Documentary Unit - Evaluation

Documentary Unit - Evaluation

Throughout this unit, I have learned a lot about what it takes to make a documentary through building experience and making mistakes, and I made a lot of mistakes. I do not feel as though our documentary is as strong as it could be, however there is a lot I can take from it. I have a better understanding on how to organise shoots better, how to communicate with contributors, why patience is key when shooting a wildlife documentary amongst other things. Being the first unit I've actively worked with a group (Jack Nix, Troy Smith and Josh Bayly), I feel that we have all learned a lot more about each other, some good some bad, but all that we were able to deal with appropriately.

Pre-production almost went without a hitch, particularly at the beginning. We were able to develop and idea quickly and we were able to find points of research easily. We made initial plans on how we were going to shoot the documentary unit and we knew a couple of different locations that we could potentially film at, we only had to go and get them. However work on the script took time, we didn't feel like we had enough to talk about until we actually visited the sites, meaning shoot dates were pushed back a lot. Communications also broke down a bit as we couldn't seem to come in at the same time as one another due to other commitments.

When we came to production time, we found picking shoot dates awkward, we couldn't seem to get everyone in on the same day and Great Bells could only let us film once we had gone through the RSPB communications officer and gained permission from them, which took time. It almost looked as though this documentary would never happen as Great Bells was the required location. That was until the final shoot day came when we gained permission to film and despite expecting heavy showers, the sun came out the whole time we were filming which was great. I would say the final shoot date saved our documentary, we met with various people like Phil Haynes and another bird watcher and we even got an interview with Rob Peck.

Though not the best documentary, I am happy with the outcome given what we learned as individuals as well as a group. I may not have fulfilled my potential, but I certainly gained a lot of much needed experience to help boost my work in future projects.

Documentary Unit - Meeting with the Contributors

During our shoot, we met up with a number of contributors, including Phil Haynes, a local wildlife photographer, Gareth Fulton, the site manager at Elmley, Nick May, the site manager at Great Bells and Rob Peck, one of the campaigners against the wind turbines. Each provided their own pieces of information, whether it be about the wildlife, the turbines or the local area, and we used this information to help build on the script and develop the documentary.

Nick May was the first person we met up with when we were doing our first location recce around Great Bells Farm. He is the site manager of the farm and works alongside the RSPB. We only spoke to Nick briefly but he gave us a great starting point on our script and gave us a lot of useful information about the turbines that we did not know previously. It was rather difficult gaining permission to film at the site however as we had to go through the RSPB communications officer, Martin Jensen to do so.

The next contributor we met with was Gareth Fulton, the site manager of Elmley Nature Reserve. Gareth was especially helpful, giving us a lift round the site and giving us a large amount of information about the local wildlife and about the site. It was a shame we couldn't get an interview with him as he seemed very passionate about the subject, but work commitments got in the way of an interview.

We met up with Phil Haynes at Great Bells Farm during our last shoot. We had a brief chat about the turbines and how they affect the local wildlife before he offered to take us around the farm and show us the best places to get shots of the birds. Up until this point, we struggled to even find let alone get a shot at a Marsh Harrier and with his help we managed to find and film multiple Marsh Harriers. Phil also got us in contact with Rob Peck.

And finally we met with Rob Peck, who we was recommended to speak to by both Nick May and Phil Haynes. Though we were able to get an interview with him, it did not fit with the documentary as well as we hoped meaning we didn't go through with it in the end. However the meeting we had with him was very useful, I felt that we learned more about the turbines in that one meeting than we did through our own research and the other meetings put together. I was hoping he too was passionate about bird watching like the three mentioned previously, that way we might have been able to link the interview we filmed with the documentary.

Documentary Unit - Research into documentary - Birds

In order to familiarise ourselves to the documentary subject, wildlife, each member of the group, including myself, took it unto themselves to get to know a specific area of the documentary. For example one person will get to know the turbines, how they work and the positives and negatives they bring to the environment whereas someone else will get to know the location and habitat. My job was to look into what birds you can expect to find at each time of the year and their general behaviour.

Finding out what birds will be available when was not too hard to find. This information can be found on the RSPB website as well as the Elmley website. However general bird behaviour is not quite so easy. Though there is information available online, the behaviour of the birds has been altered due to the position of the turbines, meaning you have to be there to really understand it. I got a bit of information on this through word of mouth on our first visit to Great Bells from Nick May and more on our second visit with Phil Haynes.

Here is a list of just some of the birds you can expect to see at Elmley at this time of the year. In all there are 52 known species of bird at Elmley with a total bird population of almost 24,000.

It's hard to say how many of these birds we saw during our visits, but I was able to identify a small portion of the birds listed. The Wigeon for example was very easy to spot, almost making up the entire population, they are frequently seen by the large ponds by the bird hides. These were particularly easy to film due to their large numbers.

Birds such as the Marsh Harrier however were a lot harder to spot and far harder to film. We often only caught glimpses of the Marsh Harrier and often didn't have enough time to get the camera out and film them. They only ever hung around for about 5-10 seconds before swooping back down in the distance.

One of the more common birds at Elmley and Great Bells, the Wigeon

A Marsh Harrier in flight

Documentary Unit - Final shoot

On the final day of filming on Tuesday, we began filming at Great Bells Farm, a site that became increasingly difficult to gain permission to film at. However we gained permission from Martin Jensen, the Communications Officer at RSPB, and started filming what became a very successful shoot. On the shoot we met Phil Haynes who, though did not want to feature in an interview, was happy to oblige and help us film our documentary. Haynes took us to various location points where we can expect to find a range of birds including the Marsh Harrier, a bird that up until this point we struggled to get a decent shot of.

We were given a lot of insight into what we can expect to find, the history of the area, the future of Great Bells and the turbines. He also put us into contact with Rob Peck, a local who has been campaigning against the idea of adding more turbines to the area.

I felt that I got a lot out of Tuesdays shoot, on and off the camera. I also feel that I have plenty of information that adds to my script and I can also make some needed changes. For instance I can bring back in the Marsh Harriers having taken them out of the script and I can add more about the turbines, both advantages and disadvantages.

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.