Final Project Development blog 5

by Giovanni Peresson 10/03/24

As of now, we're at the halfway point of the taught semester I am quite happy with where I am in terms of my final project as of right now I am firmly in the production phase with a solid foundation below me in terms of a pre-production and knowing what it is I want to create.

In terms of where I am at right now in my production this week, I have been communicating with my producer Maria Sloan and giving her details on people to contact and emails have been sent out to find my collaborators in the documentary. So far Gerry Carrol MLA, Dr. Andrew Percy and Mal O Hara MLA. I have chosen these three collaborators due to their knowledge and contribution to issues relating to addiction. Emails were sent on Monday morning and as of Sunday only one has responded, and it may be necessary next week to look into different collaborators.

I have also been researching into archive footage, searching through various archives to find creative commons' footage which has been tedious, but slowly I am gathering enough to use for my final production. I have also been experimenting with introductions, which I can't show as I am writing this blog on my laptop away from my computer which has the adobe files on it. Furthermore, I plan on using a clip from a Nixon speech followed by short clips from documentaries, news, etc then a bus departing with the title on the floor.

In the Brixton riot section of the documentary, sourcing footage has been a challenge and essentially all footage from news and the public has been purchased by ITN, and they are charging 600-2000 pound per clip which in a £0 budget production is impossible to achieve. I have a plan to resolve this issue though, there are photographs in the creative commons, and I am going to make two cuts of the film one using the footage for my university submission since it does look better and for my festival submission I am going to be using the pictures to abide by copyright laws as having full rights to every element of this film is very important to me. I was in communication with a filmmaker in Brixton who had some footage on his YouTube channel from years ago on weather that footage was also obtained or just maybe he owned the rights to it, but he also had done the same.

As for my dissertation, I have changed my approach to it and I would like to finish my filming before I begin my main body. I am still researching journals, articles and books from the university library a couple of days of the week, but I feel I will have a better idea of what to write about when I get to that stage of my production because I would like the two to relate to each other. I am also still note-taking, writing down ideas that come to mind on where I can take my dissertation.

As for this week's meeting, unfortunately on Monday it was candled due to my supervisor being outside the country but as of myself I am still fine in regard to my production and dissertation and when the next meeting happens I will be able to update him on my progress.

I have engaged in other activities this week including filming for Maria's project and gathering b-roll as well we set up for the interview that will happen this month, I then colour graded the footage to show her, and it looks pretty good (I will have it below). I have also been creating an electronic press kit and trailer for an upcoming festival my last documentary has got into, which is the Cinemagic on the pulse film festival in Belfast.

By Giovanni Peresson

by Giovanni Peresson

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  This Blog has been written for educational purposes as part of CIN504 Final Project Week 6 Blog.