Lara McEvoy - 319311
Unit 13: Final Major Project
Logistical Pre-Production - 4.1
Logistical pre-production is an essential part of pre-production. Here I have to complete production schedules, legal and ethical considerations, consent/contributor release forms, call sheets, risk + location assessments and kit lists etc. each of these will mean I can film in a more professional manner and fully understand how the production section of my project will work.
Gannt Chart
(19/3/24)
With the production schedules while these give me the specifics of what each day will include, I cannot see a general overview of the timescale/filming period. So, I created a Gannt chart, this can be seen on the right. A Gannt chart shows a basic overview of the entire production process, allowing me to see how long I have allocated myself and figure out if it is realistic and reasonable.
From creating the Gannt chart, I made the decision to create a more basic timetable for the 4 days of shooting. I found that this just helped me to understand the time layout better and how long I have to film certain content. This timetable can be seen below, which is something I would consider bringing with me to the shoot just to make sure I know what is being filmed and when.
Production Timetable - 14/3/24
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Production Schedules
(14/3/24)
The first area of the logistical pre-production I undertook was the production schedules. Creating the production schedules allow me to understand and plan out my shoots better, meaning I can create contingency plans in case anything goes wrong. For these production schedules, as I know there are 4 set days I am filming, I have created individual schedules for each day so I can detail exactly what I’m doing and what needs to be done. Also at the end there is a post-production schedule I have created, allowing me to see how long I think post-production will take.
Below are the first 4 production schedules for the dance show filming days. The filming is taking place over 4 days, the dress rehearsal, show 1, 2 and 3. The 3 shows will have very similar schedules as they are the same format each night, it will just vary what footage can be shot. But the dress rehearsal schedule is a lot longer as it’s a whole day of rehearsals for the dance school, so there will be a lot to film. Due to the project being a documentary, the shots I want to get cannot be fully planned so in the activities to be completed sections I have outlined the shots that need to be done, but I understand I’m going to get whatever I can. The 4 schedules are below.
Production schedule - 25/3/24
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Production schedule - 26/3/24
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Production schedule - 27/3/24
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Production schedule - 28/3/24
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While scheduling the actual production is important, it's also important that I write up a post-production schedule so I can organise my time well and ensure that the production is edited to a high standard and before the deadline is achieved. This can be seen below.
Production schedule - 28/3/24
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When it came to filming the shows, I realised that I wouldn’t be able to get as much content filmed as I wanted to, purely because of how busy I was in the show as well as other issues (explained in problem solving). I realised this on the day of the dress rehearsal, 25/3/24, as I was so caught up with the show, I was unable to get as much as I wanted to film so made the decision to film the interviews at their homes. I checked this with them in person at the shows and organised the rest over message, the relevant pre-production for these interviews can be found throughout and they are correctly labelled.
Interview Production Schedules
02/04/24
Chloe's interview production schedule - 03/04/2024
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Ella's interview production schedule - 03/04/2024
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Emily's interview production schedule - 04/04/2024
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Call Sheets
(14/3/24)
After creating the production schedules, it only made sense to write up the call sheets ready for production. Call sheets are important for all cast and crew as it details where the shoot is happening, who needs to be there and at what time. Along with this I can detail first aid, so I know who to contact or where to go in case there are any issues. The 4 call sheets are shown below.
Call Sheet - 25/3/24
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Call Sheet - 27/3/24
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Call Sheet - 26/3/24
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Call Sheet - 28/3/24
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Interview Call Sheets
02/04/24
Call Sheet - 03/04/24
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Call Sheet - 03/04/24
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Call Sheet - 04/04/24
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From completing the Call Sheets, it's important that I understand the location in more detail and the risks that come up along side it. So, in the next section I have completed location and risk assessments for various areas within the location.
Risk + Location Assessments
(15/3/25)
Location and risk assessments are important when it comes to preproduction as it allows you to explore the suitability of the location, justifying the use and how it will work, as well as exploring the risks of working in these locations.
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As the filming is taking place over 4 days, they are all at the same location, so I have created both risk and location assessments for the auditorium, stage/wings and the green room, seeing as they are the main locations where filming will take place. I started off by completing the location assessments because this means I can identify the basic risks and then look into them with more detail in the risk assessments. All of the documents can be found below.
Location assessment - Auditorium
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Risk assessment - Auditorium
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Location assessment - Stage/Wings
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Risk assessment - Stage/Wings
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Location assessment - Green Room
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Risk assessment - Green Room
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Interview Location + Risk Assessments
03/04/24
Location assessment - Chloe's Bedroom
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Risk assessment - Chloe's Bedroom
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Location assessment - Ella's Bedroom
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Risk assessment - Ella's Bedroom
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Location assessment - Emily's Bedroom
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Risk assessment - Emily's Bedroom
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Correspondence
(4/3/34 - 18/3.24)
Messaging Emily + Chloe about being in it: 3/3/24 – 4/3/24
When it came to contacting the three people, it was quite easy as I had different ways of talking/communicating with them.
For Ella, I had spoken to her about this project a lot in person so when asking if she wanted to be in the documentary, I did it in person. Rather than messaging her I felt this was the better option to do as we had been speaking about it a lot and had mentioned previously that I would like her to be in it, so asking in person worked
This means that I have no proof to put onto the correspondence section, but I have the email I sent to her about consent and the form sent back. This will be shown later on within this section, with Chloe and Emily’s messages regarding consent.
With Chloe, I messaged her on the 3rd March asking if she would be happy to be in it. For this I wrote up a short paragraph, as again I had spoken to her about it in the past, asking if she would be happy to be in it. From this, as shown in the image on the right, she responded later saying that she ‘would love to’ so is happy to be in the documentary. For me this is great as she is someone who is playing a big role within the show and is one of the more senior girls so will have a lot to say.
In the image to the left, you can see that I sent a similar message to Emily, that I sent to Chloe, however I hadn’t mentioned this to Emily before so had to reword it slightly. Luckily Emily responded in a similar way to Chloe, confirming she would be happy to be in the documentary. Once again this is really great news, and I can move onto the next step of sorting consent with Sally.
Talking with Sally about consent: 4/3/24 - 6/3/24
After confirming the three people I would be focusing on I needed to get in contact with Sally about how I can do consent for those within the dances that the 3 pupils are also in. From Unit 09, the main method of contact between myself and Sally was email, so I have used the same for this project. Doing this means I can ensure that she replies, and our communication is as clear as possible.
The initial email outlined who I would be focusing on and what Sally wanted to in terms of either a consent form or email, as I was unsure on how she would want to frame it. From this her response can be seen on the left where she mentioned writing something about if we don’t hear by a certain date then we assume that its ok for me to film their child. This is further explored in problem solving as the consent area was a problem which I needed to work around. Click the button below to go there!
Sorting Consent Forms: 13/3/24 - 17/3/24
When it came to sorting consent forms, the best way for me to do this would be to email them out to the 3 and then have them send it back to me. However, I only had Ella's email address, so I had to ask Chloe and Emily for their emails in order for me to send them over, these are shown below.
Messages with Emily
Emily responded to me very quickly, however Chloe took a while, so I went ahead and sent the consent from over to Ella and Emily first. The email was very short, as shown to the right, because I had messaged them previously to let them know I would be sending over a consent form, I just needed to outline the fact that they needed to complete it and send back to me asap.
Messages with Chloe
Luckily Chloe did respond later, but with her mum's email so I quickly sent it over with a similar email but worded slightly differently as I wasn’t sure if Chloe had explained it to her mum, so just stated that this was a form for her participation within the documentary. In the consent form it gives more detail as to what they are consenting to, so the email doesn’t explain it detail for detail.
Ella was the first of the three to respond, getting back to me within the day. This is really handy as I need to ensure I have the forms back before preparing to book out kit, also it helps as the contributors can understand exactly what it is they are signing up for.
It had been a couple days, and I had no response from Emily and Chloe so I decided to message them both again, just to ask if they could get it done asap if they hadn’t and to send it back. From this both responded within the day, Emily sending to back to me and asked if needed a paper copy, which I don’t, and Chloe messaged back saying her mum has done it and will give me a paper copy instead of over email, which is completely fine.
Messages with Chloe
Messages with Emily
Sorting these is an essential part of pre-production as I need to ensure that the three are happy to be in this and know what they are signing up for. Having their responses within a week is really useful as I needed to make sure it was done and sorted before being able to move on.
Consent
(13/3/24 - 18/3/24)
For any media production consent is very important. This informs the contributors of what they are signing up to, meaning they are aware of what they have signed up for and they are happy to be in it. As the production I am creating is a documentary, I will be filming these people as they are preparing for the show with short interviews taking place throughout the period of the show. This allows me to follow them/their journey, so having consent to do this is vital. As explained in the section above, I was able to get the consent forms done pretty quickly, and 2 of the 3 were over the age of needing parental consent so 2 are signed by the participants themselves and the 1 is a parent signed consent form. These are shown below.
Ella-Mae Consent Form
Emily Consent Form
Chloe Consent Form
Ella-Mae
Emily
Chloe
Location Release Form
(03/04/24)
As I had made the decision to film interviews in the homes of the three people, it means that I need to be given permission from the homeowners/parents to film there, which is what a location release form is. I had already checked with the three if they were happy for me to film in their homes, specifically their bedrooms, so even though I sent them over some of them didn’t respond until after filming had taken place. All of the location release forms are shown below.
Emily Location Release
Chloe Location Release
Ella Location Release
Kit List
(15/03/24)
Within this section I have explored all of the kit I am going to use with reasoned justification as to why I am using this specific kit. Each piece of kit listed will help me to create an engaging documentary to the highest standard I can achieve.
Canon 90D
The canon 90D is the camera I have most experience with and the newest model of camera that the college have. I have found I am most confident with this camera due to the practice I had with it both in the production process research but also in Unit 09 during filming for the client. With this the camera has multiple lenses which I will discuss in more detail later.
DJI Pocket 2
The DJI Pocket 2 is a small gimbal camera which is lightweight and easy to use. It can record in 1080p, 4K and 5K, and up to 60fps, you choose how its filmed through the touchscreen menu. Though this piece of kit is small, I feel it will be really useful to use for the short interviews and footage in the green room. It will also make the interviews seem a lot less intimidating for the 3 people, however there is the issue of audio if it's clear enough for me to use within the documentary. This is explored further in problem solving, allowing me to see if this piece of kit is really worth using.
I explored the DJI Pocket 2 in more detail within problem solving, click the button to go there!
Telephoto lens - 75-300mm
With the lens, when capturing footage from the auditorium I won’t be able to zoom in that well with the standard lens that comes with the camera, so the telephoto lens will come in handy here. I’ve used this lens in previous projects and found it allows for you to be far from a situation but still get footage as though you are close to it. For this project I feel this lens is the best option, especially as I will be shooting from the auditorium which is far from the stage.
Tripod
For the tripod, I will be using the ones which the college provide, by Manfrotto. I have been using these since Unit 01 so understand how it works and can setup with ease and quickly. Along with this they aren’t that big so in terms of transport they are very easy. This will mainly be used when trying to get shots from the auditorium as I need it to not look shaky when the camera is zoomed in.
Rode VideoMic Microphone
In terms of audio, I will use the Rode VideoMic and attach it to the camera. This microphone is one of the better options for my production as when filming the short ‘in the moment interviews’ I won’t have time to attach a radio mic to the interviewee so using a rode mic is the best option. Along with this, it is a shotgun mic, so the audio is more directional and will pick up direct audio. Though there is the chance it will pick up background noise, this can add to the atmosphere, and I can edit it during post-production if needed.
Creating the kit list has allowed me to see what I need to book out, as well as see if there are pieces of equipment, I need to practice with more so that I can get the most out of the equipment. Also, I can always add to this list if there’s more kit I have forgotten or decide to use.