Production Diary
In this production diary, I will document all about my experiences and challenges I have while filming my documentary. I will talk and show in detail the work I have done and how I over come or worked around challenges.
Day One
On the first day of having the camera, tripod and microphone. I wanted to see how the shot will look and how I am going to have the equipment set up so I ran a test shoot with members of my family. I used my family sitting room in order to getting a homely feel to the scene.
As you can see I was able to enlist the help of my younger siblings as the interviewee was not there. This allowed me to see how the shot size, the lighting and where to have the camera in order to have the subject on the left of the frame. While setting up I decided to use the microphone to see how the audio was.
When i began to connect the audio i realized that I was given a camera without a microphone port so I was not able to connect the microphone to the camera. This was a problem as I had to other idea how I was going to be able record the audio.
I began to brainstorm and think of ideas of how I could record the interview. I first started off with using my own mobile phone and use voice memos and connect the music through the audio jack but unfortunately the microphone was not complicated as it is only suitable for headphones.
I began to try other peoples phones and laptops in order to see if the microphone is compatible but unfortunately the headphone and mic port were not working. I tried switching the batteries in case it was the microphone and not the laptop but it did not help. I was able to get in contact with Ben, My sisters friend, and he knows a lot about electronics and offered to help when he came around the next day.
So after confirmation that Ben was coming over tomorrow, I decided to focus on the visual side of recording. I began to try opening the curtains and turning on certain lights in order to get more brightness on the subjects but unforgettably it was unsuccessful. Also I felt as the scene setting was very boring and plain as there was nothing on the wall behind and next to on the couch so I believe the best option was to move the filming set somewhere else with better lighting and better background.
I was lucky enough to have the perfect place in mind, my dinning room. It has a large windowsill allowing natural light in and there is more space and more clutter so it looks more homey to the audience.
There was enough space to sit comfortably while having the tripod in the middle of the seats. It was the perfect background and lighting to film my interview in. I tested the sound with my voice recorder to see how it would sound and if it would be clear enough to use in my documentary.
Day Two
Day two was my audio day, I was able to get Ben over to see if he could figure out how to connect the microphone to my computer or phone to record. After much discussion and trying we were able to get the microphone working on a windows XP laptop with audacity. It was a difficult process and I had to decide that in order to get good quality audio I would need the raise the laptop up on jigsaw puzzles boxes and click the microphone on the camera.
I believed the audio problem had been fixed so I did not need to worry about it any longer.
Day Three
Day Three was interview day, I was able to get my interviewee in and began recording for my documentary. While setting up the camera and audio equipment, I ran into some trouble as the audio was no longer working on the XP windows computer. I had tried to reset the computer searched in settings but no seemed to work at the time so I reverted back trying different ways with my mobile phone and laptop but nothing seemed to work.
I was able to pop out to the shop to buy an audio adapter usb c but it had no effect on the microphone or equipment. The computer notied the device but it did not connect or work with it.
I tried for many hours but nothing seemed to work so I had to decided to record the audio on my phone using voice memos.
I placed my phone on the arm of the chair and began recording while I began to count dowm to hit record on the camera. Counting down gave the signal to my interviewee that I had began filming so he could talk all about his experience in the 70s.
Here is some video and audio of my interview:
Day Four
Day Four was my final interview day, I was able to schedule in a time in order to re record the interview. I decided to change the setting of the interview as from the first interview the was too bright and it looked to odd in my opinion.
As my interviewee was getting ready I began to set up my set up. I did a few test set ups with my sister in order to ensure that the microphone was working and the lighting was good. I kept recording and checking the audio on the laptop.
Interview Clips
Interview Photographs
It was a very easy process to re record all of the interview again as my interviewee already knew how to answer all the question while adding more information in I did not get last time. I made sure at the end to re watch all the footage to make sure that the audio and video was captured and a good quality.
Overall, recording my interviewee was a challenging experience for me due to sound quality and footage quality at some points but it has helped build up my skills and confidence with the camera. Before filming, I was very nervous as I had not had much experience with a camera or setting up an set but begin able to create this has really helped me with my camera skills, audio skills and set creating skills.
With both interviews, I tried to set the scene in order to make it seem more homely and that the interviewee lives there. I wanted the scenes to be sort of comforting and relaxing to the viewers to seem they are getting told a story from there grandparents.
Comments
Post a Comment