Production log 6

What progress did you make since your previous entry?

This week I have completely  finished my documentary and I am happy with the final outcome. I got the voice-over done which didn't take long and then it was just putting it in the right sections. I then changed some of the musics volume, so that it doesn't over-power my voiceover. I re-watched it a couple of times just to make sure that all of the graphics were in the correct place's and just to make sure that it had a good narrative structure. 

What logistical challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

There wasn't any logistical problems this week.

What technical challenges did you face this week and how did you overcome them?

There wasn't any technical problems this week either. 

What targets do you aim to achieve before your next entry?

I won't have any targets to achieve as I have finished the project.

Final Documentary

                        

Production Log 5

What progress did you make since your previous entry?

This week I have nearly my documentary, I just have a few more things to add in such as the voice-over, the graphics and making sure that all of the cut-aways are in appropriate places, so that it makes sense to the audience. Overall this week has been making sure that all of the footage is in the correct place, so that it creates a clear narrative arc, which I think it does, but also with this I think a voice-over will help explain it more.

What logistical challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

There wasn't any logistical problems this week.

What technical challenges did you face this week and how did you overcome them?

There wasn't any technical problems this week either. It went smoothly for the last week, as I new how to import the graphics and make sure that all of the cut-aways covered some of the jump cuts and to make it more visually interesting for the audience.

What targets do you aim to achieve before your next entry?

Next week will be my final week of editing and I am nearly done, it's just adding a few things such as graphics ( questions, interviewees names) and then adding in music and making sure that the volume of it doesn't interrupt the voice-over. So hopefully next week I will be completely done.

Production Log 4

What progress did you make since your previous entry?

This week I have still been editing and there is more of a narrative structure this week, which is a good thing as it makes it look flow better. I have edited the interview sections down a bit, so they are around 2minutes each, which is alright as they both provide a lot of information and their own opinion on the topic. Also this week I have started to look for a variety of music to play at different parts of the documentary, in which I have been quite successful. From there on, I just need to make some final touches, add in the graphics and music, then should hopefully be done the following week.

Songs that I have found and imported into documentary: I have used Anime songs to keep the theme flowing throughout my documentary and have decided to use a instrumental track, for the establishing shot, as I think it goes quite well, as it's up beat and goes well with the footage.

What logistical challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

I didn't face any logistical problems, as I have just been editing.

What technical challenges did you face this week and how did you overcome them?

There wasn't any technical problems this week either. Everything has gone well with the editing. 

What targets do you aim to achieve before your next entry?

Next week I hoping to be finished, as all I have left to do, is make sure the music goes in well with the interviews, establishing shots and graphics. There is not much left for me to do really, so I hope that I will finish it quite quickly next week.

Production log 3

What progress did you make since your previous entry?

Since my previous entry I have mainly just been editing all week, and putting everything in the right order. At the moment it looks like it's slowly coming together, which is good. Also I started to look for archive footage for the beginning of my documentary, which didn't take long to do and put the footage throughout my documentary. Overall this week I have just been editing and there are no signs of needing to re-film which is good. Hopefully it continues like this for the next few weeks.

What logistical challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

I didn't face any logistical problems, as I have just been editing.

What technical challenges did you face this week and how did you overcome them?

There wasn't any technical problems while editing, as I am quite familiar with Final Cut Express, so the editing went smoothly. I just need to cut down some of the footage, as it's flowing past the 10minute mark at the moment, but this shouldn't be a massive problem.

What targets do you aim to achieve before your next entry?

Next week I will still be editing everything together and hopefully have more of a narrative flowing through it. Also making sure that I stay under the 10minute mark, because so far some of my footage has gone past it, but I need to make sure that I keep in the key parts of the interview, during this part.

Production log 2

Production log 1

 What progress did you make since your previous entry?

Since my previous entry, I have interviewed the two main people for my documentary. One took place o Wednesday through Skype, with the editor-in chief of Anime UK, which went pretty well. For this interview I decided to screen record the conversation, but unfortunately the sound didn't get picked up form it, but I did also set up a tri-pod behind me, which captured the interview. I think when it comes to editing, I will try and put the screen record and the sound from the other camera together, so that it creates to different perspectives of the interview. Overall the Skype interview lasted for 20min. The next interview was on  Thursday, which was with Amber who is a cosplayer.  from this interview I also got a good about information on her opinion of my topic, which was good, as both interviews came out with different opinions, which will be beneficial for my documentary, as it gets to here both sides, in a sense. Overall I am happy with the footage that I received, and I can now start putting it all together. Also this week I did start importing my footage from the MCM expo and finding videos for my montage section.

What logistical challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

I didn't face any logistical problems this week, as both interviews went smoothly and I was able to get their different opinions on my topic, which is great. Plus I am happy how they both came out and I am glad, that they both gave detailed answers to my questions.

What technical challenges did you face this week and how did you overcome them?
There wasn't really any technical problems, besides not picking up any sound during the Skype interview via screen recording, but other than that, everything is going quite well to be honest. Also before I had the Skype interview, I did test out different positions to put the tri-pod in and sorted out the lighting a bit, so that when it came to recording, the camera could pick up both mine and the interviewees face.

What targets do you aim to achieve before your next entry?

Over the next week I will be mainly editing and getting everything into the right order. There will hopefully be no more filming, as I have got everything I need and I am happy with what I have. So hopefully by the end of this week, it will be nearly done, which would then give me enough time to make any changes if necessary. But I hope it doesn't come to that, as I am happy with what I have, it's just making it all flow together and coming to the conclusion of the topic.

Production log 1

Production log 1

 What progress did you make since your previous entry?
This is my first production entry, but so far this week I have completed all of the  paperwork, which will help me during the next few weeks of my production stage. The main one that will come in useful, is the production schedule, as having this all planned out, I am able to be more organised with my time and get things done a lot quicker. Also by doing the recees, it allowed me to see exactly where I am planning to film the remaining parts of my documentary and for this i also have back-up locations, just in-case of the weather or other reasons.


What logistical challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

I had previously filmed a part of documentary already, and when filming I didn't face any problems. But I did struggle a bit when it came to talking to strangers, but I was able to get a long enough answer of them, which provided me with their own opinion on the topic, which will benefit my documentary. But this week, I didn't face any problems, as I haven't started filming again.

What technical challenges did you face this week and how did you overcome them?
When I filmed the previous week, there was no technical difficulties, so the filming went smoothly. As for this week, all I had to do was make sure the paperwork was done.


What targets do you aim to achieve before your next entry?

The main targets for next week, will be too film the few remaining interviews for the documentary, which are the interview with the cosplayer ( Amber Quadling) and an Skype interview with the editor- in chief of Anime UK ( Andy Hanley). Then during my lessons, I will be starting to create the graphics,find music and animated clips ( for the introduction section) and uploading the footage I already have. So overall the coming week should be a smooth one, as once I get these two last interviews, I should be near to editing it all together.

Location Recee

Location Recee

London MCM Expo

Location:

This here is the main entrance to the Expo. For this I decided to make it an establishing shot for my documentary.

Types of Cutaways

These here are the types of cutaways and shots that I will be including in my documentary. I have made sure that I used a variety of different camera shots and movement, so that it is able to keep the audience engaged and also allows them to get a good glimpse to what it's like at expos and to make the documentary more realistic for them.

London Expo Map

Overall I wouldn't take that long to get to the event

Instruction to event

Cosplayers House

This is where I will be interviewing the cosplayer about my documentary.

Park

The park is mainly as second option for when it comes to filming with the cosplayer, just in case her house is occupied or so. Also hopefully the weather for this section will be decent, as if it rains there would be a slight problem. The place that we will most likely film, will be on one of the benches in the park, as this way I would be able to set up the tri-pod and camera on the pathway, which would then be able to get both me and the interviewee in shot.

Romford

 The Main thing that I will be doing in Romford is the vox pops, which will take place inside the liberty and the streets of Romford. I would be hoping to get vox pops from both male and female.

 

Bedroom

This here would be where i will be having the interviewee with the editor of UK anime via Skype. I most likely will set eh tri-pod and camera up behind me, so that it's able to see both me and the editor in the screen. I will try it out different positions of the tri-pod before the interview, so that I can see which way it would best to shoot it. I won't need to travel for this location, as the interview is taking place in my own house. It also means that the interviewee doesn't have to travel either, as the interview is through Skype.

Risk assessment

London MCM Expo Risk Assessment

                      

House Risk Assessment

                    

Romford  Risk Assessment

                     

               

Park ( alternative location) to film for interviewee

                    

Risk assessment of bedroom

                     

Call Sheet

               

London MCM Expo

                       

Vox pops

Interview with cosplayer

                    

Production schedule

                         

Crew List

                         

Budget

                   

Interview Questions

Interview Questions

Vox pops Trafalgar square

. Do you know what anime is?

. what is your opinion on it?

. what do you think it is?

Amber Quadling

.What would you say got you interested in anime?

.What do you mostly enjoy about anime?

.Do you watch a new anime because you think it will be good, or because its popular?

.How do you think anime is seen by members of the public?

.Has an anime’s fanbase ever made you hesitant to watch an anime?

.How did you find out about conventions and what made you want to attend them?

.Whats the thing you enjoy most about conventions?

.Do you think anime has become popular through events such as the London MCM expo?


.Would you want anime to become more mainstream in the UK?

Vox pops at London MCM

. Do you think anime has become more popular in recent years?

. Would you ever want anime to become mainstream?


UK Anime Network- Andy Hanley

.How important are graphics to anime's popularity?

.Do conventions play a role in anime popularity?

. Has anime progressed over the years?

. Do distributors and anime websites help increase popularity?

. How do you think anime is seen in society?

Final Contact list

Final Contact List

Amber Quadling

Amber is a cosplayer and has been to many conventions and has a high interest in anime, so interviewing her, I will be able to get her opinion whether anime has become more popular. I contacted her through Facebook.

MCM Expo

To ask permission whether I could film during the convention. I emailed them asking for permission.

Vox Pop interviews based around Trafalgar square

Here I will be asking strangers a few questions regarding anime. No contact information available as it will be strangers. 

Vox pop interviews at the London MCM convention

During these interviews I will be asking people who have a interest in anime, more detailed questions, where I will be able to get their opinions on my topic. Also for this one there is no contact information available as it will be strangers. 

Narrative Arc

Narrative Arc

Section 1

I think the start of my documentary might include a small summary stating that I do not own the animated clips in my documentary or that I do not own the music. This section will mainly be a black screen graphic, just stating the above. This section will run from 1-3 seconds, as it doesn't need a long period of time of show.

Section 2

The second section of my documentary, I'm planning to do a montage of a variety of different genres of anime, which will have a voiceover introducing to the audience what anime is. I plan to open the beginning of the documentary with a clip from a opening of a very popular anime from the past year and from there it will lead into a collection of different genres showing. I think overall this section will last around 30 seconds, as the different anime shown and the voiceover introducing it, will be able to show the audience a glimpse of what anime is and give them a brief history of anime as well.

Section 3

The third part of my documentary will consist of vox pops from people either from around the local area or maybe a popular part of London e.g. Trafalgar square. The vox pops will consists of one question mainly which will be:

" Do you know what anime is? and if yes what do you think of it and if no what do you think it is?"

The main point of this section would be to see if the general public know about anime and what they think about it, which would be able to link to the topic of my documentary " has anime become more popular in recent years?" by seeing if more people do know about it depending on their answers. Also for this section I think graphics will be used, by having the a box coming up at the bottom of the screen, which has the question in it. I will be keeping to the theme of anime by using a icon, which many anime fans would know of, which is this:

Which would appear in the right hand corner of the box. Also I think that this section will run for around 30-60 seconds. Also for this section I will be doing vox pops with both males and females, so that is will appeal to the target audience.

Section 4

This section will be graphics, showing statistics of the popularity of certain anime shows and anime in general across different countries. This would be beneficial for my documentary, as before going into the next section, I think it would be necessary to show the audience some statistics of anime and whether to see if it has decreased or increased, as this would be able to provide them better knowledge of the topic.  Overall this section will run for around 20 seconds, as it is a only a quick section, that will benefit the audience.

Section 5

This part of the documentary will be be mainly focused on the the London MCM expo and might be the one of the longest part of my documentary. When this section begins, I will include establishing shots which will show the audience the location of the expo and will also show the people at the event. This would be able to give the audience a more realistic feeling to the documentary, as I also plan to do my documentary handheld, as I think the audience will feel like their at the event more this way. Also for this section I will provide a voiceover, explaining the history behind the expos, such as how many people have been attending over the past years. I think the section will run to around 30-40.

Section 6

Following section 3, this part will include some graphics of statistics of how many people have attended the London MCM expo, with the presenter doing a voiceover. There will be no specific location for this part of the documentary, as it will just be graphics and most likely running from 10-20 seconds.

Section 7

This part will consist of  the short interviews/vox pops with people at the expo, as I will be able to get the opinion of people who actually have an interest in anime and ask them a few questions such as:

.Why do you like to attend the expo?

.Do you think anime has become more popular, if so why/if not why?

.What do you think about anime becoming mainstream?

Following the interviews I will be including a lot of cut away, of what things happening at the expo, which would be able to show the audience what it's like there and also it would be able to keep them engaged. I think this section will last around 1:00-2:00, as this way I would be able to include a lot of different peoples opinions on the topic.

Section 8

This section will be quite short one, as it will mainly consist of footage from the London MCM expo, with a voiceover  explaining it a bit more, but near the end the presenter(me) will state that they are now going to talk to someone who cosplays( Amber Quadling) and has been to these events before. This section will last around 10-20 seconds.

section 9

This section here will mainly consist of establishing shots of the area, that the presenter and interviewee are meeting up at, as I think it would be slightly odd cutting from the montage bit beforehand directly into a interview, so I think this would be the best way to lay it out and it would show continuity. At the moment the location has still not been decided. This section will mainly run from 3-10 seconds, as it's only establishing the location of the interview. The shots that might be included might be when going to her house I might record my journey to her house and then just give a glimpse of it/ or even her opening the door, which would then lead into the next section.

Section 10

This section here will be the main interview of my documentary, which will be with a cosplayer( Amber Quadling) who has experienced expos in the past. This would be my expert opinion in my documentary, as I will be interviewing Amber who has a interest in anime and also cosplays at events, so being able to get their opinion would be quite beneficial for my documentary. Also through the interview I will include cut aways, to the expo again or maybe some archive footage e.g photographs of Amber from previous conventions in her cosplay, as this will be able to keep the audience engaged. Overall this part might last around 1:30-3:00. When it comes to the location for this part, there are two main possibilities. One being that I will meet Amber in her own household or two we meet in a location, where we can both get to, this might be somewhere local.

Section 11

I think this would be the final section to my documentary, where I(the presenter) most likely would do a piece to camera, where I directly ask the audience if they think anime "has become more popular in recent years?" and coming to an un-biased conclusion. The location for this part most likely will be based around the London MCM expo, so that this part still links into the topic of my documentary. Overall this section will run around 5-15 seconds, as it's only a short conclusion.  

section 12
Section 11 will just be the ending credits, which will be a list of people who participated in the documentary e.g. the interview with Amber and also the name of the director and songs used. Also with this I will include the message of how I do not own any of the music or anime footage in the documentary. This section will last around 3-5 seconds.

My proposal

My proposal

Aims

The aims of my documentary is to see whether anime has become more popular in recent years by going to an expo, where the majority of people there know about anime and have different opinions on the different types of genres. Through doing short interviews with people at the expo, I will be able to get a variety of different opinions on if it has become popular or not and what the reason for why it has grown in popularity. Overall I think the main aim for this would be by the end of the documentary, to come to a conclusion whether it has become more popular or not by the information  and footage shown through the documentary. But also I think another aim for my documentary would be to show some of the audience, who are not that familiar of what anime exactly is and to sort of introduce them to it, while still answering the topic question. But also when it comes to the topic of my documentary, I think it's mainly just to show how far anime has or has not come compared to earlier years.

Content

At the beginning of the documentary, I hope to include some archive footage of some anime shows, with a voiceover, introducing to the audience what anime is, while showing them some different genres of anime.The content that I hope to include in my documentary would be information about what anime is, presented through a voiceover at the beginning of my documentary , as this way it is able to introduce the part of the audience who know little about anime. As if I don't establish what anime actually is, some of the audience might become confused and mistake it for something else. Also through my documentary, I hope to include vox pops with people around the city of London and just ask them simple questions such as "do you know what anime is and if not what do you think it is?". As this would be able to relate to my angle, by seeing if more people know about anime compared to recent years and also get to see what they think it actually is. I also plan to film at the London MCM expo, where I think a a bit of my footage will come from, as I plan to ask the people at the event " do you think anime has become more popular and if so why?" and from this I would be able to get a variety of different opinions from people who share an interest in anime. Another thing I hoping to include in my documentary, is an ten minute interview with someone who cosplays and who has taken part in previous expos, as this would be able to provide the audience with more information on what people do at events and also get a answer from some who has a strong passion towards anime.

Target audience

The target audience for my documentary is both British males and females between the ages of 16-24. As my topic is quite an obscure one and only a handful of the audience will actually know what anime is, I plan to introduce the niche part of the audience at the beginning to what anime is and then following that just give them a highlight into what conventions are like and what the people are like who attend them. Also to clear a stereotype in which anime is considered "weird", by showing at the event that it's just people who are enjoying their interest and how there's nothing strange about that. I think my documentary is mainly for entertainment purposes, but at the same time it's able to introduce to the audience, the different types of interests people can have and what expos and anime are.

Format

I think the format for my documentary will be participatory, as I think this is the main mode which would be able to come across most effective in my documentary. But also I think observational mode can come into it as well, as I would be recording what people are doing at events and what the event is like in general, which would be able to give the audience a more realistic feeling. As I am planning to be the presenter for my documentary, I will try and be involved as much as possible e.g. being in the shots of the vox pops or so.

Genre

The genre is a documentary and for my documentary I will make sure that includes all the elements that make up a documentary e.g. noddies, interviews. I will keep to my topic and not go of course and make sure that through it I provide all the necessary information and footage.

Style

When it comes to the style of my documentary, there will be a variety of different things included such as vox pops, interviews,graphics,archive footage and different locations. The main location that I plan to film in will be the London MCM expo, as this is the main area, where I would be able to get the opinions of people who have an interest in anime, as well as the streets of London for vox pops, and I think the last location, would be where ever would be best to interview a cosplayer. So three locations in general and quite different from each other, and will be able to cover different sections of the main the documentary topic. Also when the documentary begins, I plan to use archive footage of previous anime shows, with a voiceover, that will hopefully get the audience more engaged and also provide them with a small introduction to what anime is.

           
When it comes to the beginning of the documentary, I want to introduce it with footage like shown in the above clip such as at 0:13-7:17, as this way it can show the audience different types of anime genres, while I provide a voiceover to it. But the one thing I really want to include in the beginning would be this clip here.
         
I want to mainly include the part between 0:01-0:03 for the beginning of my documentary, as for one this has been one of the most popular anime aired in 2013 and has a large and popular fanbase, which would be able to appeal to the part of the audience who do know about anime and get them even more excited about the documentary. But also because I think the music instantly becomes very engaging and dramatic and just makes anyone want to continue watching to see what else is going to be shown. Then from the ending of this music, it would go into other clips of anime, provided by an voiceover.

Then I think after I establish what anime is etc, I think it would move on to the vox pops section of the documentary, where I am able to ask the public with short questions regarding anime such as:
. Do you know what anime is and what do you think about it?
. Do you know what anime is and if not what do you think it is?
Also when it comes to the vox pops, I think the main camera angle would be a mid-shot, as the way it is able to show the person and their facial expression, as I think a long shot wouldn't really work well and I might not be able hear what the presenter/interviewee are saying. Also i don't think a close up would be appropriate either, as I wouldn't want to invade their privacy too much, as it's just short, simple questions.

Then following that part of the documentary, I think it would lead into the London MCM expo. Where I would start it of by doing establishing shots of the area and people entering the building, and possibly might do a voiceover for this bit as well, such as showing graphs and statistics of how many people attend each year. Also for this introduction bit for the expo, when it comes to the background music, I could either go down the route of having anime music playing or I thought maybe have some alternative rock music such as this:
        
As I think having this playing during the establishing shots, which just set the mood more for the documentary and also I think it would go with the footage of cosplayers as well. Also the music is too rough and is at the right pace, to introduce a fun event. Then following the establishing shots, the documentary would then move on to talking to the people attending the event, and maybe have the music softly playing in the background. Also when it comes to interviews, I could include cutaways of the event, just too keep the audience engaged with the documentary. Once again, I most likely would use mid-shots when it comes to the small interviews, but maybe add in some panning shots during the documentary of some cosplayers, as this way the audience would be able to see their cosplay in more detail.

Following the event part of the documentary, it will then go to the main interview, which would hopefully be with a cosplayer, as this would be able to give the audience more in depth look at why people cosplay, but at the same time, the cosplayer would be able to provide their own thoughts in a bit more depth about the the topic " has anime become more popular in recent years?". When interviewing them, I could also include archive footage of them at previous events and what they cosplayed as, as this would keep the audience engaged and wanting to know more about anime as a whole. Then when it comes to the end of the documentary, I think i will include footage of the event combined with archive footage, with either a voiceover or the presenter walking towards the camera, coming to the summary of the documentary.

Sent emails

Tokyo Toys

Amber Quadling

Josh Gilmour

London MCM expo 

Forbidden Planet

I was unable to get through to forbidden planet via phone call and I have tried to find another email address related to them, but I haven't found one that directly links me to Forbidden planet. As when it comes to the email page, it only has certain questions that they can answer and not a direct message option is available.

Todd Haberkorn

Hiro Mashima

unable to send email or make a phone call



Hayao Miyazaki 

ForneverWorld

Acnologia

UK-anime

Colleen Clinkenbeard 

Anime Network

Funimation

Orbital comics

Gosh comics

blue-zoo

Magma Books

theanimetal

Manga-UK

Anime-online