The final film

After finishing ‘Liverpool’s Superlambanana’ I think it was unanimous amongst the group that we were really happy with the result. I fell that the tome of it is light and happy. The subject matter is fun and bright. We didn’t want to make a gritty, pessimistic, grey piece that seems to be a running theme through a lot of documentaries. It’s a colourful piece that looks into how people feel about modern art in Liverpool. In some ways I feel the Superlambanana is a vehicle in our documentary. It’s like a gate into the much broader theme of art and specifically contempary art. The piece tends to lean towards people opinions on the Superlambanana rather than its story.
Starting with the vox pops before the titles we introduce this idea of people’s opinions of the Lambanana. This introduces the subject matter but still in a way that is a little ambiguous so that the viewer is intrigued as to what it is. Then introducing the lambananas the viewer’s interest peaks with the strangeness o fit. However before the viewer get confused or bored we quickly introduce Pat who gives who gives the background and general knowledge needed to understand both the documentary as a whole and the subject matter in general.
Now we have given a comprehensive view of the Super Lambanana, we bring in the idea of what is means to Liverpool and what people think of it. We then Carry this through with the Interview with Sophie. She is like a case study of what the superlambanana means to Liverpool’s artistic community. This, for me is a really nice interview. It gives both a personal story which makes the film more engaging for the viewer but also help to reinforce what it means to the city.
Then we go back to the vox pops. Once more this gives the wider respective of what the Lambanana means to the souse people. Also what they think of it. This means we have a broad perspective of what the Lambanana means to Liverpool. All in all I’m happy with the result.
In terms of sound it’s a very speech heavy piece. Therefore the majority of my task was cleaning up dialogue and syncing into the Picture. I have gone in to more detail about this on a previous post.
As for how we worked as a team I think we did well. We all gelled and carried out our roles in a competent manner to the bestow our ability. I think the film we have made reflects this. We did a fair share of the work obviously there was a slight imbalance depending on what stage of the production we were at. For example at the beginning Grace was incredibly busy as producer, but the editor didn’t have anything to do at all really. However towards the end of the process it was all balanced out. The situation Changed around in Post production.
So in conclusion I feel we have made a good piece and worked well as a team.

Liverpool.
So we have come to the end of the two day shoot in Liverpool. My first reaction is to say how well it went. We managed to get everything done that we intended to. The interviewees were brilliant and in my opinion gave us plenty of material to work with. I think the quality of our material is also of high standard, meaning that this should get a better end result.
Starting the second day of shooting as early as we did was definitely a good decision. It gave us a greater scope. It meant that not only that we had lots of time to get around to all places we needed too but we had time to go to more places that we had initially planned. We were able to stop at any rouge Lambanana’s we found and film them. This again means we have plenty of coverage when it comes to the edit. Another point from the effective time management is it meant we weren’t stressed or panicking about getting anywhere. This meant that we could work effectively without any added stress. This had defiantly reiterated to me that time management is key in an effective shoot as it is an added pressure that can be avoided with careful planning.
I have to say that I did enjoy this shoot. I feel that everyone in the team did well at their designated tasks. Especially Grace as producer, who I feel made sure we were all as organised as we were. I think that we worked well as a team. The only thing I have to say is that I feel there was a little lack of communication with regards to starting and stopping filming and sound recording. I think that from this I have learned the importance of communication. This is causing me slight concern as there may be small section where the audio and video don’t sync up properly. This is a bridge we’ll have to cross when we come to it. It’s not causing any major concern as I know everything that was needed was recorded and then some.
As we were using a DSLR to film on, everything was recorded on a marantz rather than being recorded on a mic that was plugged directly into the camera. For the ‘sit down’ interviews I used the tie clip mics in order to get as clear audio as possible. When we recorded the vox pops, using the tie clip mic was not a very effective choice. The problem when interviewing the general public is that they tend to feel uncomfortable around sound recording equipment. The last thing that they need is someone they don’t know trying to set them up with a tie-clip mic. It can also be time consuming; we needed this to be quick fire as the light was going by this stage. Overall it seemed a better idea to use a rifle mic on a boom pole. This is obviously even more intimidating than the tie clip mic. For this reason we kept it hidden while trying to coax people into being interviewed. We managed to get a few good interviews this way and the people said a lot of really good stuff.

Sound in Documentary

Sound in documentary.
Considering my role in this production is sound I have decided to take a look at documentary purely in terms of it’s sound. By doing this I have been able to think more methodically how I’m going to go about my job.
Sound is definitely of upmost importance in a documentary. It is a powerful emotive tool within any film. When a documentary s just telling a story with no persuasive agenda the sound design aids the story. If it has a particular mood, the sound weather it be music or dialogue is imperative. Good sound is make or brake. The dialogue pushes along the narrative or reinforces certain points the filmmaker is trying to create. There fore its clarity and quality is of upmost importance. Because a documentary is factual and the audience need to believe what you’re telling them, the sound needs to seem ‘real’. There fore the use of Atmos is important so the illusion is not broken and the audience is drawn into the story or argument the filmmaker is putting across. In a persuasive documentary where the filmmaker is trying to put a point across and make you believe it and using sound design to create an emotive and powerful piece is very important. For example if a documentary is trying to create one person and the ‘villain’ and the other as a ‘victim’, the sound design is integral to how you feel abut these two characters. Therefore it can chance the tone of an entire film. So the sound really is important to Documentary.
The way of the Morris. (Tim Plester & Rob Curry)
Possibly my favourite documentary ever, thee use of sound is something that I find interesting. I know I’ve talked about this before but I feel this time I’m coming at it from a slightly different angle. In my opinion the sound design is both rich and deep. It is integral to the Film’s effectiveness as a whole.
There is a broad range of sound used. The most obvious is the interviews. I think the tequniques that Plester and Curry employ are effective. There is a mix of set up interviews and vox pops. This is a style that I think we are going to follow. This way we will get a mixture of opinions and views. In terms of interview techniques there appears to be a range of mics. Tie clips and most likely a rifle mic and boom pole. For set up interviews and vox pops respectively. I believe that this will be the most efficient way of doing things on our shoot in Liverpool. For both speed and quality of sound. Also if I was to try and set up members of the public with tie clip mics for quick fire interviews I think it would make them uncomfortable as they will already probably be nervous. It will also be time consuming where time is a precious commodity on this, or any shoot.
In terms of sound design, I really like the use of Digetic and non digetic Music. There is a great balance and methodical use of the music recorded at the dance outs and then either music from old records of music just recorded for the film. Another point here is how the sound helps to keep the film moving. The pace I feel is very driven, it’s not sedate. Given its subject matter I think it helps to convey the one of the films main points that Morris dancing is not just for boring old farts. It also helps with the effectiveness of one of the films most important sequences. When the dancers go to the war memorial suddenly the rhythm and pace that has been built up in the film stops, it is in some ways jarring but is incredibly effective. It makes the scene all the more poignant and thought provoking. This sudden silence is as well I think a great metaphor for what the war did to Adebury. Before there had been this deep folk tradition with music and dance and laughter. Then the war stopped it all. When the film them picks up the rhythm again it shows how resilient the village has been in coming back from this great tragedy that befell them. The way in which the sound helps to portray this, is, in my view a very inspiring thing.
So the main this to take from this is the fact there is more to sound then the simple technical aspects. This is of course incredibly important. Bad sound design can lead to the complete failure of any film. Due to all this, I am able to understand that the quality of the recording as well as the way in which they are put in the final are of equal and upmost importance.

Pockets

Pockets.
I think this is my favourite documentary that we watched in the seminar. Its style and subject are both appealing to me as a viewer and inspiring as a filmmaker.
I really enjoyed the way that it was like snapshots. Of a place, of people, their minds and lives. It was rapid and quick fire in a sense as it gave you a lot of information. However it was edited together in a way that the pace was sedate and pleasant to watch, you didn’t feel like you were being bombarded by information. The information was effectively conveyed in a way which gave us a lot of it but in a way that wasn’t too much for the viewer to comprehend.
It was just a really nice piece. Stylistically it looked great. It was soft and bright which really fitted the subject matter well. It wasn’t a dark or brooding piece. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it was fun but it had lightness to it. Still it was a broad piece. Thought provoking. I saw it as a picture into people’s minds and lives rather than just simply their pockets. It was like a little window into people’s minds. Therefore it helps you see the wider world in a different way. It was like a little pause in the hustle and bustle of the day to stop and think. I think it was a really lovely piece of work that was mostly positive. I think it’s something we are going to aim for tone wise. We all enjoyed this documentary immensely

the way of the Morris

Although it’s not relevant to the current sound project I
wanted to mention a documentary I saw at the weekend. Named ‘the way of the Morris’
it is the story of Adderbury Village Morris men told by filmmaker Tim Plester,
a native of the village.
The documentary was incredibly well made in my view. It
clever in its story telling, telling three stories at once. The story of the
side before and after the Great War and how it was torn apart. The story of it’s
revival in the 1970s and the story of Plester himself and his journey into the
world of Morris which runs in his veins. The narrative in the film was both touching
and informative. I found in interesting that the view the film took was one of
fondness when it could so easily have been mocking. Yes it does make jokes, but
Morris doesn’t take itself to seriously anyway. How could it, its grown men
dancing around with bells on their knees.
The way it is shot is also interesting from a production
point of view. It is, to my mind at least shot in a very beautiful and
interesting manner. There are segments
of the film which almost feel dream like, they are surreal and this is where
the narration veers off into the history or some explanation of Morris. These
scenes have a mystical quality, the light is dawn and dusk and gives an
incredibly beautiful hue to the shot and it anchors the meanings of the
narration talking about the strange and distant origins of Morris dancing.
I think that when looking for inspiration and influence in any
kind of film making, not just documentary this film is a great go to. It is a
very powerful film that is a refreshing look at Morris dancing…even if they are
a ring side.

WAY'>http://vimeo.com/20522692">WAY OF THE MORRIS: Official Trailer 2 (HD) from Way'>http://vimeo.com/wayofthemorris">Way Of The Morris on