Our Documentary On Baldock (Part 6.)

Well.
Last time I updated my blog, we had not been able to edit!
Now, we have a finished film.

The last few stages we went through are here for you:

First of all, we started to edit the footage we had made. Unfortunately, we have to to the editing on Windows Movie Maker, as I said before, because Adobe Premiere Elements was playing up.
However, even though we had to use a different program to edit, it was still do- able. We started out just doing one scene a day- this wasn't working out very well at all. We needed to finish it! So we then had to do longer hours in order to try and finish it, and managed to get all but two scenes done!

The first scene we couldn't finish was the scene all about Kayser Bondor. The scene wouldn't save properly, and so we couldn't import it with the rest of our scenes to try and put the film together! After around two weeks of attempting to save it, and having to re-do it a number of times, we finally did it! The scene was really long and involved a lot of attention, and us having to repeatedly do it over and over again was quite draining, as I'm sure you can imagine. However, that escapade is now behind us, and we shall not ponder over the stress we experienced. :)

The second scene we were unable to finish was the scuba diver outside Tesco's scene. This was because we hadn't actually filmed it! We had struggled to find a Sunday where we were all free for a long time, and it was starting to look like we would miss the deadline. However, on the 6th of December, we could finally film it! It was so funny, me walking up to Tesco's in a scuba diving suit and standing there saying some funny lines! We got a few stares, but it was worth it - the scene is exactly what we wanted! That was one funny day!
It didn't take us very long at all to edit the scene, because there isn't much ordering to do with it, the scene flowed well during filming.

The other scene we did on the 6th of December was a very short one. All Gemma had to do was introduce her meeting with Margaret Brown, so that the viewers knew what was coming, because in editing we found that it didn't flow very well, us going from one situation into another with an interviewee without any kind of introduction.

Last Tuesday, we spent the day sorting out our folders, and making sure we had everything we needed, and this week, we have done the same. I have done some evaluations and worked really hard on my book, to make sure it is completed by the end of the week, ready to go off to the examiners!


It has been a tremendous journey, making the documentary. I read my beginning entries and I see back to where it all began! Where our ideas were developing, and when we first began to film. What memories! The ups and downs and different emotions are all displayed in these blogs - it's quite funny to read back and see how I reacted about certain situations and what I'd written down to accompany them. I've really enjoyed filming and creating my very own documentary with the team; Gemma and Rosie!

I hope you have enjoyed the journey along with me as much as I have!


Thank you for following me!




Antonia xx

Our Documentary On Baldock (Part 5.)

The only update we have this week in regards to our filming is that Gemma had an interview with a lady called Margaret who used to work at Kayser Bondor. She described her day, what it was like to work there, and what she enjoyed. She mentioned things like 'going up to the front of the building was a driveway, with cherry trees along the edge.'

I love hearing about the factory! It sounds like it was a lovely place to work, with so much attraction outside as well as what their products had to offer! Gemma had so much to say about the interview, and how she found it. I wish i could have gone, but my sister's christening was something i truly couldn't miss! As it is on film, I can still hear all about it.
I wish i could have seen the place, and how it was, because Tescos seems like a poor replacement in comparison!

The other update is that our Art books are slowly on the move! We have a little more to do, but It shall all be done.

Today should hopefully be all about the editing, seeing as last week it was stalled as the program we needed to use wasn't working. None of us are at all happy about using the programme that is actually working (Windows Movie Maker.) In my past experiences, I have only been able to make films with amateur looks to them when using the programme, and the quality isn't very good at all. My 10 year old brother can successfully make a film with it. At 16, professional programmes are what I'd prefer to use on a Creative And Media Diploma. I think after the last two films we have made, (which have both been SO successful), using Adobe Premiere Elements, it would be a shame in our last filming project, to lose our high standard.


On a better note, we shall hopefully aim to get the Scuba Diving scene done in the next two weeks. We shall borrow the suit again and i will go outside tescos looking for the swimming pool that is non-existent.

Until then, good bye.

Our Documentary on Baldock (part 4.)

Our half term was jamm-packed full with our filming!

We had finished the granny scene at Rosie's house one day after school, but other than that, everything has been done in our half term!

The granny scene took us about half an hour to do. We (myself and Gemma) made sure our hair and uniform looked relatively childish, and then checked that the granny (Rosie) was all wrinkled up! We had the granny sitting in an armchair with the bookshelf in the background reading a book, and then the two children came bouncing in, interrupting the Granny's sleep. They are then told the Story of Baldock, and the camera will zoom in on a picture to bring the story to a reality. The end scene will have both children falling asleep- this took a few scenes to get the rght angle, but it was done relatively quickly.

On Sunday we filmed the scenes to do with Tescos, all except for the scuba diving one. We filmed the bits all about Tesco's history outside it, in our talking to the camera documentary fashion.
We talked about Kayser Bondor and it's facilities, and then did a dash around Tescos in a trolley.
We then filmed the church in the dark, because we wanted to add a spooky side to the filming! We went there and did some night filming of the church and talked about the graves. It wasn't filled with information, that was done in the day- we just thought it would be interesting for the viewers to see the church at night, and see if anything really would happen to us.


Two days later, we met again, and filmed the church in daylight. We gave a few facts on the history and the archectectual side of the church too. We decided to go from different areas of the church to make sure the viewers got many different scenes and saw as much of the church and it's grounds as possible.
After that, we filmed on the high street. We had our coloured microphones, which are our themed thing for the interviews, and the 'logo' kind of thing for our whole documentary. We then asked people if they wanted an interview and if they didn't mind talking to us with the camera there, we went ahead and asked them the following questions:

• What do you think of the newly refurbished high street?



• Do you think it was money well spent by the government?



• Do you think the traffic has decreased since the refurbishment?



• Do you think it is now safer?

The people we interviewed certainly had a lot to say! They were very happy to talk to us and say exactly what they thought, (which was sometimes a very long speech) and they were all very chuffed by the camera- they all made jokes about being on the 6'o'clock news!

After our funny interviews, we went up to Clothall Common and filmed the bypass and talked on the history of the Common. We wanted to have the view of the Common as a background because we thought it would be quite picturesque and nice for the viewers to see the whole area from a higher point rather than just filming some houses that could technically be anywhere. We said about the land it was built on, and it's said myths. We added a bit of comedy to this bit, so that the audience wouldn't get too bored! It was good fun actually- there are a lot of outtakes! We visited the area behind the Primary School on the edge of the common and talked about the discovered roman remains found there just over a year ago!

On friday, which again was two days later, we filmed the introduction to the film on our high street. We have the opening scene, (the one with the Granny) and then this one. This one is the introduction to the town and the statistics of Baldock. We filmed this on Friday and then went home- it didn't take very long at all.

The last few things for us to film involve an Extra called Charlie, who will pretend to be an old fashioned man and pretend to be in awe when Gemma does her Marilyn Monroe based character and flashes her big pants outside Tescos (the old langerie factory, see the link?). We will do this scene at lunchtime today. Charlie needs to look really old fashioned, as he is supposed to have been around when Kayser Bondor was, so he will wear a white shirt, top hat, bow tie, and perhaps have a pipe.

We need to film me outside Tescos in a scuba diving suit, which has to be done on a sunday so that it is not busy at all- Tescos closes at 4pm on a sunday. More filming we need to acheive is that of the interviews from people who remember Kayser Bondor. Gemma knows a few people that could help us create a picture of what the factory was like, what is was to work there, and how it played a part in Baldock's trade and so on, so we shall go along and interview them.

It sounds as though we have quite a lot to do, but really, they can be done quickly and efficiently, and shouldn't make the finished product any further out of reach, despite the fact there are 3 or 4 things left to film.

In music today, we filmed the voice over from the book of Kayser Bondor. There is a chant that is all about the factory, so we thought we would do a montage of various images from the book and then have the chant as a voice over during the montage. We practised a couple of times and then got ready to record, using a microphone, and editing the volume on a programme called Audacity.

We now have our theme tune for the documentary! It is a short clip called 1960's that we all love, and feel it really fits in with our recordings.

I shall keep you well and truly updated with our sucess and maybe our unsucesses as we near the final weeks available in the creating of our documentary.

Our Documentary On Baldock (Part 3)

Yesterday, we spent the day arranged to meet with someone from tescos and someone from a cafe in Baldock to interview them.

When we went to taste, we found that we weren't allowed to stay in the place above it, which was supposedly haunted because the owner rents it out.

When we went on to tescos, we found that nobody in there knew anything about it's history.
They did advise us however to go to the library, so we did. It was extrememly helpful! We were shown loads of pictures and were given a book on the story of Kayser Bondor, which was, believe it or not, what tescos used to be! The pictures of the old Baldock were really fascinating! We took video clips of our favorite pictures so we could include it in a montage about the lingerie factory (Kayser Bonder).

We then came back to school after our trips and scripted some of our scenes, including scenes 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.

Today after school we will film the opening scene and filming a few scenes around the school to add in a bit on the history of Knights Templar.

We will then go back to rosie's house and film the opening scene with the granny. We will use her bookcase that it up to the ceiling to have as a background to add a good effect.

Tomorrow after school we have an appointment with the head of our school, Mr Pickering, to talk to us about the school's history and how it has changed over the years. We will also film various scenes around Baldock and then do the rest over the half term.
We will also spend an evening in the churchyard so that we might see some ghosts, but of course for safety we will have an adult with us.

Our Documentray on Baldock (Part 2)

Today we are going to get to work doing these things:

• Story line
• script each scene
• sort out locations officially
• Costumes
• Characters
• Props
• Out who went want for interviews
• call up people for interviews
• arrange filming schedule
• Make a locations 'mood board'

As you can see, we have so much to do! We will film during half term, which is less than a week away, and get the majority of it done before the second half of the term begins.

We have a meeting at 9:30am, during which we shall be making decisions on our schedule, characters, final plot and what we do really need to complete today in order to film next week. Even though everything above needs doing, costumes and characters are vital for filming, along with phone calls to arrange an interview. But our main priority right now is the storyline, for obvious reasons! We have genuine ideas but we don't have a structured film layout or many official ideas except for the Marilyn Monroe, Scuba diver and Granny. We also need to sort out the camera angles and other small details which can be done quickly during filming.

Later on today we shall arrange a trip to the drama department to search for a few more costumes after we have sorted out our story line and characters.

I'm starting to feel the buzz again as we settle in to getting creative with a brand new project!

watch this space!

Our Documentary on Baldock (Part 1)

So far we have planned our documentary.
We have designed a front cover and posters to advertise the film throughout school and Baldock. We dressed up in characters from the film for the cover, and borrowed certain items of clothing from the drama department to create the perfect look during our photo shoot that took place after school.

The Granny
Rosie Lansbury is dressing up as the granny for our film. She features also in this outfit on the cover, but she isnt giving much away through a picture! We want her to open the beginning scene with a grandmother's tale that introduces the whole doucmentary in a creative way.

The Scuba Diver
Antonia Hunter (myself) is dressing up in the scuba diving suit! We thought it would be rather interesting to have me in a wetsuit because there is a pool that is no longer there any more, so i will think it is and go looking for it! I'm in the suit on the front cover because it makes it a lot more amusing to look at if we are all different characters. There aren't only the three characters in the documentary, there are a lot more, but we thought for the cover there should be a contrast between the three.

'Marilyn Monroe'
Gemma Clayton is going to be the Marilyn Monroe of Baldock! She isn't going to sing or anything, but she is going to be the icon outside the old langerie factory: Tescos! We used the idolised woman to feature Gemma against because she was a very famous woman in the 50's, and we want different eras to be in the film. She is again a very different character from the Granny and the scuba diver- this will make the front cover a lot more interesting, not to mention the film!

Our documentary, as you might have guessed, is leaning on the comedy side of things. We want to have one that can be aimed at all ages, and keep them entertained! We have created some scene ideas and are thinking of more characters apart from the ones on the cover at the moment!

Today we will be going out and photographing locations around Baldock for us to film.