Pros and Cons

Positives
Overall this project has been very successful. Whilst editing we easily constructed our documentary without many problems.
Whilst filming, the weather was on our side and we luckily had an interviewee.
The location of where the boat was docked was perfect, not only because it was close to the hostel but it was a very picturesque area.
Eventhough it was a stressful time in securing permission, it was worth while and educational in the end.

Cons
After much debate we didnt secure an idea until much later on.
Whilst filming we found that the wind was a problem as it ruined some of our sound.
It took a long time to secure permission to film in the docks and on the gangways.
In editing a lot of the group bickered which caused delays.

"Coz' I dont have it, dont mean its not there."-
As the director, Joe decide to obtain all our paperwork needed for this project. He scanned all the documents and sent them to us to use on our blog. However, as they are scanned they come through our emails as a PDF document which blogger hates. With this I havent been able to upload all the documents needed, which I am very dissapointed with. Furthermore, I have made sure thaty everything we have constucted will be proffesionally and neatly placed in our document folder in order to show that we have actually got planning work.

Liverpool, Day 2

On the day of the filming we started to do some research into permission to film on the dock. The Headquarters of the Dock advised us to get in contact with the film institute of Liverpool as they were the ones who allowed film/documentary makers to film within the city. We successfully got in contact with the film institute and stressfully we walked to the film institute building (capitol). (Learning curb, always do the research a week in advance). Luckly, after 45mins of signing paperwork, the film institute allowed us to use our cameras within the city but they did not say if we were allowed to film within the docks, this was down to the Headquarters of the docks ( who never got in contact). We daringly decided to film in the docks and if asked to move on we would do straight away. Luck was on our side as the docks were quiet. Also, the life boat was neatly parked in the jetty and the weather was mild and sunny.

11:00, 7/3/2012-John (owner of the lifeboat) meet us at 11:00. Quite the gentleman he suprisingly said he would give us pictures and archive footage of the boat, he was also very keen to perform an interview as he knew lots about the boat and was greatful we wanted to do a documentary on it.
With his permission he allowed us to construct the interview on his boat! ( I was very happy at this point)..as a team we set up the scene. We then moved around the boat filming close ups, long shots, pans, tilts and still shots.
After three hours of this we decide to pack up and thank John for all his help.

Evaluation-
Overall I was very happy with how the day went. We worked proffesionally as a team with the construction of our set and we implemented our roles sucessfully. I was very pleased that John allowed us to film on his boat and he was very patient with our demands. In doing this project and set up it has positively opened my eyes. I have enjoyed visiting Liverpool and I enjoyed the topic we based our documentary on.

Liverpool, Day 1.

When we arrived in Liverpool we decided to meet up with the group then discard all our luggage in the rooms. We wanted to have a look around Liverpool then visit the Albert Docks and see if the boat was there.

Whilst looking around the dock we all shared our opinions on where we wanted the interview to take place and what we wanted to capture on the day of the filming. We also asked security at the docks if we would be able to have permission to film on the docks. The Security advised us to contact the Headquarters of the Docks before we start to film.

Driving Down.

Joe offered to drive us down to Liverpool so all the group clambered into his car. On the drive down we decided to come up with some questions to ask John (The boat owner). We decide to choose ten questions, some questions were about the structure of the boat, some were about John himself and some about the history of the boat.

Having not constructed a shot list (as we didn't know if we would be allowed permission to film on the dock nor did we have full knowledge of the layout of the docks), we started to think of some possible shots we could interpret, using influences from other documentaries.

Luck!

Thankfully we received an email from the owner of the William Cantrell Ashley. He was happy enough to participate in an interview and he even offered to give us pictures and archive footage of the boat.

He didn't say if we were able to film on the boat, but receiving an email is better than nothing!

Location Location...Location?

As a group we decided to pick the Historical Boat Idea. We decided to do some in-depth research into Albert docks and looked at contact details incase we have to have permission to film.

Here is some shots of the dock.

I believe this idea would be beneficial as the docks would provide use with enough location shots. Its also a perfect place for an interview. Hopefully the boat will be docked so we will be able to film it (permission provided).

Thankfully the dock is a ten minute walk from the hostel so we will be able to visit it easily with all the equipment we have to lug!.

Equipment List

I was assigned to complete the equipment list, I decided to turn it into a marksheet as well so as a group we knew who was assigned to collecting the equipment for the trip.

Pitching

We developed a pitch on the two ideas that we had, some of our group was intent on creating the re-development of the Albert Docks, whilst some of us wanted to develop on the lifeboat. We thought the pitch would help so our audience and tutor could give us outside opinions on the direction of our documentary.

When we pitched the ideas, I wanted to develop on the LifeBoat idea, our tutor agreed that this idea was more doable and we would be more able to gather valid information.

The pitching session was a great opportunity to develop, not just our ideas but the way we should approach the project. We now have an idea that we can start on.

After the pitching session we decided to delegate jobs; Mark was set to email the docks and secure permission to film, he also developed on a treatment. Joe worked on some of the paper work, such as call sheets, crew lists and contributor consent forms. I decided to develop on the equipment list and drew out some plans for the camera angles we wanted to capture. Fraser and George developed some sound to be overlaid on the project.

Good o'le Roles

After we expressed our ideas to each other we all decided on roles for the documentary.

We did not want to do the same role as we did for the last project. We wrote out the roles and chose what we wanted to do.

In the last project I was the Director/Producer so I wanted to experiment with the camera.

Joe chose to be the Director as he wanted to be involved in this role as it is something he wants to do for the future.

Fraser decided to do post production as his last role involved the camera.

Mark decided to be the Producer as he had a lot of contacts in Liverpool (as he lives close to the city).

The only role that was left was sound, George agreed to do sound but was dismayed as it wasn't something he wanted to do for the future. However, we all had an agreement that we would delve into each role when needed as we did not want to leave a member to a role they struggled with.

Initial Ideas

We decided to meet up and share what we found in newspapers as inspiration for our documentary.

We all had two ideas each but decided to to chose two out of the ten, we could develop an idea on. The first idea was a historic documentary of a Lifeboat which is placed in the Albert Docks in Liverpool.

The William Cantrell Ashley, a twin-engined Liverpool-class lifeboat, originated towards the end of the 19th century and became the backbone of the Royal National Life boat Institution from the 1930s until the 1980s. In the summer, a £400,000 fundraising appeal was launched to preserve and restore the boathouse to its former glory and develop facilities for visitors. As a group we were interested in this idea as filming in the Albert docks was our main goal. With this story we want to ask permission to interview a member from either the local museums or someone who works on the docks who will know more history on the boat. We would also want to ask the public on what they think about the boat, and whether they think the boat is a major attraction.

Our second idea is to still base the documentary in the Albert Docks. However, we would do the history of the docks and even look at what the future holds for the docks. After some initial research we learnt that the Liverpool council plan to re-develope the docks into a larger tourist attraction. This would have positive effects on the docks by allowing tourism, but the negative effects mean some of the local businesses would be lost due to the plans. We wanted to interview some of the local businesses and even the the public on their views of this plan, however we would end the film so the audience can make up their mind on what they think should happen.

Return of the Documentary Analysis!

Another documentary that I enjoyed watching was Pockets by James Lee.

James Lee asks Londoners to share what they have in their pockets and what it means to them. Every object tells a story, revealing something about its owner. The objects provide a quick and charming social insight. James Lee films the participants up close to develop a personal feeling, to me it also shows the secrecy between director and the participant. I really enjoyed this documentary as it is short and simple but has a great effect. The music is jolly and spontaneous, which goes with some of the comedic participants filmed. I would describe this documentary as an Observational documentary as James Lee doesn't get involved, he lets all the participants do the speaking. I really enjoyed watching this documentary and it has provided me with ideas for our project.