Testing Testing…1 2 3!

After the hectic rush to get the Documentary Plan and the AV Script, our brief presentation went well. We were a little concerned that our current progress wouldn’t compare up to that of the other groups, but as with before, we are pretty much level pegging.

During the class discussion a couple of points of interest where raised which we found quite useful. We thought we had put enough thought into the locations of where we were wanting to do some of our filming, but we never took into consideration doing any test shooting. After a brief lunch at the Chaplaincy Cafe, which I can highly recommend by the way, we visited the Queen Mother Building to test out the acoustics of one our interview locations.

Upon arrival at the location a number external factors, which could effect our video, came to light. Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of back ground noise, but we didn’t think it would be that much of a factor. However, we hadn’t taken into consideration the likes of photocopiers, printers, and other students working. We were really only concerned with the fans that one might associate with a computer labs.

We did some test shots with the setup that we were planning on using, and found out that the area was a lot more reflective than we had also thought. This was a little annoying at the time, but after experimenting with different positions with the microphone, we found out that a shotgun on a fish pole seemed to work the best. Pointing down reduced the reflections from the windows behind where we are shooting, and also reduced the other ambient noise.

Today we also had the opportunity to watch another documentary. This particular one was a BBC production was called ‘The Scots Who Made The Modern World’. The documentary briefly over viewed some of inventions and innovations by Scottish pioneers, and how they have effected the world we life in today.  Here is their website. Watching this documentary was particularly interesting because it featured a lot of ideas which wouldn’t have immediately have jumped to mind. For example, there was a lot of use reconstructive footage. Through the use of actors, the audience were able to gain an idea of what some of the people talked about in the documentary would have been like, and it also set a very cinematic feel to the whole production. In most respects this documentary was very patriotic, and was definitely backing Scotland all the way, but at the same time, the creators didn’t hide away from the some of the well known controversy surrounding some of the Scots mentioned. It would have been very easy for them to have simply ignored these things and continued in a very ‘Pro-Scottish’ way, but I think this definitely brought a great deal of integrity.

Following this, we had another little get-together with our lecturer, who broke the news that our Shooting Script wasn’t actually a shooting script. We were lacking a lot of the detail which we required to really know what we were going to do when it came down to the actual production time. This couldn’t have come at a better time. If we had just marched into the filming, I think it would have been very evident that we had put little thought into the exact shots, and may not have been terribly pleasing for the audience. Also taking our interviewee into account, it would be better to look like we know what we are doing, hopefully making him feel a little more comfortable about the whole experience.

Due to other personal commitments that was where the work had to stop in the studio, but thanks to Google Wave we have been able to continue the collaborative work in our time, from our own rooms. For those interested, Google Wave is new communication platform, designed specifically for collaboration. It has the features of email, whilst having the spontaneity of an instant messaging client. (If you are reading this when GoogleWave is still in a closed Alpha stage, drop me an email at hello@finlaycraig.com and i’ll send you an invite). Anyway, the work never stops!

The next objective is to set out a very strict time table for the following two weeks. Following advice, we are going to set our personal completion date to be three days before the actual deadline for this project, just in case of any unforseen events!

Fin.