Week Four.

In week four I've mainly been getting on with scripting, storyboarding and planning shots for the film. On my schedule, pre-production should be mostly finished this week and production should be starting next week so it was vital to make sure a lot the film was planned and ready to start filming.


Heres an example of my planning so far, this is for the introduction of the program after the title sequence.

Introducing the Character:

 - First Shot, out of nicks window out onto the main road watching the traffic go by. Start with the fx hearing, turn it down when the voice over comes in and edit to the character.

- [Voice over] – ‘In this episode of Extraordinary People we’ll be looking into the life of Marcus Jefferson, a young adult who slowly lost his hearing throughout his early teenage years. What’s so remarkable about Marcus though, is that he did not loose his hearing completely, but instead developed a very rare condition named Synthanesia. What this means is that he still has partial hearing but everything’s distorted in a very strange manor. Throughout the program we’ll be taking you inside the life of Marcus and presenting to you what it’s like to hear and live with Synthanesia.’

 - When talking about loosing his hearing, use a quite buzz in the background which gets louder and louder till it cuts off the speech all together and in effect, kills his hearing.

 - [Voice over] – ‘While Marcus was growing up he developed a ringing in his ears which persisted and didn’t go away. After complaining about it his parents took him to the doctor who diagnosed Marcus with Tinnitus. This is a symptom which develops from something that’s wrong with your auditory system, this may be from somewhere in your ear, the connecting nerve or your brain. But the problem was it didn’t stop, it only carried on getting louder and louder until one day… [Buzz takes over the voice over] … Everything Changed.

[Intertwine Interview One Here.]

- [Voice Over] – ‘We’ll be using this little hi tech device inside Marcus’ ear [Shot showing Marcus inserting the device] to show you what it’s like to hear with Synthanesia.’ …….. ‘As you can now hear, everything is as if it has a very strange filter on it, distorting and manipulating the sounds.’

I still need to include the camera shots I have planned and the shots I want to use but this is just a basic outline of the voice over script and detail that will be used to open the show and explain to the viewer what the program will be about.

Within the research I have been doing, Alan Rosenthal stated in 'Writing, Directing and Producing Documentary Film and Videos' that 'in shooting you ain for one thing, maximum naturalism: your key objective is to get people to behave in the most genuine way in front of the camera' (1996, p.154). As I'll be the main actor for this piece, I will have to make sure at all times that I am composed infront of the camera to really give the film it's natural feel, which will be vital to how good the finished product will look.

 

 

I have also planned some club shots for next week. I have got a gig in the main room of basement 45 and so I want to use this to my advantage and make the most out of it. I have been given permission and got a cameraman to film. I am mainly worried about the lighting for these shots due to the club being pretty dark apart from the lighting in the DJ booth, hopefully this won't be to much of an issue and can be used effectively.

Week Three.

This week I started to compile my research that i have conducted over the last few weeks and also thought about some new ideas for the film and how to present it.

     While reading Paddy Ladd's 'Understanding Deaf Culture: Searching For Deafhood', he stated that 'the construction of deaf communitites is deeply woven into patterns of ideas and ideologies placed in your head by people you have never met' (2003, p.11)

     So I had an interview with Mike Hadley, a deaf person, going through a few questions to give me a better understanding on what it's like as I have no first hand experience myself. I did this to give the documentary a more realistic view point, displaying real issues from a deaf persons point of view. This is how it went:

Mike Hadley Interview

1. What do you find most challenging about everyday life?

Communicating with other 'hearing' people face to face or on the telephone. Also, listening to a lecturer/teacher especially the ones with beards which makes it difficult for me to lip read. Another thing is watching something on the telly without subtitles - it's like watching telly without the sound on to you guys.

2. Do you see your disability as a problem, or does it not get in the way too much?

Having being deaf in my whole life- I accept the fact that I am deaf and there is nothing I can so about it, and for it to not get in the way of my life I have to adapt, for example me not being able to use the phone, instead I have to use text Messaging, or a minicom. The only time I would have problem with my disability is other people's view on the deaf society- they usually think deaf people as 'dumb' but that's not the case.

3. If you could imagine sound in general, what words spring to mind? And if you could imagine what some everyday objects sounded like, such as a kettle or a car for example, how would you describe it?

Difficult question, we can never hear sound like the way u hear them, if I would have to imagine them- I would say the everyday objects would be clearer to hear through ur ears. But for an example - when I first had a cochlear implant and when I flushed the toilet it sounded like a round of applause when I heard it for the 1st time.

4. Is there a sort of ambient noise or is everything completely silent?

in my case everything is completely silent- but I have heard of some deaf people which constantly hear buzzing noise, can't remember what is that called.

5. How well do you feel and pick up on vibrations from certain sounds?

I can pick up vibrations very well, but it can be hard to predict what is causing it, all I pick up is how big is it.

6. Do you know many other deaf people? If so, do you feel like part of a separate community with them?

Yes and yes.

7. Without your hearing, do you feel like your other senses are heightened?

yes i feel that my other sense is heightened, especially my eyes as I feel I uses them a lot more to make up for my hearing losses.

I have also been reading the book 'Writing, directing, and producing documentary films and videos' by Alan Rosenthal to pick up some tips on how to construct my film and make it look as real and professional as possible. For example one point he states is that 'In shooting you aim for one thing, maximum naturalism: your key objective is to get people to behave in the most genuine way in front of the camera' (1996, p.154). This is a key point I will have to focus on as all the facts are fictional, so I have to make the audience believe that they are the characters parents and he really does have this special hearing, etc.

This week I am going to have to get down to a lot of pre production, scripting and story-boarding to give my film more substance and to allow me to vision the project as a whole before I start shooting.

Week Two.

This week I have started to gather different bits of research and tried to start creating a plan for how I’m going to put this documentary together. Firstly I have put together a list of questions and have emailed them to a deaf person and am just waiting for the response. These questions I asked included such areas as, what do you find most challenging about everyday life, how well do you pick up on vibrations and without your hearing, do you feel like your other senses are heightened. I have asked these among others to get a greater understanding of what it’s like before I start to interpret it.

     I am finding it hard to find much theoretical material to help me in my project and this is something I will have to look deeper into. I have taken out a few books so far such as ‘Writing, Directing and Producing Documentary Films and Videos’ by Alan Rosenthal, this is to gain more understanding of the codes and conventions of documentary filmmaking. I have also got a book on the ‘Anatomy of Hearing and Speech’ by R.P Singh to find out more about how the ear works. I can also use this book to script the interview with a ‘doctor’ who will describe my characters fictional hearing.

     I have also thought more about making my character a DJ in this film. Maybe not so much as a profession but more as a hobby, as something he loves to do and likes to prove he can dispute his disability. I have a few scheduled gigs throughout the time I will be shooting the film, such as one in the main room of Basement 45. This would be a great location and chance to get some good footage.


This is a very brief overall plan I've put together to get me thinking about the structure:

-       Introduction: Create a introduction montage and music for the documentary program itself. (Program Name?)

-       Introduce The Character: Describe his special ability and a little about himself and what he does (Voice Over). Shots can be himself in his own room, getting ready, do general things. Then show him putting the device into his ear and give the audience a preview of what its like to hear like him.

-       Interview 1: With The Parents, briefly describing him as a kid and him dealing with the issue at an early age.

-       POV Street Shots: Show the audience what it’s like to have this sort of hearing and do general things like crossing the road and travelling around.

-       Interview 2: With the doctor, explaining in detail what this issues called, how it works and how fascinating it is.

-       DJing: This next section can look into his hobby as a DJ, practicing at home, playing in clubs, show comparison between normal and fx hearing, voice over explaining how and why he loves to do it.

-       Interview 3: With himself, talking about the problem, why he loves and hates it. This can be intertwined with the DJ section.

-       Closing – wrap up all the ideas and questions raised in the program and come to a conclusion about the hearing issue he deals with and how remarkable and one off it is. 

     I still have loads of pre-production work to do on this film. Over the next week I will be starting to plan out my shoots, create a storyboard and start scripting certain scenes and interviews. I will also be trying to find more theoretical material that covers my project.