FINAL CUT

Below is the final cut of our documentary, which we presented to our class, teachers and friends on the afternoon of Friday 12th December.

Filming & Editing Update (11th December)

Filming

Today we filmed all of the remaining scenes and missing shots and were able to get quite good quality shots. They are not as good as we had hoped due to time restrictions (with it getting dark so early at this time of year), however we are happy with them.

Editing

Today we finished editing our project, but will continue to tweak it up until our Final Cut Presentation tomorrow (Friday 12th December).

Filming & Editing Update (3rd December)

Filming

Today we filmed the majority of the scenic shots that we intend to include throughout the documentary. Although the weather was not as sunny as we had hoped, we decided that the shots were of a high enough quality anyway.

Editing

We edited these shots into our production and also managed to edit together the title sequence for at the start of our documentary.

Voice of God Script

"Alex Curtis - one of the greats of our generation. Living with his parents and sister in the heart of the friendly town Ware, Alex organises each day in order to achieve maximum productivity. Here we are at Alex's small home in Ware."

"Today, Alex is visiting his old school, Chauncy, to invite his former Head Master, Dennis O'Sullivan, to his big announcement this Tuesday."

"Alex is a very popular person, obviously, and so sometimes, fans can't help but swarm him."

"Alex is preparing for his big announcement. Before every big speech, Alex likes to do a bit of yoga to calm his soul. Being calm is very important to Alex, as it helps him to clear his mind, and focus purely on what he is going to say."

Filming & Editing Update (28th November)

We did go out and film some of the shots in the town today, however when we reviewed them in editing, we have decided that we are unhappy with them.

Our final cut is on 12th December, so although we don't have much time left, Amy and I have agreed that we would rather re-film these shots and produce something of a higher quality than just put up with the less-than-acceptable shots that we filmed today.

We aim to film the whole of the rest of our production next week and plan to edit continuously unit the 12th in order to produce the best possible product.

Filming & Editing Update (27th November)

Filming

We plan to film the remaining shots of the school visit tomorrow (Friday 28th November) and if the weather is okay we will also be filming scenes 5 & 6.

Editing

Fortunately I have been given a laptop on loan so that we can continue to edit our production. Yesterday we were able to edit together everything we have so far and came up with a structure. Where the footage is missing due to not having filmed it yet, there will be a blank screen with the scene name written on it. We wanted to do this because it would help us to keep track of what we have got left to film and also because psychologically it now feels like we are closer to a final product.

Here is the structural edit of our production as it stands so far:

Production Schedule - REVISIT

Although we have not been able to stick to the deadlines we set for ourselves due to technical difficulties regarding my laptop, we are now back on track with a loan laptop and are planning on working extra hard and putting in additional time in order to make our documentary the very best it can be.

To do this, we have constructed a production schedule outlining our goals for the next two weeks until our final cut deadline:

Friday 28th November - We will be filming the missing shots from the school visit during this filming session and also plan on filming scenes 5 & 6 if the weather is okay. We will be editing whatever we film during this session on the friday also.

 Monday 1st December - We plan on filming the scene in the town where Alex is swarmed with fans during this session. Also if the weather does not allow for filming scenes 5 & 6 on the friday we will film these during this monday session. We will be editing whatever we film in this session on the monday also.

Thursday 4th December - During this filming session we will be filming anything that we have left to film. This will all be edited on the same day like the other footage.

Friday 5th December - Wednesday 10th December - This is the time we have allocated for re-filming shots that may not work or may not be up to the standard we are aiming for. All editing will take place during this 5 day period and we will continue to tweak our work up until our final cut deadline, Friday 12th December.

Filming & Editing Update (21st November)

Due to continued technical difficulties regarding my laptop, up until today we have been unable to edit any of our footage.

However, I now have a laptop on loan and therefore from today we will begin editing our backlog of footage.

Hopefully by the 26th we will be back on track with our production schedule and therefore we will be able to continue at a steady but hard-working pace.

Filming & Editing Update (7th November)

Filming

Today we managed to film the majority of the missing shots from the School Visit scene. We experimented with different shot angles and also incorporated a new storyline idea (even though it is only a very small addition). We have more shots to film for this scene still but we ran out of time today and therefore will have to resume filming this scene another day - hopefully if we stay on track it will be the 14th of November.

Editing

Due to the fact that my laptop is now back form repairs, we were able to resume editing the footage that we had filmed over the non-laptop period. We have edited most of the missing shots into the School Visit scene and, for the purpose of tracking our progress and keeping track of where we are and what we have got left to film, we have uploaded the scene as it stands so far below. (The moments where there is silence is where the Voice of God will speak over the top).

Filming & Editing Update (29th October)

Although we were not able to get anything filmed over half term due to medical circumstances, we were able to plan a few of the scenes in more detail and also discussed how we could draw the humour a bit more.

We plan to film the missing parts of the School Visit scene on the 7th of November. Although this is weeks after we intended to do this as stated on our production schedule, we did have set backs along the way however we now feel that we are back on track and can begin producing more material of the same high quality.

Our Target Audience

Our documentary is aimed at teenagers and young adults between the ages of16 and 28. this is because our documentary is quite light-hearted and comical and therefore would possibly not be as widely enjoyed by an older demographic.

It is targeted at both genders because we feel that it is not feminine nor masculine; it is simply about one boy's ridiculously sarcastic rise to fame and therefore we would like to class it as 'unisex' if anything.

We think that our documentary would be appealing to a wide range of people because we consider it to be light-hearted and quite easy to watch. The documentary is not targeted at one single social grade, but many. We have decided that our target audience would be between the grades of D (semi/unskilled manual workers) and B (intermediate managerial, administrative or professional people) and this is because the documentary does not have any factual input, and therefore anyone can watch it and understand it, and hopefully enjoy it.

The documentary is targeted at all different ethnicities as although different cultures have different humours, we think the subtle humour within our production will make almost anyone crack a smile at the very least.

Our documentary, as stated above, reaches out to a very wide range of difference people, however if we had to place the average viewer into a social group, the group we would choose would be the everyday man. This is because, although there are people in the socially lower groups and also in the socially higher groups who we feel would enjoy our documentary, if we had to consider the average viewer, it would be someone who stays in on Friday nights, watches X Factor and watches TV in the evenings. We think the average viewer would be quite family orientated and this is because the light-hearted nature of our documentary means that it can be viewed by children (from the ages of about 9) as well as 16 to 28 year olds. We imagine that the average viewer also likes a good laugh, hence why he/she is watching the documentary in the first place.

As far as the psychodynamics of our documentary are concerned, we found it quite difficult to decide which of them would be the most appropriate. In the end we decided that our target audience would be spectators, and this is because, due to the fact that it is not a serious documentary, the likelihood of someone writing a serious review of it or buying Official Alex Curtis merchandise is almost non-existent. We felt that spectator would be the most appropriate psychodynamic for our documentary because all this involves is watching the documentary and enjoying it, and maybe Googling it afterwards to see who made it etc.

It was quite difficult to determine what our target audience would actually look like, because it is such a wide range of people. However, after much deliberation, we came up with 3 potential outfits for the what we view as the 'average viewer's look'.

FIRST CUT - Feedback

Construction Criteria	Comment
Holding Shot Steady	Excellent
Framing of Shots	Excellent
Appropriate Material for Task	Yes! Very clear storyline and good use of documentary conventions.
Selecting Mise En Scene (colour, lighting, props, setting)	Nice variety which suits your chosen storyline well.
Editing for Meaning	Good, but not clear what the main event is yet.
Varied Shot Transitions and Post Production Effects	Great verisimilitude achieved and a sense of professionalism.
Use of Sound	Quality of dialogue is excellent, music needed but only subtle.
Use of Titles	Nice titles to introduce your characters. Opening titles and end credits needed.
Overall Comment	I predict this will be a very high level 4 when finished girls, you just need to continue to keep up the high standard of footage, and edit it together in the same minimalist and professional manner.

 

0-14 = Level 1

15-23 = Level 2

24-31 = Level 3

32-40 = Level 4

 

FIRST CUT

Due to the technical difficulties we have experienced recently regarding my laptop, we were only able to present 4 scenes/interviews today as our first cut.

Fortunately, my laptop was returned to me after we had presented our first cut today and therefore I was able to edit the 4 scenes together for the purpose of uploading it to my blog.

We were able to get a lot of good feedback from just these 4 scenes and will use this feedback to make our work better.

Filming & Editing Update (20th October)

Unfortunately we have still been unable to edit anything as my laptop is still being repaired.

 

However, we did manage to film the first scene at Alex's house. We are happy with the footage we have got, although when we edit it we may find that we need to re-film some shots.

 

Obviously, due to the technical difficulties we have experienced, we are now behind schedule however we feel that we can catch up and continue to produce professional, high quality work in the weeks to come.

In-Depth Analysis of 'Steve Jobs: The Billion Dollar Hippy'

Steve Jobs: The Billion Dollar Hippy

 

The Billion Dollar Hippy is a highly intellectual documentary that explains how Steve Jobs rose to the top of the technology market, including both the ups and down of his life long career. It starts by showing various different shrines in Job's name, and the voice over explains what the documentary is about and starts by stating that Steve Jobs died in 2011. Immediately we as the audience develop the impression, from the mourner's reactions to his shrines, that he was a very important and influential person to many people. After these initial shrine shots, we see close ups of the inside of an old Ford Mustang as it is driven along an old country road in America. this reinforces the 'hippy' theme to the documentary. As the documentary progresses, we see more and more about how motivated and determined he becomes as a person and we also learn that he is not in the business purely for the money. He wants to change the world.

 

The editing is purely quick cuts, swapping from compilation footage of Jobs to talking head interviews with many of Steve Jobs' colleagues. The compilation footage depicts Jobs in various different interviews and photoshoots and also shows footage of his previous Apple presentations, where he would present the brand new products that his company are about to release.There is background music throughout almost the whole documentary and all of the songs featured fit the 'hippy' genre, for example Bob Dylan. Not only does this fit the theme of the documentary but also it makes it more entertaining and easier for the audience to watch.

 

We wanted to create a documentary in the same layout as this, however ours would be more sarcastic - more like a mocumentary. The main points that we wanted to take from this documentary was the talking head interviews (of which we have 4), the voice of God (in the strong British accent, similar to the one in Steve Jobs' documentary) and the idea that Steve Jobs was almost like the 'mesiah' is what we wanted Alex's character to be like to the people of Ware.

 

Our documentary is only the first 5 minutes, however the narrative structure is similar to that of the Steve Jobs documentary. Our documentary follows Todorov's narrative theory, which includes 5 steps. Although we only see the equilibrium stage in our documentary, if we were to make the rest of the documentary, it would include the other 4 stages of the theory.

 

There is also evidence of Propp's character types in our documentary:

 

Alex = The Princess

Alex's Dad = The Princesses Father

'Greg' = The Protector

Carlisle (manager) = The Doner

 

And so on.

 

There are many techniques used in the Steve Jobs documentary that we hope to incorporate in our own documentary, although we will have to change them slightly in order to fit our more sarcastic theme.



Filming & Editing Update (15th October)

Earlier this week, my laptop had to be sent away for repairs. Due to this, we are unable to edit (as Final Cut Pro X was downloaded on my laptop) for up to 3 weeks. Although this is a massive inconvenience for us, we are going to continue to film throughout this period, as we feel it is important to keep up the same level of motivation and dedication even if we are unable to edit our footage.

 

Due to the fact that the repairs could take up to 3 weeks, when we present our first cut we will simply present the scenes we have got so far and get feedback on those.

Filming & Editing Update (6th October)

We did intend to film today, however due to the weather and our body guard's broken foot, we were unable to do this.

We hope to be able to catch up on our filming during this week, however if the weather continues to be as bad as it is, we will have to do it either over the weekend or sometime next week.

Filming & Editing Update (3rd October)

Filming

At first, we were really happy with the shots we managed to film today, as it was enough to compile a whole scene. We filmed the part in town where Alex was swarmed by fans. However, in reviewing what we had recorded, we realised that Alex's body guard was not in any of the shots - this being an essential part of our idea. Due to this, the only shots we are able to use from today's session are the establishing shots, which we are still happy with.

Editing

Due to not filming an entire scene today, no editing was done in this session. However, we have a filming/editing sessions scheduled for Monday 6th October, where we hope to re-film these shots, including the body guard, and edit the scene together in order to start piecing the documentary together.

Alex's Magazine Feature

The Plan

During the scene when Alex is signing autographs for his fans in the town, we thought it would be good if we created a double page spread in a magazine about Alex and his rise to power for the fans to have for him to sign.

We have taken the photos that we will feature in this article and I will be putting it together using PhotoShop and will then print around 7 copies and stick them into random magazines, ready for filming on friday (if all goes to plan).

The Magazine

The front page:

Filming & Editing Update (26th September)

Filming

Today we filmed scene 2 (when Alex visits his old school). Although we thought we had got the whole scene filmed, when editing we realised that we needed a few more shots. Therefore, although we are happy with what we did manage to film, we will need to reschedule and shoot a few more seconds to add into the scene.

Editing

We managed to get this scene edited in about half an hour, which was plenty of time for us to realise that we needed a few more shots. Additionally, there is a moment of silence at the start of the scene which does not look professional, however this is where the Voice of God will speak. We have not been able to add the VoG yet, as that will be recorded as a whole project after all of the filming has been done. We have chosen to upload the scene so far in order to show a work in progress.

The Scene Itself (Unfinished)

*Note: We chose to take out the corridor shots until we have re-filmed the extra shots. This is because not only did it not fit into the scene the way it is, but also because the clip of the students separating to let Alex through was corrupt, so we need to re-import it and edit it back in, which we will do when we edit in the extra shots.*

Production Schedule

We planned to film scene 2 at the same time as scene 1, on the 22nd and 24th. Due to difficulties involving actors, we were unable to film this scene until the 26th. 
However, because it is unfinished, we have not yet completed the editing process, but are still way ahead of schedule, as we did not intend to even start editing until the 8th October.

Amy's Interview - Script

'Yeah, he's amazing, yeah.

I was actually round his house the other day.

Yeah.

I mean he didn't know I was there but, yeah we bonded.

Well, he was asleep.

Yeah.

There's thing big tree outside his house and like, I climb it.

And sometimes the window is open...

So I go in.'

Filming & Editing Update (24th September)

Filming

Today we filmed two short interviews - one with super-fan Amy Durbin and one with Alex's old school teacher, Ben Phipps. We're really happy with what we managed to get filmed as we were worried that the scenes would not come out as we had hoped, but in the end we were able to shoot two scenes that we felt were as high a standard as the previous two. We did write a short script for Amy's interview, and this can be found on the post above this one.

Editing

The interview with Mr Phipps didn't need much editing, because his answer was smooth and looked very natural. We added his name in a title in the corner and added a few transitions to the beginning and end of the scene but other than that, hardly any was needed. The interview with Amy was quite smooth when we filmed it, but there were a lot of gaps between her lines, which I decided to cut out to make her seem more keen and slightly creepy (being the obsessed fan she is).

The Scenes Themselves

Production Schedule

On our production schedule, it says that we will also have filmed scene 1 today. Again, due to unavailability of actors (and also settings in this case), we were unable to film scene 1 and so instead filmed an interview with each of the characters we see above.
As with previous scenes, we are may ahead of schedule regarding editing, as we planned to edit this scene on the 7th/8th October.

Filming & Editing Update (22nd September)

Filming

Today we filmed Alex's initial interview. I think we are both very happy with the outcome, as we got the whole thing filmed quickly but efficiently, and re-filmed any shots that we felt were not up to standard.

Editing

The editing process was again done on Final Cut Pro X, and I think for this scene the sound was a major fault (with a lot of background noise and fuzz from the camera). After editing for about 20 minutes, we were able to produce another professional looking scene, and was also able to reduce the background noise significantly.

The Scene Itself

Production Schedule

In our production schedule, we planned to film scene 1 on the 22nd September. Due to the unavailability of some of our actors, we were not able to do this but instead managed to film this interview with Alex.
Once again we are ahead of schedule with editing as we did not plan to edit what we filmed today until 7th October.

First Shot List

Due to the fact that our documentary very much relies on editing to make it look professional, we do not yet have a precise and detailed shot list, however we do have a few shot ideas for each scene. We will update our shot list after the editing process in order to make it more accurate.

Scene 1

- Close up shot of Alex's bedroom door (handheld).

- Close up of Alex's head popping out of the door to tell the cameras he'll be ready in a moment (handheld).
- Tracking shot of Alex looking at his tie collection (starting with Alex in the frame, ending with the ties).

Scene 2

We have already filmed scene 2 (see above blog post) and so the shots we used were:

- Medium shot
-Medium long shot
-Low angle worm's eye view shot

We didn't use many different shot types, as we felt it would not be appropriate and wanted to maintain that professional look.


 Scene 3

-Handheld shots
-Over the shoulder shots
-Talking head interview with fans; medium shot

Scene 4

-Handheld and tripod shots
-Long shot
-Establishing shot
-Over the shoulder shots
-Close up and medium close up shots

Scene 5&6

-Close up shots
-Medium shots
-Worm's eye view shots

Additional Scene

-Medium shots
-Tripod only

Production Schedule

Title Development

Due to the fact that we do not yet have a title for our documentary (because we are waiting for Alex to say something iconic that we can use during filming), the titles so far only include the name of our production company - Sequester Studios.

The reason our production company is called Sequester Studios is because the word sequester means to segregate or separate. We chose to use this word because we felt it would be appropriate due to the segregation between Alex himself and his fans, who are obviously below him in society.