Documentary Unit - Research into a Documentary, The Last Orangutan Eden (2015)

The Last Orangutan Eden is a documentary that documents the work being done to maintain the orangutan population in the jungles of Northern Sumatra. It shows how one conservationist group attempts to teach the baby orangutans the survival skills they require before they are released back into the wild.

Interviews are often given on the move while the conservationists are working with the apes and feel more like general conversations rather than interviews. It works really well as it gives the documentary a more natural feel to it, the documentary feels in no way choreographed and, like I said, it feels natural. The presenter Chris Morgan takes you through the steps taken by the conservationists in intricate detail, from where they look for the orangutans, how they save them from abuse/poor habitats and the studies undertaken to understand their behaviour, to how they use all this information to teach the orangutans to cope in the jungle on their own.

The majority of this documentary is well told from the images they used. The images tell the story without the narration, the narration purely helps move the documentary and keep the audiences interest. I feel that this is the key to the documentary's success, the images of the orangutans are often very powerful and help explain the situation to the viewer, thus allowing the audience to attach themselves to the orangutans while also informing them of the treacherous conditions these orangutans are often found in.

A large portion of the documentary focuses on the orangutan named Udin, who lived a horrific early life, being beaten by savages and having his mother killed in front of him, spent three years recovering in quarantine and went on to master the art of climbing, swinging from branch to branch, to the uncontrolled joy of the conservationists and the filmmakers.

Orangutan orphan, Udin, clinging onto a tree branch

Udins story is very well told, grasping onto the emotions of the audience while educating on the appropriate ways to handle and care for a young ape such as Udin. The shots were well done and like I said before, could tell the story on their own.

Though not as well told and shot as Attenborough's Planet Earth or Blue Planet, this documentary is still very well made and worth watching.

Documentary Unit - Risk Assessment and Contributors

After Fridays location recce at Elmley Nature Reserve and the recce at Great Bells Farm the week before, we are aware of the risks that come with filming their having spoken to Gareth Fulton. We are also aware of what we can expect to find at the location and will be able to complete the script in full.

Later today we will be filming at Elmley Nature Reserve, for which we discovered the vast quantities of birds on display. We are also aware of how expansive the land area is and how much of that area we can film. Below is a screenshot of the Risk Assessment:

I feel like the visit was necessary, not just for the risk assessment, but also because it made us very aware of what we are actually able to film. The original script saw the opening to the documentary focussed on one bird specifically, however the visit made us aware that there is no guarantee of spotting any one bird, even with the vast numbers on display. For example you will not see a Marsh Harrier or a Peregrine Falcon wherever you go, you have to know where to look, and even then there's no real guarantee.

We also have a large number of contributors, some guaranteed and some potential. These include:

Crew - Sam Elliott, Troy Smith, Josh Bayly and Jack Nix

Site Managers - Nick May (Great Bells Farm) and Gareth Fulton (Elmley Nature Reserve)

Interviewees (potentially) - Phil Haynes and Robbie Peck

RSPB Media Communications Officer - Martin Jensen

List incomplete

Documentary Unit - Pre-Production

Throughout the pre-production stage of the project I have been in contact with Phil Haynes and the Swale Wader Group about getting involved with the documentary and providing their opinions on the wind turbines and how they can affect the local wildlife.

Though I have been unsuccessful in getting a response through the swale waders website, Troy has managed to get a response from the Great Bells Farm site manager, Nick Mays, who is happy to oblige and has allowed us to film on site. We have since then been able to arrange a meeting with Nick at the filming location which is right next to the wind turbines.

Upon meeting up with Nick, we were told about how the site is ran, what wildlife can be found at the site, when the turbine was set up and the effects the turbines have on the local environment, more specifically birds of prey amongst other things.

There were lots of things Nick mentioned about the turbines and the effect they have on birds that we had not known prior to the meet up, such as how noisy they are, the large shadows they produce is intimidating to birds and a number of the bird population have been pushed back another 500-600 yards as a result of the wind turbine.

Nick has also been able to put us in contact with Phil Haynes as well as another local birdwatcher who has objected to the idea of addition of more turbines in the area and has even set up a campaign against the additional turbines which have been rejected by the council but are currently appealing to get the additional turbines erected on the site. The contact details will be sent to Troy either today or tomorrow.

Documentary Unit - The Idea

As a part of our documentary unit, we have been put in groups of 3/4 (in my case 4) and have been told to create a wildlife documentary. However we must all come up with our own ideas and decide on who's idea we will implement into a 10 minute documentary. The idea I have come up with is a documentary about the advantages and disadvantages to the RSPB's methods of maintaining and growing the population of birds and other forms of wildlife.

I never really had a keen interest on bird watching or wildlife in general but I used to go to nature reserves, many of which were owned by the RSPB, a lot as a young boy with my family. For this reason I feel I already have a bit of a head start on research and I know exactly where to look for locations and what to expect when we are there. However my focus is not on the birds themselves but the way they are preserved. I got this idea when I saw a story about a wind turbine the RSPB built at one of their locations, a move that sparked a lot of controversy.

The Story

The construction of a large wind turbine was completed late last month at the RSPB headquarters in Bedfordshire. This is despite warnings that wind turbines are a dangerous threat to birds and bats. The Scottish Gamekeepers' Association (SGA) had previously stated that wind turbines kill more birds of prey than deliberate poisoning or shooting.

The idea is to save more energy as the RSPB state that climate change is the "single biggest threat" to birds and other wildlife and because of this have been involved in a number of wind farm projects to ensure nesting activities and flight paths amongst other things are taken into account. Many years of research were undertaken with Ecotricity to ensure that the location was suitable for a turbine.

"Climate change is the single biggest threat to our planet. This is about our birds and wildlife as well as our way of life. Around the world, and even in the UK, we can already see how these changes are affecting wildlife, the places where they live as well as damage to our homes and disruptions to the economy. It is down to everyone to play their part. In the UK, we have the potential to generate a significant portion, if not all, of our electricity from sustainable sources."

Martin Harper, director of RSPB

Directions Unit: Portrait Film Update

Seeing as I was unable to use one of my locations, I have decided to change how the story of the film is set out, however the idea and directorial vision remain the same. The original story was a young boy looking to make it into a football team, however frequent mistakes and errors in simple day to day activities puts him in a situation where he starts to doubt himself before coming home to a letter congratulating him for making it into the team. The new story is of a young man preparing for his very first job interview, however he becomes worried and disorganised, with toothpaste ruining his suit and tea ruining his change of suit. All before he gets a call from his potential boss telling him that the interview has been moved to another date, allowing him more time to get reorganised.

The idea that the time of day will go backwards while the character progresses forwards however will remain the same. Shots starting from the window will enable the audience to recognise that the day is going backwards though some shots will be more subtle than others, depending on what is going on in the scene.

The clothes the character will be wearing will be grey and blue, grey representing the bleak day the character is having and blue representing his mood. The clothes will be somewhat out of place and will look scruffy as I feel that this will best convey that he is nervous and in a hurry. Though the film will appear to span over a period of a whole day, the characters actions will only take place over a period of about 30 minutes and the rapid progression from the night sky to day time represents how quickly his day is going backwards.

Directions Unit - The art of Directing

It is the responsibility of the Director to ensure that everything and everyone on set is moving in the right direction. It takes a group of people to make a movie, and the director is the "conductor" of this group. The Director simply makes sure everyone is doing their job and it is the groups job to add their own style. Though it is the Director that has the ultimate say on set, there is always collaboration between him and the DP, makeup, set design, head gaffer, camera operators, and all department heads.

With all that being said, I want to talk about the two different directing styles seen in a number of movies today. For the most part the directors who focus on the visuals, or on the actors performance. Each director has their own blend of the two. This makes me ask myself, what director am I? Do you tend to focus on the performance of the actors, or on the way the movie looks. The best director can focus on both and use them to tell a compelling story. For my short piece I will be focussing mostly on the visuals. I want to make the setting feel the way it's supposed to feel. I want to trust the actors to do their part well.

This brings me onto the next topic, you want to have actors who are talented enough to make the character their own. A quality actor will be able to bring the character to life. Before you even start filming you need to know what style the movie is going to be, and what type of lighting you want for each scene. Once you have a good style plan, you need to work with your director of photography and make sure you are collaborating, so that he can light a set while you work with the actors. Once a set is light, you can make your visual adjustments with lighting changes, lens choice, and camera position.

Before you start rolling, you must talk to the actors and tell them where they are at. They need to understand what emotions they need to portray and what has happened to their character up to this point in the story. Because you casted well, they can take some simple direction and make that character come to life. There is a lot more to directing than this, but this will give you a good foundation. Don’t take on the whole load yourself, collaborate with your DP in visual style so that you can work with the actor and juggle all other on set responsibilities.

Directions Unit - Director Research - Phil Abraham

Few people have had as much impact on The Sopranos as Phil Abraham, who had held the role as camera operator (4 episodes), cinematographer (47 episodes) and even directed an episode. Though Abraham is more established as a cinematographer, Abraham has directed a total of 59 episodes across 29 different TV series including The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad and most frequently Mad Men for which he has directed 15 episodes.

Abraham's directorial debut came with the iconic TV series, The Sopranos for which he only directed one episode across the whole series. However his role as director in this series would see him direct in a number of some of the most iconic TV shows of today. He even had the chance to direct the opening two episodes of the major Netflix series, Daredevil, which set the tone for the rest of the series.

Phil Abraham likes to challenge actors with some ambitious takes, he likes to stick to the script and likes to keep it that way, even if the shot is deemed too hard to shoot. One of the most iconic scenes Abraham directed was the one shot fight scene in the acclaimed Netflix series Daredevil, which saw Daredevil take on a room full of thugs in an epic 3 minute shot. There was not a single cut in this shot and to make this scene possible they made a few Texas Switches between the actor and his stunt double and took about 7-8 takes before the scene was complete. The cast and crew asked if they could do a few wipes as the scene was too complicated to achieve but Abraham was adamant that a one shot fight scene with no cuts would be better.

It was the one shot fight scene that got me particularly interested in Abraham and I am especially interested in his overall style. When he directs an episode, he wants to keep the episode on the same path as the rest of the episode but aims to create that special, iconic scene. He has done this with Mad Men, The Walking Dead and as mentioned earlier, Daredevil. I would like to implement a shot of great importance that is similar in fashion to some of the most iconic looks in TV, and Abraham is a great example of someone who did just that.