Editing and filming

Editing and filming have been going quite slowly at the moment, which is quite fustrating.
I have chosen a Greek song called "zorbas" that i would like to use for my documentary. The song starts of slow and gradually gets faster, i would use this song for the opening of the documentary. I have been re-viewing the footage that i have and seeing what i would be useful and what wouldn't. I haven't placed any of the footage in order/sequence yet because i need more interviews and footage. i am intending to film some fun shots of my family and my birthday party on sunday, along with some traditional greek dancing and plate smashing. Next week i would like to interview my mum and the weekend after i hope to film the cook along session with my brother and cousin at my grandparents house, as well as interviewing my grandad.

Editing

I have recently been going through the footage that i filmed last week. I have been noting down what parts of the footage would be useful. I have separated the long 50 min interview into different sections in terms of the question asked. for example "role within the family" or "challenges for greek youths growing up in Britain?" This will prove useful when i go back to pick out certain parts of the footage that i will want to use for my documentary.

I have also been editing other footage, such as the single shots of different photos to use in the opening of the documentary. i have edited each clip so they are 17 seconds long, i am happy with the continuation of each clip and how they look good as quick edits.

I am still waiting on the drawings for the animation at the beginning, which i hope to get by the end of this week so i can start editing them next week.

What do I want from my documentary?

Before filming i started to note down exactly what I wanted from this documentary. This was very useful as it gave me a clear perspective during filming of what i wanted. It also helped when i wrote the interview questions. whilst writing the questions i was looking back thinking if any of them were answering my objectives.

1. Introduce people to a real Greek family.
2. Identify the contrast of opinions between the older and younger people in the family about their culture.
3. Give people an insight into Greek food.
4. Focus on what it is like for a young Greek person growing up in Britain today.

starting production-9/11/08

The start of filming was very successful. I managed to get the interview with my Grandma done, The long shot of her house, and a panning shot of some family photos. I also got some extra stuff filmed that could be useful to put in the documentary, like my Grandma pointing at photos of her grandchildren, which i think will add great comedy value. The interview went on for a very long time,nearly an hour and because we only had one tape, i didnt get to film any other footage that could of been useful.
Before filming are re-wrote the interview questions and planned a shot list:

Shot list

• Interview with Grandma
• Long shot of house
• Panning shot of family photos

Interview questions:

• Why do you think traditions have changedin your Greek family?
• How do you think the younger people in your Greek family see theri culture?
• What is your opinion of Greek food? (Is it important in the Greek culture?)
• How do you feel about cooking for the family?
• Do you think that the younger people in your family are aware of how to cook traditional Greek food?
• What do you think your role is within your family?
• What do you like most about being Greek?

I found that during the interview i didnt stick to these questions the whole time,other questions came naturally, that followed up anything she had mentioned in her answers.

Overall filming was a success, and i have imported the footage on the computer ready to edit.

Looking forward to the next led of filming.

plans for 1st leg of filming

It has been agreed that on Sunday the 9th of November my teacher and i will go to my grandparents house to start filming. The day would consist of filming an interview with my Grandma and using the mise-en-scene of the house to make tracking shots, which i could use in the documentary.
I will need: shot list, storyboard, camera, tape, tracking poles, microphone (boom), interview questions, and tri-pod.

Plannning- the opening

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD3y43cyddI

The opening of goodfellas has chracter introductions. I like the way that in this clip the camera moves slowly arounf the room, i think this would be useful to use in the opening of my documentary. I would introduce the main chratacters of the documentary as well as emphasising that the Greek family is big.