Well,a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks! The fight went ahead on Sunday and was reckoned by all to be the most exciting bout of the day. Unfortunately, the decision went against Paul but reviewing the footage it appears that it could have gone either way. Paul is looking for a rematch now so lets see what happens there...
As a result of the fight, Paul has raised a significant amount of money for the "Elephant Man", Huang, and now he has decided he wants to take the money out there in person! This presents me with an opportunity I could not have imagined when we embarked on this project. I would love to follow and film the rest of Paul's journey in China. Not sure at this stage exactly how I'm going to do that but I am determined to find a way because I don't want to regret not taking this chance.
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Thursday, 17 July 2008
on the chevin
Yesterday Paul introduced us to Jason Dean who gives him cardio workouts and physio treatment. After manipulating his sore back, Jason suggests a trip to Otley Chevin for his workout which we all agree will give some visual variety to the training session. Jason takes us up to the very top of the Chevin and starts Paul off with a routine on a rocky outcrop with the whole of Otley spread out down below. James and I set about shooting as much as we can but the intermittent rain becomes a heavy shower and we are forced to give up eventually. I'm sure we have some amazing sequences in the can and drive Paul home pleased with the days work in spite of the weather and Paul's less than sunny disposition.
A few hours later, however, talking to Paul it becomes apparent he is not happy with the day's events feeling that it will come across as staged when cut into the final piece. His fears that he will seem unnaturally showy betray the rising tension inside him as we draw closer to the day of the fight. Tired and hungry from his weight loss routine he is a little snappy and his natural tendency to say what he feels begins to irritate me. I know that the pent up aggression is just leaking out but I can't help feeling Paul is worrying too much about it. We shall see if the sequence can be tastefully included later on and, if it doesn't work, we can drop it then. No more forcing events for the cameras! Just shoot what we are presented with I suppose...
A few hours later, however, talking to Paul it becomes apparent he is not happy with the day's events feeling that it will come across as staged when cut into the final piece. His fears that he will seem unnaturally showy betray the rising tension inside him as we draw closer to the day of the fight. Tired and hungry from his weight loss routine he is a little snappy and his natural tendency to say what he feels begins to irritate me. I know that the pent up aggression is just leaking out but I can't help feeling Paul is worrying too much about it. We shall see if the sequence can be tastefully included later on and, if it doesn't work, we can drop it then. No more forcing events for the cameras! Just shoot what we are presented with I suppose...
...action
We make our way to Uni to capture the 4 hours of footage we have shot and review what we have. Despite some technical issues, eg needing an HD camera to capture the HD material and lack of space on hard drive, we find we have some very good stuff mixed in with some not so good.
Technically we desperately need to sort sound recording out asap. The mikes on cameras we are using are pretty good but don't handle a noisy environment (eg a busy gym) very well without directional capability. We discovered that said microphones don't respond well to being covered with anorak to protect from the rain either! You live and learn! Much of what we have will be fine with a bit of noise reduction applied in post though, so we're not disappointed.
The action stuff has turned out very well. It's surprisingly easy to make sparring and training look good so plenty of scope for using that material. Have to be careful not to focus too much on that and miss important dialogue though. Some of the camera angles we're able to get are very dynamic and with image stabilisation an option we should be able to produce some visually great action sequences. All bodes well for shooting on the day of the fight too.
As I suspected, my contribution to the dialogue and interview sections sounds AWFUL. My voice definitely doesn't work well on tape so I've devised a new strategy for interview situations where I try my best not to speak over an interviewee to make it easier to cut my part out. Reviewing the footage makes it clear I have a tendency to interrupt in conversations and to make helpful noises which I need to keep to a minimum. I wait till the end of what my subject is saying now and nod silently in reaction to what they are saying when needed.
Just need to cut the bits that work now and export so we can take it all to the Art College when the av suite is open again. Using Avid is useful experience though there doesn't seem to be much that is different to Final Cut in terms of work flow and tools. We shall see.
Technically we desperately need to sort sound recording out asap. The mikes on cameras we are using are pretty good but don't handle a noisy environment (eg a busy gym) very well without directional capability. We discovered that said microphones don't respond well to being covered with anorak to protect from the rain either! You live and learn! Much of what we have will be fine with a bit of noise reduction applied in post though, so we're not disappointed.
The action stuff has turned out very well. It's surprisingly easy to make sparring and training look good so plenty of scope for using that material. Have to be careful not to focus too much on that and miss important dialogue though. Some of the camera angles we're able to get are very dynamic and with image stabilisation an option we should be able to produce some visually great action sequences. All bodes well for shooting on the day of the fight too.
As I suspected, my contribution to the dialogue and interview sections sounds AWFUL. My voice definitely doesn't work well on tape so I've devised a new strategy for interview situations where I try my best not to speak over an interviewee to make it easier to cut my part out. Reviewing the footage makes it clear I have a tendency to interrupt in conversations and to make helpful noises which I need to keep to a minimum. I wait till the end of what my subject is saying now and nod silently in reaction to what they are saying when needed.
Just need to cut the bits that work now and export so we can take it all to the Art College when the av suite is open again. Using Avid is useful experience though there doesn't seem to be much that is different to Final Cut in terms of work flow and tools. We shall see.
...cameras...
Plenty to bring up to date! Lets go!
After finding it difficult to get cameras from the Uni (Northern Film School) the team has turned to the Art College to get equipment. The red tape needed to obtain a camera from the Uni is suffocating! What with endless lists of names and locations, a long drawn out procedure and no real guarantee of success it seems to be worse than pulling teeth. If the resources are there for anybody, surely they are there for student film makers who want to explore and improve their skills on their own projects? If anything they seem to treat such people more like criminals or, at the very least, an inconvenience. Praise is due to the Art College who seem to manage the a/v resources for the convenience of those students serious about creating work and gaining experience.
Having succeeded in borrowing cameras from the Art College we are ready to begin filming in earnest. We met again at the gym on York Road to film a sparring session between Paul and another of the fighters on the same bill, Luke. Luke is 21 and has been competing at amateur level and under EBF rules recently. He is taller than Paul (who is six foot two himself!) and has a longer reach so he makes a good test for Paul's skills. Shooting goes well and we meet Paul's training buddy, ex-champion boxer, James. A close friend from school days he is Paul's mentor and seems to be in charge of his training for the fight. I find him softly spoken and, although he has boxed at the very top level, humble about his achievements. He presents a very professional attitude while still maintaining the playfulness of a good friend when talking about our subject and his prospects. On camera he's a little guarded but, having had some experience as a professional this seems only natural. When training Paul, either on pads or out of the ring he is encouraging and pushes Paul to his limits with an eye on effective improvement.
After a session with him in Huddersfield, Paul sets out to begin collecting sponsorship from friends and I follow him with the camera. I manage to catch a good bit of expression from Paul in the car on the way and his friends react well to the camera, only turning their backs occasionally and exchanging banter with Paul in a very natural way. I hope everyone is this easy to film!
After finding it difficult to get cameras from the Uni (Northern Film School) the team has turned to the Art College to get equipment. The red tape needed to obtain a camera from the Uni is suffocating! What with endless lists of names and locations, a long drawn out procedure and no real guarantee of success it seems to be worse than pulling teeth. If the resources are there for anybody, surely they are there for student film makers who want to explore and improve their skills on their own projects? If anything they seem to treat such people more like criminals or, at the very least, an inconvenience. Praise is due to the Art College who seem to manage the a/v resources for the convenience of those students serious about creating work and gaining experience.
Having succeeded in borrowing cameras from the Art College we are ready to begin filming in earnest. We met again at the gym on York Road to film a sparring session between Paul and another of the fighters on the same bill, Luke. Luke is 21 and has been competing at amateur level and under EBF rules recently. He is taller than Paul (who is six foot two himself!) and has a longer reach so he makes a good test for Paul's skills. Shooting goes well and we meet Paul's training buddy, ex-champion boxer, James. A close friend from school days he is Paul's mentor and seems to be in charge of his training for the fight. I find him softly spoken and, although he has boxed at the very top level, humble about his achievements. He presents a very professional attitude while still maintaining the playfulness of a good friend when talking about our subject and his prospects. On camera he's a little guarded but, having had some experience as a professional this seems only natural. When training Paul, either on pads or out of the ring he is encouraging and pushes Paul to his limits with an eye on effective improvement.
After a session with him in Huddersfield, Paul sets out to begin collecting sponsorship from friends and I follow him with the camera. I manage to catch a good bit of expression from Paul in the car on the way and his friends react well to the camera, only turning their backs occasionally and exchanging banter with Paul in a very natural way. I hope everyone is this easy to film!
Thursday, 10 July 2008
Lee
Promoter Lee joined the fray on Tuesday. We taped his training session with Paul and introduced ourselves. I found him very open and talkative so we put my initial interview on camera.
His love of the sport is apparent immediately. He tells us about how he got into boxing and from this it's clear he thinks of very little else. Certainly his passion borders on the obsessive. He seems to live entirely in the present as it seems every turn he has taken, every string he has added is almost completely by accident. When I ask him what the future holds its obvious he hasn't given it a thought and is not about to start now. Everything is secondary to the sport, he walks and talks it.
He explains that he started organising the white collar and EBF shows here in Leeds as a way to showcase local talent. He's a firm believer in the adage, "if you want something done right, do it yourself". This attitude means he wears many hats (all related to boxing of course!) As promoter he's a tenacious negotiator, as trainer he's stern and inspiring in equal measure, as professional boxer he's both humble and philosophical. His enthusiasm is infectious as evidenced by the wide eyed boys who troop in when we've finished. Teens and younger they clearly idolise him.
Without such a strong personality I am convinced the shows would have no chance of success. The popularity of the bouts he has done so far is testament to the single minded determination of a man with no ambition other than to further the cause of his beloved sport.
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Sketchbook gone
Aaaarrgghh! Just as I was contemplating getting a fresh notebook for this project I go and lose the one I've been using. Left it on the 70 seater loser cruiser today.
Developments in the story now are that we think the good Dr Lee may be trying to pull a fast one. Paul spoke to him today after his return to the UK to check if his story added up and smells a rat. Hard to say what motivation Dr Lee might have for pretending that a second operation on Hoang has yet to take place. Possibly free publicity. Paul wants to trap and expose him by using the documentary cameras against him. Ironically it may be the documentary that is causing Dr Lee to act shifty in the first place!
We watched Paul train with Lee, the promoter, yesterday. Hopefully we got some good footage but was good to get intros out of the way anyway. Photos are from the training session.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
Highgate
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00c5143
Shame I can't view this today cause I think it might be a good source of inspiration. I saw the last twenty minutes a few weeks ago and it looks like it covers much of the same ground as ours. It's an unregulated sporting event with betting, fighting and it's in Yorkshire. How much closer do you want? It's been made by a guy who's won awards for his docs, Daniel Gordon, so tips on wringing the raw emotion and revealing the characters should come out. Might be good to look at the show he puts on too.
Shame I can't view this today cause I think it might be a good source of inspiration. I saw the last twenty minutes a few weeks ago and it looks like it covers much of the same ground as ours. It's an unregulated sporting event with betting, fighting and it's in Yorkshire. How much closer do you want? It's been made by a guy who's won awards for his docs, Daniel Gordon, so tips on wringing the raw emotion and revealing the characters should come out. Might be good to look at the show he puts on too.
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