Cardiff Halloween Tattoo Bash

      So today, Mike, Tom and myself took a road trip to the Halloween Tattoo Bash in Cardiff. And. It. Was. AMAZING! The week before I had called them and spoken to a girl called Jess about access and filming. Sadly they told us we wouldn't be allowed to enter the convention as they already had other filming crews at the Convention on the day and there wouldn't be the room or access. 

      So very early this morning I got the bus to Bristol, to meet the boys and hop on the MegaBus to Cardiff for 10:45. We got there at around 11:10 and walked to the Millennium Stadium to set up outside the entrance. We decided that the best place to set up was just around the side from the main entrance so that we could catch the 'hype' of people arriving to the Convention and then at the end leaving so that we were near enough for me to ask them a few questions and a short interview. 

      After 30 minutes of setting up and preparing ourselves, two guys came out and asked us if we were the College students that had rang the other week about entering the convention. They said that last year students from another College had filmed the event but had sent the Convention Organisers no footage, which they weren't happy with. After a short talk and a little deliberation they decided to let us enter the convention for free on terms that we sent them any footage we got. This was great news as not only did it mean that we weren't stuck in the wind and rain all day but we got to walk around the event and film it as it was happening! 

      The event was brilliant! I cannot fault it. The people we so friendly in a way that all but 2 person I asked to interview said yes! They gave a variety of answers, in length, detail and quality but it means that we have a nice lot to sort through. Some stalls even had a little theme and by this I mean there was one stall of Tattooists on the first floor in the corner of the room all set up and called The Needle Asylum. 3 guys and 1 woman were dressed for the event in white coats, a wheelchair, heavy, smudged make-up , slings, bandages etc. The guy doing the tattoo was dressed in a top hat and smart attire. The girl he was tattooing was bound up in a straight jacket, sprawled on the chair with a gag ball in the mouth and a CD was playing constantly throughout the day with screams, moans and cries of terror. This really added to the mise-en-scene and overall feel of the convention. 

      Our bus back was at 3 pm so sadly we had to leave before the end of the event, but still had an amazing day and got some great footage from tattooists, people being tattooed and general people here for the convention. Monday morning we will go back into College and transfer the footage onto Photoshop ready for editing. 

Radio Stations

Demographics:  16-25 young adults. Male (roadshow). C2DE White British.

Psychographics: Rap, R'n'B music. Niché market. Gigs/Concerts. Celebrity interviews.

Demographics: Male teens. Sport interviews.

Psychographics: Big sports fans.

Demographics: Asian Community. Niché market. Interactive 20+

Psychographics: Asiam Culture. Bollywood. Mainly chat.

Demographics: Morning - younger. Afternoon - older, 'stay at home'. Broad.

Psychographics: 1980's mid morning. Mainstream. 50/50 music and chat. 

Demographics: Middle aged. Drama. Office workers. 

Psychographics: Sense of humour. 

Demographics: 22-44 Music Fans. 

Psychographics: Heavy music fans. 

Demographics: Broad, Worldwide. 100% talk. Interviews. Real-life situations.

Psychographics: Current affairs. Intellectual. 

Critical Approaches

Geo-demographics - Where you live. Profiling people based no where they live. Estimate the probable characteristics of people based on the pooled profile of all people living in a small area near a particular address. 

ACORN is the segmentation of the UK's population (postcodes and neighbourhoods) into 6 categories, 18 groups and 62 types, 3 of which are not private households. By analysing significant social factors and population behaviour, it provides precise information and in-depth understanding of the different types of people. 

Practice Filming...

      Today in our Documentary Group we did a short practice on filming, to get a feel for it. It really came in handy to go over how to set everything up and get a feel for filming in a small space, fitting all the equipment in and getting good shots. Overall it took about 45 minutes just to set up, after checking all the sound was right, setting up the tripods and both camera's and wiring it all up. 

      A few things we took from today is to always turn up an hour prior to filming time just to set up, so if we tell whoever we are filming a 3, let them know we will be arriving at 2 just to set up and run through everything! Also, when interviewing more than one person, always shoot the first person from the left when in the frame. 

      This will make the whole documentary flow better if the interview runs from left to right as it is natural because we humans read from left to right. Also, take a spare battery or 2 for the sound box...! We had to learn this the hard way sadly when we previously went out filming on The Pier and it ran out of charge. 

Contacting Tattooists...

      Yesterday I sent a Facebook message to someone I know in College who is a Tattooist at a local Tattoo/Piercing shop in Weston-super-Mare called 'The Painted Dharma'. I got a reply from him today, sadly saying that he no longer worked there, but thought that the owner would be more than happy to help. So, I contacted him and the same night received a really positive reply. I've let Mike and Emma know about this and they were pretty excited! So we shall talk about it a little more tomorrow and carry on with our Pitch. 

Message I sent to Nikon, the guy I know from College.

Conversation with Brett Jenkin, Owner at The Painted Dharma who we hope to interview. 

We also contacted a mutual friends sister who has a fair few tattoos of her own and has agreed to be interviewed for us. So far we have told her we will be in contact after half term (Early November)

Message we sent to Tom's sister (a mutual friend)  who has a few tattoo's and is willing to be

 interviewed for our Documentary :)

Addicted to the Needle.

      I'm just on YouTube, looking around for various videos related to our tattoo and piercing documentary and I came across this - Addicted to the Needle

      What I really liked about this video was the intro, the first 40 seconds or so where various people talk about their love and their addiction for tattoos. This has become something that they need, as it often takes over a former love, or to create a memory. One person talks about the pain - "I've had 2 kids and in comparison, it's a walk in the park to get a tattoo", and another talks of the sound of the needle "The tattoo gun is definitely addictive, you hear it, you want it." These quotes are just amazing in showing how people get addicted to tattoos and how they believe that it's their body and they should be able to do what they like without fuss. 

Location Recce

      This week for our Documentary Homework we were asked to go out and do a location recce in preparation for filming our own documentary. Today I went to Bristol and thought of various places to do this homework. I really wanted to go somewhere where I had to talk to someone, to arrange permission for access into the building. As we were walking through the city centre, I remembered a little chapel I visited some 7 years ago and went inside for another look. I spoke to various people from guides, to caretakers, to those helping run it and got a lot of information on how possible it would be to do any filming there. Here is the sheet I filled out and hand in to my Tutor tomorrow. 

THE REMOTE SURVEY (RECCE)

LOCATION VISIT SHEET

Production title: Chapel amongst the Chaos
Production team: Miss President
Producer: Jules Newton
Client: Weston College
Date of survey: Saturday, 5th October 2013          Proposed filming date: 3rd November
Location: John Wesley's Chapel, The New Room, Brisol. (Oldest Methodist Building in the world)

Permission needed: (contact details)

Spoke to the caretaker about access. Some rooms are being re-furbished so there was limited access. Also spoke to the guides and the various people who are involved in running it.

Traffic problems:(how will you deal with sound/visuals from passing cars)

None.

Local conditions: (could the weather affect your filming in any way?)

Only if filming outside were to go ahead. Rooms are small, yet fairly light despite only one small window per. 

Intrusions: (passers-by, music, aeroplanes/trains, general interruptions to filming and audio)

Windows are old and single glazed which results in some outside noise coming from the town. Visitors would also have to be put off during filming. 

Continuity: (is anything about the location likely to change during the shoot or if you return to it to film more than once? E.g. roadworks in 1st shot/ gone in next,  poster on wall/gone in next shot)

None. Everything stays as it is due to visitors coming to look around.

Electricity/Lighting issues/Sound  (will you need an electricity supply and is there access to one? Is lighting adequate or does it need altering? What sort of sound equipment will you need?)

The Chapel is dark in some areas. The halls are small and the stairs a dark and steep. General lighting issues in an old building. However, electricity supplies are available, despite being limited. 

Set dressing: (does your set contain everything you want to show in your scene or will it need something else adding to it to have the impact you want?)

All there already. Possible alterations such as the removal of displays.

Welfare:(can your crew/talent get refreshments and use toilets, do they need to stay overnight near filming location?)

Located directly in the middle of town so ideal for staying close to location and any refreshments. Toilets are located on site.  

Parking/Public transport to location:

Would have to use either on-road parking or the NCP car park, located reasonably near to site. As for public transport, many buses run directly to Bristol, the bus stop is only a 10 minute walk away from the location. 

Possible dates for filming:

October half term (26th - 3rd November)

Draw a sketch/ take a photo of your location indicating possible positions for cameras and a route map to the location

'Wesley Place' above the doors of the back entrance

Plaque outside the front of the building

John Wesley's Chapel

Bust of John Wesley