Year 10 Unit 1: Lesson 14 November 11 2011.

Today was the final editing and screening date for our documentaries. I felt that our group honestly needed more time to edit, we still needed to include subtitles, credits, transitions and our archival footage. Robert and I came in during break and edited from there on. Whilst Robert and I edited, Kazia worked on another computer to create the credits and titles. Because we weren't all together, we didn't all get each other's views on what to edit out. Our whole documentary became 10 minutes long because of this.


All the individual groups in this film class all decided on various issues they felt strongly about. It was very interesting to watch a wide variety of them and I was very excited to see all of them.


Max, Alfred and Andrew D: Social Media 
I really thought that this group captured the sound design very well. They attempted to set the scene just by using sound (the chat noises and effects of Facebook) and no visuals. This really provided a good sense of what they're documentary was about. However, they could've filmed the "aftermath" of the bloggers (that didn't go on Facebook for 5 days) and would they do the strike again.


Chun Ngai, Andrew N and Abraham: Hong Kong's Waste
During the beginning, the voiceover was playing over a time lapse of Hong Kong's roads. I felt that this was really cool how they managed to capture Hong Kong being a very busy city in such a simple and not in a distracting way. The shots that were filmed such as the (lady spitting into the trash bin) were very captivating as they also matched the voiceover's content. However, they could've included more interviews because they only managed to get it from 3 people's point of views. A little of it lacked content and I felt they could've further gone into location such as Hong Kong's wasteland, even though I knew they weren't allowed to.


Isabelle, Ariana and Allegra: The Inconvenient Equality
I felt that this was one of the strongest documentaries of the group. This was not because of the filming but because they had a very strong and clear argument. They knew what they wanted and this was conveyed through the film itself. They included various color contrasts such as making the interviews black and white and the domestic helper's footage colored. This helped enhance the equality that these people shared which really helped convince the audience through a clear argument.


Erik, Harry and Justin: Searching For Somalia
I felt that the included archival footage in the beginning really helped properly introduce the theme and subject to the audience. However, I felt that their documentary lacked content and that they could've interviewed more people. Also, they could've interviewed the actual Somalian refugees that came to our school. They chose to include themselves into the scene but they didn't look entirely interested in it, which I thought they should've just focused on the interviewee instead. 


Jessica, Jade and Sophia: Age
I really enjoyed watching this group's documentary. They presented a clear outline of their subject and theme by including many interviews of people from various age groups. Their archival footage was actually home videos which I thought was absolutely cool but they could've included who the people in the scenes were. The whole outline of the film definitely followed the idea of "age" itself, by showing young people at first, then venturing off towards older people. Their music was great and suited the emotion of the film. Overall I felt this group did a really fantastic job and their subject was conveyed clearly. 


Isabella, Kazia and Robert: Chung Yeung Festival
The feedback from Ms Rosati had us very satisfied. We were worried that she might've not enjoyed our film because of how long it was. It was very obvious we needed a lot of editing to finish, and there were way too many unnecessary clips. She did enjoy the color contrast between the archival footage and the actual footage. There were grainy clips contrasted against high defined clips which brought out the "time" of the festival. At first I thought our conclusion wasn't strong enough but towards the end I saw through the reactions of the audience, that we really did capture the subject and conveyed our point strongly. 


Overall, I felt that this unit was a great experience. I have learnt so many valuable lessons on film and hope to use them in the future. Working with my group was very pleasant and I felt we had good teamwork and strong communication, I hope to work together with them in the future again. This unit really helped me enhance more knowledge and understanding on documentaries and sound design. I can't wait for our next unit!

Year 10 Unit 1: Lesson 13 November 9 2011.

Today we had a very hectic session because we had to finish editing this by Friday. Kazia and I first started cutting and editing the clips until I got called for my turn to present. Personally, I thought I did pretty good on my presentation but I could work a bit more on my knowledge on "camera angles and techniques". While I was presenting, Robert and Kazia worked more on editing the footage. After I finished, I went into the music room to capture the news report video on Jing and it worked successfully. Robert also stayed after school to work on it. 


Overall, I think we are a little behind and I'm not sure if we are able to finish in time. Tomorrow all of us are coming over at break and lunch to edit and I'm hoping we can finish on time. 

Year 10 Unit 1: Lesson 12 November 3 2011.

Today we continued our editing while Ms Rosati conducted some of the private presentations. Basically, for the whole lesson, Kazia and I edited a decent beginning with good background "wild sound". We didn't delete any clips, in case we wanted to use the sound for "wild sound". Unless our voices were heard in the clip, we would delete it. Robert was looking on how to convert movie files into the right format compatible for Final Cut Pro. All in all, we kept switching editing roles so all of us had a thorough involvement in the process itself.

Year 10 Unit 1: Lesson 11 November 1 2011

Today we were granted an extension for our Criterion A presentation. Because of this, Ms Rosati taught us more on what a documentary is and what is Film Sound and the different types of it. Most of these were re-caps of last year's work especially with diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The one I really found interesting and captured my attention the most was the foley sound. This is the act of recreating sound effects but not using the actual thing. I remember when I was 11 and watching the Academy Awards, the group/movie that won the best sound was from their foley sound. I can't quite recall what movie it was but I also remember that there was one scene where they had people tracking through the forests and the sound was actually from foley artists stepping on salad and lettuce leaves. I realized that these tasks aren't as easy as they look because they have to acquire the right sound to put forward the right emotion. 


Then we learnt about the different types of documentaries such as poetic, expository, participatory, performative etc. I've learnt that not all documentaries fall into one exact theme, but can include many elements of it. 


Overall, I thought this lesson really helped me understand more about sound design and it made me think how we could incorporate it into our documentary. 

Year 10 Unit 1: Lesson 10 October 26 2011.

Today we continued on with what we weren't able to finish last lesson. Ms Rosati unfortunately couldn't attend class. My group started reviewing the rest of the footage that we weren't able to finish lass class, and decided what we wanted to convey in our documentary. After, we spent the rest of the lesson putting the footage in order on the timeline. When we filmed, the clips were all over the place and some in no relation to each other. While Robert was searching for more archival footage, Kazia and I started grouping the clips together. We separated the temple clips, the flower market clips, the butcher/meat market clips and the cemetery clips. Next lesson, we'll have to further separate the cemetery clips because most of them had different things occurring and needed to be sorted out. 

Year 10 Unit 1: Lesson 9 October 24 2011.

Today's lesson we were given the time to capture/import our footage. At the start of the lesson, Ms Rosati sat us all down and had each group discuss how their filming progress went. Most of the groups encountered a problem where one person didn't want to be interviewed. I learnt that it was good to actually film the person declining the request to be interviewed because it shows how people are scared or uninterested (in the group's case about domestic helpers).


The rest of the lesson was given to us to import and capture our footage into Final Cut Pro. One skill that I learnt which I hope to use in the future was converting clips (if filmed by a DSLR) into the right format that could be compatible to Final Cut Pro. I learnt how to import all the clips and convert them using MPEG Streamclip. Whilst Mr Chiang was explaining what to do, I thought it looked pretty complex but once I got to do it (also with a little help from my peers), it was easier than said. I learnt that it is always good to double check small details that you may miss out. We managed to get all our footage converted in time. Additionally, Kazia and Robert were looking for news archival footage while I was capturing. They managed to find a local news report with a lot of information about our festival, which was going to be very useful.


Ms Rosati came to talk to each group individually. When she came to ours, she had us explain our filming process. We told her about how our question backfired because a lot of people actually did come to the cemetery. She told us that we should review all our footage because now we do not know what exactly to convey and how the researchers in our group could find the right footage enough to project what we wanted it to. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to review all footage in order to decide what we were going to end up doing.


Overall, I enjoyed this lesson as I was particularly excited to edit. Our time spent was very productive and everyone in our group did what they were supposed to do. I hope all our footage is enough for the required amount of minutes. Now what we have to do next is review all the clips, and figure out what our message is and how we're going to convey it. Also, in addition to the research, we could find some suitable soundtracks to our clips.

Year 10 Unit 1: October 5; FILMING.

Today was our scheduled day for filming our documentary. Everything we did today was according to our pre-production planning last lesson. Yesterday we also did a final online conversation to make sure everything was prepared in relation to filming. We made sure that the questions were translated from English to Chinese for a smoother interview. We confirmed our meeting place, the locations we would film, and how much time we would spend there (including lunch). Therefore, we would immediately know what to do tomorrow without wasting anytime to stop and think. One main problem we had was that we weren’t able to borrow a microphone because of some issue. We were very worried since the whole topic was about Sound Design. However, my camera seemed to pick up a lot of clear quality sounds when I tested it the night before. Although we weren’t able to borrow a microphone, this didn’t stop us from filming the next day.

We met at the Shau-Kei Wan MTR station at 9:30 as planned. Once everyone was there, we headed to the first location on our plan, which was the market. Fortunately Kazia was able to bring her father to help us get more interviews. Also, Robert knew the whole district pretty well because he lived there. When we got to the market, we filmed some footage of people buying flowers and chicken/meat. However, a problem we faced was we realized a lot of the stall owners were very busy serving their customers; therefore they wouldn’t want us to interview them. We tried to wait until a stall had no incoming customers, and then we would approach and inquire. Through this method, we were able to film one interview from a friendly florist.

Around 10:15, we realized that there was nothing important to film anymore at the market because everyone was so busy. Therefore we decided to go to 2 nearby temples before the cemetery. Filming there was little bit difficult because we couldn't bring our cameras inside, and it was also disrespectful. However, we could secretly stand outside and film people inside. The problem we faced was that we couldn't use the tripod, as it captured a lot of attention, therefore we had to use free hand movement. I had to hang the camera around my neck and try to walk as smoothly as possible. Hopefully these clips will add an effect of "reality" to our documentary. 


We then headed to the Chai Wan's Cape Collision Cemetery on the mountain nearby. There, we unusually encountered a lot of people actually coming to pay their respects. We then realized that this sort of backfired our entire issue, but there were some solutions to showing the positive and negative sides. In the cemetery, I was able to film a whole lot of footage. I filmed footage of people climbing up the mountain road, people bowing down in front of the tombstones, people cleaning the tombstones and people burning offerings. Fortunately at times there were many graves where people came early and left the food, incense and offerings. This gave me the opportunity of secretly filming close-ups and get a better view of the whole situation. For the interviews, we thought it was disrespectful to approach someone while they were paying their respects to a loved one. Then, Robert encountered someone he knew at the cemetery, therefore earning us another interview. Also, someone else saw us filming and even offered to pose for us (such as pouring the Chinese wine, and showing us the fake money). Fortunately, she spoke reasonable English, and was able to answer the questions when we asked her. One obvious mistake was that she was standing against the light so there was a little snippet of just her silhouette. This helped us learn on how much light is important and how we should always check before filming.

We were at the cemetery from 11:45 to 1:15 on time. After taking a rest and reviewing all the footage we had, we decided that we didn’t need to go to the Peak. We felt that we had enough footage to support our issue because when we started, we noticed some traditions in Hong Kong are not changing.

Our documentary needed to show two sides to the issue, a positive side and a negative. Our positive side was showing that some traditions in Hong Kong still haven’t changed, and people are still coming to pay their respects in some order. They still follow some of the ancient traditions and cultures of the festival, such as the incense and the food offerings. Our negative side showed how people didn’t follow one tradition of the festival, which was hiking up the mountain. Instead, people preferred to wait in line for the bus to come and drive them back down. Hopefully, through our archival footage, we can compare the difference between people actually walking up a mountain, to people taking a bus.

When I re-watched the footage at home, I was very relieved to find out that the camera in fact did pick up a lot of the sound recorded. There was sometimes even too much of the sound, as there was a lot of our whispering in the background. Hopefully we can reduce the decibels or cover the clips with suitable soundtracks. 

Overall, I felt today was very productive and I’ve learnt how important pre-production is. I was really happy with our time management skills; we weren’t distracted and were very focused. Although this practically took up the whole day, I was assured that I wouldn’t have to film during the mid-term break. Even if we faced various problems, this helped us strengthen and improve our knowledge on better filming. I really hope that when we edit the footage, our documentary will convey the right message through all the camera angles, sounds, tones and editing techniques. Right now my next step is to find the right archival footage and soundtracks. 

This is the clipboard that held all our planning. From the locations, times and translated questions! Please click on the photo for a closer image. 

This is us at the end of all our shooting. It was a very productive day and I really loved working with my group!

Year 10 Unit 1: October 4 2011.

Today is the day before we start filming tomorrow. After school, Kazia, Robert and I went on an online discussion about our final Pre-Production planning.

PRE-PRODUCTION

HOW TRADITIONS IN HONG KONG HAVE CHANGED

Chung Yeung Festival (October 5)

By Kazia, Isabella and Robert

Place	Time	Main focus	Remarks
Shau Kei Wan	9:30
Shau Kei Wan Market	10:00 - 11:00
Chai Wan Cemetery  (歌連臣)	11:45 - 1:15
Peak Tram Stop	1:45 - 2:15
Wan Chai Temple	/
Backup: Causeway Bay	/

MAIN FOCUS (Not enough space on the table):

Shau Kei Wan:

- Meet

Shau Kei Wan Market:

- Film people buying chicken

- Interview meat stall owner on difference of sales on chicken

- Ask Interview questions

Chai Wan Cemetery:
- Film process of how festival is being celebrated

- Interview questions

- Shots of place, people

Peak Tram Stop:

- Film the long queues

- Film the people having fun

- Interview questions

Wan Chai Temple:

- More process shots

Causeway Bay:

- Interview questions: those who DON'T celebrate it and why.

~~~~~~~~

QUESTIONS:

For those who celebrate the festival:

1. What do you usually do on this festival day?
2. Do you do this every year? If not, how often do you do this?
3. How long have you been doing this for?
4. How did you use to celebrate this festival? Do you celebrate it any differently now?

For those who don't celebrate the festival:
1. Do you know what the festival is about?
2. Do you know how this is celebrated?
3. Did you use to celebrate this festival? If so, why don't you celebrate it anymore?
4. What do you usually do on this festival if you don't celebrate it?

Quiz them on the knowledge of festivals-how each festival is celebrated.

Market stall owners
1. Are you selling more food today than you usually do?
2. Which produce has been sold the most today?
3. Why do you think it’s been sold the most?

Peak Tram
1. Why are you going to the Peak today?
2. What do you plan on doing there in regard to the Chung Yeung Festival?

Chai Wan Cemetery
Ask questions “For people who celebrate the festival”

Since we will mainly be asking locals, they may not understand English. Therefore Kazia and Robert have opted to translate the questions in Chinese (I cannot speak Cantonese), and Robert will be the interviewer.

~~~~~~~~

EQUIPMENT:

Camera; Isabella's DSLR Canon EOS 550D

Tripod; Isabella

Mic; /

Unfortunately, we were unable to borrow a mic because no one had the available time to go and borrow one.

~~~~~~~~

TOMORROW WE MUST:

- Meet INSIDE THE SHAU KEI WAN MTR STATION by HANG SENG BANK

- Bring money for MTR and Lunch

- Charge all phones

- Charge all equipment needed

- Print questions out

- WEAR SCHOOL UNIFORM AND BRING STUDENT ID (So interviewees can believe this is for a school project, as we are working on a public holiday).

We also exchanged phone numbers.

~~~~~~~~

Overall, I am very excited to film tomorrow and I hope we capture as much footage as possible that help convey our message. 

Year 10 Unit 1: Lesson 8 October 3 2011.

Today's class was very busy because last week we missed a lesson because of the Typhoon. As part of the Pre-Production stage, all the groups would plan out where and when they would film, in order to borrow rigs (equipment). We were the busiest group because we would be the ones that would start filming first, which was this Wednesday (the public holiday). The reason being was that we needed to show how traditions in Hong Kong are changing (our issue), therefore the festival on Wednesday gave us a lot of opportunities to do so. 

Throughout the entire lesson, we were given another camera/mic lesson and also shooting mock interviews and angles. We all took turns paying a different role of either, operating the camera, operating the mic or being the interviewee. Understanding the camera functions such as the aperture and shutter speed wasn't so difficult for me because I have a DSLR. But it was the operating part that was hard because some of the functions didn't state what they were, or I didn't know what button to press. I learnt how to properly frame the interviewee with the right lighting and angles. Operating the mic wasn't difficult either, however we made a slight mistake. At first we couldn't hear anything through the mic, it turns out that we didn't put the battery in. One crucial point I learnt from last year's film course was to always use headphones when operating the mic. One time we didn't do that and our whole footage was mute, causing us to re-film the entire sequence. We also learnt how to achieve the best sound possible. We would put the mic as close to the interviewee and if it was in the camera frame the cameraman would say "In". The mic operator would move the mic a little further until it was fully off screen when the cameraman would say "Out". 

Overall this lesson really helped me grasp the knowledge on how to operate a camera and mic. I've realized that you can't just go out there and press the record button. You have to fix the lighting and sound until you can acquire the best quality possible. I hope that these attributes will help us on our actual film day. 

Year 10 Unit 1: Lesson 7 September 23 2011.

Today Ms Rosati further explained what the guidelines were for our Criterion A investigation and presentation. She offered us a selection of documentaries that we would have to analyze and present in front of the whole class. After that, the whole class got together and discussed what each groups documentary idea was. I was fascinated by how widespread everyone's choice was. There were choices varying from Social Networking, to Hong Kong's Food Waste and the Domestic Helper Permanent Stay issue. I am very excited to see everyone's final result.


We then moved onto how all visual media is produced in three stages; pre production, production and post production. Right now, we have just begun the pre-production stage. Pre-production is any aspect of planning that takes place, it consists planning of Script, Storyboards, Shot Lists, Casting, Location Scouting (permission, weather, lighting) and Budgeting. Pre-production planning is a main essential not only for documentaries, but also to any other film making genres. It is very important to plan behind a documentary because as we are capturing reality, we cannot control it. Therefore pre-production needs to take place in order to have the interviews and filming as smooth as possible.


Notes from today's class:


The first stage of Production: 
-> Pre-production: any aspect of planning takes place

• Script
• Storyboards
• Shot List
• Casting
• Location Scouting
• Budgeting

Scripts:

• Any written support for filming- Interview Questions
• In the case of documentary we add the important category of PRIMARY RESEARCH.

Storyboards:

• In sequence, visual representation, camera frames and angles.
• Documentary: no obligation to create storyboards.
• Pre-visuals: Does not include/involve interviews/archival footage 

Shot List:

• Better organization- shot plan, list of shots to capture in a given location at a given time, not to miss anything.

Casting:

• Confirm names and backgrounds for interview (documentary)

Location Scouting:

• Go to that location BEFORE HAND.
• OBSERVE the lighting.
• Secure permission to shoot
• Take still pictures 

Budgeting:

• Idea if what we're doing costs money.
• Manage expense

Permission:

• Permission; verbal permission to record person
• Copyright material; music and videos- email owner

Year 10 Unit 1: Lesson 6 September 20 2011.

Our Criterion B project: Documentary planning

HOW TRADITIONS IN HONG KONG HAVE CHANGED

Chung Yeung Festival (October 5)

By Kazia, Isabella and Robert

Plot Outline:

Film Story-line:

1. Introduction

* What is it exactly?

* Why is it celebrated? 

* How is it traditionally celebrated?

2. Film the process of ritual on the actual day -> How it's celebrated now

3. Interviews:

* Interview those who celebrate it

* Interview those who don't celebrate it

4. Conclusion:

* Archival footage of how it was celebrated back then

* How it is celebrated now

Things we still have to research about:

1. How do people still celebrate it?

2. Where do they go to celebrate it?

* Location: Mountains (to be decided) --wherever the celebrations take place-- on the festival day

                  Busy streets: Causeway Bay/ Central; interview using interview questions. 
                  Better filmed on actual day but doesn't have to be.

3. Interviewees:

* Old people (those who do celebrate it, those who don't)

* Young/Middle-aged people  (those who do celebrate it, those who don't)

* Chinese teachers at CIS

* Amahs at CIS

* Foreigners (?) [Follow the movement of the day]

Interview Questions:

For those who celebrate the festival:

1. What do you usually do on this festival day?

2. Do you do this every year? If not, how often do you do this?

3. How long have you been doing this for?

4. How did you use to celebrate this festival? Do you celebrate it any differently now?

For those who don't celebrate the festival:

1. Do you know what the festival is about?

2. Do you know how this is celebrated?

3. Did you use to celebrate this festival? If so, why don't you celebrate it anymore?

4. What do you usually do on this festival if you don't celebrate it?

Quiz them on the knowledge of festivals-how each festival is celebrated.

Equipment:

* Bella's Camera: Canon 550D

* Kazia's Camera: Canon 550D (Backup?)

* Robert: to be decided.

* Tripod.

* Mic, if needed. 

Year 10 Unit 1: Lesson 5 September 15 2011, Homework.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST NO DIRECTION HOME AND BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE.


Both documentaries consisted of interview clips and also clips that the film maker did not shoot themselves. In No Direction Home, Bob Dylan is being interviewed as the opening scene. For Bowling for Columbine the opening scene consisted of the actual film maker Michael Moore, sort of interviewing and consulting a bank department.

However, the difference was that there was some manipulated footage in only one of the documentaries and not in the other. In No Direction Home, the interview was very natural and the angles and framing were not manipulated in any way. For Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore may have entered the bank with only one camera. Although interview and meeting at the bank seemed very natural, there were a lot of shot-reverse-shots. This meant that the staff and Michael Moore would keep having to repeat what they would say. This wouldn't really be natural as the camera is sort of interacting with the characters in the scene. Michael Moore may have wanted it to be a little more realistic, this still calls as manipulated footage.

Year 10 Unit 1: Lesson 5 September 15 2011.

Today's lesson we further dug into what a documentary was and what it meant. We analysed two different documentaries and later on had to compare and contrast them for homework. The documentaries we watched were No Direction Home directed by Martin Scorsese and Bowling for Columbine directed my Michael Moore.


The documentary No Direction Home opening scene was very entertaining. Basically it was about the current day famous singer Bob Dylan remembering a house that he lived in during his childhood but couldn't seem to remember where it exactly was. Throughout the movie, there were three powerful sections that contributed to the emotion felt by Bob Dylan. Ms Rosati also had us reflect on three different questions (see below). I also noticed that...




- Three sections: Interviews, Performance shots, and old photographs of his childhood.
- Interview: Only hear Bob Dylan's response, no interviewer's questions. Attitude is confident but seems lost as he is trying to find that specific "home". Also stutters when he talks.
- Performance: Singing is rough and raw, very distinctive. Lighting is very colorful, full of vivid  and vibrant colors such as red, orange and white. When focused on audience, the light is reflected back on them, shows signs of uncomfortableness because there's no cheering or applaud.
- Sudden stop to music acts as transition. Gloomy white/gray tone. White mist of trees depict Dylan's saying of time. Playbacks to childhood photos and how Dylan describes the record player. Scene of record player is low lighting.


The questions that we had to answer were
* Did they shoot all the footage themselves?
- They may have not shot all the footage themselves. Some may have been shot by other film makers such as the performing footage. We know this from the fact that when he was performing he looked very young and it was most likely the start of his career. Whilst the current day Bob Dylan is much older.


* What did the film maker choose to show & hear?
He chose to show us Dylan's response but not the interviewer's questions. The film maker also chose to show us Dylan's singing which had a rough and raw monotone to it. However, he did not show the audience's applaud or feedback, which indicates that maybe no one enjoyed his music.


* What did the film maker juxtapose with the images and sound?
The images and sound during the small scene about Dylan's childhood conveyed a small hint of Dylan's fascination in country music. The images contrasted with the country song he first heard, which also gave us a clue as to how his career started.


After a small 10 minutes answering these questions, we watched the next opening scene of Bowling for Columbine. The film maker/director, Michael Moore was trying to convey how easy it was to acquire a gun in the US, which led to the Columbine High School Shooting in 1999.


The last few minutes of our lesson we spent on brainstorming for our Criterion B project. My group consisted of the same people as the challenge shoot; Kazia, Robert and I. We all just decided to write down what ever topic we could think of and it eventually led up to these selections.

• - smoking
• - inflation
• - how land is developing in hk
• - pollution
• - social themes
• - lazy/spoilt kids in hk (relative to other places)
• - environmental
• - cultural
• - religion
• - having kids
• - poverty
• - caring for the elderly
• - health
• - views on aging

We were not able to decide on our topic in class so we had an online discussion which resulted into choosing "How traditions have changed in Hong Kong". We first came up with three main holidays that were important to Chinese culture and came up with: Chung Yeung (seeing as it is in 2 weeks), Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese New Year.