The day of the shoot began by meeting at Roman Way and getting a taxi unfortunately it was late however we managed to get the 11:30am train on time. We arrived around 1:30pm, later than expected, and started setting up. After a few chats with Mike, introducing myself and chatting about my project. We began setting up and people starting turning up. The issues around the time was sorting out the sound situation and finding individual ex-members to interview. Unfortunately we could only conduct one interview due to soundcheck's lasting over an hour, meaning by the time everything was set up and we interviewed Buffalo Fish (Guitarist was the ex-member of Iron Maiden), we needed to move the cameras and equipment to near the stage, to film the performance. What also took time was to get the band to sign appearance forms, which was signed via Thomas' tablet, as unfortunately I misplaced the permission forms. The sound of the performance was a short-lasting issue, which was resolved by the sound tech, Chris, who connected the Zoom recorder via 2 1/4 jack connections to a normal jack, going straight into the Zoom to get the best professional sound from the instruments.

We then began to film the first act, however the first act was not 'Maiden related, but we filmed parts of their performance as reference in relation to the events taking place during the day. After each performance, we had a 10-15 minute break to check over footage, check the camera settings i.e. battery life and memory capacity and so on. During this time Thomas also filmed other aspects of the event, such as the crowd of die-hard fans, memorabilia and instruments and some of the ex-members interacting with fans. This allowed me to have a variation of images, rather than just live music performances and interviews.

 'Buffalo Fish' performing their set at the Plough and Harrow. 

 Thomas and Lauren shooting the event. 

The filming of the performances was effective, following the necessary schedule and using both handheld and static camera techniques, to give a fluidity and variation of shots to work with. Throughout the day the battery of the EX3 lasted, however the EX1 battery needed replacing once.The batteries on the zoom however needed replacing almost every 45 minutes, so I decided to check frequently the battery life left, and between performances I changed batteries. This was done 3 times. After the last performance at 9:30pm I called up a taxi to pick us up for 10:00pm and during that 30 minute gap we packed up efficiently and quickly and I said my goodbye's to everyone I had met. We then travelled back to farnham and got a taxi back from the station.

I feel the shoot was a success, however I feel I need to do a more detailed plan of action next time. For my first directorial shoot, I feel I did well in giving instructions to the crew in relation to the shots I would like and the image I am going for, in addition to speaking to several people about my idea and getting contacts. Next time I would also dedicate 10-15 minute slots for each interview and arrange specific times, rather than having to round up the band members to conduct an interview. I also feel I should've thought more on the spot and acted quicker in some instances, for instance it took a while to sort the sound of the performances out because I was busy trying to conduct interviews and brief my crew. This may have been prevented by perhaps working with a bigger crew. The experience for me was very helpful, and gave me an insight into where my project could progress to and how I should go about approaching certain things.

 Panoramic view of the event. 

In preparation for my shoot, I decided to update my plan for the day and organise interviews at a certain point in the day. The updated schedule of the day is as follows:

 Sunday the 8th of November 2015:

10:45am- Meet at 76 Roman Way 

11:00am-11: 15am- Load up taxi from Roman Way to Farnham station. Unload equipment. 

11:30am- 12:30pm: Get the train from Farnham to Waterloo station 

12:30pm-1:15pm: Get the train from Waterloo to Leytonstone underground station 

1:15pm-1:25pm: Taxi from Leytonstone station to the Plough and Harrow, Leytonstone. 

1:25pm-2:00pm: Setting up equipment (Tripods, Sound recorders to the mixer, Camcorders, Lighting). 

2:00pm-4pm: Give crew roles and directions, discuss project idea with ex-members, conduct interviews, interact with audience, get release forms/actors permission forms signed. 

4:00pm-5:00pm: Soundcheck for bands (Testing sound recording from the mixer to the sound recorder), break for crew. 

5:00pm: 5:15pm: Test cameras, finalise shot set up and shooting time.

5:15pm-6:00pm: Filming of first act (Jenny Darren)

6:00pm-6:15pm: Playback of footage. Stop sound recorder. 

6:15pm-7:15pm: Filming of second act (Airforce, featuring Doug)

7:15pm:7:30pm: Playback of footage. Stop sound recorder. 

7:30pm-8:30pm: Filming of third act (Buffalo Fish including Terry Wapram who was the guitarist of Iron Maiden in 1977-1978) 

8:30pm-8:45pm: Playback of footage. Stop sound recorder. 

8:45pm-9:15pm: Break for crew. 

9:15pm-9:45pm: Filming of final act (GV1, featuring Terry Rance, the original guitarist of iron maiden and Dennis Wilcock, the original vocalist of Iron Maiden) 

9:45pm-10:05pm: Pack up all equipment. Shoot over. 

10:05pm-10:15pm: Get the taxi from the venue to Leytonstone Station (Including taxi loading/unloading equipment period)

10:15pm-10:55pm: Train journey from Leytonstone to Waterloo 

11:07pm-12:15pm: Train from Waterloo to Farnham 

12:15pm:12:25pm: Load up taxi with equipment. Dropped off at Roman Way. Unload taxi. 

To give my project more of a concept, I decided to look at themes of life in the 1970s/80s, the decades in time that the ex-members would've grown up in, in relation to rock music.

I decided to look in the sociological side of Metal and Rock to identify key themes that I could pursue within the context of my film. I began to read ‘The Sociology of Rock’ by Simon Frith, which spoke about several themes, such as youth and music, making money, rock musicians, rock culture and the press. I decided to write out a few key quotes I found interesting and inspiring in regards to furthering my research of the rock and metal genre. For instance ‘Rock is often analyzed as a contemporary folk music- a music made for young people by young people and therefore ‘emerging’ from young people’s culture’ suggesting that the genre of rock is immersive within youth.

In relation to Iron Maiden, most of the members of the original line-up would’ve been in their early twenties, being a part of the youth culture of the time, thus appealing to younger audiences discovering there taste in music. The book discussed youth and music in relation to the normality’s of society, where 15-16 year olds would identify themselves as ‘hairies’ or ‘hippies’, promoting their hatred for commercial music and love of progressive rock. In addition to labeling themselves through nicknames, teenagers would also dress a certain way in order to identify to a certain group. For instance ‘Skinheads’ would dress neatly and were ‘Always polished to perfection’.

The themes of fashion and rebellion would’ve played a huge part of many of the ex-members everyday lives when they were younger, which would ultimately lead all of the characters going on to join Iron Maiden, producing music completely different to the norm of the time. Female youth was also an interesting topic of conversation within Frith’s work. Rock as a part of a teenage girls life would similarly involve using ‘labels’ which would identify you a certain way. Similarly, ‘Skinhead’ girls would spend a lot of their time at home, as their families would forbid them from leaving the house; ultimately limiting their social existence.

Frith describes female youth culture as ‘a culture of the bedroom’, where girls would meet, stay at home and listen to music. This is an interesting topic, and one I would like to look into further and through conversation with ex-members wives, hopefully find out more information about and explore further. Not only did the book cover youth in relation to music, but it also looked at other aspects of youth, for instance the employability of boys and girls in the 60s and 14 70s and their career paths after compulsory education. The books also discussed social class and what affect that had on young peoples lives. This is a theme that would’ve been prevalent of the 1960s and 1970s, when a lot of the ex-members were growing up in different parts of London and Essex. This is a theme that I will develop my knowledge of over the fore-coming weeks and will be identified within my film through the questions I will be asking each of the ex-members.

Inspired by the organisation of several other films and through chatting with Julia, I decided to organise the project a little better by coming up with a Trello.com account and setting deadlines and tasks for me and Julia to do.

The website allows you to come up with sections where you add 'Cards', that you can Name, set deadlines to, add checklists and notes to, which is really useful when it comes to getting things done as you can tick asks off once they have been done and add useful notes to each document, for instance if something needs to be revised. 

I also decided to produce a shooting schedule for the charity event I intend on filming, along with a budget list and crew roles. 

'Sunday the 8^th of November 2015:

11:00am- Meet at 76 Roman Way

11:10am-11: 20am- Taxi from Roman Way to Farnham station

11:30am- 12:30pm: Get the train from Farnham to Waterloo station

12:30pm-1:00pm: Get the train from Waterloo to Leytonstone underground station

1:05pm-1:10pm: Taxi from Leytonstone station to the Plough and Harrow, Leytonstone.

1:15pm-2:00pm: Setting up equipment (Tripods, Sound recorders to the mixer, Camcorders, Lighting).

2:00pm-4pm: Help Doug set up his drum kit, conduct interviews, discuss project ideas to potential cast members, interact with audience, sign release forms/actors permission forms, give crew roles and directions.

5:00pm-5:30pm: Soundcheck for bands (Testing sound recording from the mixer to the sound recorder)

5:30pm-6:00pm: Filming of first act (Jenny Darren)

6:00pm-6:15pm: Playback footage from EX1 and EX3

6:15-7:15pm: Filming of second act (Airforce, featuring Doug)

7:15pm:7:30pm: Playback of footage from EX1 and EX3

7:30pm-7:45pm: Conduct a short Interview with Airforce (Reaction to being on stage, how they felt the gig went etc)

7:45pm-8:45pm: Filming of third act (Buffalo Fish including Terry Wapram who was the guitarist of Iron Maiden in 1977-1978)

8:45pm-8:55pm: Playback of footage 6:00-6:15pm: Playback footage from EX1 and EX3

8:55pm-9:15pm: Conduct a short interview with Buffalo Fish (Reaction to being on stage, how they felt the gig went etc)

9:15pm-10:15pm: Filming of final act (GV1, featuring Terry Rance, the original guitarist of iron maiden and Dennis Wilcock, the original vocalist of Iron Maiden)

10:15pm-10:20pm: Playback of footage from EX1 and EX3

10:20-10:30pm: Conduct a short interview with GV1 (Reaction to being on stage, how they felt the gig went etc. During this time Lauren and Julia will be packing away equipment whilst Josh and Thomas will be conducting the interview)

10:30pm-10:50pm: Packing up of all equipment, collection of necessary documents. Shoot finished.

10:50pm: Pick up by taxi from the Plough and Harrow to Leytonstone Station

10:55pm-11:40pm: Train journey from Leytonstone to Waterloo

11:40pm-1:00am: Train from Waterloo to Farnham

1:00am: Pick up by taxi from Farnham back to Roman Way.'

Crew Roles on the 8th November 2015

Joshua Sampson	Director, producer and interviewer -Will be directing crew on what they need to film at event. Will also be interviewing and conversing with each participant.
Julia Cowell	Assistant Producer - Will be making sure crew keeps to schedule as well as making sure each participant signs a personal appearance form. Will also help with lighting and sound in the interview space.
Lauren Fox	Camera Operator - Will be operating the stationary (EX1) camera near front of stage.
Thomas Doukinitsas	Camera Operator - Will be operating the interview and moving (EX3) camera.

All crew will participate in moving equipment to the venue and setting up.

Day Budget

	Cost	Paid by
Taxi to Farnham Station	£8	Joshua Sampson
Train Tickets x4	£73.60	Joshua Sampson Julia Cowell Lauren Fox Thomas Doukinitsas
Taxi from Leytonstone to venue	£5	Joshua Sampson
Food and Drink	£30	Joshua Sampson Julia Cowell
Donation for charity event	£20	Joshua Sampson
Taxi from venue to Leytonstone	£5	Joshua Sampson
Taxi from Farnham station to Roman Way	£8	Joshua Sampson
TOTAL	£149.60

Julia drew up a floor plan of the venue, so that we know where to set up and how to go about filming the event, in regards to space and so on. 

When I had a tutorial with Anne I was told to watch a film called 'Some Kind of Monster', directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. The film itself is based around the metal band Metallica during the period of the early 2000s, when the band had not released an album for a number of years and were at rock bottom. The film shows the period of time in which there was a lot of tension within the band, resulting in the counselling of a psychiatrist to work out the bands problems.

The film begins with the band setting up a home studio to record their album. The film cuts between this and the counselling sessions they have, which is an interesting juxtaposition, between the high's of them in the studio, hiding their opinions and feelings through playing music loudly and the quiet, sombre environment, which makes the film narratively quite interesting. Being a music documentary, what makes the film interesting is the lack of music in the film, which is different to a lot of music documentaries out there, that have extended period's of music, whereas Some Kind of Monster only has short 10-20 segments of live music and focuses more on what the members of the band have to say about everything going on and what they are feeling. This is something I aim to do when making my film, as I want to focus more on the individuals and their lives rather than getting too distracted by the music.

Screenshot of Lars and James in the studio

The relationship between James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich is something that is very interesting due to the fact that they are two very big characters that tend to collide a lot of the time during the film, whereas the guitarist, Kirk Hammett, is more of an introvert, trying to keep the peace. There are a few major lows in the documentary, being the moment when James, the lead singer/guitarist had to go to rehab for almost a year. After this period he could only record in the studio from 12:00pm to 4:00pm.

Screenshot from the animation made, parodying the lawsuit Lars Ulrich took out on Napster. 

The film also focuses on the other band members for instance Lars, who is an artist in his spare time, selling painting for millions of dollars. The film also shows negative aspects of his life, for instance not being able to perform some of the songs properly in the studio and the suing of Napster, a free music website that illegally used the bands music. The court proceedings led to a negative response by Metallica fans, some of whom destroyed their Metallica albums in rage. Kirk, the lead guitarist, enjoys surfing in his spare time and spending a lot of his time alone. Throughout the film you can tell Kirk is more of an individual, and acts differently to the other members. James, the lead vocalist and backing guitarist enjoys driving expensive motorcycles whilst trying to fit in time with his family, especially his daughter, who we see throughout the film in the studio and at her dance practice. The inclusion of the families of the band members is interesting as it gives a more in-depth look into the individual members of the band and adds a lighter feel to the film, juxtapositioning between the harsh reality of life in a failing band and the simpler things in life that they seem to take for granted, like family.

Even though i'm not a huge fan of Metallica, I still felt a lot of enjoyment whilst watching the film, even though its a genre i'm not a huge fan of, or very familiar with. This is something I would like to do to my audience, being that Iron Maiden is a metal band that is to a required taste. Because the personalities of each member are so different and unique, the film is therefore made into something more interesting, differentiating from a straightforward music documentary about the history of rock/metal, where the lives of metal icons are only touched upon and the music leads the film concept. This is something I am looking to steer away from, and the casting process I intend on doing will help chose interesting individuals to focus my film on.

The end of the film touches upon the success of the band and their reformation with a new bassist, Robert Trujillo, The band offers him one million dollars to be a part of the band, which is just another reminder of the scale of the band on the metal scene, and how successful they have been. The inclusion of a bassist begins the resolution that the band were trying to find throughout the film. The inclusion of the bassist brings them all together and keeps them strong throughout all the dark, negative times they had shared previously. This then progresses to the preparation of the Metallica tour and the release of their new album, St Anger, where the members get emotional looking back at the past few years of their lives in the band, and how things have drastically improved. The film ends with a live performance dedicated to the success of the band, hosted by MTV. This is an interesting contrast to the beginning of the film, where the band were unenthusiastic and lifeless, and the leaps and bounds they made to perform at a huge venue with smiles on their faces at the end. I felt this was a predictable, yet satisfying end to the film.

Screenshot of the full, revised line up including their counselor. 

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the film and have taken many inspirations from it. The fact that the film actually uses more spoken dialogue than music is an interesting alternative to a typical music documentary. This is something I intend on following during the production of my film. I enjoy the fact that each member has an interesting life story and character, which is something I hope to achieve, being the uniqueness of the individual that makes a viewer, who may or may not be familiar or so much like the band, want to continue watching.

Doug's gold record for the first self-titled Iron Maiden album which he performed on, which reaching 100,000+ copies sold. 

To further my knowledge of Iron Maiden and to get an inside look into the history of the band and the music scene of the time, I decided to visit my uncle at his house in essex, which gave an insight into how he lives his life and what his interests are. I recorded a brief interview with him (link below, which is currently a rough-cut), where he shared some experience of his time in the band and what he is doing outside of Iron Maiden, which is the main focus idea of my film. I was also given a few names of some people who would be interested in being in the film whom have a good relationship with Doug and have been a part of Iron Maiden such as Bob Sawyer, Terry Rance, Tony Moore and Dennis Wilcock, all ex-members of the band. I was also shown some live performances of rock and metal spanning from the 60s to the 80s, such as The Who live in Texas (1975) which gave a great insight into live performance and where Doug's aspirations to become a drummer came from. This sort of information really helps me build a relationship with the people I want to be a part of the film and also is useful in furthering my knowledge of different aspects, in this case the beginnings of rock. My uncle also showed me some cd's, photographs and other useful items that related to his drumming experiences that weren't on the internet, which goes to show how limited the internet is in contrast to the actual memories and experiences people have in life, which aren't always publicised online. Doug also showed me his 3 dogs, which were very cute.

                                                                   Inside Doug's drum room

Doug's three(ish) dogs

 Brief rough-cut of an interview recording with my uncle, Doug Sampson. 

For inspiration for my film I decided to watch a few more documentaries recommended to me by several different people. In addition to this I watched some live dvd performances to further my knowledge in rock and metal music, in particular the style of the music and performance and how that affects an audience, which is something several bands like Iron Maiden achieve greatly.

The Who- Live in Texas '75
Whilst I was at my uncle's house we watched a few extracts from The Who's live performance in Texas. Whilst watching the film I was inspired by the performance of the members, in particular Keith Moon, the drummer. My uncle told stories of his drum career which involved regularly putting gunpowder in his bass drum which exploded at the end of a performance. I found this quite entertaining and it gave me more of an insight into my uncle's passion for drumming, pointing out facts on the drummer and the band throughout their performances, which is something only a strong fan of the band would know. During the film my uncle also spoke of his live performance experiences, where the band once used fireworks on the stage and the amount of smoke filled the whole room meaning he couldn't see his kit, which I found quite funny. I found live performances bring out fond memories people have with the band they may've been or any experiences they had seeing bands live. Using live performances of Rock/Metal in the 60s/70s/80s could be something that inspires stories out of some of my subjects experiences on stage. This may be a technique I could use during the production process when meeting some of the ex-members.


My Chemical Romance: Life on the Murder Scene
For inspiration I decided to watch a music documentary based around the lives of the members of a rock band called My Chemical Romance, who rose in popularity throughout time, particularly through the release of The Black Parade in 2006. The documentary follows the history of the band from the period of the early 2000s to the present, which was 2006 at the time of the film. The film was straightforward in the narrative, fluently changing from high's to low's, for example the success of the album sales contrasting with the vocalist, Gerard Way' alcohol abuse and the possible end to the band's existence. What I liked about the film was the melancholy tone to the film such as the 9/11 connections, where Gerard saw 9/11 happen for himself, inspiring him to change his life and start up the band. There was also no holding back with sharing very personal experiences and stories, such as Gerard's problems which could've lead to more severe outcomes. This is something that commendable as it is hard to take deep, upsetting stories from people unless they are very outgoing person and feel comfortable sharing these experiences.

Yesterday we had a camera workshop which induced us into using a few new camera's, these were the Canon C300, the BlackMagic URSA 4k camera and the Panasonic Lumix GH4 4k DSLR. We were also shown some camera's we used previously, the Sony EX3 which I used during studio shoot and the Canon XF305, which I used to make my portrait film in year one and also as second camera during the studio shoot.

BlackMagic URSA

 Canon C300

Panasonic Lumix GH4

 Sony EX3

Canon XF305

Anne spoke to us about the capabilities of each camera and which camera suits what kind of of production, which was really useful in deciding what camera I want to use for my documentary. The Sony EX3 and the Canon XF305 are most suitable for the kind of film I am hoping to make and they are a lot more compact and easier to set up for spontaneous shots I might get whilst making my documentary, something of which is harder with the Canon C300 and the BlackMagic URSA due to the weight and complexity of the menu's and set up, requiring at least 2 or three people as the recommended assistance by Anne to help pull focus and set up. In addition to this it was emphasised that only use a 4K camera if it excecutes what you are trying to say and you have solid justification for it, for several reasons, for instance the files are a lot larger than regular HD files and take more than double the time to export. They also have to be downscaled to 1080i for the graduation show which is why I am looking to use a regular HD camcorder.

Vicky spoke to us about the digital side of things, emphasising the importance of file storing and making multiple copies, which I will make sure I do when it comes to shooting my film. In addition to this making sure you don't rely on post production to save your film from any mistakes you made on set or when it comes to importing your files. We then looked at colouring, and the difference between 10 bit and 8 bit, 10 bit having a lot more colour range than 8 bit. This is brought out by the Samurai Blade, which will convert the camera's we used to 10 bit colour.

Overall, I feel that I am doing to use the Sony Ex3 predominantly because it is best for low-light situations and is a camera that can allow me to set up quickly, which will be useful when it comes to shooting spontaneous moments that may arise during a shoot. I will also be using the Ex1, which David kindly borrowed from stores to show me. What I like about this camera is the simplicity and similarities between its predecessor, the Sony Ex1, such as the quality of the footage and colours, which might be more difficult to achieve using the Canon XF305 as it has a very different picture to the Sony Ex3. I enjoyed learning more about the C300 and the URSA as they are very good camera's that produce very high-end results, however the complexity of setting up and crewing the camera would not suit the style of my film, which will be more on the move and spontaneous sometimes.

I recently had a tutorial with Anne, which was very helpful in giving me inspiration and ideas as to how I could approach the production, for example the narrative and alternative structures/themes I could look into to make my film stand out. Here are some of the key notes that were made when I spoke to Anne: 

Notes from Anne:

Origin of the Iron.

Past members – what do they have in common?.Passion for heavy metal music- some still in the music business, some not.

.Now all in their 50’s + still got long hair, all the biker demonic imagery? Symbols onstage of rebellion against conformity, anti establishment..Contrast with home life - quieter more respectable, doting granddad etc?

.Uncle is a key player – use to get introductions and information about the band lifestyle etc. is he funny or a good character? Could you use him as one of your main characters in the film? Two main characters and a cast of smaller support contributors would be enough. 

.You need to do lots of research now – talk to as many people as possible find the most charismatic people for your film.

.Re-union concert at beginning Nov could be a key date for filming uniting all your cast of characters – could be spectacular opening sequence or closing sequence..Concert is a memorial for band member who died of MS – he could be a character told in retrospect through memories of other past members. Could be poignant story.

.What do you imagine will be in the film if anything is possible?
-Concert material, backstage, rehearsals, performances in pubs weddings? Home life? Interviews with ex members why did they leave? Good memories bad memories. Some band members might have home movie footage.

.Different approaches – what is so special about metal that it can take over your entire life?
-The “Zen of heavy metal
-”Nostalgia for youth can’t let go?
-Passion for music and lifestyle?
-Other players in the film?

.The fans see ex members as legendary fans same age as iron Maiden in their 50’s.Good stories of fans travelling thousands of miles – mentioned German fan Erwin who flies over to see ex members play. Erwin could be a good character? Contact him and see if he is going to visit during your filming period.

.Wives, girlfriends, and children – do they share the same passion? Do they share the same lifestyle? It could be interesting if they do and interesting if they don’t. Think of the Osborne family as an exaggerated example.

.Other things to think about – music copyright, permission to film on location

.Important to dig out great characters .Think about structure – this will develop as you do more research. Spend as much time with your uncle ask him about everything, get him to tell you stories about his life with iron Maiden. Do some filming with him to see how he comes across – contrast with your auntie who isn’t so much a fan of metal could be humorous contrast.

.Iron Maiden started in Leytonstone – could make something of this humble east end beginning. Fans creating a blue plaque memorial!!!

.Check availability of cameras for the concert weekend. Think about what you could film around this weekend. It would be good to have multiple crews 2 or 3 camera crews would be best. There will be a lot going at once. Recruit 2 other students (2person) crews to cover this event plus runners and a production assistant. Make the most of this event.

.Check availability of cameras with Julie Flude. If not enough students free in your year check Tom Paynter Y2 is a good shooter also Megan Oxley Y2 if not too busy.
.There are some first years who are very able who might jump at the chance talk to me if you want extra help.

.Searching for Sugarman is a good film here’s a link to the film on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXee4Elv0n4- It was Malik Bendjelloul's first film

.Some Kind of Monster is another metal film about Metallica’s breakup and re-union which might give some ideas about what kind of issues make people leave famous bands

In my next blog post I will be looking at 'Searching for Sugarman' by Malik Bendjelloul and Some Kind of Monster by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, looking at different aspects of the film and how they inspire my work.

I decided to look further into Fred Burns work, a previous student on the DFSA course who specialised in documentary filmmaking. I was fascinated by his showreel, showing the variation of short documentaries, some of which were live music recordings which is something I would like to pursue further.

Fred Burns Showreel 

 Forget Cassettes? 



Forget Cassettes? is a short documentary piece looking into the cassette tape phenomenon, and the rise and fall off the cassette tape. The film was introduced by a short interview with the director of Curry's, who decided to stop stocking blank audiocassette tapes in their stores. What I liked about this documentary is the use of his parents and the personal touches Fred added to the film. I enjoyed finding out about the impact on people's lives, which is something I would like to explore, being the effect something has on peoples lives and the personal stories that are brought out by something as insignificant as a tape. This is very much something I would like to include in my final piece. The inclusion of voice over by himself is something I would like to do however I would need to script what I want to say, which is something I would have to look into further as I have not done something like this before. What I noticed when looking at Fred's work is the musical direction that all his films go in which is something I find fascinating and something which I wish I had done in previous projects.

Fightstar Live Acoustic performance for Channel Four, directed by Fred Burns

Generally I received quite positive feedback from my presentation and was praised on the contact I have made so far in relation to the film. I was told to further my contacts and knowledge of the band I went off and did further research into the ex-members and their lives outside of Iron Maiden.

 Images from http://ultimateclassicrock.com/iron-maiden-lineup-changes/

From looking on social media at the band I truly realised the legacy that was left behind by the ex members. Several websites spoke in detail about all the ex members and even gave some brief information about what they have done outside of Iron Maiden. When adding up numbers, I came to the conclusion that there are 17 ex-members of the band (Including members who were only part of the band for a very short time, for example Tony Moore, a keyboardist for the band, however after a short time they realised they did not want the idea of a keyboardist in the band, so they fired him. 

I decided to reach out again to Mike and Andy, two of the people who are key in the ex-Iron Maiden fanbase, who have kindly agreed to help in one way or another with the film, from helping getting in contact with some of the ex-members to being in the film themselves. My recent conversation with Andy involved talking about a specific ex member nicknamed 'Thunderstick', who wore a horror-style mask on stage, very similar to the masks a popular metal group called Slipknot where. I found it fascinating looking into the stage antics that Thunderstick got up to and the reasoning behind him eventually being sacked. He then went on to perform in another heavy metal band, Samson, playing a part in the band's first three albums. The band was fronted by future Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who is still in the band to this day, who has played a major role in the progression of the band and the metal genre. 

Thunderstick performing. 

Iron Maiden group shot, 1977

The above messages also mentioned that Dennis Willcock, one of the original vocalists and Terry Wapram, one of the original guitarists in the band, were interested in being in the documentary, which excites me and has motivated me further to look further into each aspect of the film (researching, obtaining archive footage, getting together a production pack etc).

To inspire my film and look more into the music and documentary genre, I decided to watch 'Whiplash' (Damien Chazelle, 2014)

Review: 

Whiplash follows the story of young drummer, Andrew, a hopeful drumming superstar who enrols at a music school where he hopes to be one of the greats, like Buddy Rich (Numerous references to his work). He meets Terrence Fletcher, a strict music instructor who pushes Andrew to breaking point to show his full potential as a jazz drummer. The film follows Andrew and Terrence's relationship, which changes throughout the film, switching from a mutual respect of each other, to violent confrontations. This results in Andrew snitching on his own instructor to get him fired, which he does successfully. The film spans several different small-stories, for instance the break-up of the short lived relationship between Andrew and Nicole because he wants to pursue his musical dreams, the confrontations between his family who do not take his drumming career seriously and a car crash incident which stops Andrew from playing a music recital.

Two favourite scenes:

Scene 1:

Drum Solo scene

The drum solo performance towards the end of Whiplash has to be a personal favorite moment in the film. The performance shows the passion that Andrew has, being intimidated by Terrence and embarrassed by him because of the change in song performance. Terrence tested Andrew's patience and passion for drumming by putting him through situations to test his tolerance to rejection and the real, harsh reality. Through fast-paced editing techniques, varying camera angles and sensational acting by J.K. Simmons (Instructor) and Miles Teller (Andrew), the scene brilliantly portrayed both characters in the way in which they had been made out to be throughout the film, and showed the strange bond the two characters had between one another.


Scene 2: 

Drum-off scene;

This scene is probably one of the darkest parts of the film through the sheer agony on each characters face, trying to play the right drum fill in order to get the part in the band. Terrence, the instructor, pushes each of them to their breaking point, eventually pushing Andrew so far that his hand starts to bleed from the grip of the drum sticks.  The humorous elements in the scene add to the horror of what is actually happening, for example at the end when Terrence says "You wanna clean the blood off of my drum set" to one of the other students and when Terrence starts throwing instruments at Andrew whilst he plays, which is a reference to an earlier scene when Terrence and Andrew have a conversation about how another teacher hit a drummer in the head with a cymbal to get him to play the right drum fill. Again all of the actors performances were brilliant in portraying actual distress and physical harm because of the speed in which they were being made to play at.


Final thoughts

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the film. I was extremely impressed by the performances of J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller's characters, which for me really brought out the narrative of the film in a dark, sinister way, which is something I did not expect. The film itself was an experience that makes you feel genuine distress and concern for Miles Teller's character and forces you to have a love/hate relationship with J.K. Simmons character. The narrative itself is quite simplistic however its the performances of the characters which adds to the complexity of the idea, making the audience go through a rollercoaster of emotions, hoping that after everything, Andrew gets the success he well and truly deserves. The film inspires me to not hold back when it comes down to the darker side of the story which I may stumble across when researching and making my documentary film. I highly recommend the film.

Due to both my film ideas being music documentaries I decided to take out some documentary films and books from the library as inspiration for my film and to further my knowledge of documentary film making.

Reuben's "What happens in Aldershot, stays in Aldershot"

Reuben's short music documentary piece shows the life of a underground rock band trying to make it in an ever-growing harsh industry. The film follows the bands touring schedule, personal lives and their time in the studio blended with humorous elements . The film incorporates experimental elements such as fast-cutting editing techniques and experimentation with colour. What I like about the film is the personal elements to it. I enjoy the fact that the effort was made to show not only the musical side of the band, but also the personal side, focusing on everyday life rather than the band itself for example when Jamie Lenman (Vocalist) buys a life-size Dalek and when Jon (Bassist) is working in Waitrose. The inclusion of the bands fans gave an insight into what the music means to them and how it has effected their lives which is something I would like to include in my film. 

Personal favourite moment from the film. 

When brainstorming ideas I though about the previous project I had made, for instance the R.A.M. documentary film I made based around students opinions of moving to university and being away from home. The first project I made was a portrait film based on a local florist, which was informative in showing the flower-making process.

Screenshots from Castle Street Flowers Ltd

Screenshot from R.A.M. film. 

Through my passion for music and interest in documentary film-making I came up with two main ideas that I would like to pursue further, one of which I will discuss in this post.

First film idea

Origin of the Iron

My first idea is a music documentary piece based around the ex-members of Iron Maiden and their lives during and after their time in the band. The film will show an insight into the music industry from the mid 1970s all the way through to the present day through a mixture of visual elements such as archive footage, posters and photos and a voice over of the ex-members of the band, which will help share their lives and will enlighten the viewer with the positives and negatives of being in a band. The name of the piece is based around a compilation album that was recently released called 'Origins of Iron', involving ex-iron maiden members' work after their time in Iron Maiden.




Second film idea 

W.A.S.A.P?

My second idea, W.A.S.A.P (Who are Sam Apple Pie?, loosely inspired by the Arctic Monkeys' EP "Who the F*ck are Arctic Monkeys) is a music documentary piece based around my father's band 'Sam Apple Pie' (Originated from an old badge my dad used to wear with an apple pie on it). The film will predominantly follow the journey my father went through throughout his time in the band. The film will show an insight into the east London music scene at the time, spanning the musical genres of the 60s/70s, what it was like to grow up in the 60s/70s and the rise and fall of the band. My father, now a taxi driver, hates his job and still wishes to fulfil his dream again of performing music again, which will be one of the main themes of the film. Sam Apple Pie had quite a following in the east-London area during the 60s/70s, with fans to this day regularly uploading content of the band, for example live performances and album tracks with short reviews. The film will use a mixture of filmed footage, interviews, archive footage and voice over work with the incorporation of fans opinions and stories of the band (Through Skype, face-to-face conversations, emails and phone calls).

Overall I am really pleased with the way in which the film came out. I feel that the Fields and Frames classes really taught me to push the boundaries of film and come up with something completely new and out of my comfort zone. Being someone who isn't very technologically skilled, I found it interesting to experiment more in premiere with visual effects and also experimenting with the camera through techniques such as Pixillation. I thoroughly enjoyed the Film Scratching workshop and was happy with the way in which the scratching came out. I feel its interesting to look back at the history of Film and technology and see where it all started in comparison to today, where everything has become so technological and advanced to the point where we forget about the roots of Film and technology.

I felt proud of the way in which I had set up my two screens in G03 and it looked the way I wanted it to. What I found particularly difficult was getting both screens to play in sync due to the older screen playing from the first frame and the other screen playing from the moment I paused it at the very beginning. To get over this difficultly next time, I will create a small count down at the beginning to allow time to pause both and get them correctly in sync. From the comments I recieved from Rosie, Kathleen and Vicky, I understood where I could have gone with the piece to improve it. The difficulties I had with the sound of the second screen was reflected in the comments I recieved. To improve the piece I would make my own soundscape or use just pholy sounds to make it seem more realistic rather than forcing a certain mood of nostalgic which the music I chose gave. To improve my second screen further, which was the screen which received the most critical feedback, I would include a more visually interesting look, which I gave to my first screen through the use of scratching and colour (shown below).

My Two-Screen installation. 

Still from the first screen of my film. 

If I was to make any further improvements to the film, I would've recorded more voice over sounds and other footage of a bigger variety of people. In addition to this I would've made sure I had a rough edit done before I went to my tutorials to get a more developed feedback from Vicky, Rosie and Owen.

Problems I found during the making of my film was that I lost some footage that I feel would have improved the piece. For example, I lost several videos I made in the film cutting rooms, however it wasn't until after my film was made and timings were set did I find the film scratchings I created. This taught me to back up all of my files onto an external hard drive so I don't lose any footage next time and to double check all of the folders on my computer in case it shows up.

I also enjoyed seeing other groups works, for example Lauren, Mollie, Laura and Katherine's shoot was interesting to be a part of (Even if I was just Caterer!). It was interesting to get pointers for timings of my shoot, as their group organised the day well with what will be shot within a certain time frame.