Evaluation

What went well?

• Being able to get most of the shots I wanted.
• The shooting of the electric car for the film.
• Finding the soundtracks I wanted and getting them in the film.
• The interview with Darren Rogers.

What didn’t go well?

• The narration ended up sounding quite quiet compared to the other audio featured in the film. Despite audio adjustments it made the sound quality of the narration worse and not very clear.
• Wasn't able to get a response from someone else who was going to be interviewed until I had very little time.
• Due to tripod size the camera had to be taken off and held lower to the ground than the tripod could. This lead to shaky footage at times.
• I ended up using some of the footage more than once.

What would I do next time?

• Use a smaller tripod for lower ground shots.
• Use a different microphone/recording setup for the narration.
• Get more footage done so I have more to choose from.

Peer Assessment

Ed (lecturer):

• Darren goes out of sync at one point.
• Ben’s voice over needs to be louder.
• You have repeated shots.  
• It feels long - can you shorten the interviews a little bit - aim to get this down to 3mins30s.

James (lecturer):

• There are a couple of shots that you could tighten up a little
• The voice over is a little shaky at times
• Part way through the film becomes more of an advert for electric mobility and needs a little balance to the argument.

However, for the level this is a fantastic piece  of work. You completed this, for the most part independently and have done a great job - on the camera work, the audio and the editing.

Steve (lecturer):
Firstly, you have managed to produce a good quality job, largely by yourself. You should be pleased with yourself. Because you have obviously worked on this with care and diligence, I have written a lengthy reply. .

Overall
If this is intended to be biased, then you have achieved that, but it  is not balanced.
My feeling is that this is probably a 45 seconds too long. I don’t really need to see the car being parked. It doesn’t give me any more information.
I think you should cite your information sources.

Camerawork. 
There appears to be no reason for not using a tripod or other support throughout this film, but you have chosen in a few places not to and there are some shaky shots that distract from the film.
Your framing and camera position is usually good, but you rely on a lot of wide angle shots that distort things - such as Darren’s hands. If you could, this would have been better shot from a distance with the lens zoomed in.
The entire sequence with Darren has a socket at the top of the screen. This is distracting.
Some of your shots are duplicate.

Electric car
While I will accept your findings, I still find the financial arguments suspect; is it really cheaper to buy and own?
You don’t present the alternatives, nor do you mention the downsides to electric cars.

Sound
Inconsistent and hard to hear at points. However a fine editing out of Ben’s urs and ums.

Titles:
Font sizes vary.


Leanne (lecturer): 

• Great shots, particularly like the shots of the Electric Car!
• Good Interview with Darren, could perhaps be cut a little shorter at times and maybe could've interviewed someone else to get a bit of variety but what he was saying was clear and linked to your shots.
• The music works really well and changes with each section of your piece, could you make it slightly quieter towards the second half where Darren is speaking because it is tricky to hear him at times.
• The narration works really well and is clear to understand.
• Well done Harry!

John: 

• Good interview 
• Good quality camera shots
• Used the same shot twice
• The first music was a bit too loud

Ben:

• Amazing voice over. needs to be louder though. 
• Had some great shots. Liked the one where you cut from watching the car drive off to being in the car. 
•  Audio was cut together nicely, very smooth. 
• There was just enough information not to be overwhelmed. And not too little that it made me nod off.  

Kerri:

• Really well edited
• But I feel you do have a lot of unnecessary bits in there and could be a bit shorter
• The voice over works really well
• Good interview - but could cut bits out
• Overall, really well and I enjoyed watching :) 

Production

Script Writing

The script for the narration in the film was written using Celtx as an Audio-Visual format. This would later be printed out for the recording of the narration.

Filming

-Long Shots
-Mid Shots
-Close Ups
-Panning Shots

Location wise would be in a select few areas of the city centre of Bath. One place in particular was the area where the Buro Happold car park was located.

Narration
The narration for the film was performed by Ben Oakes and recorded in the Studio. The equipment used for this was a Zoom H4n recorder, a Boom/Shotgun mic and a set of headphones.

The recording was later imported onto Logic Pro. This is where cutting out gaps, hesitations and cock-ups would be cut out before being imported into the Premier project.

Editing
All the footage, audio etc. was  gathered up and imported into Adobe Premier. This was where it would all be put together along with transitions and titles.

Uploading
After the finished edit was exported as a video file, the short film was uploaded to YouTube under the name 'Electric Mobility'.

The Final Film

Reflections

Documentary Types

• Expository - This is the type of documentary that is most often associated with documentary in general. The structure is grounded in a series of assertions backed up by evidence.

• Observational - A mode of documentary that uses the observations of an unobtrusive camera to create direct engagement with the everyday life of subjects.

• Participatory - Emphasising the interaction between the filmmaker and the subjects of the documentary. This type usually take the form of a series of interviews or other forms of even more direct involvement from conversations to provocations. Archival footage to examine historical issues is also included.

• Poetic - This has a more abstract approach to documentary filmmaking. It emphasises visual associations, tonal or rhythmic qualities, description, and form.

Reflections for my short documentary

Beginning
Talk about how mobility is an important part of our lives and what life would be like if we didn't have it.

Middle
Discuss mobility's downsides/disadvantages, expenses and the air pollution, noise & congestion.

End
This is where the documentary discusses electric mobility and the benefits drivers can get from it. Such as costing very little to run and being able to travel by car without emitting any harmful emissions.

Pre Production

April 21st 2015

I wrote down on a paper what I was doing for my FMP. With the rest of the people in my class, we went round the room table to table a few times and had to write questions regarding what I was doing for the project.

Later on, I was given two posted notes which were used to set two targets. One was for the end of the day, and the other was for throughout the week.

Storyboards where then drawn to help get a slightly better idea of what shots I was considering. The shots were drawn in no particular order as I needed to think about where in the final film the shots would be.

Statement of Intent

This is a contract that will outline my intent for the FMP project.

Environmental Research

Bath and Bristol streets exceed EU pollution levels

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-15258498

In October 2011, it was reported by BBC News that dozens of streets across Bristol and Bath exceed European air pollution levels.

Nitrogen dioxide levels were more than twice the EU limit in some roads.

‘The Right To Breathe’ Documentry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1M894GH4q4

‘The Right to Breathe’ was a documentary film released in 2011. It’s main purpose is to make viewers aware of the serious health effects of air pollution while also inspiring them to take action and participate in practical solutions to help improve our air.

Shot types used in this documentary vary. But most of the time it tends to be a lot of mid shots, wide shots and aerial shots of the outside world. During interviews, head and shoulder shots tended to be used along with the interviewee facing either the left or right of the camera.

Motorists may have to pay congestion tax soon

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/motorists-may-have-to-pay-congestion-tax-soon/article7111215.ece

In Chennai (which is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu). The charge for ‘congestion zones’ has pushed the boundaries because of civic bodies in the Chennai Metropolitan Area.  will be fixed by the government.

“Two years after the Chennai Corporation Council approved a study to find solutions to ease traffic chaos on city roads, the civic body will start work on demarcating zones for congestion tax.”

Renault electric cars reviewed - What Car? (November 2009)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rKa-FEJ3Sk

“If you commute into a city centre every day, then the chances are that within the next 10 years, you’re going to be doing it in an electric car. If you’re not banned from taking a fossil fuel car into town, it’ll become so prohibitively expensive that you won’t want to do it. And Renault is getting ready for when that day comes.” - Roger Stansfield

Have these cars actually gone into production ever since?

Yes, but like Roger said in the video, the actual production cars wouldn’t be exactly like the concept cars.

Reflection on today's lesson

Today I felt that I have had a vision of what most environmental documetries consist of and what they rely on to help get the point across to the viewer. This would include choice of music, camera angles, interview techniques and illustrations etc.

Themes

Identity
Cambridge Dictionarys Online:
“Who a person is, or the qualities of a person or group that make them different from others.”

Oxford Dictionaries (Online):
“The fact of being who or what a person or thing is.”

What comes into my mind:

Environment

Cambridge Dictionarys Online:

“The air, water, and land in or on which people, animals, and plants live.”

Oxford Dictionaries (Online):

“The surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.”

What comes into my mind:

Fairytale

Cambridge Dictionarys Online:

“A traditional story written for children that usually involves imaginary creatures and magic.”

Oxford Dictionaries (Online):

“Something resembling a fairy story in being magical, idealized, or extremely happy.”

What comes into my mind: