Documentary: project evaluation

My group: Saskia, Josh jones , me 

My roles: edit supervision, go pro operator, camera B operator.

Preparation 

I've learnt so many things when it comes to the preparation, documentaries as a whole requires so much organisation and preparation and this is something that you must learn to keep on top of in order  for your documentary to work. Surrounding myself with people who are organised and are able to know what it is they want and have a creative vision is something that I feel lucky to have had on this project. I didn't really realise how much preproduction work would be needed to make a documentary, four example making a transcript, at first I thought it was unnecessary when I saw the amount of preproduction we would have to do but during the production I realised how necessary it all was. Creating a documentary is almost like creating art. It takes time and its processes cannot be skipped. 

Filming

When it comes to filming, working with the team is very different then working by yourself. I really enjoyed it though. It was during the filming stage where we really came together as a team. You get to learn about how different people work and you're able to bounce ideas off of each other during the day. I need to learn how to be confident in myself and be able to speak up and direct the characters in the way that I want to. I feel as though during the filming day 3 I was a bit more reserved when it came to directing the characters with the go pro. I was too scared to speak up because I felt as though I would annoy them. I did try to ask them to do it again but I know how busy they are and I didn't want to interrupt them too much. But I need to understand that there is a fine line between direction and potentially jeopardising your footage because of others. Luckily we didn't rely heavily on the go pro footage but it is still something that was my responsibility and I wanted it to be as good as it can be. 

Editing

Even though it was Josh who did most of the physical editing, I was still really proud of the way we were all able to chip in our ideas and get our point across to make the documentary. Sask. and I were on hand when josh needed help. I do wish we could've been more involved physically as it did sometimes feel like we split up as a team at times but after viewing the footage and reflecting on the footage we were able to come together and put forward our ideas about which GV should go where. This was the turning point for our group in a way because we had a lot of doubts until sequences were put together.

Final outcome of video & feedback 
All three of us are so happy with the final outcome of the documentary and it taught me the importance of getting feedback from others. Really and truly, the documentary wouldn't be what it is today if we didn't pitch it to Helen and simon to get their feedback. Getting feedback from various people is crucial to your development and growth because sometimes you need to take a step back and see what someone else says. getting guidance from industry professionals will never be a bad thing and so for the next future projects to come I will not be scared to put forward my ideas and receive feedback from my peers and my tutors because it could take your work to new heights once you take a step back. 

Final thoughts
I am really proud of my group and what we have achieved. I think we have created something that we should be happy with and proud of. I do think it was a bit of a rocky road when learning how to cooperate as a team but as we went along, we were able to learn how to be better team members to each other. Not only that but Ive actually enjoyed going out on location, meeting people and interesting characters. It makes me excited to think about how much more things there are out there to make, so many other stories out there that could be followed. But yeeah I couldn't be more happier with the way things have gone.