Today we ran the second session of the film-making course for staff and volunteers, in the Manchester office. It was delivered by Matt Kowalczuk and Mat Johns from Zero Facility Films. The three hours flew by; we were having so much fun. We learnt all about the equipment and how to use it to the best effect, including how to frame shots and where to keep the subject’s eye-line when using close ups or medium shots. I’m so glad we had the first session online, as this set the scene with the session acting as an aide memoir in parts.
No sooner had we stopped for a nice cup of tea than the fire alarm rang out and we had to evacuate the building for 20 minutes, which meant we had less time putting the theory into practice. Matt and Mat put us into groups of three; one person was the interviewee, one asked the questions while the third did the filming. Asking questions and not responding verbally is quite a skill. We all became very good at nodding encouragement to our interviewees while keeping our mouths firmly shut (this is necessary to avoid unwanted voices/noises on the recording).
Our next session is on the 7th of December in Manchester, and there is a second course running in Liverpool on the 6th and 12th of December for all our Scouse colleagues by the sea.
Diary of a Project 