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Marking Period Blog Post

Life on ADD

By Brice McInroy

Life on ADD is an interview styled documentary about what its like living with Attention Deficit Disorder, told From successful business woman Dr. Elizabeth Bergey, and produced by amateur cinematographer Brice McInroy. Dr. Bergey has had ADD her entire life and knows all too well the many disadvantages, and few advantaged of living with the disorder. In this 6-minute interview she gives viewers a brief glimpse into her life on ADD.

Exploration of Ideas

Throughout my life I've had an itch inside me that never seems to go away. It nags at me and stings until I finally scratch it. That itch is my need to discover and explore new information, and to keep digging until I understand that topic fully. The constant need to keep my brain running and my want to gain knowledge has led me right into this film style.
The idea didn't occur to me until the start of school this year. I spent a long lethargic summer creating meaningless travel films, that were actually documentaries in their own form. But it became repetitive, similar, and overall boring. Id start a project and realize I was capturing the same shots that I had in previous films. I was becoming tired of landscapes and scenery. So I came into class with an open mind. Then one of the first films we watched in class was an animated documentary over a recording of an interview with an alcoholic, drug dependent, former artist called "Ryan" by Chris Landreth. My need for something knew, my exposure to the film and my hunger for exploration combined in my head and from that point on I was sold on creating Documentaries.
I myself have severe ADD or Attention Deficit Disorder and there for I was really curious to see how the disorder affects other people. So an idea started forming in my head, What if I created a documentary by interviewing people with ADD? And so I began to obsess about what I was going to do and how I was going to do it, and that helped my itch fade away as my void started to fill with new information.

Below is some information I researched in order to start my journey to create a documentary.

Planning/Production
I started the project by researching different documentary styles and watching countless of them. I

began to jump from idea to idea in an organized and scattered way and it was extremely unproductive. I was like a puppy trying to play with all the toys at once while also picking their favorite. First I wanted to do a animation in light of recently watching "Ryan", but I quickly found out that drawing on a computer was not my forte. So then my interest shifted to docudramas, where a true story is told from false characters and settings. I worked with that for a little and more ideas started to shape in my head. As I was watching "Trophy Parents" a documentary about crazy parents of athletes I noticed the mixture of interviews, action shots, and other cinematic scenes. I liked the way voices flowed over changing clips and thus spurred my final project idea. I was going to interview people with ADD, while also capture who they are as a person outside of the interviewing room.
I began to draw out story boards and different angels I wanted my camera/s to be at while filming my subjects. Reality hit and I realized I was a one woman crew and could only use two one camera at a time while filming. So I went back to my drawings and picked a classic interview style close up where the subject is lined up using the rule of thirds.

Then I wanted to work out my lighting, so I researched different interview lighting techniques and where to place lights, and I also made a blog post about it. Unfortunately, I did not have any soft lights or fancy light boxes at my house so I improvised. I took a cardboard box, cut out the flaps, put an LED light facing the opening, cut out a hole in the back for the wire, and then covered the front opening with a pillow case to defuse the light. It worked out really well for my fill light because it didn't illuminated the background that much, especially when it was placed close to my subject. Then I used a regular desk pointer light for my key light. This also worked out well because I was able to point it at my subject and only my subject, once again leaving the background almost completely dark. But I wanted to see my background or else the shot would look bland so I turned on a bed side table lamp in the back which acted as my back light and gave a nice glow to the background.
The Backlight I used also went with another topic I studied which was creating a blurred background and Bokeh Effect. The Bokeh effect is when a camera is out of focus and there are lights in the frame, because of the blur the lights defuse and create soft circles. With this in mind I previously planned to include the Bokeh Effect into my blurred background, and the bed side table lamp seemed to have achieved this effect.

Another thing I did while planning and producing was conduct a sheet of Interview questions I might ask during the film. I wasn't going to read off the sheet like a script, but rather refer to it if the interviewee got off task, or if my mind blanked for a second or two. This I found was extremely useful because it got into my head what I was trying to achieve with this film which was to share the story of a person with ADD while also educating the viewers and giving them a glimpse into my subjects life.

Evaluation/Integrating
I didn't use a lot of previous knowledge for this film other than basic camera settings and techniques and my understanding of what its like living with ADD, which I had to constantly remind myself to not allow my own personal experiences get in the way of how I was going to illustrate my subjects experiences. However, I did learn a lot while planning, producing, and editing this film. I learned countless techniques to shoot an interview. I think the most important was the use of multiple lights and cameras. I was only able to use one camera because I was limited by my resources, but through watching other interviews and documentaries I saw the importance of using switching from one camera angle to the next while a subject is talking. I really like how easily films flowed when producers used this technique. Next time I shoot an interview I will try to get a camera crew together so that I can achieve this style.

Another really important thing I figured out while editing was how to clean up audio and get rid of background noise. I shot my interview with a shotgun mic which unfortunately picked up a lot of humming from the fan and air conditioning. I know for next time that in order to avoid this then I would have to use a lavalier mic. But I had already shot the same interview two times because of other complications and I did not want to shoot it another time. So, I looked up how to get rid of background noise in adobe audition. I was presented with numerous solutions to which all I tried and failed. I was spending hours trying to fix this major problem and was trying to find solutions on the internet. But I couldn't, none seemed to work. So, I took my opening audio clip into adobe auditioned and started to familiarize myself to the app. Countless hours of messing around and I started to understand the inner workings of audio and sound. I then created my own solution to the problem.

I selected an individual audio clip in Premiere Pro> went to "edit" on my tool bar> pressed on "edit in Adobe Audition. This brought my audio clip up in the audition app and allowed me to edit that part of my audio. Then I highlighted a section in my clip where all you could here was the background buzzing that I was trying to eliminate. I then clicked on "effects", scrolled down to "Noise Reduction/ Restoration", and clicked on "Capture Noise Print". What this did was save that highlighted section so I could use it later. Then I went back and highlighted my entire audio file and went back to effects>Noise Reduction/Restoration> and then to right below "Capture Noise Print" to "Noise Reduction Process". This brought up a separate panel that looked like a scatter plot with three different colored points. (See picture) I then had to manipulate the solid line, much like how you would manipulate a RGB curves line while color grading, until then yellow and green lines overlapped. This is would get rid of the background buzzing and only slightly warp the voice of my speaker. Basically by saving the humming sound I could put it into this program and line it up with my entire audio clip, which would then delete the humming with in that audio range.

I've learned not only techniques, styles, tricks and tips about interviews and documentaries through making my own, but I've learned how to solve my own problems and learn from my mistakes which I think is one of life's most valuable lessons. I've gained so much knowledge while planning, producing, and editing that I am beyond excited to put that information to use in my next film, and to fix those problems I previously encountered.

Worklog 3

Weekly Worklog #3

Monday- No School

Tuesday- Absent

Wednesday- I've been having a lot of trouble with my camera at home. I shot the interview 2 times already and each time my footage is coming out grainy and pixelated. So today I researched ways to fix this including, adjusting iso and aperture, and am going to try them out tonight.

Thursday- After another unsuccessful shoot with my camera at home I decided to check out one of the cameras from the school, along with a wide lense to get a nice blurry background. I spent the class messing around with it and seeing how the auto focus and manual focus works and how blurry I can get the background. Hopefully this will work and it will be the last time I shoot this interview.

Friday- Absent

asking questions and interview styles investigation

Asking Questions and Interviewing Styles Investigation

Below is a chart I constructed that shows different Interviewing styles and techniques and how to ask questions. I made it as a chart because I wanted to make it easy to read and refer back to incase i need a refresher or new ideas about questioning in interviews. I've learned the importance of coming prepared to interviews, while also being open minded. I've also learned the importance of fluidity and how and when to ask questions in order to allow the interview to flow easily and therefore make it easy to edit without jumping from topic to topic. I'm excited to use these techniques in current and future films. 

Curiosity	Come to the interview with an “I don’t know anything” attitude. Don’t show off what you know about the topic during the interview, rather lead with genuine curiosity. This usually produces the most honest and compelling answers. If you’re in doubt about how to structure an interview, chronological interviews are best, where the subject is unraveling events according to a timeline. This gives you plenty of opportunity to encourage storytelling and ask, “what happened next?” or, “why was that?”
Listen up	The decision not to use narration in your film has important implications for conducting interviews. You will be listening for content and how that content can be shaped into a non-fiction story. Come to the interview well-researched and with a list of questions, but know that your job is not to get through the list; your job is to listen closely to the answers. You’re in discovery mode. You’re learning who your characters are and how their stories will inform your documentary. As interviewees unpack their tales you’re also listening for clarity and understanding. If something is not clear to you, you know your audience will be scratching their heads as well. Ask a follow up question for clarification. If you zone out just waiting for your subject to finish his answer so you can ask the next question, you’re going to miss opportunities to explore more deeply. SO be aware because i know you have ADD and tend to zone.
Going Deeper	If a subject goes on a tangent with their answer, let them go. It could get scenic and interesting. And if you want to get back to the original question, it’s ok to ask it again. The best way is to encourage your interviewee to tell a story. In fact you can make it an interviewer’s rule of thumb that if you want to probe deeper beyond the facts, places and dates, ask your subjects to tell you a story, an anecdote and to give plenty of examples.
Feeding the Questions	There’s a lot of debate about whether a director should provide questions to interviewees ahead of time. Be prepared; some interviewees will insist on it. For subject matter experts this will be most useful as they can dig up the necessary information to give you a confident and accurate account by the time they sit down in front of the camera. If your interviewee is one of the main subjects of your documentary, submitting a list of questions might not be the best approach for mining authentic and emotional responses. If the interview turns out to be an engaging exchange, chances are your question asking will be more organic as you discover your subject’s story and your curiosity will likely take you beyond the line of questioning you had in mind.
Open- ended	John Sawatsky, the renowned journalism teacher and interviewing guru currently training ESPN reporters, has this advice: “Keep questions short, to the point, open-ended — “yes” or “no” should not be a possible response.” Open-ended questions help put your interviewee in explainer mode and avoids short, unusable answers. Sawatsky gives this example: “Instead of asking: ‘It must have been tough in the early years,’ ask: ‘What were the early years like?’” Here are some of Sawatsky’s other suggestions for avoiding ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers: How do you know that? What makes you say that? What happened next? What does that mean? Can you give me an example of that? What’s that like?

Weekly Worklog

Weekly Work Log

Monday- I finished up most of my idea organization and planning. I created a sheet that included essential questions to act during the interview and i also sketched out different camera angles and shots I could get.

Tuesday- I selected my favorite shots from my drawings and workout my lighting technique ill be using. I did some research and decided to use the 3 point lighting method since its used it most interviews. I then mapped out where I want my lights. I also got out a camera and put it on a tripod facing the green screen in the studio. Then I took notes and observed when Mr. Bomboy showed me how to use the lighting board in the studio and which lights were my Key, Fill, and Back lights. while also looking through the camera to see how it affects my subject's (Mark) face and shadows.

Wednesday- Today I watched youtube videos and tested out the Rhode Shotgun Mic which I have decided I will be taking home with me tonight in order to interview one of my subjects. I chose this mic today because its mobile, extremely simple to use, and doesn't require a second person to use. I didn't choose the Lavalier Mic today because id be too focused on the sound while filming than the film and I wont be going outside so a simple Shotgun Mic will work fine.

Thursday- Today I downloaded some of my interview footage into after affects to try and get rid of grain and visual noise I encountered due to improper camera settings while shooting. However it didn't work and I've come to the conclusion that I'll just have to re-shoot the interview

Camera Settings Investigation

Setting up an Interview

Lighting- First turn off all artificial light in the room in order to see where the natural light is coming in. Then place lighting accordingly to subject and the feeling you want to give off to your viewers. Use soft light in order to make the subject look friendlier and respectful. Most filmers use soft light set ups for informative interviews or to try and make the subject look innocent. By using hard light a different feeling is presented, usually one of suspense and makes the subject look like a villain. One way of using hard light i by making a silhouette of your subject by placing the light behind them instead of in front. This masks identity and makes viewers want to know the face behind the screen. By using a hard light set up instead of soft you can also illuminate the face and create hard shadows and cuts that give off that villain vibe again. For my concentration project I will be using Soft light since I am retrieving personal accounts of life experiences and want to make my subjects seem familiar and friendly. I also will be using the 3-point lighting set up in order to fully illuminate the face.

ISO- Thursday afternoon I attempted to record my first interview of Dr. Bergey and capture her life account of living with ADD. But I didn't know my camera or many of the settings very well so I made a rookie mistake. My ISO was turned all the way up to 6400 which I have learned you should rarely ever shoot in. ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. Normally a high ISO would be used to shoot in low lighting to make it easier on the camera to pick up video better. But in afternoon lighting and the use of a 3-point lighting setup my footage game out grainy with visual noise. The camera became so sensitive that it looked like colors were just freely moving across my footage when I uploaded it to my computer. Now I have to reshoot the whole interview in a lower ISO, lower than 500, in order to avoid visual noise, pixelation, and grain.

Focus- Obviously Focus should be on the subject during an Interview, but in order to get a professional looking clip the background should be blur. I have been using a wide lense with lower zoom. This type of lense is used to film and focus on close up objects. Which is perfect for my needs. First I place my camera on my tripod, lined up my shot, and focused on my subject. But I wasn't achieving the blended smooth background I was looking for. So I got on youtube and looked up ways to fix my problem. The simplest fix, zoom in and then focus. I went back to my subject, placed my camera farther back in the room, zoomed, and focus. By simply zooming and refocusing I was able to get a blurred background and achieved a really professional looking clip(until a screwed up my ISO).

If you don't have access to a wide lense or don't have space to zoom, but do have a green screen then you can climb through a loophole in order to get this affect as well. First you have to place your subject in front of the screen, adjust your lighting, and make sure your background is completely green. Then take your camera and go to the place that you want as your background. Point your camera, and then completely unfocused your lense so everything is blurry. You can either take a picture or take a video that is the same duration os your interview. Then go into adobe after affects, put the key effect on your original interview clip. Key out the green screen and place the blurry picture of video behind it. This can look really good or obviously edited based on whether or not your lighting and exposure match in both the clips.

Weekly Work Log

Weekly Work Log

Monday- Today I watched short documentary and interview styled videos on youtube and took notes in order to better understand the techniques and themes of this film style.

Tuesday- Today I worked on a contract to give to my interview subjects that explains what i will be trying to accomplish with my film and how it will be set up. It also includes some guidelines for me and for their comfort during and after the interviews.

Wednesday- I worked on my contract and started drawing out different camera angles for the interview.

Thursday- Today I watched videos and took notes on the different available uses of gopros because they are so mobile. They also include a wide lense and I was learning the different settings i can manipulate and hopefully use in my films.

Friday- I was absent

Camera shots and tecniques investigation

Camera Shots and Techniques

Below are a few different camera shots, techniques, and angels that can help me make my films more cinematic. I've written it as if I was teaching myself how to create these looks so that I can come back to it later throughout the year and take ideas from this post while also relearning how to make them. I feel all these shots are doable and I'm excited to see how I can incorporate them into my films.

Static camera
If there’s interesting movement within the picture – like milling crowds of people, falling leaves or clouds moving – keep the camera completely still (use a locked tripod). Viewers will see the movement you want to show and won’t be distracted by the camera moving.

It’s usually best to keep the camera still when you’re showing important details and facial expressions. If a character is moving and you want a closeup, it’s easiest if you plan your sequence so that they pause at the point in the action when you’ll need to cut to the closeup.

Moving subjects

People can move in various different directions: left to right (‘along the X axis’), up or down (‘along the Y axis’), towards or away from the camera (‘the Z axis’). All of these have different meanings. Moving closer builds involvement (or threat); moving left to right is ‘natural’ for a main character on a journey; moving upwards suggests a struggle. So if a character is moving diagonally upwards from left to right – like Rocky running up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial – they’re heroically overcoming a challenge. Moving diagonally downwards, on the other hand, suggests uncontrolled, headlong flight.

Moving the camera
If there’s no movement taking place in the shot, you can use camera movements to make it more interesting, to add intensity, or to reveal things. The coolest camera moves are where the camera itself moves though space. These tracking, arc or crane shots look more interesting than shots where the camera stays in one place and pans (turns) sideways or tilts up or down.

Tracking shots

In these shots, the camera itself moves forwards, backwards or sideways. You can track in(move forwards) to move through a space, to build intensity in a closeup, to follow a character, or to show what a they’re seeing (a point of view shot). A track out (backwards) can reveal more of a scene, or a character can follow the moving camera. This will take practice as inexperienced actors or presenters tend to walk too fast.

Tracking shots usually look better if you zoom out or use a wide angle lens or adapter (especially if you’re using the camera handheld). You’ll be able to get closer, so the shot will look more dramatic and camera shake will be less obvious.

You can use a sideways tracking shot or crab to scan across a scene or to travel alongside a moving subject. But if you’re using a DSLR, be careful – fast sideways movement can cause a rolling shutter effect which distorts the image.

If you can borrow a wheelchair, a trolley or skateboard your tracking shots will be smoother. You can also put the camera in a carrier bag with a hole cut out for the lens.

You could also try an arc shot which moves in a circle around the subject. This is difficult to do but is a great way of showing the whole space, or all the characters in a group, without cutting between them.

Crane shots
Crane shots move the camera vertically, above or across the action. You can buy jibs – some of them, for small cameras, are fairly inexpensive – but they are big and cumbersome to transport. With phones and lightweight cameras, you can shoot crane shots by mounting a handheld stabilizer on a boom pole.

Aerial shots
Pro Cinematographers used to have to hire a helicopter to get good aerial shots, but this has got much more affordable with drones. Good drone shots take a lot of skill, though, and you need to be careful about safety. There are a lot of legal restrictions on them which vary between states.