Final Product

 

June Edits

 Latest upload- June 

In this session, I took this time to re arrange some of the dance shots so that the movement was not repetitive. 

I noted down each shot in order so that I could spot similarities. For example:

• Scenery
• Fingerprints 
• Shadow hand 
• Beach body
• Train
• Beach body lower 
• Julia 

Here, I noticed that there were two similar scenes so I added a new one to mix it up. I did this with each scene so that I did not miss anything. This also made sure that I included majority of my clips. 

From the May edit, I made some extra changes. These included: 

• Made the start longer so the title can be seen for longer
• Changed the font of the subtitles to make sure they were all the same size and font
• Took out repetition in movement 
• Added extra credits
• Made the gaps between clips longer where necessary 
• I made sure transitions were in place for example, when the scenery was introduced
• Cut some clips where information was not necessary 
• Changed the photos so they covered the whole screen 
• Made sure when videos came up in the corner of the interview, they dissolved in

Tutorials with Ali

 04/05/21-

In this session, we spoke about the movement video I had created. Of course, this was just a draft to present the footage I had filmed to portray identity. We discussed the next steps of my film- whether I am going to include the movement in that same way, whether I want to layer it over the top (of the interviews) or just have it playing by itself. 

We spoke about Akram Khan exploring similar ideas even as an "established choreographer"- important that migration and identity is relevant. 

19/05/21-

In this session, we focused on my written document with Ali answering any final questions I had. 

Questions included:

• Word count 
• Formatting
•  Editing the document 
• Submissions 
• We spoke about cutting/ editing so that my document is more succinct 

Feedback for written

• Think about moving the hypothesis, make links throughout the essay
• Cut out any repetition 
• Check for grammar, spelling etc 

May edits

 01/05/21-

My aim for the next few sessions was to merge the dance clips with my interview clips (where necessary). I did not want to include movement for the sake of it so, for at least 3 sessions I worked on mixing the clips around to see what worked and what did not. I found that the shadow clips worked best with my participants content as all features were hidden. To start, I struggled to include my movement clips as they did not fit in with what was being said. 

New things I tried:

• Having 2 clips play at the same time- one more transparent than the other
• Using effects to make the transitions smoother 

05/05/21... 07/05/21...

In these sessions my aim was to start coming up with a rough structure. However, every time I came back to edit, I found myself changing the order of the clips. It was difficult to maintain a structure as I did not know what order I preferred the clips to be in. 

I did not want it to come across as an "interview" but when the clips were all together, this was the impression I was getting. To solve this, I decided to film more content- mainly scenic videos; from Southend, London and Albania. Of course, I was unable to go to Albania myself so I had to ask one of my cousins to film specific sections for me. The rest of the shots I filmed myself. 

26/05/21...27/05/21

I took some time away from editing as I felt it was necessary. In this next section,  I started to include the different clips and scenic footage. I found that this added to my project, making it look more like a documentary. I also started to work more on the structure, linking the clips more smoothly and adding different images and videos to the content to make it more interesting. 

28/05/21-

In this session, I decided to re order the whole project.

• Added a title 
• Started the documentary off with myself talking about my project, identity and my family
• Mixed the sections up a lot more so that it switched between who was talking rather than having 3 separate sections of my parents, myself and my uncle
• I have also left gaps for extra footage I need to include as well as Albanian folk music for the background
•  I added extra transitions between clips so that they look more professional 
• I added subheadings so that we know who is speaking

All these changes started to bring the documentary together. I feel more content with this video. However, I do still need to work on some of the sections- adding more movement, more footage and making sure the order of the clips makes sense. 

This video reflects the end of the May edits. 

 

April edits

11/04/21- 

Day one of editing mainly consisted of understanding my editing software. Luckily, my housemate was able to help me understand the basics so that I could start to edit my own work. 

Video one is listed below and is the first draft of my project. I found the editing process challenging to start as I had to re-watch majority of the videos to select the bets sections. I have played around with ideas including shortening clips, merging clips together and organising/ ordering my videos. 

I started by focusing on practising the skills I had learnt rather than instantly putting content together. I found this was the best way to begin as in my next editing session, I could work on putting clips together. 

LINK to video-  

Some questions/ changes I wanted to make after watching the video:

• Do I want to use sound at the start?
• The clips at the start were too fast 
• Can I try a different order? 

After editing this video, I took the time to watch every single video through and note down the most important sections/ sections that linked as well as sections I believed would reinforce identity effectively. I have inserted examples of the process I went through in order to find the best possible clips. 

I watched each clip (all my interviews, dance clips etc) and named them so that when I came to edit, I knew exactly which clip to use.

15/04/21- 

 In my second session of editing, my aim was to include content from my interviews. To start, I found this a challenge as I did not know which section to begin with.

LINK to the video- 

Some questions/ changes I made:

• Made the beginning clips longer
• Added sound to the start of the film where before, it was silent
• Added subtitles- do these need to be smaller? higher up? 
• Not sure whether to have subtitles for every Albanian section? 
• Added a few mask sections, not sure whether there needs to be more or whether it needs to be left minimal 
• added extra shots over the speech 
• Changing the length of some of the clips 

At the end, I have included videos that I wish to include at some point. I have edited them together but am not sure where to place them yet. 

My next steps involve including more footage of me dancing/ identity sections.

28/04/21-

I edited my dance/ identity clips together so that after, they can be intertwined within the interviews. Within this week, I also filmed extra shadow work including: close-ups, red filtered movement, and masked movement. I felt this was the best way to reinforce identity and how sometimes, you can feel alienated/ isolated from yourself and the country you are in. 

Filming Day Five and Six

 For the next part of my footage, I filmed in London. I spent two days filming close-ups and wide shots of movement based around shadows and masks to reinforce identity and the alienation felt when migrating to a new country. 

I used a projector to create the shadowed affect and used a red gel to cover the light to portray the Albanian flag colours. I filmed myself with a mask and without so that I could switch between the two. majority of my shots will be used in my documentary with a mixture of movement and scenic clips from Southend, London and Albania. 

Due to COVID, I was unable to go to Albania to film footage so I asked my cousin to film live in Albania so I can portray it in my documentary. 

Filming- Day Three

My final day in Southend consisted of filming my interviews. I filmed my Mum, Dad and Uncle (mums brother) and interviewed my brother but did not film him. My aim is to 'distort' my brothers voice as this is another way to disguise someone's identity.

I filmed sections with the masks to reinforce alienation, isolation and distance you feel from yourself when you encounter a place you are not comfortable with. I also filmed each individuals talking towards the wall as this is another way people hide their identity from the public. I decided against the shadow idea as I felt I had enough to "hide" their identity. 

I recorded sections in both English and Albanian to show how both languages have played a part in our lives- as well as both cultures. 

I decided to film myself talking about how I have been impacted with migration. Even though I did not experience it first hand, my parents experiences have impacted the way I view myself and therefore, my identity.  

                                                                               Set up^