Dissertation Approaches

Module 150 is not only research it is also the start of preparation for my dissertation. The dissertation is closely linked to your working practise within the final major projects which at first I was very unhappy with as I felt this was just a critical review.
I wanted to focus my dissertation on natural history programming, specifically the dumbing down of narration and content over the last decade. This isn't possible because of the link to your current working practises on the final major projects and the course doesn't cater for natural history within its briefs.

Filming in Borneo with Dale (DSLR)

With this in mind I developed new ideas with my dissertation tutor and have slowly etched out a plan to still be able to use the dissertation to speak to industry professionals within natural history filmmaking.
My dissertation is focusing on new technology within the industry, specifically the introduction of digital SLR cameras that shot high definition footage. Are they a fad or a serious contender for the next generation of cameraman?

This has allowed me to draw on my background of filming with my own digital SLR and to approach directors, cameramen and production houses to help me research my dissertation.
Overall Iam much more positive about this dissertation and looking forward to contacting professionals in the coming weeks.

We are in

Today I had an email form Tobias Fredrich at the UCI Union Cycliste Internationale giving us filming rights for two cameras at the BMX world championships!
This is a massive step forward for the documentary because it gives us the access to the biggest competition in the BMX calendar.

http://www.bmxworldchamps.co.uk/

BMX Doc

The BMX Documentary is proving to be a very challenge piece to bring together.
We have a great initial contributor, Robert Reed, who has given us a massive list of ideas and contributors but the story is to broad for a 10 minute piece.
The list of contacts is from all areas of cycling so firstly we have focused on just BMX riding and then developed the story from there. At the moment we are trying to get the top athletes in this sport to contribute as this will give a great element to the story.

Rob Reed ©timhuntphotography

So far we are looking to make the story about how much BMX riding has changed from its early grass routes in the wastelands of inner cities right through to its inclusion in the Olympics.
As director on this piece I am trying to get us access to the UCI World Championships at the end of May in Birmingham. This is the top competition for BMX riders and showcases the talent from all over the world, over 200 riders will compete for four days for the ultimate prize to be the world number one!

We are also contacting young riders as well to showcase the up and coming future of the sport and look at who the next generation of Olympic and world champions might be.

I will update soon on how we get on and the contributors we have.

http://www.bmxworldchamps.co.uk/

Another Idea comes together

I have lots of ideas for television programmes but many of them don't always fit the specific briefs of our modules at uni. For module 150/160 I had two ideas that did fit the briefs and I'm very pleased that today my contributor agreed to be part of my documentary idea.

The brief is BBC3 Extraordinary Me and David is definitely that. He is one of only three people in the country who is testing the EKSO an exoskeleton suit. As well as that he is a world class badminton player and a torch bearer for the Olympics.
He story is very inspirational and his determination and spirit is a credit to him.

I look forward to pitching this idea and hopefully seeing it made in the coming weeks

For david story see the daily mail article written earlier this year.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2132059/Britains-bionic-man-Robot-suit-allows-Olympic-torch-bearer-22-walk-again.html

The search for the unexplained!

Unit 150 is the development stage of the final major projects of my Masters in Television Production.
Im directing a project about BMX riding and its inclusion within the Olympics but we have to do two roles so I'm developing other ideas that I have an interest in.

UFO Hunters surrounds the mystery of animal mutilations throughout the U.K. It focuses on a group called the APFU who research the mystery and try to work out what or who is doing this to animals, some farm cattle others wild, all over the country. I have been in contact with one of their founding members who has been very helpful and informative.

The more I have researched this subject the more fascinating it becomes and I think it fits the Channel 4 brief for First Cut series very well.
The Producer from the strip Doc has also been very involved in developing this idea, so much so that she has decided that she wants to have her directorial debut! Im going to do the role of cameraman and i'm very much looking forward to the challenge of filming this documentary if it is greenlit in the coming weeks.

For more information check out the link below

http://www.apfu.org/

Dub Pistols....

In recent weeks I have been filming live music with a small crew from my course at University. We covered some great acoustic sessions with Ruarri Joseph's and Ryan keen at Gylly cafe as part of their CafeLive sessions but I was very happy when we heard we had the gig at the Princess Pavilions covering the Dub Pistols.

It was an amazing gig and we were granted fantastic access by Barry Ashworth and the rest of the band. We filmed on stage and had the opportunity to get some truly great footage.

To get this sort of footage you defiantly need the right equipment so we used a Canon 5D Mk11 and Canon 1D mk1V. these DSLR's really come into there own in this environment.
shot at ISO 3200 and 1/50th of a second at around F4 the image quality is fantastic but follow focus for two hours is stressful!

The Docs Are Under Way....

Today we filmed the first interview for the Young and Pissed  Doc that Im working on.
I have arranged an interview with a good friend of mine who works in Hand Bar in Falmouth. The director has two projects to direct so is up against it to keep both organised and on schedule so I have decided to help out as much as possible and take up some of the slack.
Due to a studio project running throughout friday, the director was going to be tied up so I have prepared some questions and the camera operator and myself have shoot this piece on our own.

The interview went well and I was pleased with the sound, I chose to use a lapel Mic and record sound straight onto the Panasonic P2 camera. This allowed for minimal equipment on shoot as there was a skeleton crew. we shot outside the bar in the courtyard and the sound is enhanced by the slight atmos of the cafe and bar in the background.

We also gained a chance to meet the bar owner, Pete, who was very intrigued by the project and has agreed to be part of it. He had some very interesting points and spoke, at length, about supermarkets and the role they have which is a very interesting angle.

Pitching time again!

This week we started Unit 140, two productions to make this semester so its all go!
On the back of good feedback from the last module it was all to play for as we had either dramas or documentaries to make...

My aim was to gain some more camera experience and hopefully direct a piece. the competition for camera roles was high again but as luck would have it, I have been able to work on documentaries and get a sound, camera and director role! Although these roles are not going to be easy.
The first documentary is 'young and pissed'.
     Yep you guessed it, sounds of people being loud and obnoxious and of course SICK! Guess what my role is? Sound, so this will be challenging capturing the atmos of evenings out whilst being able to react to people around us.

Keep an eye out for following posts about sound recording techniques and images of set ups!

My camera role is on Kernow Curfew which was an idea I pitched, this will have great challenges with low light shooting and young contributors.
I will research the role and experiment with different cameras to see which copes best in low light and learn techniques of on camera lighting.

My last role is Director, this is the one I'm most excited about, the documentary is about stripping in the U.K! This will be the most challenging Doc yet and will take all the skills from the director and producer to make it happen and find the contributors.

Watch this space.....

Jibs, Cranes and Wolly Dolly's

The 3 minute wonder im working on as Producer and sound engineer is based around swimming education within the United Kingdom, I came up with an opening sequence that has a very visual content and will lead up to the opening titles and hopefully suck the audience in.

Problem is it requires the use of multiple camera angles and the ability to follow a professional swimmer in a pool.

No pressure then!

To help us achieve this Michaela (camera) and myself, booked out the Jibs and cranes and practised in the television studio on saturday. Working through the shot lists and recreating swimmers by pushing ourselves along on a chair!

The JVC 700 Attached to the jib, this was the final setup that we decided to use for the filming in the coming weeks.

If you look closely in the screen of the JVC you can see myself on the chair pretending to be a swimmer!

Vimeo

As we start to move into working on unit 120 and 130 I have uploaded the main films that I worked on for unit 110

Please check them out and comment on what you think!

http://vimeo.com/user7102010