The rough cut allowed us to create a narrative, visual style and establish our call to actions.  It was important to have our rough cut as close to our final films as possible, so that feedback is used to elevate the films.  As our films are intending to create a call to action with our audience, not just engage the feedback was essential to make improvements and cause a real change in these issues.

 

What were the key functions you performed?

As we divided our tasks within the group, I focused on Ai Wei Wei.  For the creative elements, I worked on the conceptual ideas, graphics, music and sound.  In terms of the technical elements, I shot footage, created text and sound and edited the content.  For the entire project, I organised meetings and passed on feedback to share ideas for both films.

 

How did the experiments done in AT 2 shape your rough cut?

In our experiments, we used stock images to create montages which helped us establish a narrative, however these were often very literal or did not have a strong enough link to the films.  Therefore, we needed to create more of our own original footage for the rough cut.  From the montage style in our experiments, we decided to structure the rough cut with a variety of stills, video and text.

What were the key content and aesthetic considerations for assembling your video?

A minute to communicate three call to action is very limited time, so the assemblage has to be simple and well organise to communicate the message.  We also have to include correct and accessible factual information, such as organisational contact details.

For Ai Wei Wei, the structure is three clear call to action within approximately twenty seconds each, with titles and details of each institution to ensure the call to action was easy for the audience to understand. As two of the call to actions were related to Amnesty International, but addressing different topics, we structured them around the third topic to differentiate them easily for the audience.

For Bellingcat: Our structure presented the impact of fake news first, then provide case studies and evidence to legitimise the issue and finish with the three call to actions to help address the problem.

I felt we could have developed a consistent structure and visual style between both films, such as graphics, which we discussed in a meeting.

 

What were the most significant sources of information and research for your video ?

Human rights and social services organisations were the most significant sources of information for our research.  These ensured we have factual content and provide the audience with genuine call to actions, that they are more likely to complete as they have faith, they can make a real impact.  The Bellingcat film helped direct our research to fake news and citizen journalism on e-libraries resources.

 

What were some artistic and aesthetic inspirations for your work and how did you bring together aesthetics and audience engagement?

In Ai Wei Wei, we used footage of postcards, symbols of lights and justice scales, and Amnesty International’s slogan ‘100% funded by you”. We used colours to express freedom, contrasting black and white footage to symbolise imprisonment and saturated colour to express freedom.  We also used juxtaposed sounds and images, for example images of light and justice with sounds of an art gallery.  Bellingcat is more factual and we needed to show more evidence, we used text and graphics to refer back to new media such as newspapers and news programs.

 

What was the key learning that emerged from the production of the rough cut regarding the role of media producer working in human rights filmmaking?

A key focus was to remember as our call to actions are screened directly after the films, we did not need to underestimate the audience’s knowledge and therefore we could be more conceptual and use symbols and a montage of visuals and text highlighting the call to actions.  We also learnt to think ethically, that we didn’t need to rely on the negative or distressing aspects of the causes to encourage engagement, but rather present solid facts and provide relevant information.