Music

I realised that I would need some music for the titles and credits and made the decision to contact Damh the Bard. Damh is one of the most well known pagan folk musicians in the UK. and I honestly didn't expect an answer or if I did get one, the answer would be no. However, Damh did reply and the answer was a resounding yes!

Some of Damh's music can be seen here.

  

I have now however, decided to go with a more generic style of music and have searched for royalty free, licensed tracks instead. This will avoid any possible issues further down the line.

Second interview booked

Another one of my contacts has agreed to be interviewed. Studio and equipment booked for Thursday 25th April 10.30am

Moot Shoot - 21/03/2013

My local moot agreed for me to shoot at the March meeting which happened to be a meditation workshop run by my good friend Iain Broadley. Now although the workshop was not necessarily pagan, as Iain follows the Buddhist teachings. Meditation is a tool that we pagans do use and it was more centred on the techniques rather than the religious aspects although in some peoples eyes paganism does include buddhism under it's umbrella. again I opted for a two camera approach although a small handheld camera was also brought by one of the crew. I also opted to utilise the natural lighting rather than set up lighting rigs, firstly because it would appear more natural and secondly in respect of the sensitive nature of the workshop and out of respect for the moot members I wanted the filming to be as unobtrusive as possible.

This turned out to be the best shoot so far with the previous lessons learned being utilised. We achieved some really good, usable footage. 

The full moot edit (compressed)

Beltane festival at Thornborough henge

May bank holiday sees the pagan sabbat of Beltane, marking the beginning of summer. As I will be attending a festival at this time at Thornborough henge near Ripon in North Yorkshire I contacted the event organiser to see if he would be willing to allow me to film at the festival. Not only has he agreed to the filming he has also agreed to be interviewed.

More about the festival can be seen here: www.celebratebeltane.co.uk

Dionysia Conway interview - 28/2/2013

Today we shot the first of the interviews with local pagan and moot organiser Dionysia Conway. A moot is a social gathering of local pagans where discussions,workshops,rituals and talks are held. I wanted to focus on Di's personal experiences as a pagan and to highlight what a moot was along with outlining what it means to be a pagan from a personal point of view.

Sample interview questions:

Explain to us how you first came across paganism and what attracted you to it.

Explain a little about your personal pathway and your beliefs.

What does being pagan mean to you?

What has paganism brought to your life and how does it influence it?

You organise and run a local pagan moot, can you explain a little more about what a moot is and what it means to the pagan community.

Have you or anyone you know ever had a negative/prejudiced experience from others as a result of your beliefs?

What would you say to people who still hold the misconceptions connected to paganism to be true?

Over the last ten years, the UK has seen a massive increase in the number of people declaring themselves openly as pagan, why do you think that is?

Do you feel that society as a whole is becoming more accepting of paganism?

Research suggests that there are still a great number of UK pagans who feel it necessary to keep it secret. Do you feel that in today’s supposed accepting society pagans should be free to practice openly or are some things better kept secret?  

With the fairly recent acceptance of Druidry as a recognised religion in the UK, what are your hopes for paganism in the future?

The Shoot

Again I opted for a two camera setup in the college T.V. studio. However I chose not to use the studio cameras as all previous footage had ben shot using 1080p cameras and the studio cameras are only 720p which would lead to issues during the editing stages. Being in the studio meant that I had to set the lighting also. All went well except the second camera footage which, due to a mistake on my part could not be used. Firstly I had forgotten to clear the area behind the subject properly and thus the background was covered in unused studio equipment and clutter. Secondly I failed to correctly set the white balance on the second camera and although this could have been rectified in post production, due to the first error I decided to discard the footage altogether as the first camera footage was good enough.

LESSON LEARNED!

Imbolc Shoot 2/2/2013

After making contact with various members of the pagan community I was invited to film a well dressing and Imbolc ritual that I was attending in Bromborough. I acquired a second cameraman for the shot as I intended to have a wide establishing shot and then a hand held setup for the close ups. I also intended to shoot some cutaway footage to break up the finished film.
All went well apart from a couple of dodgy camera shots due to the terrain (falling over plant roots etc.) and the second cameraman being a little over enthusiastic with the zoom. However, the cutaway footage proved useful for covering up these small issues. The beauty (and issue) of the organic way in which I am shooting this documentary means that I have more footage than I need, and therefore I will have to be ruthless when it comes to the editing.

The edited section of the film (which will later be interlaced with interview footage and cut further)