Eva McQuade Creative Media Production

Production Diary:

Thursday 2nd March 2017

First point of contact with the Whitehawk food bank. I had emailed many foodbanks prior to this, but they all rejected the prospect of filming because of the sensitivity of the issue. However, I had been advised by FareShare Sussex, a food bank distributor for Sussex, that the Whitehawk foodbank were pretty media friendly and may be willing to film.
At this point, I was planning to make the film about the role of food banks in our society:
Hello,

I’m a media student from BHASVIC, and I’ve decided to base my final project on the importance of food banks in our society and why their use is so high at the moment.

I understand it can be quite overpowering walking into a safe space with vulnerable people with a camera, so I’m more than happy to come along and help for a few weeks prior to filming.

I’ve been referred to you by FareShare Sussex, hopefully you can help. It would be much appreciated - I believe it’s important to highlight the role of organizations like yourself, and I hope to reflect this in my short 3-5 minute documentary

Look forward to hearing from you, it would be great if we could work something out!

Thanks,

Eva

I received this email in reply:

Hi Eva

Good to hear from you about your final project. We'd be really happy to meet with you to discuss it.

The foodbank runs every Wednesday between 12-2pm so perhaps you could come and visit us in the coming weeks and we can see how to proceed with your idea. Another thing of interest for you is that we may be being interviewed by the BBC on Wednesday 15th March; I can let you know for sure once it's confirmed.

Let me know when you'd be able to pop in. We are based at St Cuthman's Church on Whitehawk Way.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Kate Tennant
Foodbank Coordinator

Wednesday 8^th March 2017

I visited the Whitehawk food bank, from 12-2pm. The staff were extremely friendly and I spoke to some clients who would be willing to be filmed. I also spoke to the food bank manager, who spent a lot of time showing me the accounts and usage of the foodbank- how many people had visited in the last year, where their main donations were sourced, etc. I asked lots of questions and found out about all the services of which they offer, such as debt advice and benefit advice. They invited me to join their prayer which the workers and volunteers conduct prior to the opening of the food bank. I was a little taken back by this procedure, as I had never experienced prayer like this. When I left, I was thinking about how I could extend my idea of ‘food banks in our society’ to be more interesting. I decided that I didn’t have quite enough to work on, so I decided to change the idea to how faith groups act in our society through different charitable organizations.

14^th March 2017

I wanted a Muslim charity on board, so I emailed Brighton mosque:

Hi,
I'm a media student from BHASVIC hoping to make a short documentary about how various faith organizations and religious groups live out their faith and beliefs in our society.
For example, I have filmed a Christian food bank and I hope to get some more footage of other religious charities, groups or even individuals explaining how their religious beliefs and morals feed in to their daily life and practices.
I hope to portray religion as a positive and hopeful aspect to many of our lives and our society.
If you know of any Muslim charities in Brighton who would be happy to speak to me that would be great, or even anyone at your mosque who would be willing to explain how their religion affects their daily life, and how they put their faith into action.
I am happy to come by for a chat if you're interested, I would be very grateful for any help.
Many thanks,
Eva McQuade
I Also spoke to a friend of mine who is a Muslim, and she said that her brother works for a Muslim charity in Brighton. She said she would contact him for me and find out the details of this charity so that I could get in touch.

20^th March 2017

I wanted to get a Jewish community on board too, so I emailed Brighton progressive synagogue (a very similar email to those I have attached above when I first approached the food bank and Deen relief) and I got this reply:
Hello Eva

I would be happy to be interviewed. I am available the next two Wednesdays at the synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Place, Hove, between 11am and 3.30pm.

Please let me know if either of these days are convenient. If not we can discuss alternatives.

Best wishes
Michael Austin

21st March 2017

My friend told me that the charity was called ‘Deen relief’ and an email which I could use get in touch with them. I sent them the following:
Hello,
I've been put in touch with you via Mohamed Ahmed, who I believe works with your charity.
I am a media student from BHASVIC college, making a documentary about how different religions and faith organizations live out their faith in society. For example, I am filming a Christian food bank and I am visiting a synagogue tomorrow to talk about their charity work.
It would be great to find out more about your charity and how your Muslim values play into your work. I believe the Zakat pillar is integral to Islam, and I'd like to find out more about that and the work that you do.
I hope to portray religion as a positive aspect to many of our lives and to the society we live in.
It would be great to find out about any current or up-and-coming projects you may have in Brighton, I understand you have done quite a lot of work with the homeless. If there's nothing local that you're currently aware of that I could film, an interview with a volunteer who works for Deen relief would be really great for my documentary too.
Hopefully we can organize something, it would be much appreciated!
Many thanks,
Eva McQuade

22^nd March 2017

Today I went and visited the Progressive synagogue. Everyone there was very friendly, but It was difficult to find anything that would work with the direction of my film. I tried to find out about the community and charity work they did, but I got the impression there wasn’t much going on. I was there for a good two hours, and I received a deep insight to the history of Judaism and a detailed tour of the synagogue. They had various projects such as interfaith groups and working for Palestinian solidarity in Israel, but I felt as though there wasn’t a solid ‘charity’ as such I would be able to film. They had a small donation box of which they gave food to ‘Brighton voices in exile’ each week, and I tried to dig further on their work with refugees but I gathered it didn’t really go further than that. Needless to say, I got loads of delicious free food and a great understanding of the history and practices of Judaism. What was quite interesting, I found, was a conversation I had with a lady about how the churches are funded by the government, so a lot of the Christian charities and projects have heavy financial support. However, she said the reason why I can’t find much for the Jews is because they run totally on donations.

25^th March 2017

I received this email from Shabek Ali
Hi Eva
I am Shabek Ali the Director of Deen Relief Charity, thank you for contacting us, we would certainly love to help you with your project and I`m sure we
Would have a good input in your work with the various Charity project that operate under our charity through the work of the trustees and volunteers.
Perhaps you could meet us on the Hove seafront by Peace Statue on a Sunday evening at 7pm and maybe film myself and the volunteers handing out food to our local homeless.
Or whatever is convenient for you, like I said myself and other member of the community would like to help you.
Please contact me on

Phone; 07795573387 or Email info@deenrelief.org
Looking forward to hearing from you
Kind regards
Shabek Ali

Sunday 2^nd April 2017

I visited Deen relief charity at 6.45pm outside the peace statue. I was not filming, but rather I introduced myself and helped them on their weekly actions to provide food, drink and a hot meal for the homeless. We gave out food and afterwards drove around in Shabek’s (founder of the charity) taxi and delivered food to the homeless around Brighton. It was a chance for me to introduce myself, understand more about the charity and arrange filming. I am to return on Sunday 16^th April to film them.

Friday 7^th April 2017

I visited the Buddhist center in Brighton to ask if they would be willing to participate in my film. I spoke to a woman for a good half an hour and she said they could help, and she passed my email address on to their most prestigious monk who runs their community projects/classes.

Wednesday 12^th April 2017

Today I went to the Whitehawk foodbank. I had already visited a few weeks ago and I had let them know I was coming today to film. Unfortunately, I arrived a little late so I wasn’t able to film their prayer which the staff and volunteers conduct prior to the clients arrive. However, I filmed 2 interviews, one with the manager of the foodbank and another with a member of staff. The interviews went well but I was wary of sound. I conducted one with the clip-on mic, but afterwards when I listened to it back the sound seemed a little corrupted. I realized this was because I didn’t have the small piece of foam which covers the mic to prevent the sound being damaged. So, I decided to conduct the second interview without the clip-on mic. Although it sounded a little distant and had a slight echo, I realized that for the rest of my documentary I wouldn’t risk using the clip-on mic and I’d just use the one that comes with the camera. I will try to fix the corrupted sound in the first interview during the post production process, because I didn’t want to hassle the manager again. If I am unsuccessful, I will return and interview a volunteer at the foodbank. Throughout the day, I wondered around and filmed some cut away shots which I could place over the interviews. A few of the clients didn’t want to be filmed, so I took special care to respect this and asked clients nicely if they’d let me film then. Overall, it was a successful day of filming. I arrived at the foodbank at around 12pm and left at 2.45.
(Note- when I reviewed my footage during the completion of the rushes, the sounds wasn’t corrupted, and it just sounded like that because I was playing it off the camera)

Sunday 16^th April 2017

I arrived at Medina mosque at 5 o clock. Ali had not yet arrived, so I called him and within 10 minutes he was there. First, we went to the local store ‘Taj’ to pick up the food which would later be distributed to the homeless. I filmed him collecting the food, met the owner of the shop and lots of Ali’s other friends. Then, we went back to the mosque so that we could conduct the interview. Upon returning to the mosque, I met with Bernadette, who I had met before, and we tried to find somewhere to film the interview. We went to the top floor which was empty and I set up the camera on the tripod. Once again the interview went well, but it was a shame the lighting wasn’t brighter. This was because it was a gloomy day and we had to rely on artificial lighting. Also, luckily we had just finished the interview but I found out that my memory card was full. This was because my laptop was broken, which I’d normally take any footage off the SD card and put it onto my hard drive. Luckily, there was an internet café 5 minutes away from the mosque so I could buy a new one. I came back, then we sat upstairs for a little bit, eating biryani and talking with two young Egyptian volunteers about the teachings of Islam. Then we went down to the peace statue in hove, and I filmed cut away shots of the Ali and his volunteers giving food to the homeless. However, with the new SD card I had bought, it only let me film for 13 seconds and then it would stop. Luckily, I was only filming cut away shots so I could work around it, but it was incredibly frustrating and as soon as I got home I googled and fixed the problem. I was lucky that didn’t occur during the interview.

Wednesday 19^th April 2017

Today I returned to the food bank to film the prayer. I arrived at 11.30, filmed the prayer (11.40-50) and left at 12. I was able to stand in the middle of the circle of prayer which was great - I could get some great shots of their faces. However, due to the fact I had to change the settings on the SD card so that I could film for longer lengths of time, I noticed afterwards that the video quality was not as good as before. Next time I film, I will use the first SD card and change the video settings back to how they were previously.

Thursday 20^th April 2017

Still haven’t heard from the Buddhist centre, so I dropped them an email. (still haven’t heard from them)
I’ve also arranged to re-shoot the interview with Ali on Sunday 7^th May, as when I looked back through my rushes I realized that the quality of the lighting was unacceptable. He has also agreed to allow me to film him praying, which would be a great addition to my film as I have also got the prayer at the foodbank documented.

Saturday 22^nd April 2017

I created my premiere pro file and imported my files which I had already organized (see organization of files) I marked the prayer and Doug’s interview in different sequences so I could easily reference them when it came to the final edit.

Sunday 7^th May 2017

Today I visited Ali again, I got a much better interview in his car, so that there was natural lighting. The sound quality was also much better because I used a clip-on mic. I also filmed him praying, and although it was inside the mosque of which I have encountered lighting problems before, it was still a great opportunity. I also got some lovely cut away shots of the volunteers handing out food. I encountered no problems.

Tuesday 9^th May 2017

I imported and organized the last of the footage, and created a new sequence for Ali’s new interview and marked the parts which I would use in the final edit. I also marked Nicks interview, marking the parts where I felt he said something important which would be used in the final cut.

I also looked online to find some appropriate music. After struggling on copyright free music websites, I looked on sound cloud as I remembered some of the tracks had the option of a free download. I found a song called ‘dreams’ which could work well with the film.

I also looked for some media and press headlines to use in the intro.

Wednesday 10^th May 2017

I have decided to change my intro as I feel it would be better to start the film with a montage of the prayers and then go on to show the establishing shots and then the title page. I started editing my intro.

Friday 12^th May 2017

I was keen to learn a new skill for my intro, so I tried to create a title sequence on after effects. I looked up on YouTube how to create a simple title sequence.

I had to change the time code and position of the title as it came towards the screen.

When I imported it to premier pro, I was unable to get rid of the grey background. However, in my next media lesson I got some advice from a classmate how to sort it out.

Monday 15^th May 2017

After thinking long and hard about how I would make my video work, and create a powerful message, I took the decision to abandon the foodbank. I felt as though the footage was not as captivating as Ali’s story. I had tried to edit the intro, but I was losing hope on how to incorporate the two stories together, and how to make it interesting. I made a new sequence called ‘FINAL CUT’ and started to edit for ‘Community Islam’.

Tuesday and Wednesday 16^th and 17^th May

I started editing my rough cut which would be reviewed in class on Thursday. On Tuesday, I got extremely hung up on the intro. I knew I wanted to have the newspaper articles appearing, but I spent hours ordering them and trying out new effects. In the end, I discovered that sometimes simplicity is best, so I kept to a simple sequence. On Wednesday, I edited from around 4pm-1am. I had a rough cut, but it was extremely ‘rough’ and more to get an idea of the structure of the film. Upon receiving feedback from the class, I realized I needed some more footage for the film and another contributor. That evening, I texted Ali. I found out that he was going to Bangladesh on Sunday, so he wouldn’t be distributing food. However, we arranged to meet on the Saturday instead and he organized an interview with the Imam for me.

Saturday 20^th May

I had to get a bit more footage for the film. So, I met Ali at 12 o clock at the mosque. We went to a local restaurant so he could sort out some of his business (the restaurant owner was donating a large sum to Deen relief). This was great, because there were many Arabic decorations in the restaurant I could film for cut aways. Then, we conducted a short interview in his car to include a few more questions which I had previously missed out upon. We waited about half an hour, and then the mosque opened. Firstly, I filmed Ali praying again. Then he showed me some of the scriptures, and I got some more cut away footage. However, one of the men in the room who was praying had a problem with me being in there without a hijab, so I had to leave the main prayer room. Ali and the Imam were extremely apologetic for this man but I found it understandable. Then I conducted an interview with the mosque’s Imam. It was a shame I didn’t have a tripod and I realize now after looking over the footage that all the interview isn’t in focus, but it was still extremely interesting and valuable for the documentary.

Sunday 21^st May

Edit! Today I arrived at Sussex library at 9.30am set to spend the whole day editing. As my film had totally changed, I wrote down a simple structure for this new cut (I decided to pretty much abolish the rough cut, apart from the intro). I left the library at 9pm with the whole film finished except the credits and a little colour correction here and there. I used after effects for the first time, to create name tags and an animated title. I did encounter some problems when editing the Imam’s interview, as I have mentioned already, that a lot of it wasn’t in focus. I tried to sharpen it but it looked too grainy, so instead I used quite a few cut-aways whilst he was speaking and tried to show the parts which were in focus.

Monday 22^nd May

I finished the final parts of my edit, and sent it off to bill smith to gain client feedback.

Tuesday 23rd May

Today I completed the edit evaluation, and adjusted small bits here and there of the film. I also made a second organization of files, because as I had changed my idea, I had to re-organize my files. All I needed to do now was wait and see if I got any feedback from Bill Smith prior to my deadline on Thursday, so I could adjust anything he thought should be changed. Then, I'd need to export the video and upload it to the YouTube page.

Blog Posts

Thursday 25 May 2017

Final Production

Wednesday 24 May 2017

Edit Evidence and Evaluation

Tuesday 23 May 2017

Brief structure for Final Cut

Organisation of Files 2

Monday 8 May 2017

Production Diary

Organisation of files

Edit decision list