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.