Design Cycle 4 - Create

I've finally finished my documentary!
Click HERE to watch...

Along with my documentary, I've made a process journal...

Emma’s Process Journal

Humanities Design Cycle ~ CHRIST THE KING CHAPEL

Saturday, April 21 – Changes to Design AND Plan

Throughout the Create stage, my group has made numerous changes to our shot list. Due to not finding the music “Hallelujah”, another music replaced it “Deo Gratias-Ismeretlen szerző Mint szarvas a hűs forr” (used in shot 1 and 2). We also couldn’t find a picture of the construction of the chapel (was to be used in shot 8). On the day of our field trip, it was raining, so we had to change the places we were to film, which was in shot 6 and 13. At the chapel, Sister Joseffina was present, and would be a tragedy to miss such a reliable primary source. Because of this, Sister Joseffina was our interviewee instead of a visitor to the chapel. And lastly, the total duration of the documentary was around 1 min. longer than estimated. This is because there was a few extra seconds left in each shot, in the documentary. I did this because, when I cut off those few seconds, the documentary sounds too rushed.
Changes to the plan wasn’t, oddly enough, because of the changes of the shot list. It was more because of time management. Zehra and I had to do 2 extra days of recording voice overs. Also, we had to use the green screen the room on the 18th of April. Cropping the film was needed, as well. However, the estimated durations of each task, was moderately accurate.

Saturday, April 14 ~ Tuesday, April 17 – Gathering Media

Recording Voice Overs

Finding Pictures
Zehra and I worked together to find the media that will be in our documentary. We had to record voiceovers, find pictures and music (Zehra found the music). When recording voiceovers we had to use a microphone brought from home, because we weren’t provided with one, as we thought we would be. It was much better quality than the built-in microphone, however, it could’ve been improved with a higher quality microphone. When recording, we used Garageband, as you can see in the picture on the left. When searching for pictures, I had to keep in mind the Design Specifications. The pictures have to be relevant, attractive and high resolution. These guidelines helped me when I had to choose which picture to include, because, as you can see in the picture on the right, there was countless photos.

Sunday, March 4 – Film Quality (Technical Director Role)

Lighting
Besides collecting the music, pictures and voiceovers, we needed film as well. Skills that I had learned in the Investigate stage about the Technical Director, was not only applied on the days of visiting the chapel (skills such as placing the interviewee in a place with good lighting, and quiet areas, and using a microphone to get the best out of the sound). For example, I suggested that we use voiceovers so people can clearly understand what is being said. When we were filming, we tried to position ourselves to be in the light. As you can see, on the right, the light was exceptionally well done, however, it was studio light (we were in the green screen room), and this kind of wasn’t available at the chapel.

Sunday, March 4 – Putting it all together (Editor Role)

Adding Music

Adding Transitions

Adding Pictures
The most challenging part was adding the voiceovers, aligning the visual and audio took a bunch of my time, just as I expected in my plan (I estimated for 1 hour). However, we did have to redo voiceovers numerous times. Adding transitions, pictures and music was simple and quick, however. If I could do all these tasks again (as these set of tasks did take up a lot of time), I would focus on one section at a time, not scattered all over the place, with adding this music and cropping that shot... I think I could’ve been finished 30 min. earlier than what I expected to do in my plan if I had kept focused. One of the tools we used in iMovie was the Green Screen option. In order to use this tool, I had to enable advanced options. This tool was very useful.

Sunday, March 4 – Last touches (Editor Role)

Evaluating against Against the Design Specs

The picture above, it what my screen looked like when I was evaluating Zehra and I’s documentary against my design specifications that we made in the Investigation. After completing it, all the design specifications, were checked as “yes, the documentary has this”. All, that is, except for 2. This design specification was “visually attractive”, I couldn’t check this, as it is really an opinion, and was not a good design spec to begin with. The other design specification was “high resolution pictures / videos”. After watching it, full screen on my computer, it was a tad pixelated. However when I saw it on the internet, around half of my screen, it looked fine! I can recall, unfortunately, there wasn’t any better quality of photos on the internet, that fit my shot list.

Finished Evaluation against the Design Specs

Tuesday, April 24 – Reflection on Learning and Progress

Through the create stage, I’ve learned how to use the green screen option. In iMovie, you have to go to Preferences, under the iMovie tab at the top of the screen. And then click the box saying Show Advanced Tools. Then, when you drag the green screen footage onto a picture or video, you will appear in the photo / video. From the peer review, one of the comments was that my entries were detailed. Also, the people who peer reviewed me said that they would probably give me 5!
I think I did well with being creative. Such as, at the beginning of the documentary, there is a shot where the globe zooms into Christ the King Chapel. However, I don’t think I did so well, with managing my time, as I said before, we needed 3 EXTRA DAYS of voiceovers. Which meant that for those three days, I had double the work, and because of that, I worked for unfortunately longer than what was planned.
If I could do this again I would like to be more focused. So then, I wouldn’t have to rush through my homework from my other subjects, because I’ve been too busy working on design cycle.

Tuesday, April 24 – Citations (This is the citation that taught me to use the green screen)

"iMovie Greenscreen Tutorial."

5min - Life Videopedia. AoI TV, 2011. Web. 21
Apr. 2012. <http://www.5min.com/Video/iMovie-Greenscreen-Tutorial-196894097>.

Tuesday, April 24 – Citations (These are the citations that we had mentioned in the documentary)

"The past and present of Christ the King Chapel."

Heritage Detective. Ushahidi,
26 Apr. 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <https://hongkongheritage.crowdmap.com/
index.php/reports/view/39>.
Different angles of Christ the King Chapel. Heritage Detectives. Ushahidi,
26 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. <https://hongkongheritage.crowdmap.com/index.php/reports/view/39>.
Foundation Stone. Heritage Detectives. Ushahidi,
26 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. <https://hongkongheritage.crowdmap.com/index.php/reports/view/39>.
An activity inside the church. Heritage Detectives. Ushahidi,
26 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. <https://hongkongheritage.crowdmap.com/index.php/reports/view/39>.

Sister Joseffina. Personal interview. 17 Apr. 2012.

Tuesday, April 24 – Citations (And these are all the citations that had to do with my roles)

Moura, Gabriel. "Shot Sizes Basics of Cinematography."

Elements of Cinema. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://www.elementsofcinema.com/cinematography/
shot-sizes.html>.
Dawkins, Steve, and Ian Wynd. "Palgrave Macmillan - Video Production." Video
Production. Macmillan Publishers Ltd. Web. 23 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.palgrave.com/culturalmedia/dawkins/roles/documentary.html>.
"Documentary l Define Documentary at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com.
2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/
documentary>
"Film Editor Job Responsibilities." Job Responsibilites. 2010. Web. 23
Mar. 2012. <http://www.jobresponsibilities.org/film-editor.html>.
"How to Light a Documentary Interview." Lights Online Film School Blog. wyzoom,
2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <http://www.lightsfilmschool.com/blog/
light-documentary-interview/134/>.
"The past and present of Christ the King Chapel." Heritage Detective. Ushahidi,
26 Apr. 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <https://hongkongheritage.crowdmap.com/
index.php/reports/view/39>.
"Churches in Hong Kong." Weekday Masses. N.p., 28 Aug. 2005. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

<http://weekdaymasses.org.uk/en/area/hong-kong/churches>.