbing. There is a synoposis of what the documentary is about as well as the documentary itself here:

The Leader, his Driver, and the Drivers Wife:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-leader-his-driver-and-the-drivers-wife/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1

I have also watched an interview (below) which took place between him and Louis Thereoux which was very fascinating but scary at the same time. It was great to see Thereoux playing the naive interviewer, even questioning Terre'Blanche when he was clearly in an exteremely passive aggressive state. The ending to this short interview really stayed with me, the handshake, and Thereoux looking visibly nervous ("have i pushed things too far", was what I pictured going through Thereoux's mind) and Terre'Blanche's ending line "am i not a man?" which was an incredible statement with all sorts of connotations (often associated with slavery) though i suspect Terre Blanche was being ironic given his political stance, to which, Thereoux naively and whimsically ripostes with "is that Shakespeare?" . Thereoux really pushed things in this interview and it is a quality I admire in him.


When Louis met the Boer leader:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPbExwBJiwY

The last thing I have watched is a viral (below) that has been spreading over the web, over the past few days, of American troops in Iraq injuring a couple of young children by shooting a van, containing these young children. I think in terms of the shots from the helicopter, you get a clear perspective about what was going on, and it was interesting in style, in that it resembled direct cinema (there was no voice over, however titles with text informed the viewer what was going on, including quotes from American general's). It was quite shocking to watch, but interestingly assembled.

Collateral Murder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0&feature=player_embedded

Progress to date

So far we have:-

• Interviewed the public and gained knowledge of what film in Sheffield means to them. We have found the older generation to be somewhat slanderous against Media Students, yet agree that Film is positive for the area. I am thinking this is incredibly ironic and would serve to add humour to the documentary. Have some great shots of an old bloke really showing passion to camera whilst discrediting students studying film, but this contrasts with other people saying that Film students are just learning a new industry and are benefiting society, which is pleasing- as this is what our documentary wants to show people.

• Finished filming the cutaways- including shots of the streets, main points of interest in Sheffield (to help establish this is the city we are analysing), people and places where films are produced/shown/created (such as Sheffield Independent Film, and the Showroom cinema).

• Interviewed a man, Tom, who works for the Sheffield DocFest, a festival that is made up of volunteers- primarily Film Students. Tom was very informative, and the interviews allowed us to talk to someone in the industry who has first hand experience of the positive effects film can have to on an area. In addition, he gave us a few ideas of who to interview next, using his own contacts. He has also went into detail about what it takes to make it in this industry. We have a lot of scope for the documentary from this interview I feel.

What we need to do next:-

• We will be looking into acquiring interviews with more people that have become successful from the film industry, one of my ideas, is to entice an interview out of a director who has made films in Sheffield and in the edit, show cuts from their film with the interview dialogue over the top. This way our documentary will raise awareness for Films that have been shot or made in the Sheffield area. It will also be interesting to hear their views on how to get into the industry (where to start etc). I have a few people in mind for this, including some of the Lecturers at the university, who will obviously have worked on some Films themselves, or if they are unwilling, to get an interview with someone from Warp Films (a successful film company based in Sheffield), failing this we should go to Sheffield Independent Film as I know there are at least 5 film companies based there, and i suspect there will be at least one person from one of these companies willing to talk about their role in the Film Industry- especially if we explain it is for educational purposes.
  

• We need to use the footage we have to write a script. Harry will be doing the voice over for the Documentary as, quite simply, he has the best voice for Documentary. The rest of us have heavily regionalised accents, which I don't think would work, unless it was Amy, who is from Sheffield itself, but I think we have decided that Harry is the man for that job. I can see this task being particularly difficult due to how much the documentary is going to be driven by voice over, which is why we should begin work immediately.
  

• Start logging the clips. We will need to meet the criteria of the brief by including a log sheet etc. I have already arranged with the group that Dan and I will be editing the Documentary and as we only have 3 weeks, we need to start logging the footage as soon as possible. I have thought about easy ways to organise the subclips, and this will be folders named "Interviews", "Voiceover", "Cutaways" and "Public". The Cutaways will be mostly linked with Voiceover, whilst the interviews and the public segment should slot together nicely between the cutaways.

• Organise the folder. This should come together quite easily over the next few weeks, but we should try and keep on top of it. Perhaps a meeting is needed to delegate different tasks between us.

• Continue to watch documentaries and gain inspiration from them. Any new ideas, however wacky they may be, would be great if they could be discussed and put into action provided they are feasible.
  

Group Meeting

Everybody free for a group meeting after the lesson tomorrow?

Booking Equipment

I've been to stores today and asked about equipment during/after Easter. I'm going to have a camera out for my pairs piece over Easter, so we can film the interview with Tom from DocFest and anything else necessary using that. It's an XM2 though.

Dan, there won't be a meeting this Wednesday, on the first week back they will give them out on a first come first served basis. I will be in uni in the afternoon on the first Monday back (12th) anyway so will get down there and book it if nobody else is around that morning.

Post Production + Voiceover

I am going to be starting the editing this week with the footage that we recorded interviewing the public in the centre of town. I have managed to book the room on wednesday and friday, pretty much all day I think so I will be there from late morning or in the afternoon sometime. Feel free to come along as well (get in touch) to give opinions on how it should look.

Also I was thinking that perhaps this week we could get the research done on statistics etc. that will be needed in the voiceover, and then while I am still here I could record it and then put it into the edit straight away. I think once I get this I could probably edit the first minute and a half atleast with all the footage we already have. Although booking a marantz may be hard. Also do we know if the bookings for the week after easter are being made this wednesday? Because if so we need to get on that prompto.

Also I forgot to say, I've emailed Steve with the Project Statement and blog address.

Meeting with DocFest/Planning over Easter

Tom Gatis from DocFest got back to me today, he is available for an interview next week. Tom organises the recruitment at DocFest, but has worked there for a few years now so knows a lot about the festival as a whole. He said to just go to the Workstation and ask for him, but I think it would be nice to let him know a date/time in advance.

Dan, I know you might not be here next week but either me or Harry can do the sound - if you don't mind. I'm free any day apart from Tuesday 30th, let me know whether any of you have anything on and we'll fit it around that.

We also need to organise a group folder. I've just had a look on Blackboard, here's what it needs to include:

• Research materials
• A project treatment
• A production schedule.
• Shot list /sound notes
• 5-10 stills (including shots of the film as well as production shots of the
crew)
• Technical details of camera, sound and post production approaches and
equipment list.
• Contributor consent forms and any other relevant release forms.
• Equipment list
• Crew list and contacts
• Contributor list with contacts
• Consent forms and release forms
• Camera and Sound log sheets
• Edit log and evidence of edit planning

I don't mind putting it together. I think we could do with a couple of meetings over Easter to talk about exactly what we need to do. Then I'll sort out a schedule for the next few weeks, we only have five weeks left and we could do with at least two weeks post-production. It might help to put all of our schedules/timetables on here so we can arrange shoots etc.

Notes from last week's meeting

Vox Pops (Questions) - What are your thoughts on media students?

- Do you have any preconceptions of what a media student is like?

- Do you agree with the stereotype that media degrees aren't a "proper" subject?

- What comes to mind when I say "media students"?

Having already conducted these vox pops I was pleased with the outcome and the variety of answers we got from the public. We are yet to log the footage.

Students from our course and other media related degrees, questions to ask them include:-

• Is the film/media industry something you wish to pursue as a professional career?
• What made you choose the course that you're on?
• Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

SHEFFIELD DOC FEST:-

It would be handy for us all to do some research on this in the coming week. We need to know who funds it, who is behind it, what kind of film makers get their work showcased and how. Amy I know you have a way in for us on this.

Approach Hallam uni for information and figures on post graduate employment statistics in the media sphere.

Also on the to do list is make a phone call to the Showroom and see if there is an angle that we can use to incorporate interviews from employees or managers

The Full Monty. As discussed in the meeting I will do some background research on the making of the film as I think its impact and release might be worth mentioning in relation to how Sheffield has changed over the last 10-20 years.

Our aim is to disprove the pre-conception that media students come to university simply to take the taxpayer's money and waste it. There are more students on film and media courses than there are jobs available in the industry for when they graduate. We need to find out why this is.

Yeah boy.

Here is a clip of 'Salesman' (1968) by the Maysles brothers, one of their very successful films. Due to the lack of material in the University's library, I have had to use Youtube as my main source for material and so I have not been able to view the full version. However, this clip does point out the kind of techniques we may use such as handheld, moving shots. From what I have seen in other clips also, it looks like a good watch.

The Maysles Brothers

Albert and David(1932-87) Maysles were behind the creativity that led to early Cinema Verite. They have been a leading force in the production of non-fiction films since the early 1960s. The two Americans were recognised as pioneers in 'Direct Cinema,' the distinctly American version of French Cinema Verite. They earned their reputation by being the first to create non-fiction feature films in which the drama of human life would unfold as it is, without scripts, sets or narration.

They were responsible for early classics of American Cinema Verite such as 'Primary' (1960), a film about the democratic primary election campaigns of Kennedy and Humphrey. Other earlier examples include 'Yanki' (1961) and 'Salesman' (1968).

However, with that reputation they also received a lot of criticism. When they were screening 'Showman' (1962), Motion Picture Academy members stopped the projection only a mere ten minutes in. Old school documentarists called it 'anti-audience' and 'anti-art.'

They believed in 'subjective objective' truth, a cinema in which ethics and aesthetics are interdependant.

Now the main influence that we have found with the Maysles Brothers towards planning our own documentary is the fact that everything was shot with one camera. They didn't use any unnatural angles in their films because they were seen as being false; instead it's almost as if the viewer becomes the camera. They liked qualities such as wobbley shots because they brought with it authenticity. The idea with our documentary is to use one camera, hand held, so that with the interviews we will be conducting it would create a sense that the viewer is actually there. It would add to the tone of the documentary, giving it a sense of real life, and the intention is to use nothing unnatural in it, much like the Maysles did.

Cinema Verite

In its literal translation, Cinema Verite means 'film truth.' Essentially this is what documentary sets out to do, finding out or telling the truth in some form. It was a style of filmmaking developed by French film directors in the 1960s.

Their production techniques contrasted greatly from Hollywood filmmakers as we know it. These French directors would prefer to work with non-actors, small hand held cameras and actual real settings such as someones home to use as a set. Obviously, as film students, this is something that would work well for us as we have limited, if any, resources. For the purpose of our film this is all that would be required.

One interesting production technique in regards to sound was that they would tape record actual conversations, interviews, and statements of opinions made by people, and then find pictures to illustrate the sound recordings to use over the top of them. I visualise the start of our film using this kind of technique whereby we would have shots of Sheffield in general with a voiceover stating what the documentary is about, giving some statistics, and giving different views.

With Cinema Verite, the filmmakers goal was always to show life how it really is, using the film as the artistic medium. This is something that would be very important for us to maintain as it is essential to portray the truth in order to reach our goal with this film.

One filmmaker we all know, Jean-Luc Godard, was very much influenced by Cinema Verite and his first feature film 'Breathless' (1960) was shot without a script. He improvised as he went along, sometimes writing dialogue and rehearsing actors on the spot just before he would 'roll cameras for a take.'

The key difference between a typical Hollywood film and Cinema Verite is the respective goals of each. Hollywood will aim to create some kind of fantasy that would be sufficient in attracting its mass audience to go and see it, resulting in a handsome profit. Cinema Verite however, aims to show the mundane truth of people's everyday lives and the social context in which they live their lives. It is part of the broader artistic tradition of realism and the cinematic tradition of documentary filmmaking. In our case, we will be using Sheffield as the location for our documentary, and will be looking at the benefits of the film industry in this area and the impacts it has had.



Some famous French examples of Cinema Verite to take a look at:

'Chronicle of a summer' (1961) by Jean Rouch
'Le Joli Mai' (1962) by Chris Marker

Warp Films

I've been researching the company Warp Films and their output. I came across a film called "My Wrongs #8245-8249 & 117" (clip) a couple of years ago directed by Chris Morris, of Brass Eye and The Day Today fame. It's a short about a mentally deranged man and a talking dog. I love the use of sound in the film and I think the script is effective and succinct. Warp Films are responsible for the funding of Morris' first feature film, due to premiere at the end of this month at the Sundance Festival. It's called Four Lions and it's a comedy about the "funny side of terrorism". An exclusive clip can be found here.

Other film output by Warp include music videos by artists on the sister label "Warp Records" such as intelligent dance artist Aphex Twin. A video called "Rubber Johnny", an experimental music video directed by Chris Cunningham can be found here. Warp Films are also responsible for 2 Arctic Monkeys productions, a video filmed on location near the Showroom in Sheffield called Leave Before The Lights Come On and also for their Live at the Apollo DVD. Warp Films have also been involved in the release of three Shane Meadows films, This is England, Dead Man's Shoes and Le Donk and Scorzayzee. My next step is to find out specifically what their involvement was in each of these productions. Their past releases point to a desire to support and promote experimental short and feature films, as well as a desire to promote the profile of local directors and films that are shot on location in the Yorkshire area. I have sent an email out to Warp Films in order to secure a visit to their office, if possible.

Music

Though its early days, I still think music is worth thinking about.

I feel music is a very important aspect to any documentary that is influenced by Cinema Verite.

Often the music gives off a vibe depending on which emotion the documentary is playing on (e.g overcoming an obstacle in documentary usually means the music is upbeat).

I wish to include music that plays on this element.

In our documentary we will be tracking down individuals who have been successful in the media industry. This can be seen as a positive sign so I think the music should reflect this. Some music that I think would work well for these positive moments would include;

Morgan Van Dam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYdpRrElMiI



Air France- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTPO6XM_IxM

Influence No.1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnKhvdiWQG8

This documentary is very similar to how I visualise ours, in terms of content. Here we see a documentary being driven by cut aways on the subject matter, with interviews and voice over driving the narrative.

I would like to include clips from films produced in Sheffield overlapping with interviews from the individuals that produced them.

Project Statement

Cinema Verite was founded by anthropologists, who wanted to delve deep into the subject matter by becoming a part of the people/lifestyle that they were documenting.

Therefore, we, as a group feel the best subject for us to document would be something we are already familiar with- Film and Media.

Our Documentary will look at the benefits of the film industry to a specific area (in this case Sheffield), and how young film-makers can struggle to become successful in a competitive industry.

From personal experiences of meeting individuals who grew up in past generations, where the U.K was not a spearhead for an industry in Film, it would be interesting to look into the negative connotations associated with media courses by gauging public opinion and wronging the prejudice against the 'lazy media student'.

We will attempt to get in touch with past students of Film related courses, we will look into Independent companies, including Warp Films, The Showroom Cinema, Sheffield Independent Film and local businesses associated with Media Production that contribute to the local economy in the area and how they are benefiting an area which has seen a massive decline in industrial industries (the steel industry) in the past two decades.

The style of our documentary will be essentially influenced by Cinema Verite. The narrative will be driven by voice-over. The feature will not include a presenter, and will instead feature interviews with people from the aforementioned businesses, and the general public and a look at people associated with the declined steel industries views on the matter. Cut aways of the city, will play as statistics detailing just how difficult it is to progress in the film industry, but acknowledging the positive aspects the film industry to an area, intercut with interviews from associated people.

We will aim to naturally create tension between the characters within the feature by juxtaposing interviews of people that hold negative views of the industry, and seasoned professionals disregarding these negative views.

The length of the feature will be between six and eight minutes.

Further influences of the feature will be the Maysles Brothers- who believed in involving oneself with subject matter. We will also be using the technique of minimal editing, this includes not cutting between shots but rather having one continuous shot. We think that the use of minimal editing will enable the audience to 'gain the truth', rather than us creating it for the audience. Dziga Vertov's belief of showing things how they are, will play a major part in our production.

All in all, we hope this will create good for public bad.

Deeper into out ideas

Following on from our first discussion regarding the intial ideas we had about this documentary, myself, Jonathan and Harry looked further into some of the better ideas we had.

World cup bid 2018
For this we would be taking the side of the positives that the World Cup would have on Sheffield. To start with we could talk about the negative implications such as how the Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday fans have been arguing about it because only Sheffield Wednesday were picked at as a host stadium. For this Harry has found a facebook group that would provide a good resource for our film. We would then counter-argue this point with all the positives that it would bring such as good business.

The documentary would have a presenter which would probably be Harry Rollin. We were also thinking that a good interview technique for this would be to not have the presenter involved in the actual interview, but to have the interviewee to say the question in the answer and use the footage together with shots that respresent what they are talking about.

Research on the subject:
The applicant host citys are: Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Sunderland.
Sheffield is 1 of 12 cities to be chosen following an intense bidding process throughout 2009 where 16 cities battled it out to be included.
Some of the accessed criteria was: facilities at the grounds, locations for Fifa fan fests, public viewing areas, training sites, accomodation, event infrastructure etc.
Both Sheffield stadiums were behind the bid, but only Hillsborough was successful.
Sheffield is host to over 600 national & international sports events.
Sheffield Wednesdays ground - Hillsborough is to undergo a £22million redevelopment. This will expand the stadium from a capacity of 39000 to 45000 which would then allow it to be chosen as a World Cup designated ground.

Potential interviewee: Chris Gratton, Prof of sport economics and co director of the sport industry research centre at Sheffield Hallam. He reckons Sheffield could potentially make £300million to boost its economy.

My personal view on the subject is that I would love it to happen because it would allow me to be a part of the World Cup for the first time and as a football fan this would be a great experience.



Up and coming filmmakers.
The idea being that we make a documentary about what its like being an up and coming filmmaker in Sheffield and what routes can they take in order to get out there. Our main sources for information would be the Showroom Cinema as everyone in the group appreciates it as it is reknown for its independant films and filmmakers. Warp Films would also be another source of information and we could get in contact with Chris Cunningham who has worked with them before. Further soureces include the Doc Fest, general public in Sheffield, and our course i.e. graduates.

Monday 8th February 2010 – Forming the Group and Initial Ideas

When first given the brief last Friday, we were asked to form a group of four. I was pleased that we were given the opportunity to form our own groups as I feel that it allows me to work with people with similar interests and ideas to me. Last year when we were put in to groups by the tutors it often took a while to get used to each other’s interests, and there was a lot of time wasted debating about which ideas to use (e.g. somebody who hates sci-fi and loves comedy wouldn’t want to produce a sci-fi, similarly the person interested in sci-fi might not want to produce a comedy). Having said that, I have also experienced negatives when working in friendship groups. For example, when working with friends in previous projects, the whole production process was turned in to a social event and the job simply didn’t get done. However, with good organisation, motivation and management within the group, I’m confident that we can avoid this.

The brief for the project is ‘Making Trouble for the Public Good’. This didn’t straightaway trigger any ideas for me at all, however, between the group, we came up with the following:

· Waiting staff – the truth behind tipping

· Nutritional information – is it misleading?

· University food prices

· Effects of binge drinking

· The effect of students on Sheffield – asset or nuisance?

· World cup city bid 2018 – Sheffield

· Up and coming filmmakers in Sheffield – what route do the take/how do they get a big break?

I personally felt that the university food prices (although I think that they’re ridiculously high!) and effects of binge drinking are very typical topics for student filmmakers, and so would rather not use those ideas. I think that the waitress tipping idea could be interesting, although I’m not sure how much information we could get about it.

After a group meeting at the end of last week, I think we narrowed it down to the World Cup bid, filmmakers in Sheffield or any other ideas we might come up with. Harry and Dan really like the World Cup idea and, although I would be happy to go along with it, I’m not convinced just yet. I’m from Sheffield and don’t really have an opinion on it – it all seems so far away! Therefore I’m not sure that other people from Sheffield will feel that passionately about it just yet – at the moment, if anything, it seems to be a war between the Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday fans because it would be held at Hillsborough. Having said that, it could be interesting to look at the positive effect it could have on the economy in Sheffield, or perhaps the negative effect it might have on the residents of Hillsborough. We’ve planned to go away and research this idea further, then bring what we have to the next group meeting on Wednesday.

Since the last group meeting, Jonathan has joined our group and so we might have more ideas to consider on Wednesday from him.

Our group is now as follows:

Jonathan Alsop

Dan Lees

Harry Rollin

Harriet Middleton

Amy Tuffnell

I think it might be a good idea to each adopt a different role in the group – manager, cinematographer, picture editor, sound recorder, and possibly a separate sound editor and art director.

Does anybody have any idea which role they would like in the group if we were to do that?