Evaluation

This is the evaluation for the Documentary Unit for BA Hons in Television Production of the UCA.

For this unit (as per title says) I was instructed to produce a 10 minute documentary episoode under the Nature and Wildlife subgenre. We were placed into groups of 3s where we would then individually brainstorm our own ideas to present to the group and vote on which idea to greenlight. For this project I was grouped with Becca Locock and Niki Vossler. Immediately I researched for ideas based on news coverages of nature and wildlife and came across the struggle of fox hunting in which there is a ban on the sport however, the UK parliament has intentions to repeal the ban as many of the politicians are in favor of the sport. This as a result has caused tensions between those opposed to the repeal of the ban and those in favor. I used this as a foundation for my idea and have researched organizations in protection of wildlife, one of the organizations was the fox project who (as the name says it) rescues and caters foxes from dangerous situations. 

We have each presented our idea to our assigned group and have decided to greenlight Niki's idea which was called 'A Day on the Medway". Niki's Idea revolves around the return of nature to the Medway county after years of industrialization. We split the work between ourselves, I was in charge of researching the rural areas of the Medway County and Came accross the Medway Smile of the Kent Wildlife Trust. After Niki and Becca found their locations and organizations I was given the job of contacting the location owners and organizations as well as organizing the equipment for the shooting days. 

 

There were numerous difficulties throughout the project in terms to maintaining contact especially during the Easter Holidays. There were days when a member of the group wouldn't attend the scheduled meetings which caused a major hindrance towards the progress of the project. As a result it costed the group to abandon a large amount of Niki's idea and instead focused on the Medway Smile.

Both Niki and I immediately contacted the Kent Wildlife Trust to gain permission to film the organozation in action at one of their nature reserves and have a reserve warden present in the interview. There were problems after the filming as well as most of the content has been unsatifactory and would have been a disaster.

WHAT WENT WRONG

• Lack of Communication
• Absence from meetings
• Serious lack of responses from organizations
• filming was very choppy
• editing almost ended in failure

WHAT WENT RIGHT

• Filmed everything on Time
• The required recording was made on time
• Managed to fix a majority of problems

Inital Idea: Fox hunting Research log

Webpages research log for documentary production.

Planet Earth 2007

Planet Earth

Presented by: David Attenborough

Genre: Documentary (Mini Series)

Year: 2007

Episode Watched: 2 (Mountains)

For the documentary unit, I was searching for documentaries that could inspire me in further developing any ideas for the project under the Nature and WIldlife subgenre. That's when I came across Planet Earth when searching for nature documentaries. The mini series was presented by David Attenborough in where he would discuss in great detail about a specific natural location like in this instance mountains as well as its inhabitants. In just 20 minutes of watching the mountains episode I was already fed information on the local inhabitants of 2 completely different mountain environments. He discussed about the mountains themselves going into a lengthy detail into their history, current envirment, climate as well as the wildlife surrounding the locations ranging from what they are to where and how they live as well as how they interact with eachother to how they survive. One thing I noted when watching the documentary, is that David, usually takes short rests after describing the location, environment or its wildlife, which gives us the viewers, a chance to register everything he mentioned before moving on to te next subject. 

During those breaks there is always background music that merges perfectly with the visuals. Speaking of the visuals, Most of the shot sizes used in this episode of planet earth a a variety of long shots, establishing shots, mid shots and close ups. The establishing shots in the episode were aerial shots which showed the vast landscapes surrounding the mountains. The mid shots and close ups were used to get a more visible shot of the local wild life's activities while, David is describing the local wildlife in terms to how they survive. Long shots were used to show large groups of the local wildlife like a family of pumas. Another use of long shots were that of the landscape in case a natural event like an avalanche occurs.

WHAT INSPIRED ME TO THE PROJECT

What inspired me the most about this episode is mainly the shot styles. Though I understand the way the shots were filmed are difficult in terms of aerial shooting, it was the use of shot sizes that greatly inspired me the most for documentary production. The location for the project is a nature reserve with a large view which qould be perfect for an establishing shot. As for the close ups, there are some unique wildlife within the nature reserve which I can take the oppertunity to shoot. For mid-shots, I am inspired in using mid shots as well as long shots to showcase a group of local wildlife for the documentary.

Another inspiration that came as a result of the episode is the method of presenting that David Attenborough showcased. The way David has spoken (in great detail about a location and the local wildlife) with a pause for about 5 seconds before moving on to the next subject. It gave me a new perspective of maintaining a calm mind when speaking and preparing on what to say next. I intend to simulate this method when needed.

Equipment and Resources

Equipment and Resources list

Name: Leonardo Baruzzo, Niki Vossler, Becca Locock

Course: Television Production BA Hons

Production Title:

Production Date: 28/04/2016

Cast and Crew List for the Documentary Production

CAST AND CREW LIST

Name: Leonardo Baruzzo, Becca Locock, Niki Vossler

Course Title:  BA hons Television Production year 1

Production Title:

Production Date: 28/04/2016

Faversham Trip

Faversham Trip

Date: April 8, 2016

Location: Faversham

Objective: Experience Documentary filming on location with consent of the general public and market stalls.

The Faversham trip was a documentary unit trip in which we students were broken up into groups of 3s and 2s. I was grouped with Jack nix for this Exercise and were stationed at the market during the morning half of the exercise. We were instructed to film around the town centre where the local market was open and where the local populace was bustling.

The purpose of the exercise is to understand the challenges involved when filming for a documentary, where consent to film and interview is paramount. Though there weren't any consent related difficulties from the group I was assigned to, there were slight difficulties when setting up to film in a fairly crowded area. For most parts of the town we have filmed without use of the tripod due to crowded areas. The only 3 areas in town we have used the tripod was the town square, where there was more space, the end of the markets where it was less crowded and more open and lastly by a local butchers just outside the market square.

What I had learned from this experience is that when filming for a documentary, you won't have the luxury of shutting down roads to film like the television and film industries meaning you'll have to find a way to film without disturbing the public and without affecting your production, you will also have to have consent from the owner/s of the location/s in which you intend to film before you start filming otherwise you'll be facing problems with the authorities and the owner/s and finally when filming, that you must keep a keen eye out for oppertunities in which you can add extra content in benefot to your production.



Faversham video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IY7lOg53f8

Rural Wildlife and Nature Research

Medway Rural Wildlife


The Rural aspect of The Medway Nature Documentary, 'A day on the Medway has been a rather difficult process in terms to finding information. However there has been results.

• It is confirmed Medway is part of the "Greenbelt" scheme though, there is no official website. http://www.londongreenbeltcouncil.org.uk/lgbc%20website/pdf/MAPS%20OF%20THE%20GREEN%20BELT.pdf

• There is an ecology group for Medway organized by the Kent Wildlife Trust called the Medway Smile. The purpose intended for the Medway Smile Group is " to make these areas for wildlife bigger and to work with local landowners and local communities to make the surrounding land better for wildlife, creating a connected network of good wildlife habitats.             http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/living-landscape/schemes/medway-smile

I believe that the Medway Smile project has potential for the rural aspect of our documentary because it covers a large range of wildlife, habitat and nature presevation that has been working in cooperation with the local medway commuities. It protects a variety of species ranging from bords, reptiles unique plant life and unique insects and bugs. Contact has been made to the Kent Wildlife Trust and is currently awaiting response.


CONTACT DETAILS AND ADDRESS:

Kent Wildlife trust

Tyland Barn/Chatham Rd, Maidstone, Kent ME14 3BD

01622 662012

www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk