Organising my workspace: Adobe Premiere Pro

Each bin contains all my footage from different shoots, and each bit of footage is labelled with a description. This helps me to search for what footage i know i want to be using and quickly.

In the image below, on 3 of the 4 clips it shows 2 highlighted symbols for footage and sound. The non highlighted clip shows a white symbol, this means it hasn't been used in my edit where as the other 3 have been used. This is one of the many differences i've noticed when changing over from Final Cut Pro to Adobe Premiere Pro which helps organise my clips better which is extremely beneficial to my work flow.

Editing the footage

Location filming: New footage

A friend of mine's roof: Hyde Park
Getting myself and the camera on top of my friends roof in Hyde Park required assistance. I had to consider my health and safety up there and make sure i had full control of the camera.
It was a challenge balancing the light so i could bring the sky and clouds to life without losing the detail in the darker parts of the picture.

Driving the streets of Leeds

Using techniques from the Youtube tutorial of 'how to use your car to make better videos', again i was consistently challenged with bringing out light in dark areas and keeping my focus on an manual lens whilst moving. I used a Canon 5D Mark iii throughout the documentary with a standard 24 - 70 mm lens.

Streets of Hyde Park night & day
I went round the streets of Hyde Park on two separate occasions during the night and day time. At times i could have been better off with lens that uses a F/1.4 apature but as i was restricted to F/2.8, I was pleasantly surprised with my results. I had to up the ISO but the picture quality is still good, as i was walking around i was searching for what colours in the dark would catch my eye.
I felt a strong resemblance between the discussion of prostitutes and Sutcliffe, and filming red coloured windows.

I purposely went out to shoot during a gloomy damp day, late afternoon, to enhance any creepy effect. Yorkshire is known for it's rural spaces with lots of woodland which is where Peter committed many of his crimes. I could picture him visiting locations before he pounced on his prey at times where not many people were about to suspect him.

The Locations i've used below are some of where the victims were left in West Yorkshire, Leeds. Each shot was carefully thought with precision, and taken in mind of the rippers perspective.

Roundhay Park

Alma Road, Headingley

Prince Philip playing grounds

Reginald Street, Chapel Town

Graveyard

Farsley

Manor Street, Sheepscar

Description of the 6 clips ITN source

1.

Description ripper

Somewhere near here lives the ripper, 5 year career of killing in chapel town,

Suspected 1 man

Death toll 13

Each death bringing grief to families

Jane macdonald 16 youngest victim, first non prostitute

Mother still suffers for daughter whose body was found in playground by one of her other children

Irene macdonald (mother) interview

“hope he goes rotten from head to foot if police don’t get him first

like to put a curse on him

terrible hurt and hate I have for him

hes just a big coward hes not a man”

3 years and 6 killings later it was the turn of jaq hills family to suffer

-       itn reconstruction –

began final short walk of her life

alma road

what type of man is he?

Stephen shaw

“aggressive, sadistic psychopath, cowd and carless

when hes caught people will say yes I should have know, at present time there will be nothing, can behave inbetween crimes normally”

10 of killings were committed by same man, 5 years of looking for him, what picture have the police built up

height 5”8

early 30s

size 7 boots

it’s known a ball pain hammer as been used in initial attack

it’s said there is so much they know about the Yorkshire ripper, only thing they don’t know is his name.

ripper squad

“its hard work no doubt about it,  hours are long and demanding, but satisfaction and strong feeling that soon we might knock on the right door and have the right man”

2.

Jaq Hill death

Murder victim as 20 year old jaq hill

Family don’t live in leeds area

Body found on waste ground next to shopping centre

Team of 70 decetives has been combing the area all day

Until complete police refuse to give details about the death

Speculation of 13^th victim of the ripper

Last victim 14 months ago 20 year old student

Detective al finley

“nothing come to light that this is the work of the ripper

until such time as we can determin the cause of the death and the manor the answer is no”

 3.

Change of detectives

 Biggest shake up in 5 years hunt for ripper

New head of time: jim hobson

Prompt response from citizing for handling of the hunt

Team of senior Officers coming in to assist hobson

Not a reflection of ability, but desire of change

“Rethink of investigation, public concern and presiser of what to do next

Case for seeking advice and consideration of best known brains and experience in the country”

“moral of the force is very high despite what people say of public confidence im sure we have the confidence of the people behind us

looking for new ideas at the moment”

4.

trial 1

crowds waited for hours to watch Sutcliffe arrive from brixton

Sonia aarrived early

Jury of 6 men and 6 woman

1 decision to make, was he a skitzaphrenic or a cunning murderer

Sutcliffe clearly of a god given mission

“mission only partially fulfilled”

none of this told to police “I have urges to kill”

“if I can convince them im mad then it would only be 10 years in the loony bin”

Sutcliffe once joked “we are living in ripper country”

Details of 13 killings and 7 assaults, how Sutcliffe would hit his victims with a hammer and repeatidly stab them and take great care to hide the body

Seemed to live a charmed life

“did this really add up to a mission of a man with a mission to kill prostitutes”

5.

ripper caught

being questioned in relation to ripper murders

anticipated he will appear before court tomorrow

absolutely delighted

6.

news report 2

last victim 19 year old student at leeds uni jaq hill,

death led to set up of new detective squad

Sutcliffe had been amazingly lucky, strongest clue was a new £5 note he gave to a prostitute he killed in Manchester, the note number was traced to his work

Interviewed there 6 times by police

 “they thought they’d got him, took his cloths away for forensic tests, joked calling him the ripper”

in the end he was caught by chance, he put false number plates on his car to go out looking for a prositiute to kill. When plates were checked and the police finally found his weapons he confessed. Once he admitted it took him over 15 hours to tell his story of 13 murders 7 gruesome attacks and a game of hide and seek with the police 

Maggie Interview

Maggie Interview

Maggie – I was concerned for my friends, I was young at the time, being a student in leeds when the murders started, one that bought it home to me was when it happened on my door step on alma road in headingly – the final killing, a young student. After math it felt very horrible. Decided to stay in Wales after to get away from anything. It was a feeling of being on edge and not wanting to go out late on your own, made me be aware all the time of being around me.

Maggie – I was walking back from primary school and noticed a man starring at her from outside a shop, looking like up to no good, and it was the ripper. Freaked me out totally that I thought even anyone could be like that

Maggie – I felt shivers down my spine at the time, I didn’t understand but must have been an intuitive thing that I’d seen this person but wasn’t able to explain why he was stood there starring. Didn’t call the police because he hadn’t done anything.

Maggie – Friend ziggie had a sister who was murdered by the ripper. Second or third. Was a prostitute in chapel town, didn’t really talk about it much

Maggie – At the time it was shocking, Everyone was shocked, because we were all young and not really thinking how we would get home at night and would have to walk around in groups and cant be on our own, so made you think about that and it wasn’t just a night thing because when I saw that man it was in the middle of the day. It took many years for him to get caught.



Personally, i wasn't happy with how i recorded this part of the documentary. Maggie was a great speaker with a lot fo relevant information, but the wind destroys part of what she has to say. The constant change of clouds didn't always brighten up a fairly dull background. I feel i panicked to get these interviews done with little thought going into it. Perhaps i just worried a bit too much.

There is clearly two different colours between these two stills with her hair blowing into her face. If i had managed my time a little better and given myself a week extra, i wouldn't have been under this pressure to make basic errors.

Interview questions

The questions were brief, and i think if i had more time or i could re-do the documentary, i would add more depth to the questions to gain more of an insight of Leeds in the late 1970's.

Pam Interview

Pam Interview

1. Pam – city on high alert, city knew somebody killing people this way, high news because they hadn’t caught the person, never went a day without being spoken about-

4. Pam – put a whole new…  on top of concerns already, not just prostitutes, to think that it would widen the… and everybody was… it was quite scary… the police high presence, still managed to kill people, a lot of  years before they got him

2. Pam – personally didn’t feel need for not going out, meeting boyfriends alone stopped, if you went out in a small group you stayed in a small group, nobody went out alone, nobody knew who this person was.

5. Pam – scary to think somebody to creep up on you. I think as young women if you were talking to different people, that kind of relationship didn’t happen as much, it was more you went out and stayed together as friends, not a lot of social interaction with people you didn’t know, it stopped that normal activity, 

you knew there was somebody out there that was actually killing people but always made sure we were safe--

3. Pam – worked at elida gibbs on Whitehall road, false evidence tape, 

Encouraged to look at own families in suspicious ways because they hadn’t a clue

8. Pam (audio) could have been your father, brother, neighbor, everyone was under suspecian

7. Pam – any one of us capable of living with a murderer and not know, 

(not used)

6. Pam – could probably happen again but hopefully not with technology

9. Pam (audio) if you ve taken a life, it should be life, bring back some sort of sentencing of death

The Interview was insightful. I hadn't planned my questions well enough to gain more information about the killer, his killings and missed a chance to talk graphically and in more detail. I was too busy concentrating on the camera and making sure it's all sounding good at the time, rather then concentrate on the subject itself. At the same time i was disappointed to see i'd left the picture a little over exposed, but i felt the positioning of Pam was quite effective and through her actions, she is adding drama to the mix.

Michael Chapman on Taxi Driver (1976) & Cinema of today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtkAwCQwArM

Michael Chapman says the great days of cinema are over. The days where they combined social experience of creating a film are over. Because they are they only make movies on very few subjects.

There was a time where movies covered all sorts of subjects and thought people about culture, because it's gone onto TV and different ways of projecting visual images.

Thinks cinema isn't as interesting as it once was. Visual storytelling still very important.

Now retired, never got to shoot a film in digital.

The most powerful images that you see now are things people take on their phones. They have an immediacy and power that no amount of contrived drama can achieve because they are the real thing. Seems to be the future of story telling.

Thinks Young people should think of Taxi Driver as kind of 'folktale', an 'urban legend', he' s a 'warewolf' essentially. Travis drives the streets at night and once in a while something may happen. It has a deeper more power impact then as a specific, film noire or something like that.

A lot of the repetition and emphasis of De Niro 'You talking to me' was done in the editing.

Most of the set ups for the cinematography for Taxi Driver was influenced by Martin Scorsese



On becoming a cinematographer: 

He didn't decide, it happened by accident. Fell in love and married a daughter of a French immagrate cameraman in New York, who started Chapman out in the movie business and started just as an assistant camera man carrying heavy boxes and worked his way up from there. Doesn't think he really committed himself to it until he shot a couple of movies.

3D doesn't have any interest for Michael. Says 3D isn't turning out to be as financially great as people may think.

Scorsese and Chapman really emphasised and connected with the consistant dark theme throughout the film with it's subtle but rich colours bringing Taxi Driver to life, as well as some great acting from De Niro. It's not so difficult with digital technology, for amateur cameraman to pick up a camera, play with the focus and achieve fascinating results. Ofcourse, they would have to know in order for this they would need a Large apature and a big lens to achieve greater results. It's a technique that brings drama and mystery which suits my Peter Sutcliffe documentary.



Separate article on 50 reasons why Taxi Driver might be the the greatest film of all time.
http://whatculture.com/film/50-reasons-why-taxi-driver-might-just-be-the-greatest-film-of-all-time.php