Evaluation

­­­­Throughout this module I have learnt many different transferable skills as well as developing my initial idea to produce a very suitable way of putting across my feelings and beliefs. I initially had two proposals; I chose to focus on the one that I believed I was more passionate about, the metal work brief. My idea has been influenced and has changed somewhat in a positive way, naturally changing the idea that I had initially.

Having worked in the metalwork industry for over 5 years on and off, I really wanted to praise the skilled craftsmen and the techniques that they are still utilizing in small forges around the UK.

As the narrative progressed with my idea, I decided to focus on a certain aspect of metalwork in particular instead of praising the industry as a whole; this seemed more suitable as well as being more manageable. For my first shoot, I went down to the forge and began to take some establishing/ experimental shots. This enabled me to learn about the lighting and best places to set up the camera; this also helped my subject matter to get used to the camera being in this intimate place for them. It was very important that the subject was relaxed and comfortable with being filmed so that I got more impacting and natural video footage, audio and still images.

As previously mentioned, I decided to focus on one aspect of the forge. I thought of the best way of deciding what to focus on and chose to ask the owner of the forge what he thought. The owner of the forge, being a subject in my final moving time based piece was very enthusiastic about a certain piece of machinery, which he had recently acquired. This seemed like the perfect thing to focus my video on. The piece of machinery we chose was a late 1960’s metal working lathe.

In terms of the aesthetics of the video, I decided to research such photographers such as Jasper White and Tom Hunter who I knew had similar looks about their work, this really helped me to realize that everything doesn’t have to be well lit and bright. From this research, I decided to do another shoot, to see what the outcome was after my research into several influential photographers/ videographers. In the second shoot, I also wanted to focus on the audio to go with the final video footage. Initially I had never thought about using a separate audio recording device however once I trawled through the first shoots footage, it became apparent that the audio wasn’t of a high enough quality. Audio was a very important part of the overall meaning of the video as it progressed; it was the engaging and interesting part that coincided with the visual. I wanted the listener to become emotionally engaged with what the craftsman was saying which in turn would help to document my initial idea, the praise of skilled craftsmen and the techniques that they are still utilizing. With this all in mind, I decided to borrow some recording equipment from the media department, this really helped me to separate the audio from the background noise and helped to isolate the information that the subject was telling us. This was a worthwhile thing to do in the end and I believe that it has helped to give the final video more of a professional quality. The research part of the assignment, which ended up being an ongoing part of the project as it progressed, was an interesting time and the photographers and information that I read will stay with me to further inspire and influence my future work.

I wanted to capture the dark, dirty atmosphere that the craftsmen work with in the forge and consciously decided to photograph using the natural light available helping me to portray to the audience exactly how the man in the video see things through his own eyes. The calm humorous vocals in the video are a contrast to the dirty exterior of the machines and the man working them. This contrast is backed up with the passion and knowledge of what the skilled craftsman says, again juxtaposing the dirty decaying machines. One thing that I like about the final video is something that I wanted to incorporate in the final piece from the beginning; this is the humour in the forge. From working in the forge, I got to know the men who worked there and the humour that keeps the team going sometimes. I wanted to really put this across in the final video but didn’t know how to do this. It eventually surfaced when the man in the video, Phil Gannon, brought humour into his speech, as I expected he would. Towards the end of the video, Phil’s flow is disrupted, this is when he starts to talk about how metalworking has changed and how the new computer operated machines work. This is my favourite part of the video because you can really hear the passion and sadness about how the work that they are doing is rapidly declining and how the new machines and techniques are taking over. This links me my belief that many other photographers who document the industrial society are literally just documenting the decline whereas I set out to praise the work that is still being done, as it would have been many hundreds of years ago.

I want to talk about how my video has changed from my initial idea of just a sequence of events that shows the making of a product from the raw material. Around half way though the project, I realised that I was in fact getting involved in the video by asking questions and connecting with the subjects, this is when I realised that the project had become of a documentary style. I was no longer taking a back seat and just recording the series of events. The video became more about what Phil had to say instead of the creation of the product. This completely changed my idea and I am very happy that this happened because it has now opened a new path for my future work. I now know more of what my style is about and I feel much more passionate about my documentary work.

Another thing that I would like to talk about is how I made the final video, using only video footage. I initially wanted to use primarily still images however after the first shoot, the footage that I gathered was extremely engaging and looked similar to the works of Jasper White with a similar lighting to images from Tom Hunter. This was a big change from my initial idea and I believe that this format change has created a more engaging and beautiful documentary.

In terms of me blogging my research, I have been very proactive with my approach, trying to keep up with putting down my ideas and thoughts. I have blogged about relevant photographers, and also about theories and ideas. In the past my blog has been neglected however because I have been really interested in my subject matter, I have found it easier to read around relevant subjects.

Overall I am very pleased with how the project has gone and am grateful for the learning curve that I have been on with my own documentary style, it has really helped to define my practice as a photographer. I have attended 100% of the lectures/ seminars which ahs enabled me to gather the most research and feedback about my project as it progressed. Through thorough research, I was able to focus my own ideas whilst being influenced by other photographers who have done similar projects to that of mine. Another thing that I happy that I have been able to fulfill is that I have made progress on another assignment through this module, I have read more books and have practices with video/ moving image. Both of which are targets from my PDP (personal development plan), which I have wanted to focus on for some time now. The transferable skills that I have learnt in this project will also further define my professional career, I now feel very confident with video and will defiantly continue working on this in the future. Also, editing skills and software skills that I have learnt throughout this assignment will stay with me forever. The final video is better than what I expected and I especially like the passion and emotion within it as well as the humor that I really wanted to incorporate into it. I know now that I will continue to pursue the praise of the metal working society throughout my photographic career and believe that this is a stepping-stone in my path to defining my own documentary style.