This documentary has been by far the most challenging and the most time consuming project Ive ever done. Throughout, it has tested a wide range of skills. From research, managing and liaising, assisting ideas with the director, being a presenter and editing the project to a professional piece.
Our group started off with the idea of doing a Digital Detox. We planned to find a teen presenter who vlogs on youtube to carry out a 7 day long experiment to see how they would cope without any technology whilst also incorporating facts and figures about how teens are becoming hooked to the social media change. We felt strongly that we had a good and unique idea that was well structured. We created a pitch document and a presentation to present to Helen and Zoe and we felt we had compiled strong evidence and research to prove our documentary would work. Although our feedback given said we were strong and presented well, another group already had the same idea. We decided to go for a new angle and take out the experiment focusing on texting whilst diving and a digital detox bootcamp. Although we began to like our change we found it very testing as I was unable to gain access into a bootcamp due to the privacy for its patients. We started to struggle and I began to get frustrated as loose ends were not tying together.
Over the easter holidays I had a think about where we could go with the documentary so I decided to talk to the group about another idea I had. This was completely different to what we had already worked hard on so I knew we were taking a risk with wiping the slate clean and starting again. The idea talked about changing the documentary from a digital detox to fear and adrenaline. I felt that it was a lot more interesting and gave us a fresh start for something we all felt excited about. The group agreed and we started brainstorming and collaborating ideas for where we could take this. I felt for changing at such a late stage we all did really well to keep motivated and believe that we could still pull off a completely new idea.
We decided that we wanted to do the documentary based on thrill seeking activities with the objective of seeing why we need to have 'fake fear' in our lives. In terms of fake fear I mean the simulation of the fear we choose to experience rather than situations that we are forced to experience it. We then decided on a theme park with rollercoasters (Thorpe Park), An interative experience (The London Tombs) and something for extreme adrenaline junkies (North London Skydiving Centre) taking the fear up a notch as the documentary goes on. We had 3 - 4 weeks to put all the pre production, production and post production together so we decided to move quickly but efficiently to end with a great documentary.
After I had liaised with many different companies and organisations getting permissions and organising interviews on the phone and by email as well as finishing scripts, shortlists, schedules and risk assessments we were ready to begin filming. I was a little disappointed as I couldn't manage to get an expert on board as although I contacted many universities with someone from the psychology departments, No one replied or was too busy. I decided to leave this and focus on my story incorporating facts and research of my own.
Our first shoot was at Thorpe Park. We arrived in plenty of time and accomplished all the filming in a good time frame. We all worked really well in a team and worked together to get all the shots we needed whilst working against the weather and the low level of light being a cloudy and rainy day. As we couldn't put the tripod down some shots were a bit shakey and we had to ensure we worked with the public to make sure they weren't in shot too much. With me presenting I had to overcome people looking at me which I found hard at first but I got used to it. After my pieces to camera we had enough time to film GV's and cut aways to help with editing later. Being assistant director I was able to give my input to the director in what I thought we should shoot which I enjoyed. If I could have improved on this shoot and we had more time I would have liaised with Thorpe Park earlier to allow us to get footage on the rides which we was not allowed to do as it needed 4 weeks to process the health and safety.
The tombs was similar in regards to good teamwork and time management. I had my input on what to shoot as well as added my opinions to how I wanted the interview recorded. Using the script and planning I was able to deliver presenting more naturally and efficiently. Since The Tombs like to keep their attraction secret we wasn't allowed to film in the experience itself which when thinking about it I could have picked somewhere else that would allow us to.
The skydive I found very challenging as I was nervous to do the activity in the first place. On this day the team decided to get a lot of reaction shots before, during and after the jump and make this all about my experience. I think this was a good decision as we managed to capture my feelings and emotions throughout the shoot.
When it came to editing, this was my main role to contributing to the project. After the rough cut I showed Helen and Zoe they liked the build up of the skydive but the other 2 features were too long and dragged. I went back to editing and shortened these and made it more about the skydive. Shooting Jackie's interview went really well and fitted nicely into the documentary, especially splitting it either side of an item to make her a reoccurring character. I had my challenges with the editing which was mainly with sound. Although I feel I picked a good score throughout, the interviews kept going out of sync with the picture which made it frustrating and time consuming. Although I enjoyed it I found myself becoming a perfectionist with it and was spending too long editing at one time which allowed me to make errors which I wouldn't do in the future. It was also annoying as I would go to the attraction and give a summary but there was no shots inside and experiencing apart from the skydive. Zoe suggested to use footage from Youtube to fill these in as otherwise it was not going to work. Although it was increasingly frustrating I am very happy with the pace I have set and the different emotions that I convey through out as it has a documentary feel but follows the journey of the presenter.
Overall, although I found the unit very challenging in places with the short amount of time and the lengths of research we had to do, I feel at the end of it I have learnt and improved many skills. I have learnt that if we are taking the audience somewhere they need to see what we are talking about and I will take this on board for the future. I feel this documentary unit has been a great experience and I have taken a lot from it.
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