Finalizing my Documentary

Completing a Documentary in 2 weeks is not an easy task, but it is a rewarding one. As I work on finalizing my video for ICM 508, I’m reminded of where it all began and to think that I would be walking away with new found knowledge and 3 completed videos that I have planned and produced is amazing.

REFLECTION

I thought this book was an overall great guidebook to the basics of filmmaking. After finishing this book, I started noticing filmmaking choices in my favorite shows. For example, there are reasons why the director/cinematographer chose to frame a certain shot that way and it goes to show how much hard work and creativity it takes to make a film. Each element is structured and planned, almost every element has a specific role and reason to it. My overall skillset felt fairly advanced and I was aware of most concepts in this book. However, reading this served as a great refresher and I even learned some new things from it. 

The most useful thing I learned was the importance of lighting. Having a key light, fill light and back light drastically changes the way a shot looks and feels. The book also served a great reminder that there is no right or wrong way to do things as making movies is a subjective art. But there are some aspects and tips that usually work. Straying from the basics is fine but it’s best to understand why we are doing things differently in order to not confuse viewers.

RESEARCH TO INFORM:

• At 1:38 of this video, Forrest Gump talks about the stories of running a successful shrimp boat business. Throughout this clip and throughout the whole movie, L cuts are being used to showcase the various stories and tales. In this case, the directors specifically cut from the shrimp boat scene back to the “present” which is him sitting on the bench. 

• This video by Marques Brownlee highlights a new electric car created by Xiaomi, a Chinese phone company. Right in the beginning, there is a J cut at 0:36 that plays the next segment’s audio a split second early for viewers to gear up for the next section of the video. The nice wide shot of the Xiaomi electric car cleanly cuts into a CU of the details of the car. 

CREATE:

After finalizing my pre-production script, it was finally time to begin recording! My first step to this process was setting up adequate light and a film set for my interview. I used the natural light from the sun’s rays that was coming from the window as a fill light while using the artificial key light I had as the main source. To match the sun’s rays, I adjusted the light’s color temperature so it wouldn’t look too odd. 

After my lighting was set up, I also needed to set up my tripod and have my questions prepared. Working with my interviewee was a lot easier since it is a family member but I can imagine if this was a new subject how important professionalism comes to play.

During my video editing process, I found it difficult to find adequate b-roll that would supplement my a-roll well. Hence why I used some stock footage I found online to and added it post-filming to fit in some key parts. After creating a rough draft, I felt that this type of informative documentary would go great with some investigative music, captioning, and transitions. Overall, this entire process was a lot of fun and I spent a lot more time than I realized working on it on my free time!