Filming

Hello again!

The last two weeks that I had in Whitehorse were mostly interviewing and hanging out at the Beez Kneez. I’ll tell you some stories, and then we’ll get into the technical stuff when we delve into the interviews.

Sobriety Put to the Test

I did end up having my sobriety tested a few times while I was up in Whitehorse. The first time was at the Beez Kneez’s 18th birthday party. Everyone around me was drinking for the party and the night ended with a drinking game called “Never Have I Ever”. I knew I wouldn’t cave to pressure, but the cravings were reeeal. I drank a Cola which I pretended was beer for the game and laughed with the others like nothing was wrong. I will say though, I was relieved when a tall German man walked through the door and said he wasn’t drinking. His name was Kai, and he said he was in recovery. I said, “Me too! Wait… I think we mean a different kind of recovery!” Yeah… he meant he was recovering from a strenuous bike ride! haha

The second time was when one of the guests at the Beez Kneez was insistent on pressuring me to go to the pub with him and wasn’t taking “no” for an answer. The other people staying there were not having it though and had me sit behind them to drive the point home to him that I was not going to join him in shenanigans.

The third time was mostly peer-driven and was a little harder to resist because I wanted to go to the bar suddenly and started thinking I could make that leap to hang out with a friend. That didn’t end up happening thankfully, and after that, I ended up just putting my head down and getting to work.

It was hard, but I am thankful I made it out of the Yukon sober. Which anyone from there can tell you is an amazing feat in itself.

The Interviews

The first adventure was the Gathering. We asked as many people as possible to show up to interview them. Since there were other people there, it was fairly noisy and I was worried about audio. At one point I heard an ATV in the audio and was so mad that I couldn’t figure out a way to get rid of it. What would have been a way better option, was that, since it was established in the film that there was action going on around the camp, I could have got more b-roll of the action. If I had incorporated the ATV in at the beginning, then it would make sense that it was in the audio later.

The next interview of significance was with Chief Doris Bill, who used to be in journalism. Since she had some wisdom to share, the Chief told us to always check our audio before we left because she had been in a situation where she took the interview back to work and the audio didn’t work! On that note, it was also suggested by Lance at Shakat that you should have two audio sources going during interviews in case one fails.

While I was staying at the Beez Kneez, there was a travelling biker who I like to call “Papa Jim”. Papa Jim was a photographer and videographer among many other things, and he mentored me for part of the project. One thing he taught me, was that if someone is playing with their hands, to stop the interview and let them know that it’s distracting in the audio. I took that advice, but modified it a bit and let interviewees know before we began which I think really helped.

One thing I noticed during editing that I could have done so much better at was the backgrounds. I thought that I had nice setups, but honestly, I could have done better and I think how I could have gone about that was just taking the time to check the monitor. Since the screen is so small, it’s imperative to take one’s time with it and make sure the background is right. When I interned at Shaw, it always took them 1-2 hours to set up something super professional, so I should also be prepared to put in that kind of work too. Shaw taught me to let the interviewee know ahead of time that it can take a long time to set up so that they are prepared to wait a while before being interviewed.

Helpful Tips

Some other helpful tips I think a new videographer could use are:

• Make sure your interviewee has water. This way they are comfortable and their voices are clear in the video.
• Don’t be afraid to take charge. If you see that the microphone looks uncomfortable on your subject, fix it!
• Try not to film where the light is constantly changing (by a window). If you have to make edits such as jump cuts, the lighting will change from word to word and it will be the bane of your existence.
• Look up three-point lighting. I thought it was intimidating by the way Shaw does it, but it’s not as hard as I was making it out to be.
• Give the interviewees the questions ahead of time. This will give them time to think about their answers, which will make them more comfortable and give you the best sound bites!
• If you are doing standup, write a script beforehand and practice it. It will make you less nervous and will keep you on the subject.

Until Next Time

This video was so close to my heart, I was passionate about it and I put in so much work to produce something I could be proud of. However, I think if I were to do it again, I would scale back on the size of the project.

In the end, the project did take a toll on my mental health, which plummeted me into a depression and affected the way I handled the editing. I was trying to get a hold of mental health services to no avail and luckily I made it out sober, but I could have taken much better care of myself.

My professor Collette Jones taught her class that we’re so focused on deadlines and doing well, that we need to remember to take care of our minds and our spirits. So if you take anything away from this blog, it would be to take care of yourself because you will create better content if your heart is content.

The First Week

Welcome Back, Carrie!

Hello! It has been quite some time hey, friends?

I was a lot busier than I anticipated, and the project ended up being so huge that it took longer too.

Since the video was such a large production, I have decided that I should break this blog up into digestible parts.

This is where the good stuff begins!

Arriving in Whitehorse

Going back to the hometown where I was raised was nerve-wracking. There were people there who I might run into that I was not prepared to see, or even worse, I was terrified that I’d have to face my most formidable demon: alcoholism.

I am almost four years sober now, but there was a time when I was out of control and that was when I lived in the Yukon. So not only would I be there for three weeks but I would also be filming about some heavy subject matter that was definitely a huge part of where my problems began. I have seen people get sober for two years and then go back to Whitehorse and fall off the wagon after two days. Naturally, I was protective of the sobriety that I worked so hard to maintain.

I got off the plane, weary from a flight that started at 5am and my friend Truska was there to pick me up and bring me to the hostel. We arrived at the Beez Kneez to find out that for a couple hours I was not even allowed in (that was stated in the email, I did not catch that part though). So I slept at Truska’s house for half an hour and it was amaaazing!!

Eventually, I got settled into the Beez Kneez, met some new people and got myself prepared to meet with Annette the next day.

Communicating in Communications

Okay, who would have thought that in the field of communications, I’d have to do so much communicating!?? This is one thing that I had forgotten about, how much time it takes to meet with the people who you are making the video with, to calling and emailing people to interview.

The first day started with me heading to Shakat to meet the people there and get to know the space I’d be chillin’ in.

It was cozy, and while I waited for some people to show up, I began writing some questions that I could ask the interviewees.

In the afternoon I met with Annette and that meeting went on for three and a half hours, simply trying to figure out who we should interview, what we should do for the Gathering (that will be in future entries, but it was basically a get together in the woods where we did some interviews), where we should do interviews.

That first day was a foreshadowing of how the rest of the week would go. I spent 9-5 hours communicating with potential interviewees, writing the script and even setting up press meetings (eek so scary! One good thing about Whitehorse is at least the press was someone I knew haha).

By that Friday I was itching to take some video, so I borrowed a tripod and took some b-roll that I thought I might need for the production. I didn’t even use it in the end, oh well!

Until Next Time

With all that being said, I want to leave you with this message. If you are starting out in videography, especially if you are going to be doing interviews or extensive communicating, I would consider writing that into your contract. Anyone who is not familiar with this work thinks that all videographers have to do is film the interviews, but they often underestimate editing (also going to be in future blogs) and forget about communicating.

Your time is worth money, advocate for yourself, your art, and become the boss that you are.

 

 

Drawing Up the Contract

My History and How I Secured my First Contract

When they say, “It’s not about what you know, it’s who you know,” they were not kidding! While I am only a second year student in University, I was able to secure a three week job in the Yukon.

Okay, let’s backtrack a bit. I grew up in Whitehorse, Yukon – my story is much longer than that but for the purposes of this story we are going to focus on my time there. When I was 12 years old, I was the youngest child in the territory to be put into a group home for permanent care. I ended up ageing out of the group home at 19 years old, as I asked for an extension because the thought of moving out at 18 terrified me.

I always thought that I would become a social worker and help youth somehow, so I began to work towards a BSW. That did not end up panning out and I felt so bummed that I would not be able to youth the way I wanted.

Fast forward to the present and I am visiting the Youth Advocate in the Yukon, Annette, and talking to her about what it was like for me to age out of care. I’ve always been vocal and open about my experiences and Annette was hoping that I would help her out by writing something or perhaps making a video. I told her I would love to make her a video, but I would be pretty silly if I did not ask for some money. She was totally on board and quite proud that I was advocating for myself as an adult.

Since then, Annette has gotten in touch with the Shakat – Youth of Today Society and they will be supporting me with equipment and people to monitor the electronics while I conduct interviews.

Some important notes in the rough draft of my contract

Objective:

• Production of a joint Shakat/YCAO video on aging out of the group home and foster care system, led by videographer Carrie Davis.

Major tasks and Deliverables:

Ageing Out Of Care Video

• Video about Ageing Out Of Care in Yukon
• Gathering(s) will be held; one for young adults aged out of care in Yukon. Interviews and information will be gathered at these events to be used in the video.
• A group home tour will be conducted to collect interviews and b-roll.
• Interviews with relevant individuals.
• Shakat and YCAO will work with and sub-contract Carrie Davis to research, film and produce this video.
• (Name redacted) will possibly assist Carrie with interviews.
• Carrie will supply some equipment (her camera), the rest will be supplied by YOTS. YOTS will also act as support to Carrie for her hardware, software and social needs and will assist Carrie in finding youth to interview.

Deliverables:

• Video on Ageing Out Of Care (redacted price)
• Survey data on young adults who have aged out of care

Role of the Contractor:

• Will be responsible for filming and producing all footage needed to deliver this contract
• Will be responsible for scheduling any necessary interviews, outside of the Gathering(s) and (name redacted)
• Will be responsible for any set up and take down associated with video tapping the events.

Role of the Project Manager:

• Will provide necessary equipment and software
• Will provide necessary resources, support and mentoring

Some of this contract has been negotiated down. But the kinks are still being worked out.

More Things to Consider

Business License

One thing that was a huge question for me as I delve into my first venture was “Do I need a business license?” and the answer is YES you do. This one was weird since I live in Nanaimo but would be working in the Yukon. I Googled “Whitehorse business license” which directed me to a page that told me all the information I needed for what kind of business license I would need. For this particular license, if I used my own name it would be free. If I wanted to make my name sound official, I would have to register the name which would be a whole other process that I did not feel was necessary quite yet. I also was informed that I only needed to use my Nanaimo address. If I used a Yukon address I would have had to get a building permit, but since I don’t live in the Yukon that wasn’t needed.

 

Organization

It was also suggested that I storyboard so that I can show Shakat what is in my head for the video. The featured image shows that I got coloured index cards on which I will draw pictures of what is in my mind and on the lined side I will write out a short synopsis and shot lists. This is supposed to be an efficient way to stay organized, and if it changes that is okay, but at least there will be a plan laid out.

I also picked up a journal so I can keep tabs on expenses and hours that I am working. I might also like it to keep notes about things I want to remember, or maybe even interview questions.

Until Next Time

I will keep updating as this journey progresses. I hope this helps someone, but I also hope that people can have fun figuring this out with me!