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.

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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.