Made In Sheffield: Final 10 minute Documentary

http://vimeo.com/114823587

Editing process

As editor for Documentary, I was keen to create a story from all of the footage we filmed over the past few weeks. There weren't any major problems with editing, only a couple of days i was unable to go to an edit session but a lot of our filming had been postponed anyway due to our contributors; making the editing sessions pushed back a few times until we filmed the contributors. We began with plans to interview each contributor early on in the process and we had got in contact with them; receiving their approval to be involved in the film.

However, many times we came across different problems with the filming for example Kane (the General Director of The Forum) could not attend a couple of dates that Hannah had suggested we meet him and we had to wait until he was free. As well as our other contributor, Lucy (from Syd and Mallory) we decided to film someone from The Green Room; Bill, and he gave us a lot more to work with aswell for our Devonshire Area part of the film.

As we began to form a narrative structure for the film, we felt at a standstill as we couldn't work out a desirable structure to present our story. We didn't want to simply show footage of the city followed by shots of the Devonshire Area, with a couple of interviews in between. We wanted a more interesting and appealing approach to our story and felt we had to split it into 3 main sections;

1) Descriptions of Devonshire Area by contributors and footage of the area
2) Introduction/revelation of the issue (demolition plans) and footage of the city
3) Contributors talking about the effect plans have for Devonshire shops with footage of the quirky independent shops

It took us a while to figure out the structure we wanted but eventually it became easier throughout the editing process and included a variety of different features, such as screengrabs of articles featuring the demolition plans covered by a voiceover and also music we recorded from a busker we met one day while filming. Although sometimes the editing was shared between us, I took on the role in order to expand my skills and felt I have learnt a lot through this process and had the others also there to help me. Despite there being times of stress and not knowing what direction we were going in with the edit at certain times, we pulled through and found the desired narrative structure that we wanted.

Final documentary: Filming

For the final 10 minute filming I was unable to attend the filming for the city shots but went along to the days where we filmed around the Devonshire Area. We had to revisit this a number of times, after many tutorials and changes to our visions for the film, we felt we had to keep improving the footage that we captured. There was so many quirky and interesting parts of the area to film, from vintage shop signs to paintings on shop windows and friendly messages to encourage the community to have a good day. We had a lot of footage to look through after many days filming in the Devonshire Quarter and found it hard at times to choose which we had to keep out of the film; or it would be too much footage in a short space of time.

Due to our film being on a more poetic approach, Sarah as cinematographer filmed many parts of the area through different angles and I asked to have a go filming some of the scenery. I was keen to experiment with different angles and filmed various signs close up as well as buildings from a wide angle shot. I was surprised and very happy to hear compliments from Hannah and Sarah about how I was holding the camera so still. I was surprised as I have filmed scenes before with quite shaky hands and the others felt some of our footage they had filmed at the beginning of the project had a slightly shaky image. This boosted my confidence a lot with filming and felt more involved on set rather than having to wait until post-production to fulfil my role.

Filming: Bill (Barman at The Green Room)

Unfortunately, a few times when visiting the Green Room for an interview we were told we had just missed the manager and also the member of staff who he had recommended for the film. The manager wasn't keen on being on camera so we were told his barman, Bill, would be happy to get involved. We arranged a day to film him and although it was only possible close to our deadline we still wanted to get as much footage of those in the Devonshire Quarter as possible.

All of us were available on that day and after deciding on a location in the Green Room to film, we interviewed Bill on his views on the area and the plans/ Hannah was the interviewer while Sarah filmed and Emily recorded the sound. Although, due to being editor and not having an on set role officially, I helped with a couple of questions to ask Bill and also filmed particular features of the Green Room. I'd never been so fascinated with a building/bar before but the decorations and props were full of well known bands and vintage signs such as a Hollywood sign and artistic drawings of Arctic Monkey's Alex Turner. I also filmed an archway in the bar that featured lots of posters advertising band nights and concerts of unknown artists.

Filming: Kane Yeardley (General Director of The Forum)

Although we originally had planned to interview Kane a couple of times before, he had not been able to make these dates but finally we arranged a day where he was available in between his busy schedule. Although only Hannah and I were able to attend the interview, Hannah took on the role of cinematographer and interviewer while I was sound recordist in place of Emily. We still helped each other such as Hannah asking my opinion of the frame she had set up and also my questions to Hannah about certain queries with the Zoom. We were happy with the background behind Kane; a bar with staff busily working away and lights making the frame connoting a warm atmosphere; something we definitely wanted to promote about the Devonshire Area. Although the Forum isn't involved in the demolition plans, Kane still passionately gives his opinion of the plans and how all of the shops are essentially a community and make up the Independent Quarter. 

One of the problems we faced on the day was a customer in the background constantly coughing throughout our interview and although Hannah asked Kane a couple of times to repeat his answers, we never got the full answers he previously stated. Also, whenever we asked him to repeat a question the customer behind coughed at them certain times again yet there was nothing we could do due to Kane's busy schedule. We also felt that in the footage, Kane's voice wasn't as passionate or vibrant as we had hoped but there was nothing we could do and worked with the answers he gave us; which were still opinionated and good for talking about the demolition plans.

The Star: Celebrating Sheffield's Independent Traders

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/business/business-news/call-to-celebrate-sheffield-s-vibrant-independent-traders-1-6989289

As we were creating our film we came across an article celebrating the independent businesses in the area. This gave us even more reason to be determined in creating a film representing the quirkiness and independence of traders that are at risk of the demolition plans. This article portrays the traders in an optimistic light as it is 'celebrating' their presence and signifies the sense of community that appears in the Devonshire Area of Sheffield.