Reflection

Initially our biggest problem was arranging a time to film with Mr Grocott as, we later found out, they were away at their house in Port Alfred which they frequently visit.  After calling repeatedly and asking at Grocott's we went directly to their house and there finally met up with them.Once we had begun our filming, we realised the extent of his humility, and almost shyness, which made interviewing him all the more of a challenge.  Mr and Mrs Grocott tended, too, to get tired quite quickly and this too meant that our filming could only occur in short bursts around their active church engagements and Mrs Grocott's hospital visits too.  I think that, given more time, we could have developed an even stronger piece though am very pleased with some of the personal anecdotes we managed to get from him.  By engaging with him throughout the day, finding out more about him and developing a more personal relationhip with him, on and off camera, he opened up considerably.
Another problem we faced was the difficult lighting in their house, which is quite old and dark though we tried to clever utilise spaces with more windows and maximise the amount of light we could get in the pitch.We also decided to include his wife Anne who was much more talkative and who he often deffered answers too, as she was able to offer Mr Grocott the credit he deserved and we felt made him a fuller protagonist.
A further challenge we faced was tracking down the archives Mr Grocotts donated, which proved not to be in the Cory Library as he thought, nor the Albany Museum, nor the history Museum, nor the National English Literature Museum.  We eventually, aftere many failed attempts managed to track down some of them at the Then and Now exhibit in the Eastern Star Gallery.
Whilst the Grocott's are such an important family to Grahamstown we found there wasn't much documentation on their personal histories, merely them in terms of the newspaper, which also proved a challenge for initial research, though after speaking to people at the newspaper, in the community and the Grocott's themselves we learnt a lot from them.

Some of the lessons we learnt were the value of choosing a stronger protagonist who would become comfortable with the camera faster and be more engaging when being interviewed.  Whilst Mr Grocott is a lovely man with a rich historical link to Grahamstown, his modest, humble nature makes interviewing him more of a challenge.
Another lesson we learnt was to tighten and check all the legs on the tripod before beginning a shoot, an apparently basic but very important one.  Obviously, too, you become more familiar with the camera every time but I think we also learnt the value of shooting important shots/sequences on two different ND filters in case of overexposure.
In terms of interviewing technique, we learnt the value of using both a lapel and directional microphone, as whilst the lapel might be clumsy to look at, the good sound can transform a piece.  We also learnt the importance of tactical positioning of the interviewer in terms of the interviewee for it's translation to film.

I don't think I would do too much differently.  Possibly being able to spend longer periods of time with Mr Grocott himself, for the richness of our piece and correctly 'silly' errors we now realise with our work, such as it's framing, the weak sound from the directional microphone, and incorrect interviewing technique.  I, personally, though am very happy with the piece that we have been able to produce.  I think we managed to get very nice sound bytes, which wasn't the easiest task, as well as captured him exactly as he is in his retirement using sequences such as their daily lunch, him performing his chores and working at his desk all of which make up his daily routine.  The filming itself was very enjoyable and I hope we do credit to a very deserving man.

Heather

Reflection time

One of the biggest problems was getting Mr. Grocott to talk about himself and allow himself a bit of praise. He would often attribute his contribution to his ancestors because of his humility. However the profile is on him and we wanted to gain insight into his personal contribution, which did prove to be a great challenge.

Another challenge was the fact that we felt like we were imposing. The Grocott’s were extremely accommodating and did not at all make us feel as though we were imposing, but it was somewhat strange filming them when they were spending time together drinking tea or eating lunch.

At first we would have just liked to have him as the only voice in the piece, but we used his wife as the other voice. This was useful because she was able to speak about her husband and the qualities that she admires in him. These were things because of his humble and shy nature he was reluctant to share.

To get past the fact that we felt as though we were imposing ourselves and the camera on the Grocott’s, we tried to be as efficient as possible with setting up the equipment. We also planned what we wanted to shoot in advance, so that we would disrupt them and their house as little as possible.

This project has taught me that it is essential to spend time with the subject of your piece. The more time you spend with someone and engage with them, the more likely they are to share stories with you. It is important to get to know them, without the camera because once you know them, you are able to ask the questions that will get you the answers you want. Engaging with the person does not mean just nodding your head and agreeing with what they say, but actually paying attention and allowing the subject to get to know you as well. If stories are shared, that means that you get more out of making the piece as well.

I am happy with our process and feel that we did put a great deal of effort into the piece and gathering the necessary information, but I do feel that we could have spent more time with Mr. Grocott. If we had spent more time with him, we could have taken him to some of the places in Grahamstown that he mentions in order to bring his words to life a bit more. With that being said, we did not want to impose on his time and routine too much, so we worked with what we were able to get.

Editing cotinues

After the presenting our work in progress to our fellow classmates, we returned to the labs to continue editing, where we made quite a good deal of progress.
The vision and structure of our piece has changed somewhat and the more we edit, the more it will change. Even if the structure and order of our piece does change, we still want to accurately portray who Mr. Grocott is.
What we have to try and do is find the balance between the archive footage and the actual interviews because he is the subject, but we do have to show his history and how he has continued his family legacy.
We found old newspapers, where there are portraits of all the Grocott's men, which we hope to include.
Other than that, it is coming along, even if it is quite slowly.
Hopefully the piece will be able to fulfill our vision.

Editing begins....

Today we've begun cutting down our piece.

We've started listening to the interview portions with Mr Grocott in ernest and selecting 'sound bytes' that we think we'd like to include as well as the interview with his wife Anne.

We've decided to begin our piece, possibly, by using the visual sequences we have of the old printing press in action.  It's very striking visually and the sound came out really nicely.  Apart from immediately capturing the audiences interest it also offers a nice segway into the historical side of our piece, gradually evolving from the start of the Grocott's family in Grahamstown, to Jeff still living here today, the man behind the family name.

We've edited our footage into sequences where possible and have cut down our sound bytes.  We were hoping to begin working on our piece according to the plan we've sketched out but are waiting until we can get some help tomorrow on adjusting the colour and sound levels on some of our pictures where we're experiencing problems.  We've also briefly outlined our presentation to the photojournalism and radio students we're meeting with tomorrow.

Final day of filming

Today, unfortunately, there was a miscommunication with Mr Grocott and we were unable to film him.  Whilst we have the oppurtunity to film with him later today or tomorrow, stylistically we've decided to not film him at the building itself, with the idea that it might appear a bit 'forced' and expected.  Also as the Grocotts Mail is no longer a large part of their day to day life, filming Mr Grocott there would seem more 'staged'.

We filmed the current printing press in use at the Grocott's building today, as well as the exterior, back of the building were Mr Grocott himself would have spent most of his time involved in the printing and stationers side more than that of the newspaper itself.

Now it's back to the labs for editing!

lessons learnt (for now)

Throughout the process of our person portraits we've learnt numerous lessons about film-making...

1. Trust is essential

2. Having a strong protagonist or good enough report with the protagonist to make them 'come alive' is crucial

3. Pieces change their focus, have a life of their own

4. The context of the piece is important - more scandalous, 'great' but unrelated incidents, sound bites

5. Technical problems always arise and its vital to have a good understanding of the equipment to work around them

6. Approaching people personally is much more beneficial to your piece than over the phone communication

7. A definite plan is vital, especially with protagonists with busy schedules

8. Sensitive issues need to be worked around, dealt with appropriately

Day Three Filming

Today we dedicated to attempting to track down the Grocott's archive material they said they'd donated to the Albany Museum.

We went to both the Albany Museum and the History Museum however neither had any material that would contribute to our piece over and above what we've already filmed.

At the National English Literature Museum we found a staff member from the Eastern Star Gallery who opened up the museum for us to film.  We captured a printing press like that which Grocott's used to use in action as well as filmed still photographs they had of Mr Jeff Grocott's father, grandfather and Mr Sherry.  We also filmed the shots of the printing rooms in Grocott's when they were still in use.

In the Hall at the Eastern Star Gallery, we visited the 'Then & Now' Exhibition the gallery is hosting.  It included a picture of Jeff Grocott's grandfather Thomas Henry Grocott standing outside the Grocott's building alongside another photograph taken of Jeff Grocott in the same setting and position this year.

Unfortunately Jeff wasn't available for filming today however on Wednesday we plan on meeting him briefly at Grocott's Mail so we can capture him at the building to supplement photograph's from the Then and Now exhibit at The Eastern Star Gallery.

Finally, we'll wrap up filming for our shoot by capturing the printing room, now dormant and used more for storage and disposal for possible use.

After reviewing some of our footage we realised that some of the shots of the exterior of the  Grocott's house were overexposed and so will be working to 'repair' those if possible.  We've already shaped quite a good idea of the overall flow we'd like the piece to have; initially introducing the Grocott's family history and relevance to the town and then focusing on the continuation of that legacy in Jeff, framing him in a much more personal light alongside his wife Anne recalling how they met on High Street, Anne's sweet praise of Jeff and why they both love Grahamstown so much.

Editing is set to begin in earnest on Wednesday before and after our final filming and on Thursday we'll be presenting a short talk to the radio and photojourn students also involved in the 200 project doing person portraits on our editing thus far.