The theme of the project was a insight in to the artists or an artist that was involved with Blackburn’s festival of making and how they work on the pieces they are creating for the festival as well as what kind of artist they are them selves.This theme has been kept throughout the project with it changing to focus on a single artist instead of several artists,this was a economical move as the time constraints on the project only allowed for this as well as being a able to focus more on a single artist gave more room for details about them to be explored. On the other hand the theme of the Festival of making was reduced although mentioned through the project the theme turned in to a look in to the artists work that happens to be commission for the festival of making all again this in turn allowed me more freedom with the project.
I have worked to my proposal closely as the idea of interviewing those involved with the festival of making is still at the core of the project, although I scaled down the ambition of the project as the situation about gaining permission to film the other eight artists that were involved with the festival would of taken too long as well as unclear on the availability to work with the other artists on the project therefore it was logical to scale down to the one artist that was most accessible the artist Jamie Holman. This was the only major change to the project when compared to the proposal. The only other changes to the project being to the equipment used from a boom microphone to a clip on microphone during the interview and not using the led lights this was justified as the clip on microphone has better quality audio and the led lights not being needed for the lighting situation of the interview room.
The research into existing art documentaries was tedious as most are old and out dated with them mostly being presenter such as civilization this was as the presenter talked down to the audience as if they were lesser than him where as the slightly more recent shock of the new eliminated the elitist attitude but kept the slow presenter led format . This led a direct conflict to the project’s proposed idea of a expository style documentary although this provided inspiration to think of way to create one and how it would work. The closest documentary to idea was the documentary series ‘what do artists do all day’ that explored a day in the life of a professional artist and was set out in a informal nature that let the artist themselves become the driving force of the feature this would become the main inspiration for the project as unlike the other documentaries it was engaging and intelligent even to a wider audience than dedicated art viewers. This documentary effected the development of my work greatly as it provided a style in which to follow when focusing on the artist in addition to how to shoot a artist in action and in a interview format.
The most experimental technique used in the project was using the dieagetic sound captured from when filming the choirs recording session and using it in engaging parts through the film. This was a total success as it proved to be surprising effective at adding pace to the sequence it was applied to as well as creating crescendo’s at certain points of the video such as the opening and the end sequence that displays the artist thinking upon his work in the gallery. There was problems with this approach as each individual recording of the choir singing had to be edited to fit the part it was being used for at times this meant either losing half a word from the choir audio that could be noticeable or extending a clip beyond its intended screen time this was solved by a comprise between the two as well as nimble use of audio controls in premiere.
The skills that have further developed over the course of the project have been mainly practical skills.One of the skills furthered was my work in camera operating by filming the choir by choosing the correct moments to focus in on members of the choir as well as when to keep the camera at a wide angle to show the entire group as one. Another skill that was improved during the project was my editing as cutting down the sheer abundance of footage taken to seven minutes was at first a small challenge although through the process of elimination and selective editing it was achieved .Furthermore due to audio issues encountered my skills at working round and editing audio have improved via experimenting with audio to gain the most preferable result.
A aspect of my studies I wished explored further and would of aided the project as a whole was more research in to different art styles and how best to present them in a focused method that has flair and partly experimental . this is as the research I have performed is on one hand effective it is predicable leading to workman like conclusions about the subject. In addition the other aspect of my studies I wish had explored was the method in which to present my work in non traditional formats, this would be difficult to do considering the medium of film although a possibly would of been to project this film on to a piece of the artwork from the prism gallery its self on the other hand this may of been a determent to the film as the image quality would be dramatically be reduced if this was done.
The film its self for fills the initial proposal of creating a documentary based around the festival of making as although the focus has shifted slightly from being about the festival of making as a whole and more towards focusing on a singular artist that is involed with festival. The equipment used to create the film was predictable but effective as it performed the job required of it successfully and how I had planned them to work with the exception of the Cannon XA10’s internal microphone causing a audio problem that caused a sequences audio to have a noticeable hum that though is mostly fixed via reducing the audio level proved a problem as various filters and the technique of isolating and removing it failed.
The meaning and message of the piece is to convey the idea of art to a wider audience as well as those involved with the arts already, I believe I was successful as following the example of ‘what artists do all day’ by presenting the artist as a relate able person and having the work on display next to the artist as they explain their meaning behind it. On the other hand it is a criticism of the work that I may of followed this example too closely and not branched out in to my own ideas enough and should of tried different things with the film such as having anther artist give their option on the art work as well .
I have chosen to present my film in the dedicated film screening that the media pathway is putting on a week before the exhibition night this is because a wider audience will see it because of the two screening that will be held presenting the film a audience of firstly peers on the course and secondly a general audience. Additionally the film will screened in the colleges screening room the optimum place to view the film as it provides the best facility available to fully be immersed in media. The event will be held with flair to best show and celebrate the absorbing nature of the films.
If I were to take on the project again I would change how I planned the research for the project as the research for the project was at times lacking focus and could of been improved with a greater range of sources being covered throughout the project as it progressed to its eventual state. Additionally I would change the way I handled my self on location as at times I was ineffective and lacked direction in my practical work a method in which this could of been improved would of been better planning of the filming sessions. On the other hand overall I am happy with the production has turned because when shown to a audience it engages and entertains as well being informative about the artist and the work that they have created.
In conclusion the project was a overall success as the it produced a final product that is to a high standard and can be used as example of my skills as a filmmaker to further my career in to the industry. Additionally the surrounding work in the project is to a high standard and any mistakes or errors I have made have been identified and corrected or used to show how I went wrong in places during the project displaying the improvements I would need to make if I was to under take a project this one again. Ultimately the project did not go as originally planned though with flair and intelligent decisions it was recovered and turned into a successful project.
joshua Clark 