Final Video + Reflection

I am really happy with my final video, especially with the audio and series of clips joined together in the middle to form the "panic". I was going to add some notes around the house, asking what was going on and what was happening to their memory, but I didn't feel like this was necessary as they had no place and looked out of place at any point.

Statement

My project was about the mental illness of dementia and how it significantly affects a person’s life and emotions. I originally was basing my film on my great-grandparents, both of whom are in care homes suffering from dementia. However, due to their health, both mental and physical, I was unable to film without causing a lot of distress and emotional upset. Therefore, I decided to base my film on my Nan, whom suffers from slight forgetfulness, especially with misplacing items.

I spent the day analysing my Nan’s movements and habits, and soon began to notice that she often misplaced her cup of tea and made another one, only to find it again moments later. I decided that this would form a solid base for my film, and reflected a real life situation. My finished product shows early onset dementia with the misplacement of items being a symptom, including the emotions and stress a person must feel when they cannot remember people or places but know that they should.

Overall, I am really happy with how my video turned out. I had used Premiere Pro before for basic editing of files and music videos, but they had always been pre-constructed and only needed slight tweaking to audio and effects that we used to fade clips together. I am really proud of being able to say I produced a product from start to finish. I also learnt how to use a Canon C100 on this project, which is a professional broadcast standard cinema camera used by organisations such as the BBC and ITV. I understand that in the future, this still will be vital if I want to expand my work into the video production industry.

I researched a lot into the work of Keith Arnatt, and originally planned to use small notes and reminders around the video. However, upon reviewing my video after I had added these files, I came to realise that they looked out of place. The notes were filmed at a later date in my own house; so do not match the lighting that was present in my Nan’s house. I wish back when I was filming the main body of footage, I had of followed my storyboard, because I missed out a lot of footage such as the clock and notes, which I had to film at a later date. My research into Christopher Nunn and Phillip Toledano was really helpful in setting up close up shots which were very still such as of eyes and faces. They were really effective when overlaid with the sound of the clock ticking! My first final render contain the sound of the clock ticking in the background, very quietly, but I preferred the silence in-between clips and removed it.

In conclusion, I am happy with my final piece and have gained a lot of knowledge of videographers and filmmakers that I am sure will benefit me in my future studies and blogs. I have also gained experience in filmmaking and editing techniques which will boost my CV should I continue practicing.

Editing Process

I had used Premiere Pro before so I knew how to cut and change between clips and produce a simple video, however, it was a learning curve for me to be able to use video effects.

I began my video very abruptly in the first edit, so I decided to add a cross dissolve on the first clip so it faded in from the black space. This gave the video more of a clean feel and looked professional rather than starting very suddenly.

As you can see, the panic scene on this video has a lot of small, second long cuts that were over layered by the track of the clock ticking. I wanted to use the clock as reference to two features, that the clock shows how much time had been passing whilst she had been making cups of tea, and that that time was short, as well as the reference to how people with dementia are sometimes referred to as a 'ticking time bomb' before they become worse. I thought that this reference was really important to include in my video.

I finally decided to end my video with a fade to black, so again, the ending looked as professional as the beginning.

Second Draft Edit + Points to Consider

1) Get rid of black space in-between clock and third cup of tea

2) Get rid of black space in-between turning of pages and wide angle of photo album

3) Make clock clip in-between panic scenes longer, because it looks like time has stopped

4) Make panic scene a bit longer and add more cuts in-between each clip to make the viewer feel panicked too

5) Add audio of clock ticking sourced from Youtube/web

6) Add notes and paper reminders in-between clips, especially towards the end
7) Add cross dissolves and fades on beginning and end clip to make the video flow better, at the moment it starts very suddenly.

First Draft Edit + Points to Consider

I have finished my first draft of my final video looking into dementia as an illness. I am happy with the beginning of the video but feel that the ending is too rushed. I feel like I need some space and extra footage inbetween the second and third cup of tea, because it seems to have started being made out of nowhere.

Here are the things I wish to change in my next edit:

1) Instrumental music over the beginning or audio of someone stirring a cup of tea/clock ticking

2) Playing with hands before she gets up to make the second cup of tea

3) Remove sound from where she is taking the tea bag out of the second cup of tea

4) Put clips of subject getting out of chair or looking alarmed before the third cup of tea has been made - jumps to quickly without need to

5) Change position of close up flicking through book, doesn't match

6) Add close up eyes after she throws the book to the floor

7) Make black patches smaller and more interesting

8) Add more footage of the clock at certain times paired with kettle clicking

9) Add end credit so that video doesn't come to an abrupt end

Filming

I planned to gain all my footage for my film over the course of two days, one being spent at my Nan's house, and one being set at mine using my clock. I used a C100 as my camera which is designed for filmmaking, and my 17-40mm for wide angle shots and my 100mm macro for close up shots such as eyes and lips.

Upon arriving at my Nan's house, I soon began to realise that filming was going to be more difficult than anticipated. Given my Nan has quite a forgetful memory, but not nearly as bad as dementia, she kept on forgetting about the task in hand and moving items during filming which would have made the film look like it had continuity errors. Therefore, a lot of shots were filmed more than once and a lot of direction had to be made to get the footage I needed. I planned to record sound on the shoot in my Nan's house, but because of all the direction I had to give, the audio is unusable, and I will have to search for stock audio to layer on top of the parts where I am directing.

Storyboarding