Through this project I have done a lot of research, testing, planning and developing for this unit as well as watching documentaries to get inspiration.
My strengths throughout this documentary would be my research into being a DOP. Rather than googling "how to be a DOP" I went further and contacted actual DOP's who're in the industry and asked them what I needed to know, I got in contact with around 6 DOP's asking each different questions and then went online to find Masterclasses as well as YouTube videos from independent filmmakers who weren't DOP's but still shot documentaries and helped me to learn the importance of capturing as much B-Roll as you can so you can tell the story. Lee Thomas and Sam Creamer helped by explaining that the choice of camera needs to be one that you're confident and comfortable operating. If not, it'll show in the footage. As well as this I learnt that every DOP has a different opinion on lighting an interview. Rollo says it can only be done with a 3 point lighting set up, George says you can do it as three point or just with one light, it all depends on the location and the setting of the story and Jon says there's not one way to do it. So from this I chose to go off what best benefitted the documentary both visually and budget. Another strength was the amount of testing I did for the choice of camera, I wanted to be as detailed as possible with my choice and wanted to be sure that the camera was the best choice for the documentary and for me to operate. In my testing I tested the cameras in low light, natural and added light, I also looked into how the camera would be in different looks through the camera (c-log, etc) and handheld movement as well as making sure audio could be recorded through the camera. With my script breakdowns and shot lists, whenever a new script was given to me I wrote up a new breakdown and updated my shot list. I made it as detailed but as simple as possible as well as colour coding certain parts such as the time lapse and photo montage for the titles.
I feel my weaknesses for this unit would be my time management, I could have gotten my work done sooner and to more detail if I had managed my time better. As well, I feel my communication with Jemma and Victoria could have been better as there was a point where me and Jemma both had different ideas for the visuals of the documentary which we had to sort out by sitting together and talking through the visuals and what worked better for the documentary.
If I could improve something with this project, it would be to do more reviews on documentaries as I feel I could have done more to get more inspiration for this project, although I feel I did detailed work with what I'd already researched, you can always do more. I would also manage my time better with getting work completed and improve my communication with my team, although this can be done when we go forward into Production.
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