Critical Evaluation
During this project I worked across a range of different roles including; researcher, producer, director, sound recorder and editor.
Pre-production
Pre-production for this project started quickly, as I am also working as a researcher on the Documentary aspect of the Black History live exhibit I already had most of the contacts I needed and through them I gained more.
I emailed various people who worked at MACA (Carol and Yassmin) where I received my brief and was able to easily keep in contact with them making sure I was sticking to what they wanted., called Pam who ran the group where the subjects of our interviews met and emailed people who work at the Chatham Dockyards for help with things like safety of artifacts.
I found looking through things like newspaper archives were the most fruitful for things like when the S.S. Empire Windrush Docked in at Tilbury. I also found that contacts I already had (like my father) where they had personal experience in things like the Army were a lot more helpful then an initial google search. This gave me a much richer understanding of the topic and meant I could talk more confidently about it during interviews.
My role continued by going to the Sunlight Centre where I was able to meet a range of people who came to England for multiple different reasons at various times, we were able to (over a few weeks) build up the trust with people we were talking to and get some really good stories included in our recording.
One weakness I did have was the initial intimidation of interviewing elderly people as I've only had experience talking to people my own age in that manner. However I was quickly able to adapt to the situation and the initial discomfort which meant I could get on with my job of taking notes even if I wasn't comfortable in the situation.
One strength I had during my research was organization,I had printed and electronic copies of research I had done as well as spreadsheets where information we had been told was organized and easy to understand.
Another strength I had was time management, planning interviews, meetings, edit times and other pre-production necessities around work that is already on going was done through time tables (made for each shoot day) and tick lists.
This meant that I did all the work I needed to on time, as well as having plenty of time to do it.
Pre-production for this project started quickly, as I am also working as a researcher on the Documentary aspect of the Black History live exhibit I already had most of the contacts I needed and through them I gained more.
I emailed various people who worked at MACA (Carol and Yassmin) where I received my brief and was able to easily keep in contact with them making sure I was sticking to what they wanted., called Pam who ran the group where the subjects of our interviews met and emailed people who work at the Chatham Dockyards for help with things like safety of artifacts.
I found looking through things like newspaper archives were the most fruitful for things like when the S.S. Empire Windrush Docked in at Tilbury. I also found that contacts I already had (like my father) where they had personal experience in things like the Army were a lot more helpful then an initial google search. This gave me a much richer understanding of the topic and meant I could talk more confidently about it during interviews.
My role continued by going to the Sunlight Centre where I was able to meet a range of people who came to England for multiple different reasons at various times, we were able to (over a few weeks) build up the trust with people we were talking to and get some really good stories included in our recording.
One weakness I did have was the initial intimidation of interviewing elderly people as I've only had experience talking to people my own age in that manner. However I was quickly able to adapt to the situation and the initial discomfort which meant I could get on with my job of taking notes even if I wasn't comfortable in the situation.
One strength I had during my research was organization,I had printed and electronic copies of research I had done as well as spreadsheets where information we had been told was organized and easy to understand.
Another strength I had was time management, planning interviews, meetings, edit times and other pre-production necessities around work that is already on going was done through time tables (made for each shoot day) and tick lists.
This meant that I did all the work I needed to on time, as well as having plenty of time to do it.
Production
Production for the commission took two days over all. We sat each interviewee down and made it seem conversational so that they wouldn't be intimidated by the recording equipment.
Before we did any recording I asked a member of the course to talk me through how to use a zoom microphone, which I picked up easily.
1 strength I had during the production was that I was very organized, I packed extra batteries (as zooms and clip mics are known for going through batteries quickly), printed out charts that had the interviewees and their stories so Zak (the interviewer) was able to have a brief about them, I also had a shooting day schedule for both days and made sure to transfer footage onto two hard drives as back up. This meant that there was no chance of loosing any of the recording, we would always be on time and knew what we were talking about.
Another strength I had was I made sure I was as relatable as possible for the interviewees. Whilst talking to one gentleman about the Army I noticed he was rather closed off and unwilling to talk so I mentioned my family's relation to the Army, this opened up a further conversation with him and he was a lot more talkative.
One weakness I had was writing open questions for the interviews which meant that the answers I got weren't always self contained, either meaning they had to be cut or a bit of editing was required to make it understandable.
Production for the commission took two days over all. We sat each interviewee down and made it seem conversational so that they wouldn't be intimidated by the recording equipment.
Before we did any recording I asked a member of the course to talk me through how to use a zoom microphone, which I picked up easily.
1 strength I had during the production was that I was very organized, I packed extra batteries (as zooms and clip mics are known for going through batteries quickly), printed out charts that had the interviewees and their stories so Zak (the interviewer) was able to have a brief about them, I also had a shooting day schedule for both days and made sure to transfer footage onto two hard drives as back up. This meant that there was no chance of loosing any of the recording, we would always be on time and knew what we were talking about.
Another strength I had was I made sure I was as relatable as possible for the interviewees. Whilst talking to one gentleman about the Army I noticed he was rather closed off and unwilling to talk so I mentioned my family's relation to the Army, this opened up a further conversation with him and he was a lot more talkative.
One weakness I had was writing open questions for the interviews which meant that the answers I got weren't always self contained, either meaning they had to be cut or a bit of editing was required to make it understandable.
Post production
Post production only lasted a few weeks, I worked with Zak in the editing process.
It started when Zak wrote the transcripts out and I highlighted/rearranged the information we needed to include.
I then used premier to put the rough audio tracks into order after cutting them into smaller tracks.
I then sent it over to Zak who made it sound clearer and run smoothly when being listened to.
One strength I had during the editing was that, because I knew what MACA was looking for (through my constant communication with Carol), and having questions that got to the point I was able to go through the transcripts quickly and easily picking out relevant information.
Another strength I had was good communication with Zak, by consistently talking with him and collaborating with him about what should and shouldn't be included and what should go where.
One weakness I had was time management, I underestimated how long the edit would take and ended up being behind my ideal schedule. However I was able to then have more information in the final tracks, as well as being able to take my time over editing them instead of rushing them.
Something that I didn't do as well was to manage my time as well as we didn't meet the deadline with our fine cut, however we will continue with the edit to the best of our ability for the client.
Things I did well
Overall I think my organisation was really good, I had hard copies of all my research I did so it could be taken to interviews, I had time tables for shoot days that allowed things like traffic and I kept in contact with everyone I was working with so everyone knew what I was doing and when.
Another thing I think I did well was my research, I kept my research on track and relevant to the subjects that were getting spoken about which is something I often struggle with. I managed to get into archives for more in-depth research and I ended up with a good contextual knowledge of the country at the time people were arriving.
Things to improve on
One big thing I can improve on is my confidence. I need to be sure that I know what I am doing and I need to believe in my abilities more, this will make interviewing and meeting people easier and could mean that I learn information about them quicker.
Post production only lasted a few weeks, I worked with Zak in the editing process.
It started when Zak wrote the transcripts out and I highlighted/rearranged the information we needed to include.
I then used premier to put the rough audio tracks into order after cutting them into smaller tracks.
I then sent it over to Zak who made it sound clearer and run smoothly when being listened to.
One strength I had during the editing was that, because I knew what MACA was looking for (through my constant communication with Carol), and having questions that got to the point I was able to go through the transcripts quickly and easily picking out relevant information.
One weakness I had was time management, I underestimated how long the edit would take and ended up being behind my ideal schedule. However I was able to then have more information in the final tracks, as well as being able to take my time over editing them instead of rushing them.
Something that I didn't do as well was to manage my time as well as we didn't meet the deadline with our fine cut, however we will continue with the edit to the best of our ability for the client.
Things I did well
Overall I think my organisation was really good, I had hard copies of all my research I did so it could be taken to interviews, I had time tables for shoot days that allowed things like traffic and I kept in contact with everyone I was working with so everyone knew what I was doing and when.
Another thing I think I did well was my research, I kept my research on track and relevant to the subjects that were getting spoken about which is something I often struggle with. I managed to get into archives for more in-depth research and I ended up with a good contextual knowledge of the country at the time people were arriving.
Things to improve on
One big thing I can improve on is my confidence. I need to be sure that I know what I am doing and I need to believe in my abilities more, this will make interviewing and meeting people easier and could mean that I learn information about them quicker.
No comments:
Post a Comment