Matt Howard Media FMP

FMP Evaluation

When I began this project my intention was to paint a true picture of what it is to be a pagan in modern day Britain. By filming within my own pagan community at events that I attended as a pagan and by interviewing members of that community. I understood that this would be a challenge on many levels, firstly as this would be my first film project which would take me right out of my comfort zone. Secondly, two of the main events only happened at that particular time so I would only have one shot at getting the footage that I needed there would be no option for a re-take. I also had to take into account the physical limitations of my disability and would need a reliable crew to support me. One of the biggest challenges however, would be time itself – this was a large project and to get it completed in time would require a lot of organisation, I also had to begin the project early to ensure all the shoots could be done.

Research.

Most of my research for this project has been a little difficult to document as most of it has either come from my own knowledge as a practising pagan or by speaking to other pagans within the community, by attending moots, rituals and gatherings and by listening to guest speakers and suchlike. As opposed to the reading of books etc. The issue with using book style research within a project on paganism is that there is no one answer and no right or wrong way unlike the more conventional religions such as Christianity, Islam or Judaism where there is one book that tells you everything you need to know. A common quote within the pagan community states that “if you ask 100 pagans the same question, you will get 101 different answers”. However, I did make use of the internet to research elements of the project like sourcing music for the titles and credits, broadcasting criteria for television companies etc. The interviews and shoots themselves were also a form of research as these led the way in which the further shoots were done and the content that was included in the final film.

Filming the project

If we look at each shoot in turn this will give a clearer picture of how this was achieved.

Imbolc Shoot. 2/2/13

I had been invited to a well dressing and imbolc ritual at the beginning of February and after contacting the organisers was invited to film the event in Bromborough on the Wirral. This meant putting a crew together at short notice so I decided to just go with a second camera operator and run a basic 2 camera setup this meant a minimal amount of kit would be needed and would make the logistics of the shoot much simpler. This also lead to a few small issues, neither of us were very experienced cameramen which led to a few footage hiccups while we were getting used to the equipment (coupled with the awkward terrain leading to stumbling over tree roots mid shoot etc.). Also being inexperienced I had made the mistake of relying on the camera mics for the audio. However, there was a reason for this I wanted the filming to be as unobtrusive as possible as this was a religious ceremony and the participants had to feel comfortable with what we were doing. Also as this was the first shoot my intention was also to show that what we were dong was legitimate and also that it was sensitive to the pagan community in order that they would appreciate what we were doing and hopefully this would lead to further invites to film.

Issues aside we did get some good useable footage, the audio was useable even if it wasn’t perfect and valuable lessons were learned.

Dionysia Conway interview. 28/2/13

I had spoken to the organiser of my local pagan moot Dionysia Conway, and she had agreed to be interviewed as part of the film about her experiences as a pagan. I decided to utilise the College TV studio for this as again the logistics would be simplified, equipment would be onsite and it should be easy to access crew and support if needed. I decided for continuity purposes to use the portable cameras as opposed to the studio cameras, clip mics and gun mics would also be used. I also needed to set the studio lighting for this shoot. Apart from the nervousness of my guest there were no real issues with the shoot and it went very smoothly. However, when I came to edit the footage I came across a few problems. Firstly the gun mic had not picked up the interviewers voice very well so this would need to be edited and also the footage from the second camera was unusable due to the fact that I had missed several bits of random studio equipment that were still in shot after I thought that I had cleared them all away.

Although a little editing would have to be done, the footage on the whole was good and usable and once again lessons had been learned. In hindsight I would however, have opted to reshoot the interview

Accrington moot shoot. 21/3/13

I had been given permission to film at my local pagan moot (social gathering) with guest speaker Iain Broadley who was running a meditation workshop, although Iain’s background is Buddhist and not pagan (although some believe that it falls under the same umbrella) meditation is widely used by pagans so the subject matter I felt, was relevant. I acquired an extra crew member for this shoot (it should have been more but I was let down, although this wasn’t an issue) again I adopted a two camera setup with the most experienced of us obtaining the handheld close-up shots. I decided to use a clip mic for Iain and a second gun mic on the second camera for background audio. I also decided to utilise the existing lighting rather than a lighting setup, once again as this was a sensitive subject matter I felt that the filming needed to be as unobtrusive as possible.

The only issue that I came across on this shoot was that my second cameraman did not re-adjust his white balance after a break in filming and the camera had reset itself so this had to be rectified in post -production.

Emma Burke interview. 25/4/13

A friend had suggested that I contact Emma re: doing an interview to which she agreed and after several conversations the date was agreed on however, on the eve of the interview after a further conversation Emma backed out. Whilst this was disappointing her reasons were valid and I had already put a contingency plan in place by booking in two more interviews which would be shot at the Beltane festival. This would give me more interview footage than I actually needed for the film, leaving me with backup footage should anything go wrong.

Beltane festival – Thornborough Henge. 3/5/13 – 6/5/13

This was by far the most difficult shoot to organise. Firstly I needed a larger crew to cover the whole festival. Then there was the logistics of getting the crew and kit to the venue, accommodation for the crew was another issue. Initially I had organised a college minibus and tutor for the crew as I was travelling up the day before with both the filming and camping gear to set up for the crew however a matter of days previous to the festival I was told I couldn’t have the minibus as the relevant paperwork hadn’t been submitted. After several discussions with the department head it was agreed that college would provide rail transport to the nearest station and I would collect the crew from there and return them the following evening, returning myself with the equipment the day after. Crewing also became an issue as people kept dropping out and replacements kept having to be sought I eventually went from a crew of 7 to a crew of 4 (including myself) literally days prior to the event however, on the day of the event I was let down further by 2 of this crew leaving me with a crew of 2 (including myself) to cover the whole festival and the interviews that had been booked. I had to make a decision and reorganise the whole shoot. I would forfeit the interviews and run with the one that I had focusing on getting footage of the festival and if there was time I would interview festival goers as to why they were there and what the festival of Beltane meant to them.

It was hard going and more than a physical challenge for me but it was achieved, the footage was good although the weather did affect some of the audio and I felt that what we had achieved would round of the film nicely.

The edits.

Again this was relatively new ground to me and has definitely been a learning experience and it has probably taken me a little longer to get to the final product than some of my peers however, my film is a longer one with much more footage to sift through some of which probably needed more attention than most due to my and my crew’s inexperience with the equipment. I began by breaking each shoot down and creating an individual film for each one. Due to the length of the final film this made it easier to piece together the final edit by cutting the individual films and slotting the pieces in where I needed them. I found that some of the audio was an issue so I decided to edit this separately by extracting it from the film as an individual audio track and running it through an audio editor so I could amplify certain areas whilst quietening others, and in some places cutting it out completely. I was however, left with some audio issues due to weather and background traffic etc. I cut as much as was possible but I had to be careful not to ruin the flow of the film or to detract from the message of the film. Reviewing the footage I could certainly tell how my skills had improved across the timeline of the project with better camera shots and camera control. I also took on board advice from my tutors and revisited the edits several times taking measures to improve them as much as I could in order to comply as much as possible with current broadcast standards.

Conclusion

As I stated at the beginning, I knew that this project would be a challenge, and it was! But I feel that I have achieved what I set out to apart from the decision to cut the film from an hour to half an hour. I do understand that the film has imperfections due to my early inexperience with the equipment and as a director, due to the weather and due to being let down by my peers however I feel that I have learned a lot on this journey. It has been a hard and challenging one but also an enjoyable one that has taken me out of my comfort zone and into new territory. I believe that the product is within the parameters that I laid out in the proposal and that it covers the relevant assessment criteria. I look forward to the views and opinions of my peers, tutors and visitors to the exhibition.