BACK TO OFFICIAL PROJECTS
With the second project we were given basically free reign with our ideas leading towards the final piece. Whereas the Sounds of the City had to cover a local issue and adhere to an established documentary aesthetic (interviews etc), this project simply had to incorporate a single theme � a day to night construction. Having found success with our first project not only in terms of fulfilling the required objectives (constructing a coherent interview-based piece) we went beyond that and fulfilled the next project�s aim, which was to find texture in your subject matter.
Having created a deep �sense of place� whilst filming in Norwich, we set our sights on the East Anglian version of Blackpool � Great Yarmouth. A city well known (for various reasons) around all of Norfolk and Suffolk, infamy might be the operative word in some mouths. A surprisingly on-time train ride away, Great Yarmouth is one of a certain type of setting shall we say, not too dissimilar to Margate (within a few seconds I found the comparison uncanny). I�d been to Margate, but never Yarmouth; though I could easily imagine what was in store for me.
We arrived in time to capture some initial moments before the Pier began to open at the beginning of the day and gradually worked our way in, around and underneath this portion of the town gathering a whole host of interesting imagery. Our key stylistic aim this time around was to produce a quirky-eyed, alternative and mutli-sided view of Great Yarmouth, a theme incorporating inspiration from a clash between Brighton Rock and The Lost Boys. From the offset I knew this was going to turn into a major operation due to the sheer amount of footage we were gathering, just like on the first project, I think the open-ended nature of the requirements of the project provided us with the opportunity to get almost too much imagery, especially in such a visually rich environment as Yarmouth.
Our shoot was planned out over two days, a Friday (morning till afternoon) and Saturday (late afternoon till night) so we could capture as many different things as possible, all the while trying to come up with interesting angles and compositions to keep this project a constantly visually interesting piece. From the Pier we moved on to the main street, a mini-Vegas-on-the-beach style strip of flashing neon, garish sights and snippets of audio competing for your attention while oozing together, becoming a slurred splash of noise. From a revolving stand of �Gollywogs� to the crumbling theatre, closed park rides and then a starkly bland industrial back street we sought out a whole array of possible points of interest to use. Finally, as the sun set we captured transition shots before capturing a vast selection of night shots showing off the mini-Vegas reputation something proud. A slew of arcade games and flashing lights surrounded by hoards of attraction seekers.
Again, the editing week was a hectic and fraught time, the four of us sitting cursing each other�s names to the ends of the earth, our hands at each other�s throats � well, not quite that bad, but tense enough. This time however we all made an effort to hand over responsibility to one another when the time was right so that we were rarely all there together for a long period of time, it�s not good for the project and it�s not good for those involved either. This proved an immensely helpful exercise as there was certainly an epic collection of footage (we couldn�t even fit it all on one caddy drive!) to sift through. For the music we decided to use selections from the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack, deciding to not use any on-location audio throughout. The free nature of the project again afforded us great scope to experiment with various ideas, keeping to the day-to-night structure of course. We begin quite slow and methodical, the music evoking this pace for the viewer before we gradually pick up the pace during working hours, a quick and peaceful respite amongst the industrial grit and wreckage before fading out on the setting sun. Which is where we fooled everyone into thinking we�d finished, during the viewing session our applause started here, only for �The Shock of Miss Louise� (the last song on the Lost Boys soundtrack) to kick in set against a barrage of garish imagery that eventually grinds to a �drunken� halt, leaving the luminous Pier to disappear into the darkness of the night.
The music doesn�t flow as good as it could have, but our editing week ended up being shorter than the previous as well as filming, it�s just how the semester schedule worked out thanks to Easter being at a different time, but we rose to the occasion and gave it our best, achieving a 64 and plenty of praise from our peers (not to blow our own horns of course!) for our efforts. Perhaps not as tight as the first project, but this was a very free-range second project achieved in even less time than the first, but our idea to focus on artistic compositions and intriguing visuals paid off, pleasing both teacher and audience alike.
