Our finished documentary about Abdul the taxi driver:
Reflection 4.
I found this module Researching for Media Production very enjoyable as I have learnt many new things about the industry, firstly, I never realised how much research is put into creating a piece of media. Consequently, I feel that I am now more prepared and know what to expect when beginning my career. Furthermore, we came across a number of problems during our production process that I feel will help me during the next 2 years of Media Production, as I now know that efficient planning will make my task a whole lot easier. This is because our first attempt at filming an interview with Abdul went terribly wrong due to the wet weather conditions. This then resulted in a dark and miserable impression on our documentary. Therefore, we decided to re-shoot this scene on a day that would be sunnier as well as an earlier time so we don’t risk dark footage, yet Abdul didn’t arrive until the late afternoon which still created an under exposed film. Nonetheless, after receiving feedback, the darkness in the background worked well with the context of the documentary and anchored the frightening experience Abdul went through.
Other than that, I feel everything else ran smoothly through the production process as we finished the editing process with plenty of time for alterations and we worked well as a group, bouncing of each others ideas and allocating roles fairly. In terms of the roles, I found myself the photographer for all of the production process, capturing it in images so I could post them on my blog, I also spent time filming, for instance, I filmed the scenes at night that have the slow shutter speed to create the stringing effect and also a couple of angles whereby we filmed Abdul within the taxi. When editing however, I found that we did not allocate roles, but rather worked as a group and each put our opinions across at what we believed would look better. I feel that my knowledge in editing is quite good as I am fairly confident when using Avid, however, my editorial judgment is rather the opposite as I feel that I cannot make accurate decisions during the editing process on my own and I need someone with me to either confirm or alter the decisions that I have made. Consequently, my teamwork skills are high as I work well within a group when making decisions and going through the production process, yet I can still work effectively as an individual emphasised through the work on my blog as it shows the research I did towards the module and also my contribution towards the production.
Overall, I found that I am now more aware about the sheer amount of effort that goes into creating a film, even before the production process. Furthermore, because I was able to contribute more towards the editing procedure, I now feel more confident when using Avid and also I feel that my skills have developed. Lastly, this experience I have gained through documentary making will be very helpful towards my future career.
