Presenting and Evaluating 'The Hunt for the Campus Cat' Documentary

Here is a presentation which we made to show in our assessment so we could reflect as a group on our piece together and explain how we got to the outcome we did:

I feel in my own words that our piece was successful because I feel like we managed to make the two styles blend in a way which was exciting and engaging. I feel like we did also complete what we set out to do which is create a piece which shows the personality of the cat but also explores peoples connections to it. I feel we could have obviously gone further with this but we did what we could in our time constraints. I felt I was a valid member of my group as I made a lot of contributions to discussions and ideas. I also took on a heavy work load when it came to paper work in pre-production and I completed it to the best of my ability. I did feel that at times in the shooting process I was struggling to find myself a specific role so I just helped where ever I was needed on camera and sound and if I wasn't doing this I was busy planning away for our next shoot or helping through directing people and actors. I felt like I improved my camera and microphone skills a lot because I got to spend so much time working with this equipment and even though we had a few technical difficulties along the way I have learnt from them now.

Editing 'The Hunt for the Campus Cat' Documentary

Now that we have a basic plan and structure in place we begun editing our piece using Adobe Premier Pro. Me and Connor took on the major parts of editing however we all sat there and contributed. It took us two days of full hard work to a achieve an initial rough cut ready to show our tutor so that we could gain feedback on what worked well and what we should improve. Our rough cut didn't have any sound track for it yet as we were still waiting on that from our sound technician and also we hadn't gone into any fine detailing with things such as colour correcting because we wanted to make sure that it was structurally accomplished first. Here is our first rough cut:



From our feedback we realised that we had over crowded the piece with too many segments from the reports and detectives so you lost the personality of the cat amongst all of this which wasn't good as the whole purpose of the piece was the cat. We also needed to find a way to link it to the psychological elements behind people bonding with animals and look at the wider picture. We moved forward from this by doing a structural makeover in terms of taking out a whole character. It was a hard decisions to deal with but we removed Connor the Reporter from the piece and had the only character as the Detective. This allowed us to spend more time on the cat. However because we now had lost our intro material and outro speech we had to quickly get a couple of our groups members to re record these as a voice over from the perspective of the detective instead. This took some time so me and Connor continued editing whilst Adi and TJ went off to do the re recordings. Once we put this new introduction and end speech in it felt much more rounded as a piece. We still continued to make small changes to things such as not having the Vox Pop questions appear on screen as we initially were going to. This made it more professional. I then went on with Connor to Colour Correct some shots adding a cooler blue tone. This made it more chilling as if it was a real noire. Also we spent a lot of time playing with the Brightness and Contrast settings to further its film noir feel. Finally we then got hold of a sound track which between us we managed to make fit our  piece. We then went through levelling all the sound out as best as we could so that there wasn't any peaks or any lows. We did find this a slight challenge because we realised that for some of our footage we had only recorded on one channel so either left or right instead of both which was very strange. We did what we could with the footage though as there was no way to change it in post production.

I feel like the editing process was a very long one which we managed to fit into a week as this was our time limit. We spent a lot of time on it changing lots of different things as we went along and I think the best change we made was to the structure by taking out the reporter because now its finished I see how much better it works allowing us to connect with the cat. Here is the Final version:

Paper Edit for our Documentary

Before we physically started to edit our rushes we reviewed them and then made a rough paper edit which would be our structure for the piece. We thought this would make our piece much simpler to edit but also it give allow us to keep developing upon this solid structure so we always knew what our basis was. Here is what we made:

Paper Edit:

- Begin with Vox Pops – short clicks from each covering the bases of have they seen it and what does it look like and names? To give as sense of confusion! Speed of cuts gets quicker and quicker ending with static noise and then changing of channel to the next shots…

- Connors initial presenting and introduction speech (needs cropping) Vox Pops half way through? (AA0268)
(Possible flash back to shot AA0289/91 of packing of the briefcase)

- Connor skipping off with briefcase to pass over (AA0273)

- Hand Over Scene (see story board) Clips: AA0312 - 21

- Establishing shots with TJ Voice over (voice clip-AA0362)

- Interviews Cut up amongst each other also with some establishing shots (Interview clips: AA0245-247)

- Pigeon Sequence (Clips AA0283-309) Refer to storyboard

- Establishing Spin shot of campus AA0276 (voice over clip- AA0361)

- Office scene of detective pinning stuff on board, very fast paced montage style! (clips: AA0322-347)

- Office scene with conversation between Connor and TJ (Clips AA0350-53)

- Presenter Connor outro Speech (clips AA0354-360)

- Briefcase shot for end credits (AA0278-79)

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This paper edit was also made a lot easier to do by the fact that we had a log of all our rushes and this helped us know exactly what was what when planning it out. This will still continue to be useful to us through out editing.

Transcription of our Interviews

In our group Connor at the Pre-editing stage took on the role of transcription of the interviews whilst I was working on the title sequence and graphics. However because we had two interviews and both were quite long I helped by doing the second interview. Here is my transcription of the second interview with Sherry:

Interview 2 - Sherry Leigh Transcript

Interviewer (TJ) : Good afternoon

Interviewee (Sherry) : Afternoon

TJ: You are Sherry, Is that correct?

Sherry: Yes

TJ: Yes. I am Detective Callaghan, I am going to be interviewing you today. I presume you know why you are here?

Sherry: The cat

TJ: The cat, the campus cat. That is correct. So you’ve been filled in, that is good. There’s no need to worry your not being accused of anything. It’s only about the cat. The cat might be accused but we don’t know yet. Is it alright if we record it?

Sherry: Yeah

TJ: Not only filming through a camera but also through a sound recording. Its only because we need footage and evidence. Right so its Tuesday 24th 2015 November and its 12:41 pm. Lets start. So first off you live on campus yes?

Sherry: I do live on campus yes.

TJ: You live on campus. The cat also lives on campus.

Sherry: I think he lives on campus.

TJ: You think he lives on campus?

Sherry: Yes

TJ: Would you mind explaining?

Sherry: I know that the cat has an owner who’s supposedly an elderly lady but he’s greedy and eats all the students’ food. So he lives about. He gets about that cat.

TJ: He gets about? Well yes we had an interview earlier as well and we’ve been told he eats from everyone and he never gets full.

Sherry: No loyalty with that cat!

TJ: No loyalty? But he comes regularly to your flat as well?

Sherry: Everyday

TJ: Everyday? At a certain time?

Sherry: Yeah when we eat dinner, breakfast, basically when he can smell food.

TJ: So whenever there’s food. Right well what does the cat look like?

Sherry: He’s a tabby and he has white legs. Yeah he’s quite big; he’s a very big cat for a cat I think as cats go.

TJ: Yeah would you describe him as chubby?

Sherry: Yes now.

TJ: Yes he is chubby. Is that because of the students feeding him?

Sherry: Yeah he’s got really fat.

TJ: Right so you feed him?

Sherry: *nod*

TJ: What would you consider your relationship with the cat to be?

Sherry: He was scared of everybody at first when he first came to campus. My house mates don’t really like him anymore because he’s a bit of a pest. And he use to run away but now he has a little cuddle with me on the sofa. I’m a crazy cat lady now.

TJ: Alright so you would consider yourself a cat person then?

Sherry: Definitely yeah.

TJ: Definitely a cat person. And you are from England?

Sherry: Yes

TJ: Yes, do you think that has anything to do with you being a cat person?

Sherry: I don’t think so no.

TJ: no, right so you like cats?

Sherry: Yes a lot.

TJ: Can I ask you why?

Sherry: I don’t know It’s just like I think having dogs is different because dogs like everything so when you earn a cats like affection it’s a bit more ‘owh my god affection from a cat’.

TJ: So you feel it’s a bit more special?

Sherry: Yeah definitely.

TJ: Right and do you think the cat recognises you now?

Sherry: Yeah when he’s sitting outside the houses meowing at everyone and he sees me he comes running to the door. ‘Feed me, I’m starving’

TJ: Alright and you do thinks that’s because of you and not because of the promise of food?

Sherry: Nah probably the promise of food but I like to thinks its me a little bit. He knows its me who gives him food.

TJ: He knows. Couple more things, We’ve heard earlier the cat has murdered? 

Sherry: Owh the bird?

TJ: The bird yes.

Sherry: The bird incident.

TJ: A Pigeon?

Sherry: Yes

TJ: Have you heard anything about that?

Sherry: I heard that he took its head and hid its head somewhere and left the body.

TJ: Serial Killer-esk!

Sherry: Yes

TJ: Right!

Sherry: Messy cat!

TJ: Do you think that was also food or was that more sport?

Sherry: Dunno, I think it was more sport. He just left the rest and took the head.

TJ: I don’t know if that’s much better.

Sherry: He might of given it to someone.

TJ: Don’t know if that’s better. We might need to get working on those arrest warrants! Anyway do you live in castle field then?

Sherry: Yes

TJ: Yes because we have been told that. Yes it was castle filed where he prefers staying. For us because we are actually looking for the cat any tips on how to find him?

Sherry: Shake boxes that sound like they have food in them, he likes that sound a lot.

TJ: Food, he likes the sound of food?

Sherry: yeah yeah, He’ll literally come to anyone as well. No boundaries. 

TJ: Have you had any pets previously?

Sherry: Yeah I’ve got dogs, which is interesting like I have three dogs at home. I’ve had like rabbits and hamsters and that when I was younger. Never had a cat but I dunno it’s just a bit more of a novelty to have a little cat running around.

TJ: Would you considering having a cat in the future?

Sherry: Definitely!

TJ: Alright, What do you think about the statement that when you die a cat will eat you?

Sherry: mmmm Probably true.

TJ: Yeah no it is true, it has been studied.

Sherry: That’s a bit gross.

TJ: Does that change your opinion at all?

Sherry: Nah its just food at the end of the day!

TJ: Saves your funeral doesn’t it!

Sherry: Yeah expenses.

TJ: So I’m just trying to gather some Intel you know. Do you now have a special name for the cat? We’ve heard quite a lot.

Sherry: Yeah I heard a few names; we call him leggings because he looks like he’s wearing leggings!

TJ: Leggings, alright I will write that down.  Leggings! Does he respond to any of these names?

Sherry: Yeah I think its more the sound like the pitch of your voice and that but he does come trotting over.

TJ: I notice your saying he so he is a male cat?

Sherry: He’s a boy yeah.

TJ: He’s male, right we’ve heard that before so were assuming he’s a male. 

Sherry: A paramedic told me, He said no that’s definitely a boy.

TJ: A paramedic?

Sherry: yeah.

TJ: Right is that a story right there?

Sherry: Not to do with the cat.

TJ: Not to do with the cat, Ok well that is why were here. Is there anything else you want to tell me about the cat? Any story’s?

Sherry: He’s often found in bins, you can find him near bins. He’s quite dirty even though he gets food. I’ve been told off a lot for feeding the cat as well so I probably shouldn’t be telling you about feeding the cat. 

TJ: Its ok we can bleep that out its fine. We’ll bleep that out right? *Camera crew nods* Yeah. Near bins like the bins round campus?

Sherry: Yeah and kitchen bins. And also when we let him in the house a lot which I’m not suppose to let him in the house… Beep! He sometimes goes under the sofa because we have a sofa in our kitchen and he goes under the sofa and people forget he’s there and he’s been accidentally locked in over night. Like I come down early in the morning and he comes running out ermmm Cat!

TJ: In future notice just add allegedly to anything you say and it cant, it won’t count.

Sherry: Owh Maybe that happened

TJ: Yeah allegedly 

Sherry: yeah

TJ: Right so would you say that… are you a first year?

Sherry: Yes

TJ: Yes, so you’ve know the cat then for approximately 2, 2 and a half months now?

Sherry: *nod* 

TJ: and would you say that in that time you’ve grown fond of the cat?

Sherry: yeah definitely

TJ: Well as everyone on campus has to you have to move out after a year, would you miss the cat?

Sherry: Yeah I’ve joked about taking him with me when I move out but I think I will miss him.

TJ: You will miss him.

Sherry: I think he’s a little bit of home having a little pet running around.

TJ: Do you think he will miss you?

Sherry: no!

TJ: No? 

Sherry: no!

TJ: Just a cynic are you?

Sherry: If he missed people that would be a seriously deep heart broken cat.

TJ: Owh yeah thats true, He would loose people every year. *mumbling* Just to finish us off do you know anything else about the cat that you think would be of use to us?

Sherry: I don’t think so; I think that’s all of the information I can give you.

TJ: Well thank you very much, it’s been a pleasure talking to you.

Sherry: You too.

TJ: You can have some free water on the way out, I will have an officer escort you out.

Sherry: Yay!

TJ: Exits there. *points*

Sherry: ok.

TJ: Thank you

Sherry: Thank you

TJ: Have a nice day

*sherry leaves*

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I also then helped Connor transcript some of Maisie's Interview. Here it it:

Transcript interview with Maisie Mok – 00:05:47:01

Interviewer: Good afternoon, so you are Miss Man Yin Mok *shakes hand* is that correct?

Interviewee: Yep

Interviewer: Right brilliant. I’m Detective Callahan and I will questioning you today. This will be recorded for evidence, is that alright?

Interviewee: Yep

Interviewer: Ok the time is 11:48 am, Tuesday the 24th of November 2015. So right, how are you?

Interviewee: Yeah good

Interviewer: Yeah, did you sleep well?

Interviewee: Yep

Interviewer: Do you know why you are here? It’s about the campus cat

Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: You know about the cat, yes?

Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: *looks at notes* I’ve got here that you lived on campus last year. Is that correct?

Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: But not this year?

Interviewee: No

Interviewer: Does that have anything to do with the cat?

Interviewee: No

Interviewer: I also have here that the cat was a frequent visitor to your flat, is that right?

Interviewee: Mmhmm *nodding head*

Interviewer: Can you tell me about that?

Interviewee: He would just come in like everyday because he knows that we have food, especially salmon and tuna

Interviewer: Salmon and tuna? So he likes fish then?

Interviewee: I think so

Interviewer: Is there anything else about the cat you can tell me? What does the cat look like?

Interviewee: He’s chubby, very chubby

Interviewer: Because of the fish?

Interviewee: Because everyone’s feeding him on the campus

Interviewer: So he’s spoilt

Interviewee: Yeah

Interviewer: Ok so more people than just you are feeding him then? Or were feeding him

Interviewee: Yeah

Interviewer: Can you tell me who else was feeding him?

Interviewee: Um, people from different houses, I believe

Interviewer: And where did you live last time?

Interviewee: 81

Interviewer: 81? Um that is not important. So I have been told that the cat goes by many names, what’s your name for him?

Interviewee: My name for him is Vivienne 

Interviewer: Vivienne? For a boy cat

Interviewee: Yep, because one of our friends was like ‘he looks like a Vivienne lets call him Vivienne’ and someone was like ‘that’s a he’. You know *doing an impression* ‘I don’t care’

Interviewer: So the decision was made. Ok could you tell me what colour is he? And a quick description of him?

Interviewee: Grey and white

Interviewer: Grey and white? So he’s chubby, grey and white. Any special features? Does he have a limp leg or a short tail, a big snout?

Interviewee: Um he has a mark on his leg, like a dark birthmark and his meow is the cutest meow in the world

Interviewer: Can you describe that?

Interviewee: Describe the meow?

Interviewer: Yeah

Interviewee: *Imitates meow*

Interviewer: So its got a tender meow *laughing* that will certainly help the investigation. Now, you’re not the only one we’re interviewing today about the case, is there anything else you think I should know?

Interviewee: Um you should know that he never gets full, so one time when I was feeding him and my housemate came back and said ‘oh I was just feeding him’ and I said oh really? *both laugh* 

Interviewer: Oh right so he’s taking advantage of the students 

Interviewee: Mhm

Interviewer: Fraud right there *laughs* I’m joking we will not arrest the cat… hopefully, unless its murdered someone.

Interviewee: I just saw on the Facebook fresher’s page, that Colin posted something that happened this year, like he murdered a bird

Interviewer: So he murdered a bird, do you know the breed of bird?

Was it a pigeon? 

(Interrupted) Interviewee: *nods*

Interviewer: …a dove? Oh a pigeon, do you know where was he murdered?

Interviewee: No

Interviewer:  Ok, right, right we’ll look into that on the Facebook fresher’s page thank you… You didn’t think of mentioning the bird earlier?

Interviewee: *laughs* because I was not there 

Interviewer: Ok well I think we have all we need, thank you for coming in, you’ve really helped us * shakes interviewees hand* ill have an officer show you out

Interviewee: -stands up and leaves-

2nd Interview with Maisie Mok - 00:08:08:16

Interviewer: Good day, you are Man Yin Mok

Interviewee: Yeah you can call me Maisie

Interviewer: Maisie? Wonderful, I’m detective Callahan and I will be interviewing you today about this case. You know why you’re in here right? *interviewee nods her head* It’s about the campus cat. Um I ask you some questions, it will be recorded for evidence. I’m going to record on my phone, were quite technically advanced. It is Tuesday the 24th of November 12:04pm. Ok let’s begin, So Maisie what is your relationship with the cat?

Interviewee: Um he’s kind of like a friend…

Interviewer: A friend?

Interviewee: Yup like some days if you go out, to go into class and on the way I’ll be like *makes clicking noise* and see if he’s around, if he’s around he will follow me all the way to the porters lodge and sometimes to class, like near the buildings

Interviewer: Oh right so he’s not very afraid of people then?

Interviewee: Oh no no no

Interviewer: Not at all? Ok would you say he’s quite sociable then?

Interviewee: Yeah I think so, everyone likes him on campus. Um everyone feeds him, I believe. And one time, outside the library, he’s like pooping and then after he’s pooped I was like ‘hey do you want me to pet you or something’ and then he’s like *she jolts back* stay away from me, and stuff. I didn’t realise he was pooping, I think he was intimidated because he was pooping and he just finished and I was trying to touch him and he’s like ‘no no no no no’. And then after that, um, we walked home together and I think one lady walked by and she said ‘hey how are you’ not to me, to the cat *they laugh* and just like touches him petting him, like they seemed to know each other.

Interviewer: And that was like and elderly lady not a student?

Interviewee: No not a student like an old lady

Interviewer: So do you have any experiences with the cat, well cats, dogs any animals really?

Interviewee: Um I had a cat once, but only for one week because my friend handed him over to me because she was to be away for one week, so I was like ‘ok I can take care of it’

Interviewer: Ok for one week

Interviewee: And I was like oh my god it’s so cute *laughs*

Interviewer: Oh ok would you say you were more of a cat person or a dog person then?

Interviewee: Um a cat person

Interviewer: So these qualities you like in cats can you see them in the campus cat?

Interviewee: Um I have to say the campus cat feels like he’s a (what do you say) like a home cat, no, he was a pet before I think

Interviewer: So you think somebody owns the cat?

Interviewee: I think he used to belong to someone or he is belonging to someone now, because you know how cats always, like, go away

Interviewer: Yeah

Interviewee: Not stay in one place for long. And then we came out with this because we saw him doing quite well in the house, he comes like every day for a certain hour that he knows we are home after class and he’ll be like *meows* outside the door and we’ll be like awh, and he just came, casually came into the kitchen, we didn’t let him in, he just came in the kitchen to say hi and stuff and we realised he was a pet because he didn’t poop or do any damage to the house. He behaves very well, he’s very sociable around humans and not afraid of humans. Often he lays down on the corridor where the sun can shine through the windows in the afternoons so he can like enjoy the sunshine a bit.

TJ: Owh okay, let’s see ummm I’ve got it here that you are originally from Hong Kong, is that correct? 

Maisie: Yep.

TJ: Yes, would you think that that has anything to do with being a cat person more than a dog person?

Maisie: Not really no.

TJ: No?

Maisie: Like we have different people

TJ: So it’s the same, ok. Anything else about the cat like where we could possible find the cat if we wanted to find it?

Maisie: Ok, first do the thingy *makes clicking noise* 

TJ: The thingy…

Maisie: He likes it

TJ: Right, the thingy. 

Maisie: Then try to meow in your cutest way.

TJ: Ok, so like a mating call?

Maisie: umm if you want.

TJ: Alright, mating call. 

Maisie: yep.

TJ: Very well, anything have you seen the cat since you moved away?

Maisie: yeah yeah yeah, I’ve been back in the first week to see if I could find the cat and see if he remembers me because I’ve been away for over a month. And I was like *makes clicking noise* and meow. Look for the grass because he loves sleeping on the grass.

TJ: The grass, is that… let’s see Castle Field or Friars Field? 

Maisie: Castle Field

TJ: Castle Field?

Maisie: Definitely Castle Field

TJ: Definitely Castle Field

Maisie: and the smoking area at the back

TJ: The smoking? Is that all the way on the top?

Maisie: yes, all the way.

TJ: Yes, ummm right you didn’t tell, did the cat remember you?

Maisie: Ummm he did but he kinda avoided me for a bit and then he come back and then let me pet him. Because usually if you didn’t feed him or anything he like will go away from you. But if you feed him often enough he will like come to you and allow you to pet him.

TJ: But you did suggest the cat was quite sociable?

Maisie: Yeah.

TJ: But do you not think that could be the reason he came over to you?

Maisie: We lured him with food first.

TJ: Ok there was food involved.

Maisie: *nod*

TJ: Ok and last question: do you feel like you have any connection to the cat now you’ve been moved away I’m assuming since before September?

Maisie: Yeah

TJ: yes?

Maisie: Since late July

TJ: Late July so that is 4/5 months?

Maisie: *nods*

TJ: So is there anything else, Do you feel any connection, is he still a friend?

Maisie: Umm like I now can’t see him very often, I believe that someone else has been feeding him so I’m like ok I will let you go *Pretend Cries*

TJ: Ok well thank you very much, I will have an officer escort you out. Have some free water and thank you for your cooperation.

Maisie: *Gets up and walks out*

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These Transcripts were really usefully because we printed them out and then went through as a team physically highlighting the pieces of information which we thought were the most important to our story and to the subject. This meant we knew what to do as soon as we started putting it together.

The Hunt for the Campus Cat - Film Noir Styled Title Sequence

My group has planned in our documentary to have a film noir element through the use of a fake character known as Detective Callaghan. We have story boarded our opening sequence to be very typical in the film noir style through the symbolism of a old fashioned briefcase being passed over. Here is the basic intro story board:

We then needed a title of the documentary to appear over the imagery at some point to introduce the concept of the campus cat. I have researched in to this by looking into film noir title sequences and especially font so that we know what kind of style we need to create our title in. Here are some examples of titles which I really liked:

1)

I really like this title because I feel like the font has been done in a very shabby and panicked style to match the theme of the film. Also the word desperate conveys this imagery of something bad happening so I really like the way the font is made to be cracked and jagged with hard edges almost to make it appear more intimidating. I like the way the font is done in white so that it stands out really well against the darks background imagery. This makes the font have even more of an impact.

2)

I like with this title how it has been made to look even bolder and stand out through the 3D effect of it coming towards us. This effect along with the squareness of the letters makes it almost mimic the look of the buildings in the background imagery which again makes it relate well to the  theme. I feel however that the background imagery here is a bit lighter so the white font doesn't make it look like a contrast but instead it looks almost like a blend again of the greys relating to the imagery of buildings and cities. I like this style however it may not relate too strongly to a title for our piece.

3)

This title here is a little bit more basic because it has no background imagery but its still a possibility because when it comes to editing we might not find that the title fits well on our imagery we have captured. This means we may need to have it like this title just above a plain screen with a nice transition. I like this old styled font because the way its diagonally across the screen is very generic of these noir titles. I also like the way that its been made to fit into the noir style even further with a big drop shadow on it.

Out of all these titles I feel for our piece we need something most like the first title 'Desperate' because it would fit our detective noir style and it would make a good impact too. Depending on the choice of background imagery might depend on how the font is positioned but here is a tester that I have made. The font is slightly different because there was only a limited choice on Adobe Premiere but I am happy with the vintage effect it still has on the piece:

Film Noir Inspiration

I had already looked at film noire with my group as this was an initial inspiration for us especially with the detective character that we used. I decided before editing to revisit some film noire pieces of inspiration myself to further my knowledge so that during editing I could make it look authentic. here are stills from a detective themed film noir piece called 'The Chase':

What I really like about them is that they have the background lit a lot of the time and the figure constantly coming on or out of darkness, I also love how a lot of the lighting is very directional and this makes it bolder. To create this bold look I think we will need to play with the brightness and contrast primarily in editing. However I do'nt think we want the price to go as far as black and white  because this may distance the audience too much for them to take it seriously so we will make up for this by dulling it down a lot and we have even discussed colour correcting to add a blue hue to it so its colder to give it a film noir feel.

Day Four of Filming 'The Hunt for the Campus Cat' Documentary

This was our last day of filming so we had to make sure we had everything we needed done by the end of this shoot. For this day we wanted to film in an office environment on campus because this would be the office of our detective character. We contacted our tutor the night before to ask and with her help we managed to get an office booked for us to use in this shoot. I helped decorate the empty office with props so that it looked authentic and we also used a practical light of a lamp to help with this look but to also give it contrasted lighting with a lot of shadows and one light source of the lamp. It looked very dramatic which is what we wanted. I again helped with camera operating on this day which had its challenges because we were no longer in an open space so we had to be much more aware when moving around where everybody was. We soon got into the swing of this and we got some really nice shots of the detective completing his investigation through the use of a pin board. The aim was to get a lot of different shots so we could cut them quite quickly to add pace to the piece almost in the way Edgar Wright uses montages in 'Sean of the Dead'. I think this was very successful. We then filmed one of our end scenes again taking place in the office but this time it was a meeting between the Detective and the Reporter. This was more challenging because we did it in one continuous shot to make it feel like a true documentary. This meant we had to track the characters as they entered and exited but then whilst they talked I had to stay very still with the camera which was at times a challenge but I feel after a few practices and a few takes we got it. We also went outside briefly to record a short scene of the presenter wrapping up the documentary with a final speech. We weren't sure if we needed this but we did it just in case we decided in editing we did. Lastly we used the quiet office to our advantage to record our film noire voice overs which we knew we wanted as not only would they add some film noire styled drama but they are also a typical convention of a documentary. Overall this day went really well and I feel like I pushed myself a lot with my camera operating.

Day Three of Filming 'The Hunt for the Campus Cat' Documentary

On the third day we were immediately faced with the challenges of having a smaller team because unfortunately our sound technician was unable to attend. This put more stress on us as a group to work together much more tightly to get good results. I took part in operating the boom microphone in some shots and the camera in the others. There were also points where because the other two member needed to act I had to do both. I achieved this by putting the microphone on a tripod and then holding the microphone by hand. This was made even more challenging by the fact that half way through filming a lot of our outdoor scenes it began to rain. Because we could not risk getting the camera wet we used an umbrella to cover it but then this left us in a even more difficult position when filming because we had to multi task further. We eventually made a difficult decision during some of the scenes we were filming to not use the boom microphone at all unless there was actual sound we needed to capture from people talking. I feel like despite these challenges we did manage to capture everything we needed to do such as the Pigeon Investigation scene and the other outdoor presenter and detective scenes. As the sun began to set at the end of filming we fitted in filming our opening credits sequence which was an exchange of a briefcase to symbolise the investigation but also to begin the noire style of the piece. I feel like it was a good decision to save this scene till the end of the day because it helped us a lot having duller lighting as we were wanting it to be low key lighting to match up with the film noire styles we had looked into. Overall this was a long and tiring day but it was worth it and I felt like we worked well as a smaller unit overcoming the challenges this caused.

Day two of filming 'The Hunt for the Campus Cat' documentary

Day two was stressful because we were behind from day one so we had to then catch up. We had planned to meet up at 11 and start Vox Pops at 12 which we did. We planned the questions ready in advance which we decided Connor as our reporter would ask. It was a collection of 6 simple question all about what the campus cat looks like etc and if they are dog or cat people. we managed to get over 10 people to participate for us and it gave us a really nice collection of footage. We got some really good answers and even though it became stressful at time because of the amount of people surrounding us it went well. We then stopped this at 1:30 as we felt we had enough by this time and we moved on to do establishing shots after our lunch. These establishing shots were to make up for the day before. We also whilst we were about campus decided that this would be a good opportunity for us to some of the opening reporter footage of Connor talking to the camera. We spent some time on this till it got too dark for us to continue. I feel like we had a few parts which were maybe too rushed however we had  to work like this due to the time we missed out on the day before. Overall I felt like the day was still a success because we managed to catch up so that we were back on track with the schedule.

Day One of Filming 'The Hunt for the Campus Cat' Documentary

Day one was a slow start because even though we had the studio booked for 9:30 ready to start our first interview at 10 unfortunately we found out the night before that our first interviewee was unable to attend so we no longer had 3 interviews that day and instead just two. One at 11:30 and one at 12:30. This meant we had two hours in the studio without any one to interview. However we were determined to use this to our advantage and decided that in this time we could plan the questions for the interview in a lot more detail and also we then had a lot more time to check over all the camera and sound equipment to make sure it was set up properly and to the best it could be. We then had time to set up the studio how we wanted it so for our interviews we wanted it to look like a police investigation room so that it would fit with our film noire twist. We used a practical light positioned above a table to did this and then framed it to be very office looking with a plain background behind and very low key lighting. The interviews themselves went well. We had time to do the first interview twice which was needed as our interviewee was a bit too nervous so it gave her time to become comfortable and so in the second take we got a lot more developed answers. Then the second interview went really well from the off set and we got some really good answers through out. Over all this was a really good shoot and the studio was well worth it. The only unfortunate part of the day was that some of the group went missing after lunch and never returned so even though we had planned to do establishing shots after lunch before it got dark we were unable to and had to call it off and spent the evening doing paperwork instead. Overall a mixture of successes through the day.

Research into Cat and Dog Psychology for our Documentary

Before we began filming I thought it might be a good idea to have a look into the actual psychology about cats and especially into cat people and dog people as this was what interested the group most with in this subject matter. We found out that cat people were proven to be on average 11% more neurotic and 12% more open minded than dog people. To us this was a very interesting statistic and we knew we wanted it included in our piece so as you can see I have written it into one of the scripts as part of the detectives reasoning's and explanations behind the suspicious happenings! There can also be many traits that differ between cat people and dog people such as there personality traits but also things like dating habits and even in some cases political preference has even been linked to as different in dog people and cat people. In the Book 'Why we love the Dogs we do' it was reported that dog owners tend to be more social, interactive, and dominant were as cat people were more introverted, self-contained, and trusting. This then raised some questions about what people who own both and claim to be both are like and after more research I discovered that people who own both tend to actually act and have more dog people attributes. I feel like these characteristics play an important part of what we want to say in our Documentary and having got these facts and figures now allows us to create more depth in the piece.

Documentary Scripts!!!

There were also a number of scenes that we knew we wanted to do which we needed scripts for so that we knew we had all the information we needed. In total I wrote 4 scripts out for different scenes through out the documentary. Here they are:

1. Presenter Connor's introduction speech-

“Hello, I’m at UCA Farnham investigating the enigma that is the Campus Cat. After gathering intel from residents and students here on campus it is clear that this illusive feline goes by many names and must be a master of disguise. I am now passing over to Investigator Callaghan who I am hoping will be able to discover more about this creature.”

2. Pigeon murder investigation sequence-

*Callaghan is sitting at computer*

Callaghan: “Quick look at this! *Waves camera crew into room* I’ve found some really interesting evidence on the cat. I was looking through the ‘Farnham Freshers’ page for background information and I stumbled upon this beauty. *points to pigeon image on screen* what do you think? I think we may have a murder on our hands. Let’s go investigate!”

*Callaghan leads camera crew outside*

(Cut to Shot of Callaghan looking around campus)

Callaghan: “The problem is this picture doesn’t make it awfully clear where it was taken… BLAST! I think I’m going to have to contact the source.” *Picks up Phone and calls Source*

(Cut away to shot of the scene of the crime)

Callaghan: “This must be where it happened. There is no signs of it now so I must be too late. What I find intriguing is how people here are still managing to bond with this cat. They personify it as if it’s their friend when to me he’s nothing more than a wild animal.” *Storms out of shot*

(End Scene/Sequence)

3. Office scene where Detective tells Connors his findings-

*Both sat down at a table in Callaghan’s Office*

Callaghan: “In my opinion the cat does exist, there is no denying that. However I believe that the stories told are exaggerated and warped by people so that they start to feel like they too have a close connection with him, whether it be through the supposed annoyance he causes or even the precious time they spend together. They are however personifying him to be a friend not only to them but also to the campus as he is an icon now. There is still a divide as to whether people want him here or not.”

Connor: “I guess some people are dog people and others are cat people, Is this having an effect?”

Callaghan: “Well it has been studied and it seems like cat people do have different traits to those of dog people. For example I read that cat people are 12% more neurotic and 11% more open minded. This could be why here the students have looked past the cat’s obvious greed and just love him anyway. That’s all there is to it.”

Connor: “So is this case closed?”

Callaghan: “Yes”

*Connor slides money envelope across table to Callaghan, Callaghan looks inside*

Callaghan: “That should cover it”

Connor: “Thank you for your services” *goes to shake Callaghan’s hand but Callaghan ignore him*

Callaghan: “Now leave my office” *points to door*

*Connor and camera crew leave the room*

(End Scene)

4. Presenter Connor's end speech-

“I guess the campus cat is here to stay then, especially with all the students feeding it and looking after it. Even if it has caused a disturbance too many people have fallen for this shady little character.”

Storyboards!

There are a few scenes in our piece which we knew we wanted to do but weren't too sure how so as a group we created storyboards to help us with two main scenes. It allowed us to visually picture how it would look and therefore we could go out with a clear idea during shooting week:

1. This is the introduction scene where the documentary concept is introduced:

2. This is a scene were we investigate the murder of a pigeon:

Call Sheets

I decided that making call sheets would be a good idea for my group so that during filming week every member knows exactly where they need to be and when. It will also give everyone a chance to prepare themselves for the next days activities so that we can have a much more productive day. Here are the 4 I made for our 4 days of filming:


Call Sheet #1 – Tuesday 24^th November 2015

The Hunt for the Campus Cat
Unit Call Time:  9:00am		Weather: Temp: Sunrise: Sunset:		Cloudy / Windy / 20% Chance of rain / 10 degrees C Sunrise 07:35 – Sunset 16:06
Main Production Contact		Billie Williams 07772051596
Producer, Filming & Editor Producer, Filming & Editor Presenter, Interviewer & Editor Sound & Editor	Connor Albinson Billie Williams Tarald Tvedt Adeleke Adewale		Number: 07950964266 Number: 07772051596 Number: 07827737077 Number: 07958629255

Preliminary Schedule - Subject to change
Time	Action
09:00 10:30 13:30 – 14:30 16:00 16:30	Unit Call & Setup Roll Camera Lunch Wrap Crew leave	Unit Wrap Time: 16:30

Location
University for the Creative Arts, Falkner Rd, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7DS Studio B32 and on Campus Tel: 01252 722441

Health & Safety

- All crew to wear protective footwear (No flip flops, sandals or open toe shoes) - All crew to wear sensible clothing (No shorts. Only jeans or long trousers permitted) - No food or drink permitted in the studio

Production Requirements

Rushes: To be downloaded and backed up after filming completed. Parking: On site Catering: Provide Own Lunch Toilets: On set Medical: On set

Equipment:

Canon XF305 camcorder, Headphones, Fishpole 1.5m, Tripod, Microphone, XLR lead

Call Sheet #2 – Wednesday 25^th November 2015

The Hunt for the Campus Cat
Unit Call Time:  11:00am		Weather: Temp: Sunrise: Sunset:		Cloudy / Windy / 10% Chance of rain / 9 degrees C Sunrise 07:37 – Sunset 16:05
Main Production Contact		Billie Williams 07772051596
Producer, Filming & Editor Producer, Filming & Editor Presenter, Interviewer & Editor Sound & Editor	Connor Albinson Billie Williams Tarald Tvedt Adeleke Adewale		Number: 07950964266 Number: 07772051596 Number: 07827737077 Number: 07958629255

Preliminary Schedule - Subject to change
Time	Action
11:00 12:00 14:00–15:00 16:00 16:30	Unit Call & Setup Roll Camera Lunch Wrap Crew leave	Unit Wrap Time: 16:30

Location
University for the Creative Arts, Falkner Rd, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7DS Campus Tel: 01252 722441

Health & Safety

- All crew to wear protective footwear (No flip flops, sandals or open toe shoes) - All crew to wear sensible clothing (No shorts. Only jeans or long trousers permitted)

Production Requirements

Rushes: To be downloaded and backed up after filming completed. Parking: On site Catering: Provide Own Lunch Toilets: On set Medical: On set

Equipment:

Canon XF305 camcorder, Headphones, Fishpole 1.5m, Tripod, Microphone, XLR lead

Call Sheet #3 – Thursday 26^th November 2015

The Hunt for the Campus Cat
Unit Call Time:  13:00pm		Weather: Temp: Sunrise: Sunset:		Cloudy / Windy / 20% Chance of rain / 9 degrees C Sunrise 07:38 – Sunset 16:04
Main Production Contact		Billie Williams 07772051596
Producer, Filming & Editor Producer, Filming & Editor Presenter, Interviewer & Editor Sound & Editor	Connor Albinson Billie Williams Tarald Tvedt Adeleke Adewale		Number: 07950964266 Number: 07772051596 Number: 07827737077 Number: 07958629255

Preliminary Schedule - Subject to change
Time	Action
13:00 14:00 N/A 16:00 16:30	Unit Call & Setup Roll Camera Lunch Wrap Crew leave	Unit Wrap Time: 16:30

Location
University for the Creative Arts, Falkner Rd, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7DS Campus Tel: 01252 722441

Health & Safety

- All crew to wear protective footwear (No flip flops, sandals or open toe shoes) - All crew to wear sensible clothing (No shorts. Only jeans or long trousers permitted)

Production Requirements

Rushes: To be downloaded and backed up after filming completed. Parking: On site Catering: Provide Own Lunch Toilets: On set Medical: On set

Equipment:

Canon XF305 camcorder, Headphones, Fishpole 1.5m, Tripod, Microphone, XLR lead

Call Sheet #4 – Friday 27^th November 2015

The Hunt for the Campus Cat
Unit Call Time:  10:00am		Weather: Temp: Sunrise: Sunset:		Cloudy (foggy) / Windy / 40% Chance of rain /            12 degrees C Sunrise 07:40 – Sunset 16:04
Main Production Contact		Billie Williams 07772051596
Producer, Filming & Editor Producer, Filming & Editor Presenter, Interviewer & Editor Sound & Editor	Connor Albinson Billie Williams Tarald Tvedt Adeleke Adewale		Number: 07950964266 Number: 07772051596 Number: 07827737077 Number: 07958629255

Preliminary Schedule - Subject to change
Time	Action
10:00 11:00 13:00-14:00 16:00 16:30	Unit Call & Setup Roll Camera Lunch Wrap Crew leave	Unit Wrap Time: 16:30

Location
University for the Creative Arts, Falkner Rd, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7DS Campus Tel: 01252 722441

Health & Safety

- All crew to wear protective footwear (No flip flops, sandals or open toe shoes) - All crew to wear sensible clothing (No shorts. Only jeans or long trousers permitted)

Production Requirements

Rushes: To be downloaded and backed up after filming completed. Parking: On site Catering: Provide Own Lunch Toilets: On set Medical: On set

Equipment:

Canon XF305 camcorder, Headphones, Fishpole 1.5m, Tripod, Microphone, XLR lead