Link to video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs4OS-DS9tU&feature=youtu.be

Evaluation

MOVING IMAGE PRODUCTION NARRATIVE MODULE

EVALUATION PROFORMA

Leon Riley

1. CRITICALLY REFLECT ON YOUR FINISHED FILM AND IT'S STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES - ANALYSE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT YOU INTENDED TO DO AND WHAT YOU HAVE ACTUALLY ACHIEVED. (APPROX 600 WORDS)

I will start with the strengths of my film starting with perhaps the biggest strength, our main contributor Tacho Franch. He is a tattooist and has over twelve years of experience so we had lots of knowledge and genuine passion to tap into for our interview. I feel that we may have wasted this resource a little as Tacho had travelled all around the world doing Tattoos but we did not get him to go into detail about his travels and tell us stories about his experiences along the way which we could have found really interesting cutaways for in our film. My biggest disappointment in this film is not using Tacho to our full advantage and only really scratching the surface of what he had to say. Tacho did have some very interesting opinions and information to give about tattooing as a whole and his preferences or how he likes to do his job. His Passion was clear to see and the same passion was also visible in one of our interviews with Caroline Beet as she was Tacho’s apprentice and clearly had a lot of passion for what she was doing. I thought that the cinematography in the film was strong and most of it was visually very interest especially because of the interesting characters and location that was very nicely decorated with eye catching objects. The only problem with the cinematography was that one camera died on the day (not the battery it actually broke) and we had to make do with the spare camera giving us less time to get enough nice cutaways causing the variety to be a bit lacking in the final edit. The sound was a clear weakness as we struggled to get clean enough sound with all the background noise in the shop whether it be from the tattoo gun, music or just people talking over the interview. This meant that it could be difficult to hear what people were saying in the interview and this also caused a problem hearing Tacho because of his Argentinean accent. I think one strength of the film was also that it was very watchable as nobody seemed to get bored as it was full of nice aesthetic shots to keep people’s attention and the subjects of our interviews were very interesting people. Our intention was to get a very aesthetically pleasing and bright look to our film which was hindered slightly by us losing the better camera on the day but I think we managed to get a quite nice look to the final film anyway as it was still bright and clear. We intended for the sound to be a lot clearer but unfortunately the microphone we got was simply not up to the job that we intended it for so if we were to do it again we would probably have a clip on microphone. We would also have to ask everybody to be quieter in the shop although we did not want to detract from the general mood and atmosphere of the shop. Overall I think the film was very close to what we intended and for a two person group we did quite successfully shoot both the visual and sound quite well as we had taken on the roles that were supposed to be filled by five and done them as a pair. Another thing I thought was really strong was the opening scene of our film where the camera tracks down towards the shop and ends up on the sign outside with superimposed footage from the film fading in and out over the shot. This is my favourite shot from the film and I think it makes for a strong opening.

2. REVIEW THE PROCESS OF MAKING THE WORK AND WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT FROM IT. (APPROX 400 WORDS)

During the process of making our work I have found that ensuring that you definitely have your contributor on board is important as we lost our main contributor and had to think of a new idea really quickly. During the process of filming the biggest issue for us would have been the camera breaking but luckily we had a spare and had to adapt and simply use this camera making the shots look the same using colour correction. We have learned since showing our film that during the shoot we should have been more demanding and told the contributors exactly what we wanted from them instead of being too polite and making our film a little bit pedestrian or fly on the wall style. When not having a 2^nd camera to use our two camera set up we had to adapt on the shoot and gather cutaways after interviews had been shot, we have learnt that if we were to do that again we should take notes and then be much more considered in the cutaways that we were collecting. The biggest issue came for us with the editing as we had only two people in our group and neither of us were editors so we were quite new to what we were doing. I cut the film together and then we watched what we had. We then decided to add the interviews from the other tattooists and the small bit from the person Tacho was tattooing. The general opinion on these interviews was that they detracted from what Tacho was saying rather than backing him up so in hindsight we would have just left these interviews out or maybe placed them somewhere else in the film. We also had a lot of trouble exporting so we have had to get help and have learned a lot about the exporting process. The whole editing process in its entirety has been a huge learning curve for us both. If I was to film the whole thing again I would go back and get more considered cutaways and with a bit more luck have two working cameras to get more coverage. I would also get faked shots of Tacho doing his tattoo so that we could record the sound of him speaking without the buzz of the tattoo gun or people talking in the background.   

3. DISCUSS YOUR INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION TO MAKING THE WORK, YOUR APPROACH TO GROUP WORK AND ANY PROBLEMS OR CHALLENGES YOU ENCOUNTERED WORKING AS PART OF A TEAM. (APPROX 400 WORDS)

We worked as a pair to make our film meaning that we shared pretty much every role. I did the bulk of Cinematography and Hannah was doing sound at the same time then during the edit I cut the picture and Hannah edited the sound. We did not have many problems apart from having to multi task and perform so much of the work on our own. I found the Cinematography role quite easy as I have done it many times before but the editing was a problem with my limited experience I did not know how to change the footage into the right format and had to learn to use Mpeg Streamclip. I also had trouble structuring my documentary as I found the editing process quite hard to get my head around with so many different clips in front of me I had forgotten how I had planned them during filming. Hannah is currently doing the sound skills module so she took over the audio aspect of the film leaving me to concentrate purely on the structure and the aesthetics of our film. I did encounter a problem when structuring the film as I did not have a solid starting point and I was overwhelmed by the volume of shots we had and I had no idea of how to file them in a clear order. Another problem with the shooting was that if one of us was busy that meant only one person was free so we couldn’t shoot but on the other hand this also meant that we got a few more opportunities as we did not have to wait for 4/5 people to be free for a shoot. I would say that we shared the producer role as we sorted out getting contributors and equipment together and Hannah compiled short shot lists but the shooting on the day was more organic. The final problem was literally the limitations of the amount of equipment we could book out because we did not have as many people we had to carry as much as we could (tracks, tripod, microphones ect) I also think that the way in which both myself and Hannah could interact with the staff of Follow Your Dreams contributed greatly to the confidence of the interviewees on camera making for much more interesting responses and natural conversation.

4.  WITH REFERENCE TO THE TEXTS GIVEN IN SESSIONS AND THE MATERIALS ON THE READING LIST; REVIEW YOUR APPROACH TO MAKING THE WORK AND LOCATE YOUR PRACTICE WITHIN A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. (APPROX 600 WORDS)

My approach to making this piece of work started with simply coming up with the idea for what I wanted to make a documentary about. The initial idea was to interview a busker and find out what motivated him and how the general public perceived him. This idea could not be realised because the contributor pulled out and decided he did not want to be filmed so we had to come up with a completely new idea. To come up with this new idea I tried to think of something local that had caught my interest and stood out as something of interest that I would gladly film. The thing I settled on was a small independent Tattoo shop called Follow Your Dreams which is situated under the Common Room in a small boutique shopping centre called the forum. The work I have done does not really relate heavily theories but practices and styles of documentary film making. It sits somewhere on the line between an informative/expose documentary telling the truth with no bias and a fly on the wall style documentary where the camera is injected into the life of the subject and they are supposed to go about their lives as if it is not there. I think the conversational style of the interviews serves to create the fly on the wall illusion of this documentary but the informative and knowledgeable answers that the contributors give suggest a more serious documentary. In this documentary we have also used a style of interviewing where we ask the questions but cut the interviewer from the final edit so that the person being interviewed has to include the question in their answer as if they are having a conversation with the audience but we made them look slightly off camera as to not make them seem intimidating to the audience as people looking directly down the camera can put people off as it makes them aware that the camera is there. The main thing we wanted to do is capture the essence of this tattoo studio so the fly on the wall style conversation coupled with the bright and aesthetic shooting style was quite successful in doing so as it complements the friendly and happy atmosphere of the studio. 

Why a Tattoo Studio?

While Tattoo studios are not a new and original thing to be covered by a documentary we felt that this Tattoo studio had a unique feel to it diverse from any other Tattoo studio that we had seen before either in person or on TV/documentaries. Specifically because of the unique story behind the owner of the shop Tacho. This is due to his background and history that has led him to owning this shop in Sheffield and the long journey that he has been on. We had hoped to get a more in depth insight into his life but failed to really get enough information out of him on the day and this was due to our interviewing rather than Tacho not being willing to talk about himself or his opinions.

Major Project - Treatment

TREATMENT

Working title: Follow Your Dreams

Length: 5-10 Mins

Format: Documentary

Short synopsis:

What is the film about?

  ‘Follow your dreams’ documents the life in the day of a tattoo studio in Sheffield. It highlights the importance of getting a tattoo that is right for you, as well as focusing on main artists such as ‘Tacho’, whom has travelled the world doing this profession.

Mid-Length synopsis/outline (250 words):

What is the core subject matter of your film? How will the story unfold? What are the themes/issues/arguments you are trying to uncover? Who are the key contributors? What makes them interesting? What will we learn about them? Use visual language the aim is to bring the story alive and the characters off the page.

  The underlining subject matter of the film is the way in which a tattoo can be a piece of art, and portray something meaningful to you. Rather than focusing on why people have tattoos, the 10 minute documentary will focus more on how they are created, following the process through from conception to having one done. The story will unfold through using various interesting images and editing techniques, such as time lapses that demonstrate the day in a life of the ‘Follow Your Dreams’ tattoo studio.

  The core arguments we plan to uncover, is to represent the reasoning behind people having a tattoo, and how it can make them feel. Often, it can give a person confidence, or remind them of a loved one.  The owner of the studio, Tacho Franch, will be a main feature of the film, concentrating on his experience in the field and the way he tattoos. 

  The audience will learn about Tacho Franch’s way of tattooing, through specific interviews, planned to take place whilst he does so. This will demonstrate his method to this form of artwork, and present to the audience something that they may not have personally seen before. Franch’s background in the business is also a key subject, as his 15 years in the field is interesting and establishes his experience. 

  A relaxed and friendly atmosphere that is present from within the studio, will allow the contributors to stand out to the audience, along with the vivid colours and imagery on screen.

Analysis of approach (500 words):

How will you make this film? What will it look and sound like? What is its style? What are the techniques used? What works were inspirational to the film? What works does it resemble? What is its mood? Its ambience?  Demonstrate enthusiasm and a distinctive visual/aural voice here. Include references to TWO films that you have watched as research.

  We will be making this film in a quite close and intimate style where the artists can be closely viewed by the audience and it will give the audience a better chance of connecting with them on an emotional level. The film will look quite bright and natural so that the audience will feel as if they are seeing it from their own point of view, in a similar style to Sign Language – Anthony Gurner (http://vimeo.com/9573920).  This film has a close style and is fun and relatable. 

  As for the sound in the piece, atmos tracks of within the studio will be a predominant aspect, as well as the background music from this space. I also plan to include elements of tracks I feel fit, probably modern music that go with the design of the studio.

  The film will have a relaxed and friendly mood, combined with a fairly edgy atmosphere. Jump cuts will be used to fit with the character and tone of the piece. Vivid colours will help demonstrate the style of tattoos the studio tends to design, as well as form a visually pleasing look for the audience. 

  ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’ by Banksy, is a good example for the relatively gritty style to the film. Hand-held footage is used a lot within this particular piece and I think that this is something that will work well in our own. It’s interesting and memorable ending shot of the wall being knocked down provides a good metaphor for Banksy’s thoughts on Mister Brainwash’s artwork. I think that the subtle humor in this film keeps it light-hearted and easy to watch - something that I think is essential for our film.

  The ‘characters’ in our film will be what entertains the audience and keep them involved in the film. Tacho Franch is an interesting character that has been through a journey as part of his career, where he has visited many countries. Interviews with him will expand on this and inform the audience on his travels.

Filmmaker biography (50-100 words) :

What kind of documentary maker or filmmaker are you? What are the themes in your work? How do you approach work? Do you have any awards?

As a film maker I want these documentaries to be quite light hearted and approachable for the audience but not pointless… they should have a serious undertone but approached in an easily digestible and un offensive manner. Themes in my work include a lot of handheld as I like the close personal feel of it as the audience can feel as if they are actually there and not just watching from a camera fixed to a tripod. Audience engagement is very important to me in every film I make, even documentaries. I approach work in quite a relaxed manner and try to make the entire cast/crew feel comfortable as being too serious can intimidate people and stifle them when we go to film.  

Influence

We have been influenced in our visual style in a small amount by documentaries such as "fifty people one question"

The shallow focus and high exposure make for a very aesthetic shot also creating a good mood that reflects the atmosphere of the tattoo studio. This idea was key for us as we wanted to visual style of our film to directly reflect the mood of the studio and knowing what the studio would be like beforehand made it easier to research ways in which we could achieve this.

Hannah also found an effect called the Ken Burns effects which she wanted to try to replicate in our film so I had a look at the pictures and figured out how to replicate this. Unfortunately the better camera died on the day and was beyond repair (some kind of internal fault) and we had to use the back-up meaning we could not do as good a job of replicating the effect but did the best we could with high exposure and shallow focus.