Production Week Blues

Early on in the production week, the plan was to film a documentary about a fighter named Carl Kinslow. Ideas and interview questions weren’t complete and I eventually set the filming day for Friday. It was originally me and Alys that were to complete the filming, but there were so problems so I had to film on my own. As well as this, Friday morning, Carl notified me that he was very ill and not able to open the gym today. This was a huge setback as I had no car and had to stick to a tight schedule in order to get home on Saturday. I wracked my brain and thought about filming my fiances step dad who is a farmer. As well as having an extraordinary occupation that many wouldn’t have experience, he also was a significant person. His produce feeds many and successfully runs his own farm and manages 3 others.

I had to quickly get to work and myself, and the group managed to brainstorm quite a lot so I had a good set of ideas and questions to ask. We took ideas from things like countryfile and even Yorkshire vet. Quick and visually appealing shots with a dialogue overlay. I considered some narration too. I headed over to the farm Friday night and finished up my ideas by looking around and seeing what jobs were being done the next day. In the morning, my fiancé (tripod carrier) and I filmed from 10am till 3pm, getting a good variety of dynamic shots during the usual daily routine. The contributor was very nervous so I felt comfortable having sam read the questions while I managed the camera and audio to the best of my abilities. As well as this, I filmed some shots by using a GoPro as I wouldn’t be able to get the same kind of shots with a conventional camera. I also managed to film some things once the family was all together. It was a difficult process on my own but due to having some camera experience, I could set up the camera quickly and know what looked good. There were some lighting issues due to the structure of the barn and a focus issue where I had the camera propped up high and couldn’t clearly see the screen. I made good use of a GoPro by fixing it to the front of a tractor and quad bike and placing it on the floor while the dogs ran towards it. I also felt it was important to keep the camera running during the interview phase.  This managed to catch some nice bloopers but also a real reaction from the subject that looked natural. Some of the other shots involving him were also filmed when he didn’t realise, capturing some really beautiful moments.

Overall, it was a good but difficult experience and I’m sure I gathered enough material to use and piece together. It included some simple and quick shots but I figured the more I had, the more we had to choose from an get more inspiration.

K.T