Production Log: Cinematography Preparation

Production Log, Part Four: Cinematography Preparation

Go to the interview site a day or two before your scheduled shoot in order to do some scouting. Write an entry considering the following: the setting and precise framing of the shot; the establishing shots; potential cut-away and cut-in shots. Why are you doing the interview there and how are you setting up the shot? What is revealed about the interviewee by the choice of setting and framing? How will the establishing shots, CASs, and CISs provide context for the interview and tie it into the rest of the documentary? Finally, how can you link your interview visually to the rest of the documentary? Do you refer to any of our collective visual motifs? Is there another motif that we should bring into the whole documentary?

The filming will go as follows:

Establishing shot of the band room, pan to the marching field where we practice, pan back to the band room.

Student Interviews: Inside the band room. If it is too noisy for good-quality sound for the interview, there will be another establishing shot of the band room and the people practicing in it. The interview will then be conducted within either of the sound-proofed practice rooms (the Tuba Room and the Percussion Room) or outside on the patio. However, the interview will take place in the main band room if at all possible. When I am interviewing only one person, I will use medium close-up framing. If I am interviewing two people, or a person holding their instrument, I will use mid-shot framing or wide-shot framing, depending on the size of the instrument. The setting of the band room serves several purposes: it is convenient for those being interviewed, it shows non-band students what the band room looks like, and it sets the proper atmosphere for a series of interviews about band.

Interview with the Director and Drum Major(s) : Inside the Band Directors’ sound-proof office. There will be an establishing shot of the entire office before the interview. I will use mid-shot framing to include both people and a bit of the office. The office will be used for the interview because it is convenient for the interviewees, it is soundproof, and it shows the Directors’ working place.

Cut-in shots:
I’m not sure that I will be using cut-in shots. It seems a bit odd to suddenly move from an interviewee’s face to their hands with no explanation, and such a tactic may throw them off-guard or prompt them to ask what we are doing, which would interrupt the flow of the interview. Also, I don’t see that cut-in shots will add much to these interviews. As I stated above, students holding instruments will have mid-shot or possibly even wide-shot framing (depending on the instrument’s size), to allow the audience to see the instrument, how it is held, how its owner treats it, and so on. Cut-in shots don’t really seem necessary.

Cut-away shots:
Unlike cut-in shots, I think that cut-away shots could add great value to the interviews. Instead of simply watching people talk, we could insert footage of the band’s morning practices, or a halftime performance. I would especially like to get a shot of the Dancer cadence (also known as the ‘jumping-up-and-down-song’) at a football game, because it really shows the effect the band has on the crowd, along with the allowing the opportunity for a close up of the band ‘in action.’ Another possibility for cut-aways would be to include shots of the interviewees practicing their respective instruments. These shots could be inserted into each respective interviewee’s allotted time, so that as we heard a person talking, we also saw them practicing their instrument. Another nice cut-away would be to simply set up the camera in a corner of the band room and just show people socializing, practicing, coming in and out, and so on. This would show the normal after-school atmosphere of the band room, which—while nothing new to band students—could be interesting (or disappointing, depending on previous expectations) to non-band people.

Linking it to the rest of the documentary:
I plan to obtain footage of the band’s performances at football games. A possible way to link the band section to the rest of the documentary would be to move the focus of both the camera and the documentary from the band’s performance at games to the football team itself, or to the cheerleaders or fans.

Production Log: Interview Preparation

Production Log, Part Three: Interview Preparation

Redefine your essential questions, target audience and desired response based on your research and follow-up. Then draw up specific goals for the interview you’ve decided to conduct and reflect on the following questions: How do you see this interview fitting into the documentary as a whole? What angle are you going to use to get what you want out of the interview? (What’s your plan of attack, so to speak?) Next, sketch out the questions—both baseline (contextualizing / informational) and complicating—that you need to accomplish your goals. Finally (and most importantly), rethink your approach. Try to anticipate some of the ways in which your interview might turn out differently than expected. What assumptions have you made in composing your questions ? (There’ll probably be a lot of them!)

Though our documentary as a whole is about all the stereotypes at Punahou, I am covering only those that have to do with band. The series of interviews I will be making will fit easily in the documentary, because band is one of the major groups that is stereotyped very often. Because of this, everyone I will be interviewing will be associated with the band in some way. The target audience for this particular segment will be those in band, those who stereotype band students, and those interested in band. Hopefully my interviews will give non-band students information to form different, more accurate opinions on band students. More specifically, I want the interviews to show varying personalities, age groups, and opinions throughout the band. Some interviews will provide information, and others will be more for entertainment value. Others will be both—amusing even as they provide insights.

Questions~
(Required questions are in bold print)

Who are you?
-What grade are you in?
-What instrument do you play?
-What role do you play in the band (i.e. membership, section leader, etc.)
What social groupings do you see around you at Punahou?
Which do you associate yourself with?
Can we follow you?
How do you feel about the stereotypes associated with your social group?
Do you think there are ethnic stereotypes at Punahou? Do you think ethnicity affects who hangs out with who?
Have you ever been stereotyped or trash-talked because of your involvement with the band?
What do you think the stereotypical ‘band geek’ is, and what do you think of that stereotype?
What stereotypes about the band do you think are the most insulting or inaccurate? Which do you think are the most accurate?
What frustrates you most about band stereotypes?
What are some facts about band that you think would surprise those not in it? What are some facts about band that you wish people outside of it knew?
What are some stereotypes within the band? How are they used (i.e. as jokes, or in an insulting way)? Are they wide-spread? How accurate are they, if at all?
How involved are you in the band? How do you feel about the band (i.e. do you enjoy it, do you particularly like it, or is it just another class)?

Obviously, few (if any) of these interviews will go exactly as planned. I have made several assumptions when choosing my questions, one of the biggest being that the people I am interviewing actually care about band and are aware of the stereotypes surrounding it and within it. However, I know everyone that I am interviewing, and I know that all of them are involved enough and care enough about the band to be aware of all of these things. However, not everyone will necessarily be willing to open up and discuss stereotypes freely. If that is the case, the interview will not get very far, and will probably have to be cut. Other than that, I don’t see any big potential problems other than technical ones having to do with the equipment.

Critical Thinking: Photo Analyzation

Post a photograph of some person to your blog and analyze it. Look at the size of the shot, the angle, what's included in the background, how the background is distinguished from the foreground, etc, etc. That concluded, you need to imagine a relevant cut-away or cut-in for the photograph you've selected. What companion piece would emphasize something about this person (according to your analysis of the photograph)? Use details from the photo to support your argument.



This photo is instantly recognizable to anyone who knows much of anything about the history of England or of World War Two: Winston Churchill (recognizable even without his usual cigar), with his famous ‘V for Victory’ gesture. During the war, Churchill was one of the most inspirational figures of his time, and this photo captures that feeling well.

From a non-historical standpoint, the photo is still a good one. The ‘mid-shot’ of Churchill makes it very obvious that he is the subject of the photograph, and there are no distractions. Because the photo was taken straight-on, the photographer is able to show us the Minister’s usual wear (normal at the time, but old-fashioned to us)—bowler hat, watch and chain, waistcoat, and so on. More importantly, we see Churchill’s eyes, his smile, and the simple gesture that he used to install hope in his people. The iron work behind and wall behind him suggests that he is on the steps of some building, perhaps at the Ministry—but his location is not important to the photo. The only thing really important to the photo is Churchill himself, and what he symbolizes.

Keeping that in mind, Churchill was not the only important person in the war. A good cut-away shot could include a number of things—perhaps a photograph of his American counterpart, Franklin Roosevelt, or Hitler, the man they were fighting. Footage of the Luftwaffe bombing London would also be effective, or, if you were angling for something more shocking, Auschwitz or the bodies on Normandy beach. Anything pertaining to the war or to Churchill’s personal life would work well, though the final choice would depend on what message is trying to be conveyed. If it is about Churchill’s personal life, then a photograph of his wife or the letters they sent each other would be appropriate. If it was about the war, then any of the suggestions mentioned above would work well, along with many other possibilities.