When given the project, I took it upon myself to be editor on this documentary, due to the fact that I have had previous experience with editing in the past; plus it is an aspect of production that I am interested in and hope to pursue editing film as a career.
My main role for this project was editor. However, when it came to the day of filming I had to step in for Liam as cameraman, because he had work the day we were filming and couldn’t make it. I am not fully confident when filming with the DSLR’s, due to lack of experience using it. On the other hand, after doing some research on how to operate the cameras, it did not become a difficult task. Also it did help having Jordan (Sound Engineer) close by at any time to help me with any problems I had. At the beginning of the day, Michaela (Director) filled me in with what type of shots she wanted to capture throughout the day. The basic way she described it was from the perspective of the outside looking in, as if the audience is a stranger to the world of My Little Pony fandom, sticking to the participatory mode of documentary. However, this was easy to achieve do due to the fact that we did not know what we were getting ourselves into at the event. None of us are members of this fandom where the members are known as “Bronies”. When I was filming the event, I kept this outsider perspective in my mind as I filmed because I thought it would be good to think about the editing process as I did so, since it would make my job easier later on when I have to edit the VJPJ.
There are certain elements of the day that I wasn’t really happy with; for example, overcrowding due to the large mount of people that were in the vicinity. It was hard getting around the location due to the resultant lack of space. This made it hard for Jordan and myself to get good camera angle shots when the premiere had started. For example, I wanted to place the camera right under the projector screen. I wanted to get the light reflecting off the Bronies’ faces. However, everyone had to sit on the floor so the people at the back of the premises could see the screen, plus I did not want to cause a health and safety hazard by carrying a heavy tripod with a camera on it above people’s heads.
Another factor that I was not happy with was that I did not know certain times and events over the course of the day. This means the time I chose to go for lunch was the exact time that the premiere started. For that I missed the point where the Bronies were singing the My Little Pony main theme song. I could have really kicked myself doing that when it came to editing the project because I thought that would have been an amazing introduction to open the door to Bronies singing, due to the juxtaposition of grown up men singing along to a children’s TV programme.
We tried to experiment with different ways of filming interviews; we tried to interview a twelve-year-old boy who was a Bronie. There was nothing wrong with the visuals; in fact, personally I though it looked better having the interviews inside the building, because not only was the primary subject in his comfort zone, you got to see what was happening in the background, such as other Bronies dancing and singing karaoke. However, the problem with filming inside was that the sound quality was really bad, due to the loud surroundings and you simply cannot hear the primary subject speak. I also tried to get some close ups of certain people that had either dressed up, or had My Little Pony memorabilia etc. I did this to capture the juxtaposition of grown men using toys and costumes as a comforting and accepting aspect of their lives.
My main role for the project was editor; I started looking at certain different types of VJPJ’s on Media Storm to try and capture their style and ethos to encapsulate their mode of address, to then bring that to our own VJPJ. It helped with the fact that I was the cameraman for the day we were filming, so I knew what vital clips to use in the right places. I also brought my research into editing techniques into practice. I did this keep the audience engaged and interested, such as using L-cuts before cutting to an interview. This makes the audience listen to what the primary subject has to say before you see them; this is often done to enhance the aesthetics or flow of the film. Otherwise it would feel like a tennis match between the two primaries.
The main problem that I ran into was how to start the VJPJ. I found a sound clip of the Bronies singing along to the My Little Pony theme song. Unfortunately, this was the point where I went on a lunch break, so there was no footage that matched the audio. My idea was to have the introduction to My Little Pony then cross fade the sound of Bronies singing the theme to add the shock factor with the use of juxtaposition to grasp the audience straight from the off. However, I had to tweak my idea, I changed it to a clip of one of the interviews we had with a primary saying “I am who I am” but yet adding an echo to add a sense of mystery. Then it cuts to the intro of My Little Pony with the audio of the Bronies singing with a montage of stills that match the tempo of the singing; this still delivers the shock factor and still engages the audience.
I had trouble finding a way of ending the VJPJ; due to the fact that I felt the ending was quite abrupt. However, we had one minute and ten seconds of footage and thirty stills, so we just about fitted the criteria. Collectively as a group we thought that Bronies’ facts should be at the end. However, I feel as if the facts ruin the tone of the ending of the VJPJ. I experimented with multiple endings; I tried putting an interview of the drunk people saying "friendship is magic" then a still of a group picture of the Bronies followed by the facts adding the shock factor. However, ethically as a group we was not sure whether this was right because they were intoxicated when signing the release forms. I did experiment with putting an interview of an American girl in, just so we have the other side of the coin from a female and different geographical background. On the other hand, what the primary was saying had no relevance or interest. Also, I feel as if we need more stills and we started to run out of decent and relevant images. Finally, I manipulated a primary’s interview to add an emotional connection with the audience because the primary is talking about how his Mum knows that he is a Bronie, however his Dad does not. Nevertheless, as much as this would have been documentary gold, the primary ruined the tone of what he said by adding a slight laugh, this spoils the emotional effect that I was trying to create.
The one thing that I would change on the VJPJ is the ending; I feel that it should end on a heart-warming subject, whether this be one of the primaries talking about how he has found a girlfriend through My Little Pony, instead of ending on a shock factor provided by using facts. I feel as though we have overused the voyeurism shock factor, due to the fact that not many people know about the “Bronie culture” and what they do.
Although my role is editor, I feel as if my whole focus was on the VJPJ and not on the Kickstarter presentation. In which case Michaela decided to take of the role of editing. However, because Michaela is not a fully confident editor, I was never far away from her to not give her a hand when she needed it. To be honest, I did not time manage well when editing the VJPJ because it caused other group members to take on my role. Although, the group are ecstatic with what I have done to the VJPJ.
On the other hand, I am very pleased with the overall project, I feel as if we all worked really well as a group; we all listened and took everyone’s collective ideas, by moulding them into one true meaning.