DolphinHolme Experience

Dolphinholme Farm

                We arrived at Dolphinholme Farm roughly at midday and we spent the first hour sorting ourselves out with our yurts, once we were settled we went back to have a somewhat production meeting on what everyone’s  task would be. The media department was informed that we had a choice to either create a documentary or do some experimental work which would be able to be made into a short advert of some sort.

First we separated into groups but I & seven others decided to work together, hoping that we would each have some creative input. I had some difficulties in understanding what was expected from us so I listened to what was the main attraction of the farm and the people that work there. I overheard that it was a goat farm and a baby had just been born which inspired me to plan and produce a short documentary on the farmer and his goat but focusing on the care they have for the newly born goats.

We had a large group of eight so we decided to separate into two groups but working towards the same final product, group A would cover a certain aspect of the documentary where group B would cover another. We went to our yurt and started developing the necessary   pre-production aspects.

Re-written from notepad

Members

·         Becky Gill

·         Jordan Gott

·         Lee Stuart

·         Lewis Johnson

·         Charlotte Aspden

·         James Sharpel

·         William Fox

·         Alex Brand

·         Adam Hay

·         Antony Preston

Documentary- a short three minute documentary based around the farmer, family/ farm history, new born goats; including an interview with the farmer (continuance plan- farmer wife or workers). Collect a range of footage of the farm and goats, hopefully footage will work along with the farmer’s response to the questions. Key importance- get footage of new born being cared for!

Experimental- gather range of footage which can be put to either an advert for the farm or a short tour video of the farm. We can collect footage whilst working on documentary.

Group A	Group B
Becky	William
Alex	Lee
Jordan	Charlotte
James	Lewis
Adam	Preston

                Once we had assigned groups and had a complete understanding of what we wanted to achieve, we decided that “Group A” would conduct the interview whilst “Group B” would gather a range of footage that would be useful for our documentary. I wanted to work in “Group A” because it would provide me a chance to work alongside people that I haven’t before, I know from viewing previous work of theirs that I can expect a stable and productive team.  I wanted to conduct the interview considering I had a full idea of what the final product would look like, so I would need to ask certain questions which should have the desired response from the farmer. The final image I had planned for the documentary would be basically a stream of footage of the farm and goats whilst a voiceover of the farmers answer played through, each piece of footage would be related to the answers.

               

 We decided which group would be in charge of what part of the documentary, “Group B” would go out and recce the area with potential shots whilst I and “Group A” would plan roles and think up of suitable questions.

Re-written from notepad

Interview Roles

Interviewer- Alex

Sound Operator- Becky

Camera Man- James

Director-Jordan

(I thought it would be best if James got a bit more hands on experience, he claimed to have previously done similar work but I just wanted to see what he knew and didn’t know for future precautions)

Interviewees

Farmer- John Gorse

Wife- Barbara Gorse

Questions

·         What is the history of the farm (inheritance, purchased, why?)

·         What type of livestock do you keep and why?

·         What’s involved with caring for the animals?

·         Is there any extra precaution need for the newborns?

·         How has the farm changed from what it was to what it is now? (and educational site, goat farm etc)

·         Are you part of a large organisation?

·          How can this farm be compared to others?

Once “Group B” came back we set out to pitch our idea and begin production however we misunderstood what was priority for us to work by. Our tutor wanted us to first make a documentary based on us being there and each art and media department working on this farm. We put our documentary on hold and began working on this by first gathering a range of shots of people drawing and photographing. We thought this would be best use of our time considering that the farmer and the farmer’s wife were busy tending to the farm and wouldn’t be able to conduct an interview anytime soon.  We capitalised on this time to gather footage for the other documentary and attempted to gather some experimental footage.  The issue with this approach was the fact we didn’t spend time pre-producing any material so everything we did was improvised but hopefully we gathered enough usable footage.

Collating this footage was difficult seeing as the weather was abysmal, constant rain and wind so people were not initially enjoying themselves. The adverse weather conditions also it made it difficult to get a range of shots without getting the bad weather in shot, the whole purpose of the documentary we are meant to be getting is to make the farm look attractive to the audience and seem enjoyable which would come from the pupils working. Working in the barn was easier but also had more excitement to it seeing as people where drawing goats and interacting with them, it was a warmer environment and made it seem like people where enjoying themselves more than the people outside.  Another reason it was challenging to collect footage was because we didn’t want to get into people’s way whilst working, also most people didn’t agree to the idea of being in shot so we had to work around that.

After a period of time we swapped over with “Group B” so that we all got some hand on experience to take credit for. We took a long break seeing as we gathered a lot of inside footage and needed to get some outside to make the final piece more presentable but the weather was getting worse. We eventually were able to get an interview with the farmer, we allowed him to read the questions in advance as time was a factor and we didn’t want to waste his by doing many redo’s. We originally were hoping to conduct the interview inside his house so that we wouldn’t pick up much ambient noise from the rain, people or goats but he wasn’t comfortable with many people students in his house so we decided to conduct the interview in the barn. This transpired to be a good location as we were able to get the goats in shot which sets the tone and makes it clear to the audience where we are and would eventually lead the audience to instantly understand who he was.

I was originally meant to be the role of interviewer but  seeing as Jordan had the initiative to arrange the interview I thought he should conduct it, also the groups had mixed up and I wasn’t sure if group B was now doing it or not so I just viewed the interview and gave Jordan another question on the spot. I am worried that footage may have some ambient noises from the goats and other people around but apart from that I think it was a very successful interview.

We asked if we could go into the area with more of a shot/ positioning advantage and if we could see him caring for some new-borns, unfortunately we could not  see him tend to newborns but he would find something more suitable for us. I was meant to go with the group along with the farmer to another location to get more footage however I offered my place to a new student as she hadn’t got any hands on experience at that time. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to venture out and see if anything would inspire me for my adaptation assignment.

There was a large forest on the farm which has some relation to the image I choose so I scouted the area to see if it would give me more ideas; however the weather made it too difficult to think of anything creative. It was getting too dark so we had to pack up and gather whatever footage needed in morning.

That night our tutor Jamie had set up a project in the barn so that we could all sit and watch a film together, however I decided to leave soon after due to feeling very cold.  I couldn’t get comfortable enough to enjoy the film, but I intended to watch the film in my own time considering Jamie spent the time to set up so we would watch it. The film was “Everything Is Illuminated” starring Elijah Wood; I will watch the film and then review it on my inspiration page.

The next morning we all had a brief production meeting which included what everyone had gathered, what else was needed and what would be redone.  There was discussion of doing it all over again considering the better weather but we had little time left and thought it would be best to get the remaining shots, this does have a big impact on continuity but time was a factor. “Group B” were meant to go out but members of the media department did photography the day before and wanted to get involved so they spent the morning gathering the rest.

Our final task at Dolphinholme Farm was to set up the camera so that we could do a collection of everyone’s confessions, this is considered a simple task  as all you have to do is set the camera up for a medium close up and get everyone to tell a secret . Most people were against the idea of being on camera, so we had to constantly ask until we got enough shots. The whole point of doing confessions is that it gives people material to work within the edit suite.

I have a mixed overall impression of Dolphinholme Farm, mainly because of the weather making it difficult to work and live there but I am glad we had this opportunity to experience a snapshot of farm life. It gave us a chance to interact more with the students and learn their skills, it also felt like a real life situation that we were in. i.e.: last minute information, produce a product of some sort with evidence of pre-production work and execute it in a professional manner. I would really enjoy going again but at a time with better weather.

My honest opinion of my performance would have to be weak, I did work in the pre-production aspect of the work and did contribute on gathering footage but I think I could have done more. I put this down to frustration of the weather and lack of interest in other members of the course. However I plan to make up for this in the edit suit once we check all the footage and begin creating the documentaries.