I have just arrived back from filming with David and his family in Bushey, Watford. My weekend was very successful and it was so lovely to spend time with the Baum family, as they invited me to stay at their home.
I had a few audio issues when filming shots in the park because of the wind, but I'm hoping I can decrease the noise through Adobe Audition. I'm happy with how the interviews went, although they were also emotionally challenging talking about the sensitive subject of suicide. I made sure that David, Mel and Ollie were comfortable with the questions and told them that if they didn't want to answer then that was okay. I know that revisiting the past can be emotionally difficult and their mental health is very important. David and Mel also showed me their photo albums, including their wedding photos, which they've given me permission to include within my TV doc. Having these photos will add context to David's story, which is based in the past, and a sense of 'now'.
I also travelled to Dartford with David to film shots of him setting up his first 365 challenge session at The Gym Group. This was an ideal place to get shots of him doing exercise in the gym and experiment with equipment like the slider. While I was there, I also managed to get another interview that will be added value to my website. I spoke to Justin Harvey, a gym trainer, about their 'Move for Movember' campaign supporting men's health, including suicide. I will be posting interview clips in the filming section of my website soon!
I wanted to experiment with different shots so filmed time lapses, to express movement and travel in the documentary, and pull-focus shots. As I also hired out the filming slider from university, I filmed a shot across the floor at the gym as people were exercising.
Now that I have the majority of my footage together, I'm going to start watching it back to find the best clips for my documentary. Both interviews, with David and Mel and Ollie, lasted over an hour, so it will take some time to look through the footage. In the meantime I'm still trying to get an interview with a psychiatrist, so will keep sending emails out! I'm also still searching for a participant of The 365 Challenge to speak to about how exercise has helped their mental health. Many people doing the challenge live far away and it has been difficult to find the same time for filming, but hopefully I'll speak to someone soon!
Time lapse outside David's house in Watford
Slider shot in Dartford Gym