PRE-PRODUCTION - BLACK MAGIC MINI URSA TEST/CLASS

One camera that I have always been interested to use is the Black Magic Mini Ursa. A High quality film camera which I've seen being used of highly professional commercials and films. I first saw this camera through the YouTube channel Film Riot and loved the way it operated, it's excellent for handheld however, it does look like a VERY professional camera and the most complex camera I've used myself would be the Panasonic DVX200. This camera is for very expereinced professionals from what I could tell from the review:

Although Film Riot give a very detailed review and even show the quality of the footage, I wanted to look into this camera myself and luckily Sam Creamer owns this camera and gave me a quick run through of the camera and advice with operating it. 

Sam explained that the camera is amazing for footage, you can film in Video, Film and High end Film which all change the quality. He explained he usually shoots on Film option as Video isn't great and more for BTS footage if anything and the High end Film option is for in you're planning on doing a lot of grading in post-production. Sam's biggest advice to me was NOT to go handheld with the camera, after picking it up I found it's incredibly heavy and not something you could do without a rig. Also, my own rig wouldn't be able to handle this as it's built for DSLR cameras so I could need to rent another rig and possibly even an Easy-Rig to help operating due to the weight. 

Sam went through the different codex the camera offers and options and most of which I hadn't heard off. Sam explained that the camera is complicated to operate and wouldn't advice me using this as it's a camera for experienced DOP's which have been working with high end cameras for many years. He told me "It's very unforgiving if you make a mistake" so if you're not aware of what you're doing with this camera then it can cause serious issues on the shoot and ruin the footage altogether. 

Decision: Not to use this camera

SAM CREAMER INTERVIEW (DOP RESEARCH)

Sam Creamer is one of our Tutors at TV Production. Sam has already shot 2 Feature Films and a number of Documentaries through the course with my tutor Helen Curston. I've been fortunate to work with Sam with 'The Making of Red and the Kingdom of Sound' which he was the DOP for and he's just recently completed 'Untold Stories: A History of Black People in Kent'.

Speaking to Sam, I asked for advice on being a DOP for a documentary and how he plans out the visuals, what he uses and how he decides on the visuals. He explained that he doesn't do any paperwork such as storyboards or shot lists, he will go off the script and breakdown the shots he needs from there and work with the Director to ensure he's getting the correct shots and it all works with the story.

Sam explained that when shooting an interview, he'll often shoot with one camera. Although many people will tell people to shoot with two to get the coverage, he explained that you can get the different coverage and shot variety with one camera simply by using the time in between the questions being asked to either change the shot by zooming in/out. However, Sam also explained that listening to the questions is the way to decide when to change shot and what shot to go to. If it's a personal question and the answer could be deep and meaningful, zoom in and get closer to the interviewee, if it's a question about the story or something which could have cutaways in then go to a wide or stay on the shot.

Sam said that if the question is very personal, for example with Tanya and our documentary, when she's asked about her being bullied, Sam suggested that's a good time to ask to cut filming and change lens's, not only to get a different look (for example with a Prime lens) but also it gives the interviewee a few more minutes to think through their answers and could lead to a better answer. This is if I have a camera with interchangeable lens's however.

PRE-PRODUCTION - PITCH

Above is my groups pit for our project. Each of us split our roles into our own slides to explain our ideas for the project. My slides are:

- Style
- Interview filming
- Tone
- Kit Choice

Style

Through my research into documentaries I found that interview led are better for observational. Jemma wants the documentary interview led which helps me a lot when deciding the style of filming. From watching Raise by Queers and Jim & Andy The Great Beyond I really liked the idea of the handheld footage over stabilised footage for the documentary, I feel it gives more of a observational and also fits better with the documentary. Also from watching RuPaul's Drag Race and my own experience with filming a Drag Queen performance with Steal the Style I know that I'd want to film the performance with Tanya as if it was a music video but this will require more research as I'm still not 100% satisfied on this idea and really need to plan it out more.

Finally I added in that I want to do experemental sequences and the idea here is that since we're following Tanya on this journey and it's so new and different I want to do some different filming here to go with this different story, what I'll do yet though I'm unsure. 

Interview Filming

We have 3 different interviews, main one being our Drag Queen Tanya (Miss Zodie) who will have classic interview styles but a mixture of interviews, one in Drag and then going with the style from RuPaul's Drag Race of out of Drag, this being to reveal Tanya as a female Drag Queen. As well I want the actuality style footage interviews we see in Raised by Queers this is all to tell the story of Tanya. With our contributors from the Straight community, we're expecting them to have a negative opinion of Tanya or a different opinion so I think the straight angle, locked off interview I found in Jim & Andy and Dreams of a Life makes them stick out and would benefit the documentary in being different but working with the theme as well. 

RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE SEASON 10 REVIEW

Although a reality entertainment show, RuPaul's Drag Race is one of the biggest shows and so well known for Drag Queens. Having done it's tenth season of Drag Race and with RuPaul also creating Drag-Con, RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars as well as growing in fame and bringing Drag to mainstream media and recognised as a true talent and career. Drag Race currently has all 10 seasons on the streaming service Netflix and the queens who have been on the show (even if they didn't win Drag Race) have ended up touring around the USA and even across to the UK and around Europe.

I thought that Drag Race would be ideal to watch for interviews and performance with Drag Queens. As the programme follows 14 Drag Queens from the USA compete against each other each week (episodes are separated weekly) to win $100,000 and become the next Drag Queen superstar, this is done through a series of challenges which is judged by the Host and Creator RuPaul but also by 3/4 other judges. There are always 2 challenges with each show, a mini challenge at the beginning and then a big challenge at the end. With each week you have a winner of the week and then you have 2 of the weakest Queens who then have to do a lip sync battle to avoid elimination. The loser leaves the show and this continues till the final.

With RuPaul's Drag Race, I'm looking more into the interview styles and performance filming as the way actuality is filmed throughout this programme is similar to what I've already research with previous documentaries.

PRE-PRODUCTION - CHOICES OF CAMERA

With my role as DOP, the choice of kit is hugely important for the look and tone of the documentary. Many students in my position would simply go for the kit offered to them at their University but I want to look through all my options of cameras I've both used and am aware of.

Canon 60D EOS DSLR

My own personal camera, the Canon 60D is a handy little DSLR which shoots in full HD, 1080p by 1920p. It takes EF lens's and shoots both videos and photos, unfortunately it is a cropped frame DSLR so not as good quality as the Canon 5D/6D (Canon's full frame DSLRs). It's light weight and easy to operate and change between photo and video options. However, with it being a cropped frame this doesn't allow a lot of light into the sensor and it does lower the quality of the image slightly. Below are two versions of the footage, one being raw and the other being graded. 

RAW:

Above is my summer project from the beginning of the course. I filmed the entire project on my own 60D, I didn't grade the project as I didn't know how to do so 3 years ago. But you can see it has a nice colour to it as Canon is known for its colour quality.

Graded:

Above is a short film I helped film, all done with a Canon 60D but with graded footage. As it can be seen, the skin tones aren't as natural, more pink and red due to the low quality of the image. Although this a good camera, I don't believe it would be a good option for the documentary.


Canon 5D EOS Mark 4

The Canon 5D Mark 4 is the latest model of the 5D Range of DSLRs made by Canon. This is their most expensive and professional Full Frame DSLR. Allowing the user to shoot video timelapse, 4K Footage, high quality photos and can shoot 100fps is HD 1080x1920. This camera also offers exceptional auto focus through the touch screen lcd screen, simply click the area to stay in focus and the camera will track the movement and keep in focus. 

The quality of the cameras raw footage is very high quality. Footage below can show this;

RAW:

This footage is RAW and already it looks 100% better. The colour quality of the camera is also really warm and vibrant as well as being high quality. What's also good about the camera is that it films in 4K which allows the editor to punch into the footage and change the framing of an interview (for example) and not lose the quality of the image. I learnt this from working on a third yar project last year called forever HOME where we filmed on this camera. 

Graded:

The high quality footage with simple grading adds to the quality and really brings out amazing footage. Also being a small DSLR it's easy to operate handheld. The biggest issue with this camera is the audio isn't amazing on it and if you require a microphone it can't be via XLR cable as it doesn't have that option on the camera. So, audio needs to be recorded separately.

Sony A7S Mark ii 

This small but high quality camera is one I've enjoyed using for a very long time. Although a Sony E Mount you are able to get an adapter for Canon EF Mount Lens's which I've often done as I only have Canon lens's. This camera is also very good in low light situations and comes out with excellent footage. The Sony A7S ii also shoots 4K and high shutter speeds like the Canon 5D Mark 4 but the difference is that the Sony has the option of 'Uncompressed' footage where as the Canon does not. 

RAW:

Above is the RAW footage from the Sony camera. Although it can come out in Slog (allowing more work in grading) it can be turned off but often still has a rather grey and cold look. As already explained this can be fixed. As we can see from the graded footage below:

Graded:

As you can see, grading can change the milky V-Log footage you get and lets you bring out the colours and the detail more in the footage. However, it's not as warm as the Canon footage and still looks a little cold but does look incredible with the quality.

Panasonic DVX200

Newest cameras available through the Tech Store at TV Production, the camera allows high frame rate, 4K Recording with V-Log and also a built in stabilizer which is built into the camera. I've used this camera a good amount through my second year, it's a really easy camera to get to terms with and has all the settings on the body. You cannot change the lens however the zoom is excellent for long shots as well as the depth of field is really nice (not as good as a prime lens however). Below is a short film I shot on the camera:

This footage is slightly graded, it's got a really nice colour, the grade allows us to bring out the colour. It's nice to operate and easy to set up and the quality is excellent.

Canon C300

The Canon C Range are amazing cameras which Canon has released. The Canon C300 is a high quality film camera which films in 4K, C-Log, high frame rate and also has XLR input so that a shotgun microphone or connect a radio microphone. This camera has been used by many different companies and is the preferred camera for the highly popular film company Film Riot as well as many companies who shoot festival and event videography. Below is the raw footage from the camera:

The footage in the video is both with C-Log but you can still see some nice colours in it. Mixed with grading you can really bring out the colours more and this is something I really want with the footage, as the LGBT Community uses rainbows in their logos and parades. So nice bring colourful footage is what I want from the footage to mix in with the theme of the documentary. 

RAISED BY QUEERS REVIEW

Channel 4 produced a the Documentary Raised by Queers which follows Hollyoaks star Kieron Richardson as he looks into same-sex parenting and also talks about the birth of his own twins. Kieran is a gay dad and he and his partner had a surrogate who carried their twins which we learn about through the documentary as well as being introduced to his new born twins. What's different about this documentary compared to the others I've already reviewed is it's a lot more hands on and observational in the sense we're following someone, we have a presenter here and someone who not only wants to learn and talk to others about same-sex parenting but is waiting for his surrogate to give birth to his own children.

JIM CARREY THE GREAT BEYOND REVIEW

Back in 1999, Man on the Moon was released. The film stars Jim Carrey as the famous comedian Andy Kaufman. Through the during of the filming, Jim allowed a documentary crew to follow him as he took on the role but later on, Universal (as the Production company behind the film) decided that they didn't want the footage being released and show to the public because they believed it would make Jim "look like an asshole" which is explained by Jim Carrey in the film.

In 2017, Netflix released a Documentary called Jim & Andy The Great Beyond which uses that behind the scenes footage as well as a brand new interview with Jim Carrey, at his current age of 55 and talks about what he was going through and explaining the way he chose to take on the role the way he did. However, through the documentary we actually learn that Jim was taken over by Andy Kaufman (or so Jim says) and explains the craziness of having Andy communicating through him and coming back (as he had died from cancer) to do his movie. It's a very surreal documentary to watch and personally makes you question whether Jim Carrey is 'Method Acting' or if he really did have Andy take control. Through the behind the scenes footage we hear cast and crew explain that it really is Andy, we even see Jim (as Andy) meeting Andy Kaufmans family. It's a fantastic insight to this actors work on the film but also an excellent insight to just how well Jim was influenced by Andy Kaufman.
As I've done in my previous reviews of documentaries, I'll be focusing on the visuals of this particular documentary and although I'm actually taking very little influence from this, I feel it's one to right up on as it's done something I haven't seen many other documentaries do... Break the rules of documentary film making.

PRE-PRODUCTION - DOCUMENTARY STRUCTURE (PRODUCTION MEETING 1)

Above is our (rough) structure for our Documentary. In the Production meeting, Victoria and Jemma worked through the structure and how the story would work out. (This led to a lot of thinking and planning and at one point a drawing of Deadpool while we took a break. Credit to Victoria for the drawing).

Jemma and Victoria walked me though our contributors. We have a Female Drag Queen called Tanya who is the main focus of the documentary, we also have a Professor who can discuss how gender doesn't hold back people and also talks about the different sexualities and genders these days and we also have Oliver, a Drag Queen who we have been in contact with before. Jemma explained that we were going to have interviews with regular people, she considered two people from the straight community. When Jemma explained these 2 contributors I had a thought from my documentary research which was the locked off centre interviews. This was seen in my review for Dreams of a Life where all the interviewees are centre frame. These interviews stand out a lot and aren't often scene in documentaries. With this in mind, I thought this could work for these interviews with the people from the straight community as the idea is they may not agree with Tanya as a new Drag Queen or might have a different opinion and later we'd see then once they've watched her performance.

Also with this structure, Jemma wants to reveal Tanya as a Female Drag Queen later on in the documentary, how I'm going to do that I'm unsure but I've been recommended to watch the Documentaries Queer Britain and also the 10th Season of RuPaul's Drag Race for ideas and inspiration for how we could film these sections of the documentary. I know that I would probably have the Professor's interview as a classic interview style (one side of frame) but the location being her office or a more relevant location to her job/role.

DREAMS OF A LIFE REVIEW

Dreams of a Life is a documentary exploring the lie of Joyce Vincent.

Joyce Vincent was a 38 Year old woman. Back in 2006 she made the front page of the Sun Newspaper and many other newspapers and channels. When officials from the North London Housing association arrived at her bedsit flat in Wood Green to repossess due to rent not being paid. However, when they got into the bedsit a horrible discovery was made as the skeleton of Joyce was laying on the sofa, the television was still on in the corner on BBC1 and a pile of unopened Christmas presents laid on the floor. Joyce had been dead for nearly 3 years and no one had found her or even reported her missing. Her body was so badly decomposed that the only way to identify her was by comparing dental records to an old holiday photo of her smiling. 

Joyce had friends and family and still she wasn't discovered until 2006 and it was found she'd been sat there since 2003. Filmmaker Carol Morley saw the article to the right in the Sun newspaper. What amazed her was that there was hardly any information on Joyce, not even a photo of her! It was of the flat. Carol put out an ad in the newspaper asking for anyone who knew Joyce to get in contact. Through this documentary she explores her life. One of the upsetting things about her story and this documentary is that all the contributors are her friends. None are family.

ALFRED AND JAKOBINE REVIEW

One documentary that I've always enjoyed watching is the winner of the London Independent Documentary Festival 2015. Alfred & Jakobine is a Feature Length Documentary which tells the story of Alfred and Jakobine, two people who fell in love and decided to travel around the world in an old London Taxi. However, as well as telling this old story of these two characters past, we also see Alfred at his current age (84) as he attempts to repair the old London taxi and then drives across America to see Jakobine one last time as we learn that he left her over 40 years ago.

Contributors
This documentary is all interview led, with the only 'Cast' member being Olivia Marei who is the voice over for Jakboine in the translation of her diary from her days traveling with Alfred. Throughout the documentary the story is being told by Alfred, Jakobine and their son, Niels. Later on in the documentary Jakobine's new husband _______ joins the story to explain how Jakobine was after Alfred left her. These are the only 4 characters that come into the story. It stays relevant to the story.

Story
The story of this documentary follows both a present and a past. All focusing on the two characters, Alfred and Jakobine. It starts by Niels introducing the characters and we learn how they met and they talk about how the two fell in love and decided to buy a London taxi for $80 and travel all around the world in it. With archive footage and photos of the original trip in the documentary as well (See trailer below for examples):

Later on though, we see Alfred and Jakobine in the modern day and Alfred explains that he's fixing up the taxi to drive across America to see Jakobine one last time. Throughout the story we learn that Alfred then walked out on Jakobine one day which broke her heart which adds to the emotion of Alfred rebuilding this taxi.

PRE-PRODUCTION: PREVIOUS IDEAS

Over the summer, Jemma, Victoria and I came up with many ideas for the documentary. All were very original and took a new turn on the LGBT community. Our main aim was to find a story which was new and original.
Although my role is the Director of Photography and I knew this had nothing to do with deciding the content and the story. We agreed as a team we would choose the right one to go with, as we all had to look into how it would effect our roles. With me, I was looking for a story were I could tell it visually but also the most effective one which wouldn't have anything boring or slow. We wanted this documentary to be fun and exciting to watch. Below is a PowerPoint of all our previous ideas, which Jemma kindly put together.

Idea 1: Drag Kids: USA

Early into the summer, Victoria found a contributor called Desmond. He's an 11 year old Drag Queen based in New York City over in the USA. This instantly brought out an interest as we had never heard of it and doing a quick google, we found no documentaries about this topic. Drag Queens are hugely popular these days, not only as a form of entertainment and performances that we get in clubs such as Gliterbomb. But, also mainstream with RuPaul's Drag Race quickly becoming one of the most popular shows on TV. As well as this, Desmond takes part in 'Drag Queen Story time' which is where he reads to children but also teaches children about gender fluidity and allows children to learn about people who identify as different genders. Some people did argue that Desmond is cross dressing but he openly identifies as a Drag Queen. This is something really new and interesting and already I could see there being a story here to film and follow. 

In regards to filming this documentary. I found that as the DOP, I would need to organise a Carnet which allows us to take filming equipment over to the USA. Not only that, we would also be required to get working visas in order to go over to the USA and film this documentary. I released very quickly as well that I wouldn't be able to recce any locations out there so I would have to do a blind set up where I turn up on location and work out all the lighting and camera angles on the day. This didn't scare me, it's something every DOP has probably had to do previously. But the idea of not being able to look at ANY of the locations did put me off a little bit. Also, if we weren't able to get a Carnet I would have to look into renting kit in the USA which could mean the codex for the cameras could be completely different, frames per seconds, etc. All this as well as the cost for everything made us decide this wasn't the best idea to go with. 

THIRD YEAR - PRODUCTION IDEAS

Myself and my team have been planning to create a documentary before we went into the third year. Since July we have been coming up with different ideas and stories to follow with for a documentary (written up in separate blog post).

Currently, the idea is still in development between Victoria and Jemma as they're the ones who are writing and structuring the documentary. However, we do know that the Documentary will be focusing on the LGBT Community. Primarily on Drag Queens. This idea came after our Studio Production Steal the Style in our second year, where we chose to end our Fashion Chat show by bringing in a Drag Queen called Sapphire Stonee to show the audience how much work goes into their performance and look as well as focusing on this being a serious form of Fashion which magazines and high end TV shows don't focus on enough. We also knew that we needed something different which would stand out. There are already plenty of Documentaries and Reality TV Shows out there such as RuPaul's Drag Race, so this story needs to be something very original and never before seen (which can be difficult to find).

In regards to the visuals for this documentary. I want this to stand out documentaries have a standard structure and visual style regarding interviews and footage. I want to change this and go more experemental, how I'm going to do that I'm not sure as I haven't done my research yet.