Individual Analysis...                                                                                                                                   Back >>>

As writer for our documentary, I first had to understand what would be required of me, so I researched the role of a writer within documentary, and wrote it up for our website, here.

The research showed me I would have to work closely with the other group members, who each headed a technical department, and get their input to the writing process, and co-operation with completing pages for the website. I was in regular contact with producer and web-master Jess, who proofread my submitted work and formatted it for display on the website. Once I was familiar with this format, I uploaded some work myself, which Jess approved or edited accordingly. Lighting head Toby and I worked well to complete several critical reading reviews. Our working practices, while being fairly polar, complimented each other; Toby working quickly to provide a rough outline of the subject, and my slower meticulousness fleshing out the ideas with more focus on correct punctuation and grammar. I would have liked to get more members involved in this process, to make the site more of a cumulative effort, but differing schedules and priorities made this difficult.

I for example was often more focused on drafting and editing drama scripts, despite our producer Jess' demand for more focus on the website, along with research and development of our chosen documentary idea. This was something I should not have neglected, especially as it was an idea I presented to the group.

But the same is true from the other side; those that focussed on the documentary neglected the drama, and had to keep up by relying on the work of others, as I somewhat did with the documentary work. I also often felt let down by the producer, who didn't set a good example with regard to punctuality and attitude. This seemed to be mostly because of her determined focus on the website, which paid off, at the cost of her health, and appears to me as primarily the work of one person, rather than a co-operative group. Granted, we were given the opportunity to submit ideas, but it still felt like she had an unyielding monopoly on content and design. In my opinion, web content should have been allocated to those that have relevant knowledge and experience, or who willingly volunteer for the task. Instead, we were shown a huge list and invited to select which bits we wanted to do. I appreciate the effort this took, but it didn't seem the optimum solution, and left some members feeling left out or ignored. In return for this consideration, I would try to submit work more often and provide more assistance where necessary.

As our producer wisely suggested, I came up with three potential documentary ideas, one of which led to our current primary idea. I have a contact who competes in dog shows, who told me about vicious competitor rivalries and questionable tactics that are employed to gain advantage in competitions.

Being a fan of investigative documentaries, especially ones that lift the lid on previously unseen elements of a story, I was excited to attempt our own. I thought this could counter-balance nicely with the common perception of dog shows as whimsical and vaguely campy county-fair attractions for obsessive blue-rinsed spinsters. I have kept in frequent contact with my primary source via email, which has provided me with more information we can use to progress our film project. I will be visiting her in the holiday period to explain what we hope to achieve from our film, and ask her advice as a regular competitor.

But some of the group only wanted to focus on that part, as reflected in our final pitch and trailer. I was disappointed, as investigative documentary is what I would like to gain experience in, but after considering our feedback, and the rest of the group's opinions, I conceded that as we are all inexperienced, it would be unwise to tackle such a complex and inflammatory direction. During our shooting however, I intend to look out for any evidence I could potentially use for a future film in my desired style. I was then happy top do further research into similar projects, including the photography of Jo-Anne McArthur, and the National Geographic Crittercam.

This confusion and lack of preparation was made evident in our presentation pitch, which was disjointed, heavy on text and ran over time. I think these problems stemmed from the group's lack of clarity on the exact idea, which I take responsibility for as writer. The same thing happened with our drama presentation, where some of the group seemed unfamiliar with the script Kayleigh and I had written. As I had specifically researched documentary writing, I should have tried to develop a shooting script, despite my inexperience with the process. Doing this would have let me understand the process better, along with the premise, which I could have then presented much better in the pitch. Again, lack of group communication only compounded these issues, and is something we need to overcome as a group. I have already suggested the potential of getting together informally to build our group dynamic and let us become more familiar with each others' strengths and weaknesses. I will do what I can to encourage participation, but given our groups' current issues, I'm not counting on it.

I started work on the website enthusiastically, researching and writing up technical aspects such as camera use and technique. Because I didn't do the first year of Media Studies combined; instead transferring from English combined, I felt it absolutely necessary to catch up by learning as much as I could about the elementary aspects first. However once I was comfortable (but certainly not proficient) with using the camera, my desire for further knowledge on the subject wavered, something I now regret. I will aim to further improve my technical understanding and practice as often as possible in a variety of conditions to improve my ability. I continued to watch different types of documentaries, and review them in relation to their particular mode. This really helped me to get a better understanding of the differences and similarities between them.

I enjoyed learning and writing about documentary modes, something I had never explicitly recognised before. I took particular interest in Mondo films, and watched as many as I could find online. They are exactly my taste in film, much like Gonzo is my taste in writing. I find the bizarre, stylistic presentation of illicit, pulpy versions of reality absolutely fascinating, and spent a lot of my time in its company.

I freely admit to poor time-management regarding my work, and is the main thing I want to improve upon next semester. The work has been far more intensive than any of my previous studies, and took me by surprise. I improved in latter weeks, and  now I know what to expect, I should be able to organise my time more efficiently between my various workloads, an important professional ability that I'm (reluctantly) thankful for the opportunity to experience.