Critical anaylsis
This semester we created the research and the planning for our documentary with also the aspects of technical training and the understanding of equipment. The documentary that we decided ,after many group meeting and brainstorms to create was the issue of greyhound dog racing. This personally was one of my favourite ideas that were suggested by the group. As not only was this controversial but also it was topical. There were many initial ideas that were suggested to the group as each of us decided to create three ideas that we aimed to produce into a documentary. However when listening to the ideas we found that we all came with one solid idea with two backups, meaning that we were passionate about at least one idea with some that we was not too sure about. However initially my first idea was the idea of cancer, in which I found to be a success within the group, as it was very controversial but also created a lot of knowledge for not just the audience but for us filmmakers too. However this idea seemed to have backfired after we had a primary that unfortunately is currently suffering from cancer and her hospital refused permition for filming. This was not the only primary that pulled out through out this semester, as when allocating greyhound race stadiums there were many that pulled out too. Which I found especially frustrating as I find it difficult to leave the control with the primary. We overcame this however gaining many primaries as backups too.My second initial idea was to follow a circus filming both back stage and on the performance day. This idea however admittingly was not as good as other ideas that were broadcasted so got unfortunately got put to one side. My third idea that was also put to one side was the observational mode of following a prison guard around a youth prison identifying problems and violence that they experience.
Personally I believe that I was a confident and straightforward member of the group with many contributions contributing to the creation of Silverline productions. Silverline was the formation from many of the initial ideas that we first had implemented such as the cancer idea. In which we then designed the logo and website around this.
My personal role is editor and although this role will not commence till after Christmas however I helped with various of other areas during the process resulting into the belief that I played a crucial part through out the group. As well as having the role of editor I also helped out with marketing, promotion, funding and helping out with the contact of primaries. I was also able to take the lead within research on our documentary by reading books, article and watching other greyhound documentaries that represent our film. Which unfortunately I found there were very few, as we were looking onto the research of balanced documentaries on greyhound racing. I helped out with promotion and marketing by gaining time slots for next year on BBC Radio 1xtra and also Winchester sound radio. These helping us gain a range of audiences and promoting our production company wider than just Winchester. I also helped out with funding as I have gained permition for fundraising within the university grounds. This will include cake selling and raffles. This fundraising money will hopefully cover some costs on travel expenses, catering expenses, entrance fees and technical equipment. However although this is not a lot at the moment hopefully I aim to seek funding from other places. In addition to this I found that within the group meetings I became the speaker and although I knew this was the job of the DOB or producer I found that little was said. However taking this into consideration I done this without taking charge as I suggested questions rather than implemented them. Another aspect in which I felt I helped with the production is through the creation of forums and the yola website. As this enabled us to gain an interest from a wider audience but also enabled us to interact with the audience that we aim for. The forum I created to seek advice from greyhound owners and racers but also to seek primaries to participate within our documentary. This was a great success and now have two further primaries interested and confirming to be part of our documentary as the first primary being a male greyhound racer involves his family and a second an ex greyhound racer showing the negative side to dog racing in his personal experiences. I also gained the organisation skills that are intended for professional practise. I did this by creating a schedule on what resources I will be using which can clearly be seen through the wide range of bibliography.
I found that I could use aspects of what I have learnt during the semester to create the documentary professionally and successfully. One way in which I could do this is by using my understanding of how certain effects can present certain emotions for the audience to feel, over all manipulating the outcomes of emotions on the film/photo. An example of this is through the camera 450d/550d in which we learnt that by using a depth of field we were able to manipulate the audience into showing the importance of a certain object, which can be seen in my photo essay two. I found that the technical training and workshops that were available would help me enhance my skills in the future. In addition to this I think I also gained from the semester the professional outlook on work that is produced. As before this semester I had no knowledge of what is expected within the media industry. Secondly I also learnt about time management as although I kept up to date with the website I found that whilst concentrating on this I forgot to concentrate on the main research for the documentary until nearer the time of the pitch. However in some cases I could have done better as I learnt that within the future I will have to control my stress kevels as although group dynamics majority of the time was good during when stress levels for all group members became high we had many disagreements. Although contrasting to this although these disagreements may have affected one meeting we professionally ignored it for the next and worked as a group professionally and adequately. Finally I believe that next year to improve my skills I think I will have to organise my schedule a bit better as I found this semester I struggled to cope with the work load as I fell behind. I will also next year practise more on the cameras reading for filming.
