Making It Docuseries: Filming and Editing

Filming

The filming process for this project was fun! I enjoyed putting together the series all in all.

As I chose the band- I needed to work a schedule around to film, as the docuseries was going to be around the process I needed different types of footage- interviews, behind the scenes, travelling and gigs.  In the end, I managed to get five different types of footage:

• Emma’s interview 

• Pirate studios (rehearsal space)

• Band’s interview 

• Torquay gig

• Bridgwater gig

Plus the footage from Zed Alley

My role during these filming days was directing my crew and also the guests during interview moments. I believe that I directed this to a point where I collected everything I needed to make a series that fit my vision.

One thing that was extremely useful was having two film guys, not only did it mean I could have several angles for some of the footage, but also it meant I had a backup if one wasn’t available. The several angles thing would come in handy if I ever felt the need to mix up the visuals to make it more appealing to the audience.

There are various successful elements to the filming side:

1. We had taken enough footage to cover various 10 minute videos surrounding a certain topic.
2. A lot of the footage taken was to a high standard, important to maintain the attention of the audience.
3. We had got some insightful interviews that explore the stories of the guests and offer advice to the audience, but also delved into their viewpoints about the wider industry.

Editing

The editing was done by me for this project. The idea for each episode was to follow them on a set day and interweave this with relevant interview footage that gave more insight into what they were doing and why.

A lot of the editing involved cutting the band’s/manager’s speech to work with the studio/live/daily life footage. Knowing that each video needed to be under ten minutes and that the average attention span is 8 seconds, I knew that the speech had to be as concise as possible while also delivering the right information. Along with this, I knew that the visuals had to also be interesting and not simply the image of the speaker, so it was a task to find footage that could along with what they were saying. Maintaining these tasks was one of the biggest hurdles, and took the longest time, but I managed to carry it out consistently across all of the episodes.

I also managed to break up the informational side with a few funny/light-hearted clips that showcased the personalities of these people. This is especially important so that the viewers can build a better connection with the guests, encouraging them to keep watching the series.

Posting

When I eventually started posting the videos, I understood that there were three elements that would impact the reach and success of the video:

1. The title
2. The thumbnail
3. The additional info (such as tags)

I made sure to pay particular attention to the thumbnails. From my own experience browsing through YouTube, I knew that the image sometimes catches your attention first. It was important to add bright colours and intriguing text.

I did alternate my titles as well to experiment with what pulls viewers in. I realised that ‘Making It w Spitfire Tides’ as title was not something that made a lot of sense or let people know what it was about, so I decided to title them with words such as: ‘How to Make Your Music Stand Out on Socials | Episode 3’. This was in attempt to clearly explain what the video would be about to the right demographic.

Reflective thoughts

The filming and editing process throughout this project was succesfull and I completed to an engaging and professional standard. I believe that a lot of the footage shared was insightful and informative narrative throughout this project. There was a lot of interesting shots and soundbites that I think would really help and resonate with aspiring musicians and managers. I would argue that this section of the project taught me how to creatively direct people and also edit a large chunk of footage covering a long period of time to much smaller videos.