Editing the Interview

I have uploaded the footage of the interview, and now it is on the computer screen, I am aware that the framing needs to be cropped in order to focus the attention on my subject, without distractions. It is clear that there is a lot of blank space, therefore I have experimented to include the best possible technique.

In order to make the interview seem more appealing and aesthetically pleasing to the audience, I am in the process of inserting 'cutaways' to reinforce the argument that the policeman presents. For example, I have included a shot of a cannabis plant when he mentions cannabis. Also, when he mentions harder drugs such as, cocaine and heroine, I have included a snippet from Danny Boyle's, "Trainspotting" which highlights some of the issues like, drug use which I am presenting.

Below is the video which inspired some of the clips I have introduced:

I also feel that by using certain clips from the film "Trainspotting" to reinforce the issues that the policeman raises about how drugs have contributed to the rise in crime levels, the target audience can relate to the film they may have previously watched. This is an example of intertextuality, as the audience can bring their meaning and interpretations to the documentary, providing a deeper insight into the topic.

The Interview

Today, I was lucky enough to interview a local community policeman. It was neccessary that I asked enough questions relating to my particular topic. I do not need to use all of my footage, therefore I will choose the best questions and answers that will relate to the police system's views on the two-sided argument regarding cannabis. Below are the questions I asked which provided me with a deeper insight into the Law on the drug and the problems it raises in society:


Questions

Editing

During today's lesson, I have began to modify one of the songs I am using in order to use the correct extract of music, which will consequently fit in time with my documentary. I have shown the process below:

1

Firstly, by choosing "Clip Trimmer", this allowed me to make adjustments in order to suit what was needed. 

2

As the beginning of this song was silent and unnecessary for my documentary, this image displays the cropping process in iMovie.

3

Consequently, this has enabled me to fit the particular extract of music into where I require it. 

Editing

In this lesson, I have started to insert text boxes consisting of facts and figures into my documentary. I did this by creating a "picture in picture" in Photoshop which consequently allowed me to create the text which is the correct size in proportion with the clip it is featured in. 

Firstly, I chose the particular clip that I wanted the text to feature on.

Next, I inserted this image into Photoshop and inserted the statistics into a text box.

Finally, I removed the background, so this allowed me to save the file as a PNG, which therefore enabled me to insert the text into my documentary.

As I began to insert the editing clips, I realised that the font and layout did not look as professional as it potentially could be. Therefore, I changed the font to 'Helvetica' which is commonly used and widely recognised within documentaries and media products. 

Editing

In today's lesson, I have inserted a snippet of an audio clip (Joy Division - Atmosphere), in the later stages on the editing process when I have inserted the voiceover, the documentary will flow more thoroughly.

Research into Editing

Whilst researching, I found a short five minute documentary by the NHS called "Cannabis: real stories", I was particularly interested by the real life stories that addicts were unravelling as it demonstrated the truth behind the health issues from the drug.

I particularly like the cutaways used, as one shot in particular displays the visual effects of cannabis, similar to what my aim is with the traffic scene. 

My Documentary

Editing

In today's lesson I have started to edit the speeds and timings of various clips. As I thought that the traffic scene still appeared too slow after speeding it up and was not providing the particular effect that I hoped for, I increased the speed further to "2000%", as shown below:

This has allowed me to produce the 'effects of cannabis' in visual video form.

Editing

As I have completed some of my filming, I am now editing the footage on iMovie, as shown below:

Here I have adjusted the 'clip settings' by increasing the speed of the clip in order to create a busy effect in the street. This will give the audience an insight into the types of people that could smoke cannabis on an everyday basis.

As I am inserting a voiceover when I have completed my footage, it was necessary that I decreased the volume of all the clips to eliminate the baffled sounds, in order for my documentary to both appear and sound more professional. 

Abstract Shots

I managed to arrange a time to meet with the model featured in these clips, which has allowed me to start focussing the documentary on what I need to include. It has also enabled me to begin editing during these last few lessons and attempt to make the documentary more professional. The model's direct mode of address is perfect for this type of topic. I am particularly pleased with the lighting throughout as it reinforces the documentary's identity, and presents a 'dark' image on what could be seen as a 'dark' topic. 

In the following weeks, I will be interviewing a policeman where I will gain his perspectives on cannabis in society. This will be shown in another post. This will therefore leave me with a large editing process and perhaps a requirement for more abstract shots. During this editing process, I will input music into the documentary to provide a tone and atmosphere.

Research into TV listings guide

For the other ancillary text, I have chosen to complete a double page spread of a TV listings guide with my documentary as the featured article. Below are the types of TV guides that I looked into when creating my own product:

Research into TV Listing Guides

Research into Newspaper Advertisements for Documentaries

To accompany my documentary, I am creating a newspaper advertisement for one of the ancillary texts. Below shows my research into newspaper advertisements demonstrating the aim of promoting documentaries. This gave me the opportunity to gain a deeper insight into the particular codes and conventions featured in marketing texts. This, I believe, will consequently benefit my texts in the production stages, making the products appear as aesthetically pleasing to the audience as possible, which is the primary aim.

Research into Music in Documentaries

Here are some ideas for music that I plan to use within the documentary:

  

Leftfield - Melt

  

Joy Division - Atmosphere

DJ Shadow - Building Steam with a Grain of Salt

By choosing a variety of music for my documentary, this will accompany the visual representation being shown on screen and reinforce the genre and different moods of my documentary. The chosen music is also likely to appeal to the target audience as they can relate and may even be fans of the types of music.

My chosen Mode of Documentary

After planning and filming some aspects of my documentary, I believe it will take the form of an 'Expository' documentary, using techniques such as:

• Voiceover narration
• Direct address
• Commenting using text throughout the documentary

These features are typically used to inform an audience about a topic they are unaware of, and also, these types of documentaries present an argument without being objective. This is similar to what I hope to create as I am showing the "double edged sword" regarding cannabis.
This powerpoint displays the various modes of documentaries and examples of documentaries where the techniques are used.