I started making our group documentary film last night at Tito Melvin's house. Sadly, I have to go alone 'cause my groupmates can't go and have the overnight.
At first, I thought it would be easy, that I just have to record what's happening to them during work, but no. I was shocked and got confused and didn't know what to do the moment I entered their house.
I was battling with sleepiness 'cause I have to deal with the "No Signal Policy" inside the house. My phone acted having NPA due to that matter. Watching TV kind of makes me feel drowsy. Another thing I have to consider is their dogs. Not that I really don't like dogs, it's just that I'm scared at them 'cause they might bite me and eat me. LOL. just kidding.
Tita Cha is so approachable and she's so nice. If I'm not mistaken, I think last night was the first time I met her and talked to her. It's just so nice to see how she act professionally, and answers on every question and comments on things. She made me have second thought of our topic, on how it is connected to our course by just a simple convo. I was like "oonga 'no?" and right now, I am still brainstorming on how to relate my ideas.
Minutes after I started filming inside, I feel like I was troubleshooting. I mean, I was multitasking and I don't know what to do. I got so much lessons. I learned that making a documentary can't be done by only one person especially when that person's totally a newbie. I don't know if that happened to other people too, but to me, I got so many "Oh I should've done this, I should've done that", and so on and so forth.
From the alone experience last night, I concluded that you can't be all person at one time. There must be a person or two to videograph, for angle purposes, there must be someone who have to jot down what your interviewee is saying just in case the camera isn't showing the red spot on the screen by accident, and someone who have a quick thinking of follow up questions. What more? Those were the kind of people I needed last night, or I needed to possess me.
Let me share you the things I figured out last night:
1. Be Alert! You'll never know, something really big might just happen next.
2. Never lose track. As much as possible, always have your camera on record especially when you see your interviewee answers or shares something actively.
3. Never Multitask! Every group member should have a role no matter what. You're not Superman or Wonder woman.
4. Have plenty of unused storage space in your memory card. Panic button is not part of the emergency machine.
5. Act like a child when asking questions. Always have a follow up question so the flow of your story can be smooth.
6. Don't feel awkward, don't be shy. It will just destroy your bright ideas and your strategies.
7. Be open for further conversations. It can give you more ideas.
8. Know your equipments well before using them. You might see the camera features you need to use AFTER you have taken your videos!
9. Jot down notes. Your ideas decay too!
10. Always have a baon energy.
11. Think about your topic before going to the actual thing. It's hard to restart in real life.
You don't have to be any kind of superhero to be able to have a good output of this kind of project (Well if you could, why not?). You just have to go with the flow, be open-minded, trust your instincts, always be reminded that expectation is far from reality (It might be near by luck or if you're already a pro), face your fears and be ready for anything. Optimism can help you a lot. Surround yourself with good vibes.
I almost raised my white flag, but I can't. I have to go on and do my best for the group's sake and of course, for my grade. (Drama!) Good Luck to us! *crossed fingers*
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