Group Tutorial

Today we had a group tutorial to discuss the direction of the project, our feedback from the poetic piece/treatment and the latest developments from over the past few days.

First, we received feedback for the poetic documentary and treatment, and discussed areas in which they could have been improved. One area for the poetic piece was the opening which was quicker than desired, and the volume of the other sounds in the film that seemed to be lost in the mix (although listening back on headphones they could be picked up). For the treatment we weren't specific enough with our techniques used in the poetic piece, our style section was too long and some of the other information could have been re-structured.

After this we talked about where the project is headed, and so we mentioned the meeting Saul and I had yesterday with Ralph, and his involvement in the film. Jamie also mentioned John, his Gran's friend, who is still willing to help us out, which prompted discussion about the structure of the film, which we felt would either have to be 3-4 smaller stories or a single portrait on either contributor - as two seemed awkward and difficult to put together.

We talked about how to plan a structure to the film beforehand, perhaps starting with a zoom out of a photo similar to the poetic piece, then the main section learning more about the person using footage and interview, and 'book-ending' it with another photograph. We also discussed the types of questions to ask Ralph so the film isn't just a portrait of him but also touches on some bigger themes about memories and photographs - as is the focus of our overall project. Some of these ideas included:

• Why are photographs important to you?
• Photos important for remembering significant events - birthdays/marriages etc.
• Are there any photos we would have seen if you'd had a modern day camera? Missed events.

Ralph also had a lot of photographs of people that had passed away and so we could ask him about their importance to him in keeping their memory alive.

Through discussion we also covered some of the practicalities of filming. We mentioned that the lighting in the house was dim and so it was advised to bring one light and a diffuser to cover this. The questions I'll be asking we will discuss beforehand and I'll write them down and perhaps send them to Debbie to look at too. This will include questions about some of the things he discussed with us yesterday. We will create a detailed shot list as though planning a drama, structuring the film out in shots so we know what cutaways to get and how to make use of our time. Debbie mentioned that consistency will be key for this, and so planning will be important.

Other details we covered included starting to cut straight away after the interview to see if we have enough material to make the film, considering shortening the film if it makes it more effective and rewriting the treatment to include our new ideas and broader themes. Over the next few days I will arrange a meeting for the group to create a detailed shot list, interview questions and editing structure for the film to guide us on Wednesday.

Meeting Ralph

Today Saul and I traveled to Lowedges to meet with Ralph, one of the people we had met from the Lowedges Friendship Group a couple of weeks ago. The last week we were there Ralph was ill so we didn't get chance to speak to him about the photos he has, and since he has quite a few albums it was easier for him to have us come round to his house rather than meet him somewhere else. 

We had arranged to meet him at 11am at his house. I rang him up many times beforehand that morning before we set off to check that we were still coming to meet him, but there was no answer. We decided to travel there anyway and find his house. When we got there, he wasn't in but we could hear the phone ringing inside, so it was his address. I rang him again on the bus ride home just to check and he picked up - he'd misheard us and thought we were coming to meet him at 7 that evening. We got off the bus, waited for another and returned to his house, of which Saul took some photos. 

Ralph had around five photo albums with photos to show us, so we sat down and went through them - recording the whole conversation on the Zoom for reference (below).

At 88 years old, the earliest photos he had were of his time in Germany during WW2, where he was stationed with a small group of people and had the job of riding his motorbike between camps delivering supplies. I remembered him speaking briefly about this in the first meeting we had a fortnight ago, so asked him more about his experience, where he went, who he met, and any particular memories pertaining to the photographs - which were amazingly well preserved and extensive. He told us about how he met his German wife Karla whilst working over there and how there was tension within his family when he brought her back to live in Sheffield. 

We spoke for about an hour about this and gradually moved through the other albums, which were mainly photos from different eras in the house, but it was interesting to see the progression of time moving through the collections. Afterwards, he showed us around the house which was filled with other photos and bits and pieces from throughout his life like paintings and holiday souvenirs. Whilst we did this I took note of potential cutaway shots to share with the rest of the group afterwards, as well as the lighting and space within the rooms for filming which might prove difficult. 

At the end of the conversation we asked Ralph if he'd be comfortable with us filming him and his house and talking to us on camera as he had been doing with us there. We arranged to come round to his house at the same time next Wednesday, and I will make sure this time to ring him the day before and on the morning as a reminder. At this stage it is difficult to gauge whether we would have enough material with him alone to make the film into a portrait of his life (if desired), but we'd also want to make sure the film linked to the broader themes of memories and photographs as outlined in our treatment.

Tomorrow we will tell Debbie about our meeting during the tutorial, and from here we will be able to decide a structured approach to the film using Ralph, and create a plan for the interview including a detailed shot list and carefully chosen questions.

New potential approach

Today I spoke with Debbie and later the rest of my group about the direction of the project with our problems securing contributors and only a few weeks left to complete the film.

I spoke with Debbie first and she suggested to opt for a safer option now that we have not enough time to pursue more contributors in hope that we find something in return. After liking our poetic piece about my granddad, she suggested creating the film with a focus on my family, and perhaps the various generations, memories and photos that I could find. Suggestions made by other students during our presentation were also raised which I will consider too, such as creating a moving portrait. It was difficult to understand the approach we'd take with the film in interviewing my grandparents again (and possibly auntie/uncle/dad too), but I gave the initial suggestion to my family afterwards who said they'd speak with my them again to ask if this was possible.

I met with my group in the evening to talk through the project and to share the suggestion Debbie had made. Jamie said that he'd spoken to his Gran's friend John and he said he'd get back to him if he finds any photos that he'd talk about with us. We still have Ralph to meet on Wednesday morning to see what photos he has and if he'd be comfortable with us filming, and Bob had many photos to share with us but after mentioning it briefly we were unsure if he wants to be recorded.

We decided that Saul and I would meet Ralph on Wednesday and then we'd revisit the Hawthorne Corner group on Thursday as some of the people the other group members met expressed an interest but did not give contact details to speak to them afterwards. With very few people comfortable with us filming them, we may ultimately have to use the technique we employed in the poetic film and spread it across the entire film using only audio and images of the photos. It is definitely not ideal nor what we wanted for the film but at this point we have to take any opportunity to be able to tell a story.

At this point we are waiting on what Ralph shows us on Wednesday, what the group shares with us on Thursday and whether John replies to Jamie with any potential photos. In the meantime I will continue to pursue the idea of making the film within my family and will try and think of ideas and approaches to that without re-covering ground speaking to my granddad for the poetic piece.

Changing Direction

After getting contacts from the three groups we visited during the week, I made a document containing the names and details of all those who had expressed an interest and/or said they would have some photos to share.

As I'd agreed with them, I rang each of them up over the weekend to ask if they could find some photos over the weekend, including those that some mentioned during the sessions. I spoke to Ralph again and arranged to meet him at his house in Lowedges 11am on Wednesday to look through his photos - of which he says he has many.

However, similar to our re-visit to the Lowedges group on Tuesday, almost all of those I spoke to had to back out due to various reasons, besides Mary and Kathleen from the Hawthorne Corner group. The added complication with contacting Mary is that she is currently living at her daughter's house and so we would not be able to film her at home.

I mentioned that we'd be at the group either on Thursday to speak to those we didn't get details for or on Saturday for the coffee morning, as she suggested that for those we want to interview we could just use side room to talk to them instead.

Again, this is a huge setback for the project and forces us to re-evaluate our approach to the film. We had planned to start filming with contributors during the week, but now even if we chose just to use audio recordings and photos we may not have enough content to make the film.

I will call an urgent meeting with the group for tomorrow to discuss the next steps in the project, as there is no longer time to meet more groups and generate more contacts through means of that. One option, although not ideal, could be to get archive photos from old Sheffield and show it to the members of the groups, generating a response and hopefully getting them to talk about their memories. Jamie is meeting his Gran's friend to see whether he might have any photos to share with us, which may also be an option.

Poetic Documentary Presentation

This morning we presented our finished film to Debbie and the rest of our group. Generally, the feedback was very positive with a couple of small criticisms and issues that we were made aware of listening back to the mix in a different environment.

We were praised for the film's simplicity and for how we took a risk using just the photo for the whole film - keeping the viewer's interest through the story and use of sound. Debbie praised the changes we had made to the music track and the effectiveness of the sound-scape. When listening back to the film in the lecture hall, many of the sounds we had included were lost and inaudible, but after listening back to it through headphones they are much more clearer.

Another minor criticism was that the voice-over starts a beat too soon in the film, not giving the audience enough time to orientate themselves to what they are seeing and hearing. This was due to us trying to cut down the film to fit within roughly two minutes, whereas now we are aware that some other documents said 2-3 minutes, which would've given more opportunity to improve pacing. Also, some of the voice-over near the beginning was hard to hear, which we were aware of and had tried our best to repair through EQ and editing, but after that point they said it didn't matter as the rest of the story was coherent.

Our classmates had interesting suggestions for the longer film, some of which we had already considered and some which we hadn't. We spoke about our difficulty finding contributors for the longer film and our plans as a last resort to use photos and interviews rather than footage. Tyler said that if we were to go with that approach then we would need to have the whole film one way or the other, which we agreed with. Dom suggested for the footage we shoot in their houses that we could lock-off the shot like a living photograph, which is a good idea that we may consider.

Following the presentation we will continue to follow up leads over the weekend with the aim of getting photos and confirming contributors into the next week.

Hawthorne Corner Senior Citizens Group

Today Jamie, Alex, Saul and I traveled to Hillsborough to meet with to speak with the final group I had arranged a meeting with. This meeting was supposed to have taken place nearly three weeks ago but was unfortunately postponed until now due to some issues which arose. I had spoken to the group's leader Jack on the phone a few times before, including yesterday to check that we were still okay to visit them.

The group was one of the larger ones we had been to, with around 30 members and about 80% of them being women. On the phone Jack seemed quite enthusiastic about us coming in to meet them, and after a few minutes he introduced us formally to the group - which helped us to start conversation later and to build a sense of trust.

After this, the group split into three groups and so we split up to get to speak to as many people as possible. I spoke to my group, introduced myself and our project, and then started asking people individually if they might have some photos to share with us. Speaking for about 30 minutes, I managed to get the names and contact details of 3-4 people who were both interested in the film and comfortable with being recorded.

Following the disappointing results of yesterday's group meeting in Tinsley, I spoke with Jamie about a last resort option for the film. After speaking to many people, it became clear that some people were willing to be interviewed but not filmed, so we discussed having the option for those people of just recording audio, perhaps even in a room of the social group if necessary. Of course, we will push as hard as possible to be able to film them in their homes as we outlined in the treatment, but this was put forward as a contingency if the that's not possible.

I told those who I took contact details from that I would call them at the weekend to give them chance to find their photographs, and then from there we will either go back to the group to see them or arrange to meet them at their homes with their permission. The difficulty with waiting for them to bring it into the social group, as we have found with the other group on Tuesday, is that most simply don't remember and then we are left with more time wasted. As another idea I may ask if they will be coming in to the city centre at some point early in the week and so we could meet them and look through the photographs there.

I will also ring Bob and Ralph from the Lowedges group, and Mr/Mrs Battersby from the Tinsley group to see if they're still wanting to contribute and similarly can find photos for us to see within the next week. As previously mentioned, we were planning to film in this week following the meeting last week on Tuesday, but this is no longer possible. I have also joined the 'People of Sheffield old and new' and 'Pictures of Sheffield old and new' groups on Facebook, which have a large and active following, and I will post our film on there to get more interest and to find more potential contributors.

Example of a post from the Facebook page

Finishing Poetic Documentary

Over the past week we have been putting together the final version of the poetic documentary following the feedback we received during the crit tutorial.

Most of the comments seemed to revolve around the pacing of the film in its first half, so I shared this with our editor Elliot and stayed with him whilst he re-cut the interview. The second half of the film I had cut quite heavily and this we knew was the better half, so it was a process of doing the same, cutting together phrases to form coherent sound-bytes and making sure that the progression of the story was logical - starting with how he got into cycling and ending with what his continued interest in watching it on TV.

Whilst editing down the interview we were careful not to remove too much of the nuance, such as laughs and pauses for thinking - but also to make sure that we were as efficient with our time as possible. To do this, we created our own short breaks between phrases to let the audience have time to take it in. We also felt it was appropriate that when George speaks about his friend who died in the Tour de France to keep in his pauses in speech, to convey that its a difficult subject for him to talk about. There were also other phrases which we would have liked to include but were just too difficult to hear clearly, so we managed to edit around this too.

Debbie remarked that it was difficult to work out who George is in the photograph, so we included the line where he talks about this. In this section he speaks about how he never won a race, but in the interview repeated himself a few times so this required some heavy cutting to make best use of the time. We had the choice of two endings to use - one where he jokes about his wife getting rid of his bike and the one with him saying how he'd 'been there and hadn't done it'. We ended up keeping the latter as during the crit tutorial we were praised on it, and it effectively sums up his cycling career and character in one phrase.

With regards to the music, which had been provided to me by the composer I talked with, we were advised to remove the light piano from the track as it was overly sentimental and too sombre, dictating the audience's emotion where it wasn't needed. I managed to get another version from him without the piano, but which built up to a small crescendo as the photo was revealed. We tried out this on the film but it didn't seem to fit, as George's tone doesn't change to meet the music. Instead, I took the single drawn out tone from the start of the music and looped it throughout the film, bringing the pitch down in the edit to provide a basis for adding the sound-scape afterwards. Without this, the breaks in dialogue and SFX were quite clear and jarring and so we kept it in.

For the creation of the sound-scape, Jamie recorded a number of bike sounds and ambient tracks in parks over the weekend, and I managed to source some royalty-free tracks of wind and crowds to experiment with. Jamie used Pro Tools to add the sounds to the interview track once we had finalised it, which initially seemed too heavy and forced and didn't work well with the voice-over and music. We then tried to use the sounds sparingly across the film and to add effects to the sounds like reverb and EQ to create a sense of ghostliness and the past. This seemed to work much better, especially with the sounds of the crowd which we played when George talked about the Tour de France.

Other sounds in the mix were sounds of wind, bikes on gravel, a wheel spinning and stopping, heavy breathing and countryside ambience, most of which we flowed between at a low volume so as not to distract from the voice-over. The most effective use of sounds which Jamie came up with was to use a metal clanging sound and a wheel slowly spinning down when George talks about the crash his friend was involved in, of which we were careful not to undermine.

We had some issues in AVID with the scans I took of the photos, which appeared with a blue tint that was difficult to correct. Due to time constraints, I was given the task of doing the slow zoom out on the image and assembling the interview and sound-scape at home using Sony Vegas, where I had created the rough draft previously without such issue. After getting the sound-scape from Jamie and the interview track I created and exported the film, tweaking minor areas such as the opening line and the final sounds lasting over the credits.

Treatment Final Touches

Over the past week we have been making the final touches to the poetic documentary treatment, following the feedback we received during our crit tutorial.

In response to the feedback we received about our treatment for the full film, I re-wrote some sections of it. Although we don't have contributors set for the film yet, we were advised to include people we had met and talked to as examples for what stories we will tell in it. I had interviewed my grandparents to get an idea of what questions to ask and what material we will get from it, and so I included two of these in the treatment. I implemented the advice we were given, describing them both and the photos they showed us, as well as what they talked about in relation to it.

As I had scanned all of the photos previously I added the relevant images in support on the last page to illustrate it further.

As our focus had shifted away from 'a photo that sums you up' due to the difficult nature of finding such, I amended the synopsis to reflect this - explaining how the film is now aiming to provide a 'snapshot of a life', evoking emotion and bringing the memories back to life through narration and sound design. I explained also how our focus came naturally to older people from our initial idea of different ages and generations.

The other main comment that we received from our draft treatment was to describe the visuals and sounds in the film, so I explained this in quite some detail. I also included about options for editing depending on the relevance to the material we find and our pragmatic approach to creating sounds to bring the memories to life. I used the example of the bike photo from our poetic film to how we created the sound-scape, included how many people we plan to be featured in the film and also our main influences. I ended it with a summary of our film and overall approach.

Visiting Tinsley Over 60s Club

Today we visited Tinsley Over 60s club to try and find contributors to share photographs for our film. Me, Elliot, Jamie and Saul took the bus up to the group after the Hollinsend Group. who we would be meeting today, pulled out early last week.

At the group there were about 20-30 women and we managed to speak to nearly all of them - but of those only one or two showed an interest in being a part of the film, and one of the women does not want to be filmed. Jamie had tried to speak to his Grandparents' friends in the morning regarding their potential contribution to the film, but of the two who seemed promising one is now seriously ill and the other was absent at the time he had arranged to meet.

Before this meeting we had talked as a group about our approach to potential contributors. We had talked about how to put across our project clearly to avoid any confusion and to try and discern from the first meeting whether people would have photographs which they could share with us and, most importantly, would be comfortable being filmed. Despite this it was still difficult to keep focused on memories attached to photographs and to find people willing to talk to us when we mentioned recording.

I managed to make contact with a couple at the meeting, Mr and Mrs Battersby, and get a phone number from them as they said they'd be willing to talk to us if they could find photos at home that were appropriate. At the weekend I will try and contact the people who have still expressed an interest to follow up perhaps with a meeting or filming the next week - these people being Ralph and Bob from the Lowedges Group and the couple I met today.

With our enthusiasm for the project and the potential shown by our poetic piece, its disheartening and frustrating to not be able to find contributors for the film. Tomorrow we have a meeting with our last group, the Hawthorn Corner Senior Citizens group, which will hopefully yield some potential contributors for us. If we are in the same situation by the weekend then we will have to re-group and re-think our strategy or potentially our approach in the film. We will have to decide then whether or not to contact more groups for over the next couple of weeks or try and access new groups of people, as the other groups may just have the same result.

One option may be to post our film idea on the Facebook pages 'People of Sheffield Old and New' and 'Places of Sheffield Old and New' (which we were only told about today by a member of the senior group), both of which have large followings and regularly have old photographs posted online sharing memories. As very much a last resort we could use the interviews I took from my grandparents which we haven't used, and maybe construct the film using only sound and photographs if this is what convinces contributors to want to talk with us.

Re-visiting Lowedges Group

Today we went to the Lowedges Friendship Group to speak to the contacts we made last week about their potential contribution to the film. After getting contact details from them, I rang each of them up over the weekend to ask if they could find and bring in the photographs that they mentioned for today's session.

Unfortunately, only one of the five had something to show us, as the others couldn't for various reasons - either not being able to find them, not having enough time to find them or being an issue with getting the photos off someone else who is in them and doesn't want them used. Also, Ralph - who we spoke to last week and who had interesting stories to tell about the war - was ill, but still might be a possibility as a contributor.

Bob, who Jamie spoke to last week, had brought in his laptop full of old photographs for us to look at. I sat with him for an hour looking through them. Most of the photos seemed to be about local history, and although he explained at length about them, they were unsuitable for our film which focuses on personal memories. However, a few of them stuck out as potentials for the film, such as one of a street party during VE day and one of the old Sheffield markets (which many seem to be quite emotive about).

As he passed through the hundreds of photos he mentioned that he had an electronics shop and that he paints as a hobby too. To try and keep focused on the personal memories and photos that tell a life, I asked more about this to which he began to speak about his interest in electronics from an early age (building simple radios), how he did badly in school as the teachers were in the war, but how he was determined to continue with it and ended up opening a shop. I had mentioned to him previously about our intentions to film in people's homes and he gave me his address, but I will have to clarify this with him at some point to see if he is comfortable talking to us on film.

Another issue is the fact that the photos are only digital, and we wouldn't be able to view the originals placed around the home as we had intended to film. One option for us is to print off the scans he had made on to photography paper with his permission, but whether this would work we do not know, and we may have to compromise.

We had initially planned for this meeting to be the next step towards filming them next week in their homes, with this session looking at the photographs they have so that we can prepare questions and discern which stories we want them to elaborate on. However, with this set-back we will be relying heavily on the contributors we get from the groups we are meeting tomorrow and Thursday, and we may have to decide between doing the same and attending next week's session or filming without knowing what photographs they have. Jamie is still in the process of talking to his gran's friends about their potential involvement too.

In tomorrow's session we will make sure that those we speak to understand our intentions for the project including what type of photographs/memories to share - less historical fact and more personal and anecdotal.

Poetic Documentary - Draft tutorial

After completing a rough draft of the treatment and a first assembly of the poetic documentary, we shared our work with Debbie to receive feedback before presenting the final version next week. As Elliot was having some issues editing together a draft of the film, we showed the rough edit I had made earlier in the week. At this stage we are still experimenting with which sound-bytes to include from the interview, so much of the sound is still rough and unedited, with opportunity to cut it down further. I made notes of areas for improvement that were identified:

• Improve pacing in the first half of the film - cut the fat from the voice-over and use only the best bits to convey the story in the shortest time possible.
• Confused about who the speaker is in the photograph - include voice-over describing that he's in front. Will consider this for the longer film so that we know who we're looking at.
• Remove piano from the music track - overly sentimental and sombre, don't need to direct the audience. Keep the underlying tone.
• Create a sound-scape of related sounds - bike sounds, wind, trees, possibly a crowd. Will likely use this for any other photos to add another element - helps to bring the memory to life.
• Keep the nuance but remove sound which is difficult to hear - laughs and pauses for thinking keep personality but some parts are hard to understand.

The group worked together to create a first draft of the treatment too, which we initially found difficult due to not having contributors set in place to include. However, we received advice from Debbie to talk about the poetic film, our approach for the longer film and the people we had met at the friendship group on Tuesday. To help the group write it I produced a few pages of notes talking about the interviews with my grandparents, what we are likely to see/hear in the film and how to summarize our idea.

Notes for treatment content

We were given advice to improve this too:

• Include people - most important factor. Talk about the people we met, what they showed us and the stories they talked about even if they might not appear in the final film. For example, 'George, 76, shows us a black and white photo of a cycling race in the 1950s...'
• Include visuals and sound - what will we see and hear, make the reader able to visualise the film. Use poetic film to start that off.
• Give an idea of how many people we'll be interviewing or showing in the film.
• Add some of the photos mentioned as supporting material.
• Avoid repetition to allow for more information elsewhere.

Over the next week we'll continue to experiment with structure for the poetic piece and implement the changes that were outlined. This weekend Jamie is recording bike and other atmos sounds to begin creating a sound-scape next week, and I will speak to some of the contacts we made last Tuesday about bringing in a photograph for Tuesday's session. We will also amend the treatment at some point in response to the feedback we received, and the week after we hope to have enough contacts to begin filming.

Visiting Lowedges Group

Today we went to Michael Church in Lowedges to speak to the members of the Lowedges Friendship Group about being involved in our film. We only had about 30-45 minutes to speak to the members of the group before their scheduled session started, so we didn't get chance to speak to everyone about it. It was also unfortunate that none of the members had remembered to bring in a photograph to show us (due to difficulty getting in contact with them in between sessions), but despite this we spoke to a number of people who showed interest in the film and sharing their memories with us.

Last night Jamie informed us that the Over 50s Art Group that we were scheduled to meet next Monday had pulled out due to issues over filming, so we wanted to make sure that at this stage we attained a general interest and conversation with the group members before talking about our project plans to film and interview them. Naturally, as this came up in conversation some of the members shied away from the idea but thankfully there were a few who were fine with it.

At first most of the people we spoke to found it difficult to think of memories to talk about from their photos but as we talked more they started to remember more and more and tell us about different stories they had. We talked about our ideas for filming in places around Sheffield that have changed over the years which people might have memories of, and this led to us having the idea of maybe finding archive photos of the locations to show to them and prompt further memories and stories to share with us.

There seemed to be some misunderstanding at first about our project idea that it was just about memories and the history of Sheffield so we tried our best to keep focused on the photograph, asking first if the person lived locally and would have some photos to share with us, and then asking if they were okay with us filming them at home talking about them. From this we managed to get the contact details of 3-5 people who were interested, predominantly men, and who could contribute to the film.

At this point we can't know what stories they will tell us or if they'll be suitable to interview, but in talks afterwards we decided we would return next week to talk to the other members we missed and to see if those we did speak to can bring in their photos to show us. We will contact them before next week's session to remind them and hopefully after the rest of our meetings we will have enough contacts to start filming in their homes the week after.

After the session I also received a call from the Hollinsend Senior Citizen's group to say that because their chairman is ill that they've had to cancel our meeting on Monday and won't be holding them until after Christmas. I then reached out to Tinsley Over 60s group who meet on Wednesdays to see if we could go to their group next week - and arranged to meet them at 1pm on the 19th. Whilst its unfortunate that two groups have pulled out, with the second meeting on Tuesday, the Tinsley group on Wednesday and the Hawthorne Corner Group on Thursday hopefully we'll have enough potential contributors to start filming the week after.

The difficulty will then come in finding some sort of coherent narrative among the different stories and finding extra content outside the interviews to support it, which is where the cutaways around Sheffield and our plans for sound design will become important.

Reaching Contributors

Over the past couple of weeks since confirming our idea at the pitch I have been reaching out to social groups for older people to try and find contributors for our film. Using the SheffieldHelpYourself website, which has a sub-section listing many of the groups around Sheffield and their contact details, I have been calling up those which we were suitable and which had regular meetings we could attend to talk to members who are interested. On our group Facebook page I created a list of the groups that had been contacted and so that we don't contact them multiple times and are also reminded of any meetings we have or leads we should chase up.

The first group I spoke to was the Hawthorne Corner Senior Citizens Club, which has a large regular attendance across a wide range of ages. I used the phone script we had come up with as a rough guide explaining who we are and information about our project. For now I said that we were just looking to speak to anyone who's interested and has a photo with a strong memory or story that they can tell us about, (rather than ask for a photo that can sum them up which may be difficult) so that we can get as much interest as possible in the early stages. 

After speaking with the club's leader I had initially arranged for us to go down to speak to those who were interested on Thursday 6th, but later in the week he told me that he had got the dates wrong and that it we'd be meeting him on 20th instead. I was aware that this was just before we would be submitting our first film and treatment for the longer film, which might cause difficulties in specifying any contributors we find, but he said that the members are very keen to talk to us so its likely to be useful for our project. 

I also took the opportunity to ask about whether we'd be able to film or just record the audio of anyone we speak to, with the intention of filming in the homes of anyone who's interested afterwards - which he said would be fine. Initially we were unsure whether we'd want to record or not in these early meetings but decided it would be helpful in guiding our questions in further interviews.

I continued to contact a number of groups afterwards and made similar arrangements to meet members who were interested. Jamie also spoke to a group which we highlighted, and talked more with his Gran's friend about her potential involvement. Due to the difficulties of the group leaders contacting their members outside of the weekly sessions, they told us to meet the week after next when the people there will have photographs with them to share. As a result, next week we have four meetings with groups to go to where we will take equipment. This week we have a short window to speak with members of the Lowedges Friendship Group who are interested before their session starts, but we will likely stay around to talk longer afterwards if that's possible.

With the nature of our film relying on the stories that people share with us, it is difficult to plan the further stages in much detail and create a desired structure for the film. At this moment we can only really consider the types of questions that we want to ask at these initial meetings so that we can try and work out which would be well suited for pursuing as a portrait in the film. For example, after talking with my grandparents about places where they used to go when they were young, it would be a good opportunity if people had photos of Sheffield locations that don't exist, such as the old Upperthorpe Swimming Baths, where we could visit for further filming.

By the end of next week, after speaking with the four groups, we are hoping to have a list of contributors who we can include in the film, and from there we will meet them again at home to film and talk to them more. For now, we are focusing on creating the poetic documentary using my granddad's photo and interview.

Poetic Documentary Content

At the weekend I interviewed my granddad for the poetic documentary, as well as my other grandparents for practice with the equipment and how to conduct an interview for when we get contributors for the longer film. For the documentary shooting exercise we had recorded to both a shotgun mic and lapel mic in separate channels so I used the same setup here.

The RODE NTG-4 which we will be using for interviews

Before I interviewed my granddad I made a list of questions to ask him based on some of the things he talked about in our initial conversation. This is likely what we will do with contributors for the second film, listening to their stories in our initial meeting and then using that to guide the conversation if they decide to be a part of the film later on.

The photograph we are wanting to use of him is when he is riding his bike in a race, so many of the questions were open-ended to just let him talk about his experiences, why he liked cycling, why he had to stop (because of National service) etc. I also prompted him to go into detail about other things he talked about which I didn't know, such as the other people in the photograph and topics he'd brought up in earlier conversation when I wasn't recording. Something I noticed also whilst interviewing was that it helped to distract the subject if they were given the photo to look at whilst talking - so I'll consider that for the future.

A major problem whilst I was recording was the battery draining on the Zoom I was using as a result of using phantom power for the shotgun microphone, so I will pass this on to Jamie, our sound recordist, so we can be prepared with extra batteries if needed.

I brought the selection of photographs back to Sheffield and on Monday asked the staff in Harmer how to make a high-resolution scan of them. They showed me how to make a scan in the photography rooms and I made two high-res scans of each - one in 400dpi and one in 600dpi. I checked the quality at home and gave the scans and interview files to Elliot to transcribe and start thinking about the structure for the poetic film.

I've also been contacted recently by a composer in Leeds who might be interested in making some music for our film. At the moment we're not sure what music we want or even if the film needs music, as we won't be sure of the tone until the sound is added on to the photo. However, as a huge lover of film soundtracks myself I sent him some examples of tracks with a similar style, pace and tone to what we're looking for to see what ideas he has, and he says he'll start developing some ideas soon. One example I gave him was Jon Hopkins 'Campfire' which I added to the new high-res scan of the photo and sent as an example of the visuals and the length of the poetic piece.

After transcribing the interview we will be able to start editing together the poetic piece next week to receive advice and improve before presenting the final film.

Text: Michael Rabiger - 'Directing the Documentary'

In this text Rabiger covers a number of areas of documentary film production, with a focus on the director's role. Every aspect of project development is covered, from pre-production through to production and post-production, providing technical advice, contextual information and useful tips. Below I have summarised the main points from the first two parts of the book; 'You and Your Ideas', which covers idea generation, and 'Documentaries and Film Language', which identifies the focuses of different types of documentary film.

Developing story ideas - 'IDEATION'

• There are many sources for initial idea development.
• Internet
• Newspapers and Magazines
• Keeping a journal and noting down ideas
• History, myths and legends
• Family and childhood stories
• Social science and social history
• Fiction - novels and short stories can provide valuable insight

TESTING a subject - identifying whether it can be pursued as a documentary film

• Have to have strong emotional connection to the subject matter - mild enthusiasm will die out early in the process as problems and challenges arise.
• Prefer a topic or area where you are knowledgeable, or even better are opinionated. Don't bring this into interviews however, as it can be off-putting for the participant.
• Choose a topic where you know there is more to learn about the subject - no point if you know the message and outcome already.
•  'Don't film if you already knew your message before filming - just become a teacher' - Victor Kossakovsky
• Be careful in choosing a manageable subject area for your resources, budget and time. However, do not let the limitations confine you to insignificant issues. Strive to make films that are 'thematically large', and find the 'universal truths within'.
• 'Think small, local and short.' How narrowly and deeply can I focus its attention? 'Developing your skills on fragments allows you to inquire depth.'
• Identify what its significance is to you. Also, what do people already know, or don't know. What would I and other people like to discover? What is unusual and interesting about the idea?
• Most importantly, where can I show (as opposed to narrate). 'Don't film if you want to say something - just say it or write it. Film only if you want to show something, or you want people to see something' - Victor Kossakovsky
• 'Film persuades when it shows people and situations in action, so we want primary evidence, things seen in motion. Doing and feeling is more interesting, more inherently credible, than talk about doing or feeling.
• Subjects to AVOID: worlds you haven't experienced and cannot closely observe, problems in own life, preaching or moral instruction and problems for which you already have the answer.

Types of time and chronology in documentary film

• 'Event-centred film' - stages in the build up to and execution of an event are the 'vertebrae in the film's temporal spine' 
• 'The process film' - chronicles a sequence of events during which something is produced or accomplished. Characters develop around the challenges as time progresses.
• 'The journey film' -  promises 'change and development' in the characters across the narrative arc, often a journey in both the physical and metaphorical sense.
• 'Historical film' - due to the nature of history this film has a known outcome, most effective bridge past and present to increase relevancy
• 'Biographical film' - follows a single character through time. Point of view plays a significant part in development throughout film, being aligned with protagonist.
• 'Walled-city film' - this film becomes immersed in 'societies, institutions and tribal entities'. It 'explores a microcosm in order to imply criticism of the macrocosm, the larger world that spawned it'.
• 'Poetic time film' - 'seldom event or character driven, more likely to pursue imagery and metaphor in exploration of an observation, mood or belief'