Discloser Forms

These are part of the production folder, permission for us to film in places and with certain people

Liverpool Trip

On arrival at Liverpool we decided to use the Friday scouting our locations and continuing to find possible contacts. We found a man called Simon Wong who owns a Chinese supermarket called Hondo. Mr Wong said we could interview him the next day. We continued to look around location, we found another supermarket, the manager was not willing to be filmed, but gave us permission to film in her supermarket, so with our interview exterior shots of the street we were happen we had the permission to make a good film.

On the Saturday we got up early and went to the supermarket for our interview with Simon Wong, then for the rest of saturday and sunday we filmed the streets exterior and then the other supermarket. We also thought it would be a good idea to get some shots of the dock and surrounding area as Mr Wong talked about the war around them areas.

Call Sheets

Monday 18th

Tuesday 19th

Wednesday 20th

Liverpool Equipment List

Liverpool Documentary

Sheffield Hallam

Producer: Reece Saunderson

Director : Alice Wybrant

Pick Up: Monday 18^th February

Return: Thursday 21^st February

QTY	DESCRIPTION	NOTES
1	Canon 60D	Privately Owned (Alice Wybrant)
1	Canon 550D	Privately Owned (Chris Aitkenhead)
1	Marantz + Headphones + Batteries
1	Extension
1	Audio Technica Rifle Microphone
1	Boom pole
1	Tri-pod
1	Spare Battery

Weather

Monday





Tuesday





Wednesday




I am very happy with this outlook for the trip to Liverpool, hopefully it will provide great lighting for our outside shots. I think we should be shooting outside on the Tuesday to get the best lighting. With the 10% chance of raining on Wednesday will be bringing umbrellas and asking everyone to take the necessary chances.  

Interview Rough Plan

Plans and ideas for the interview before meeting with Alice.
We will have to consider lighting, colour and depth of field on the day.
If the background is not interest or relevant we will have to crop in closer to the subject.
Also in addition to the standard interview, I think we could get extra shots of particular details of the subject, as you see above, eyes, or hands. Whether used in the final cut or not, they could be useful.

Location Map

This is a map of the area in which we plan to do the majority of the filming. Nelson Road (Red pen) is the main street in China Town, the street with the most Chinese type aesthetic buildings and such. This will be great for our film, in addition to this in the blue is a Chinese supermarket with the owner Simon Wong, who we are interviewing. The yellow signifies another supermarket in which we have permission to film in. As you can see, all these places are close and easily accessed.

Liverpool Location

Yesterday I visited Liverpool to scout the location we are considering to choice for our documentary film and possibly to shoot a small amount of footage if there was an opportunity. The location was the China Town in Liverpool (Nelson St), ironically it was Chinese New Year. So myself, Alice and Shelton drove in the morning and arrive around half twelve. We were greeting by a church were we could hear loud drum beats, we went inside were we found a circle of barrels being hit by people, with the lead being a Chinese man in a chair, around this were people dressed as Dragons. We followed the Dragons around the town, with Shelton being the cameraman, he bought a camera just incase there were any key attractions we could shoot, unfortunately it was very busy and he wasn't actually able to put a tripod up so he had to make do with hand held work.

We went to the end of the street were theres a big gate obviously crafted in a traditional Chinese style, along with that the buildings were also in the style of traditional Chinese art. With this there were dragons careful sculpted out of stone around the street.

From this visit I am very positive that the China Town is a good location for our documentary piece, As the Producer I will now ring around seeing if we are able to have any interviews with residents, or elders surrounding the town. We aim to learn about the history of the town, and how it has developed through the generations. There are images below of the town...

The US Office

When I think Documentary, the thought of the US comedy show The Office comes into my head. All though not typically classed as a documentary, the shows use of interview techniques and handheld camera work screams documentary.

The show focuses on a paper sales company in Philadelphia called Dunder Mifflin. The fictional comedy show was inspired by the UK version. One reason I do in fact class the show as a documentary is the style it is filmed. The filming of The Office is set up to the audience with there being someone filming and documenting the day to day workings of a conventional Philadelphia office. The boss, Michael Scott is the main protagonist in the show, along with other key characters, Dwight, Jim and Pam.

One key feature in the show are the interviews with the employees, the framing is very stereotypical of a documentary , with the character just left of the centre, with the background of the working offices, reminding the audience that it is in fact about the working company. The camera work is mainly handheld when not in interviews, this re-enforcers the idea that it is a documentary. The camera work at times is quick, moving from one character to another in conversations. In addition in scenes were walking/running is a focus, the cinematographer makes no effort to steady the camera, this gives the audience a sense of space or reality. Almost thrusting them in there world, creating a sense of 'real life', which is interesting in the sense that this television programme is fiction, posing as an office that genuinely exist.

The Office does make me think about documentaries as a whole, along with academic writing that i've already read. I always thought that documentaries portray real life’s, commenting on realist events or situations, this opinion has now changed, the view that the director takes on a situation isn’t always the one of truth. I've come to realise that Documentary film could be as fiction as Sci-Fi film, this genre works on opinion, including facts isn’t always mandatory.

'Up There' by Malcolm Murray

Up There is a documentry about the art around New York City, particually advertisement that are still painted onto building instead of stuck on with paper, they discribe how dangerous it is. I chose this film mainly because of its cinematography. Opening with a panning shot of the city, the film clearly has a scene, the film constantly cuts from shots of painting, the city and interviews. I love the depth of field used. For example on the interview shown in the top picture, you see every single detail in his face, with the background barely visible. The main focus is him, the director has made a clear decision for the depth of field to be so shallow, also to have the man framed quite tight in the shot, you can see all the expression and emotion in the mans face, really feeling connected to what he does/did and how he felt about it.

One particular angle I like is the one to the left. The camera is positioned above the subjects with the focus being on the paintbrush. This clearly gives the viewer an idea of the concentration and reinforces the idea that it is in fact a type of art. One other thing is that it gives a sense of depth, hence the 'depth of field'. So it is clear that the workers work at a height, the use of depth of field also reinforces this. 

The style of this short documentary is very stylistic, with the use of interesting and dramatic camera angles and shallow depth of field. The great panning shots of the city really do give the depth of life there and especially in the third shot, it gives you a sense of space. The interviews in this short are in my opinion great, they give a sense of realism, with the 'nitty gritty' detail. This film has really inspired me in terms of artistic direction. 

'Wait For Me' by Ross Kauffman

I decided to search through Vimeo, to find other film makers documentaries, maybe shorts or students. I came across a film called 'Wait For Me'. Its a simple film, narrated by a mother. It follows the story of the mothers emotional search for her son who traveled across Europe in the hope to find a 'spiritual connection' to help him carry on living, the son is said to have travelled through India, then disappeared in the Himalayas.

I found this film particularly emotional and almost difficult to watch, not because of its visuals, but mostly because of the sound, and how genuine this woman sounded when describing her son, so I thought it was important to write about. The film uses some 'talking head' but it is mostly voice over, while visually they showed closeups of a letter the son wrote, and footage of the male when he was younger.

This shot is particularly intimate, you feel physically closer to the person, due to how close the camera is. I don't think this is a conventional interview. The camera is zoomed in much closer to the subject, making it more personal, conveying the emotional much more. Almost making you feel or attempting to get the audience to connect with her feelings a lot more than framing an conventional interview would do.

This is a shot I took of when she was reading, I feel it signifies something much more than just reading. Particularly the material that has been chosen for this shot. The hand writing makes it a lot more personal also. Generally the director is really making an effort to get the audience to understand this woman's pain and unconditional love for her missing son.

With all these other shots of the males mother, half the film is made up of footage of the male when he was little and some when he was older. Again this creates a connection, making the video more personal. The audience are able to understand what this woman has lost.  But at the same time you can understand their love, and almost telling you that this make was a nice man.

This is the ending shot, I've noticed it is very conventional for there to be a almost 'summary' at the end of the film, reminding the audience or in some cases keeping them up to date with what has happened since filming has taken place. Along with all these shots and the voice over of the woman, there is music in the background, mainly piano, which is quite sad, this is important to set the tone of the film.

Liverpool Documentary

After looking at the brief, I am very excited to start this project. I have started to research types/techniques of documentary films. When I think 'Documentary', my initial thoughts are of Louis Therioux's series of documentaries surrounding interesting groups and individuals of the world, also the US hit comedy The Office. Thinking and researching into this, documentaries take many different forms  . Is a documentary truly a true depiction of reality? I think, after research that with the act of editing in place, documentaries can never be true or factual, the editor or director picks and choices what an audience is shows, portraying a point of view of opinion. This type of film are not that different to fiction films, that simply comment on the real world, or take ideas and expand on aspects of life. Documentaries are very dependant of the audience believing or gaining the audience's trust, this is key to creating a good documentary, involving the audience to gain their trust.
There are different types of Documentary -

• Compilation - Pioneered in 1927, this type of documentary are comprised of entirely authentic archival footage.
• Direct Cinema - This type of cinema is were the director or any of the crew do not interfere with any of the footage or stage. Nothing is staged, it's as it worded, a direct way to film. 
• Nature - Concentrating on the natural world, this type of documentry focuses on the nature of the world, very informative.
• Portait 

http://news.doddleme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/documentary.jpg