What is left of actuality after creative treatment?

Seeing is believing...or so they say. Reality is said to be made much clearer through art. But can something constructed and ‘made up’ such as art, be allowed to mingle with reality? Doesn’t this actually make reality less real? The father of British documentary film, John Grierson, defined documentary as the “the creative treatment of actuality”. Its “obvious contradiction” caused problems right from the outset (See Winston: 1995, 11). Does the ‘creative treatment’ of actuality leave us with no actuality at all, or does this creative treatment or ‘art process’ throw light upon the world in which we inhabit?

Bertolt Brecht once said: "Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it." [1] Grierson also argued that the purpose of art was to represent the real world and not “the bank holiday of frenzied events” (See Aitken, 1990: 60). Documentary as an art form creates some underlying implications, if it, at the same time has a ‘claim on the real’. According to Brain Winston: “The contemporary use of ‘document’ still carries with it the connotation of evidence.” (Winston, 1995: 11). Even today some people immediately conceptualize documentaries as objective, rational, and educational. But can documentaries actually ‘document’ reality or are they just an artistic creation?

Leni Riefenstahl’s, Triumph of the Will (1935) could be an example of both. A controversial yet inspiring film for many fiction and non-fiction films alike, Riefenstahl creates a powerful representation of the rebirth of Germany in a 1934 party rally, along with its main ‘superstar’ Adolf Hitler. Riefenstahl’s main aim was to create emotional stories without any intention of propaganda (See Nichols, 2001: 61). As Eric Barnouw states: “She did not invent the actions captured by her cameras. She saw it as her task to bring them to the screen with maximum impact” (Barnouw, 1974: 103) However, after the end of World War 2 the film was regarded by many, to be pure propaganda film. Examples of this can be seen in the opening of the film where a plane is seen flying over Germany. Its shadow can be seen overlooking and covering the streets that it passes – A depiction of Hitler himself, as he overshadows Germany. The plane which is high above the city of Nuremburg suggests that it has dominance over the nation, watching over everything, like a ‘Big Brother’ of Germany.

Its uplifting non-diagetic orchestra in the opening sequence, make Hitler seem like some kind of ‘divine’ authority as he descends down to meet his followers. One scene sees the camera tracking backwards as it unveils a huge crowd making the Nazi salute in Mexican wave fashion; all of them, young, old, like robotic soldiers. It looks like these people were directed and as Susan Sontag points out: “The rally was planned not only as a spectacular mass meeting, but as a spectacular propaganda film.”[2]

Riefenstahl still argues her film was not a constructed and did document reality: “Everything in it is true. And it contains no tendentious commentary at all. It is history. A pure historical film... it is film-vérité. It reflects the truth that was then in 1934, history.”[3]

While it is true that the film reflects the culture and history that was back then, it made Hitler too much of a ‘godly’ figure and the films obvious propaganda connotations obscure the true reality of the Nazi fascist and racist regime, thus taking away its ‘claim on the real’. And as Sontag tells us: “In Triumph of the Will, the document (the image) is no longer simply the record of reality; "reality" has been constructed to serve the image.”[4] As an artistic creation Triumph of the Will is considered to be one of the best. Its establishing shots are always epic, with the vast crowd of soldiers and citizens in view. The cameras were clearly positioned in certain places and shots were edited along with the music. The opening again is another example of this. As Hitler comes out of the plane, the uplifting transient music climaxes into a louder, elevated rhythm going in tune with the chants of the crowd.

It seems that documentaries can never really document reality and hence can never be ‘truth’. The creative treatment process whereby the raw footage goes through is vulnerable to many subjective and opinionated transformations. In the case of the Triumph of the Will, it is no doubt that the film documents a true historical event but it borderlines more towards art because of its timely edits of the camera shots and music. So the ‘documentary film’ is something which can never be objective. But why are documentaries still seen as something ‘authentic’, when clearly everything during the production process is constructed? You might think then, what difference is there from documentary film and fiction film? – They’re both constructed. The big difference is that fiction explores another world for the audience to contemplate whereas documentary represents the world we already inhabit and share. (See Nichols, 2001: 1).

Bill Nichols explains that documentary is a difficult term to explain but says that: “...documentary is not a reproduction of reality, it is a representation of the world we already occupy. It stands for a particular view of the world, one we may never have encountered before even if the aspects of the world represented are familiar to us.” (Nichols, 2001: 20).

Errol Morris’s The Thin Blue Line (1988) is regarded as a definite example of investigative documentary.[5] In the film Morris blurs both fiction and non-fiction elements as he questions the interviewees about the death of a police officer. He uses highly cinematic reconstructed scenes to describe each interview’s own version of events. All the reconstructions are of the same event, which describes how the police officer was shot, but all of them contradict each other, because of the varied descriptions each interviewee had of the event. Even the reconstructions take place in a different place from where the actual crime took place. According to Nichols all of these choices were tactics made by Morris, to make the audience think and question “What really happened” and as he states: “They amount to bad science but they are part and parcel of documentary representation.” (Nichols, 2001: 85). Each person’s representation of the ‘truth’ is different and Morris believes that documentaries should be creative in their form to be able to search for ‘truth’: “There’s no reason why documentaries can’t be as personal as fiction filmmaking and bear the imprint of those who made them. Truth isn’t guaranteed by style or expression. It isn’t guaranteed by anything.” (Arthur: cited: Bruzzi, 2000: 5-6).

The Thin Blue Line clearly shows Morris’s imprint with its highly stylized reconstructions which make the film look much more like a non-fiction film noir[6], and the film noir element at the same gives you the feeling of a highly atmospheric fiction film. This can be seen in the opening, where the credits start rolling when the film starts; typical of fiction films. Lighting and shadows are used effectively in the film, especially in the reconstructions. For example when Randall Adams, the person accused of the murder, talks about how he was interrogated by the police officer and how he was threatened with a gun to confess the crime, the reconstruction shows a shadowy and almost dominant figure, with his face covered by the darkness. Everything in this scene is ‘dramatised’ including the sound, like the footsteps, the pen thrown onto the table and the reloading of the pistol. They are done slowly to make the audience hear every intricate detail which adds to the overall suspense. Morris’s subjectivity could be seen here as he wants to make the audience see the police officer in a bad light. The film then cuts to the police officers who seem friendly and somewhat non-threatening[7]. This juxtaposition of cuts obviously confuses things but Morris wants the audience to decide who and what to believe.

According to Stephen Rowley: “Attempts to force confessions are something we see in Hollywood films, and which we associate with villainous cops played by scary-looking actors.” Morris intentionally added a ‘fiction film’ element to reinvent the case while at the same time revisiting it[8]. By doing this Morris gives us new light to the American justice system as he portrays these goofy[9] police officers responsible for putting an innocent man into jail. So in essence he gets to the truth using what Grierson would say a “creative treatment” process and as Morris tells us: “I wanted to make a movie that had this real-world story that was very, very important to me. A terrible miscarriage of justice. But I wanted to make it in a certain way...”[10]. Note how Morris says he wanted to make it in a ‘certain way’. He didn’t just want interviews and cutaways, but wanted drama and suspense.

According to Nichols: “We judge a representation more by the nature of the pleasure it offers, the value of the insight or knowledge it provides, and the quality of the orientation or disposition, tone or perspective it instils.” (Nichols, 2001:20-21). Objective truth in any film is impossible to find and Morris shows this in The Thin Blue Line as he interviews people with different version of ‘truths’. Everyone have their own way of thinking and thus people make out ‘truths’ or representations of reality in different ways because this is at the end of the day, is affected by our own prejudices, beliefs and values.[11] In the end though Morris manages to show the ‘truth’ through a simple tape recorder – the culmination of all the tension and suspense throughout the film is brought to an end through the most simplest form of evidence.[12]

It’s now clear that documentaries all have a voice of their own, a specific perspective held by the filmmaker. They use both sound an imagery to portray their argument to the audience. They do this in a form of a narrative and as Nichols explains: “Documentaries are fictions with plots, characters, situations and events like any other.” (Nichols, 1991: 107). Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North (1922) is a story made to represent how an Inuit family battles against nature and tries to survive in the arctic. Since there is no dialogue or voices heard in Nanook of the North, Flaherty mainly uses music along with inter-titles to depict his point of view and the nature of each scene.

For example in the scene where Nanook is depicted trying to figure out what the gramophone is, we see him biting into the record as if to tell us that he is primitive and has never seen technology like this in his life. This scene is supposed to portray the simple side of Nanook but it seems more like a patronising scene with the inter-title beforehand telling us: “In deference to Nanook, the great hunter, the trader entertains and attempts to explain the principle of the gramophone – how the white man ‘cans’ his voice”.[13] It’s attempts to ‘respect’ “the great hunter”, suggests a much more patronising tone which ends with a somewhat stereotypical Inuit ‘slang’ with the use of “White man”. It also seems as if Flaherty who is acting as the ‘trader’ is mocking Nanook by just watching him bite into the record without showing him how to actually use it. The light hearted music adds to the overall ‘mockery’ which seems as if it were from a Warner Brother’s cartoon.

Flaherty knowingly done this since everything was staged[14]. According to Barnouw: “Characters occasionally glanced at the camera as though at a film maker. Nanook, grinning over the gramophone, testing a gramophone disc with his teeth, looks at the camera as though for agreement and approval...” (Barnouw, 1974: 39). So it seems that Flaherty’s attempts to portray a simple minded Inuit backfired, and because his representation of the ‘Inuit’ did not engage with the historical world, Nichols tells us: “The voice of the film betrays its makers form of engagement with the world in a way that even he might not have recognized.” (Nichols, 2001: 44). Flaherty’s obsession with the remote and primitive (See Barnouw, 1974: 85) meant that his own views and ideals got in the way of representing the ‘historical world’ and hence he failed to ‘add light’ or historical understanding upon the Inuit world.

Documentaries essence lies in the dramatisation of actual material and this is done in the editing process using sound and music. In Nanook of the North, music is chiefly used to set the mood of a scene and to also to dramatise certain situations. For example, in the scene where Nanook is trying to hunt a seal out of the ice, the sounds of violins, trumpets and flutes are heard playing in a repetitive and frantic manner. It shows to the audience the intensity of the hunt, as Nanook repeatedly hauls the line in only to be jerked down and dragged over the ice again[15]. The music adds to the drama and exaggerates the scene. The audience finally know in the end that Nanook has won, as they are signposted in with a different rhythm, more tranquil, with the violins slowing down, signifying somewhat, the ‘end of a battle’.

Another type of sound seen in documentaries is the voice over. Nichols terms it as “The expository mode” and he says, it: “ ...addresses the viewer directly, with titles or voices that propose a perspective, advance an argument, or recount history.” (Nichols, 2001: 105).
In Michael Moore’s Roger & Me, commentary is used in a sarcastic but humorous way which entices the audience’s attention. For example, seven minutes into the film you’ll hear Moore commenting on Roger Smith for the first time and then talking about GM’s plans and how they plan to sack many people. He uses a montage of still shots – cleverly used in juxtaposition[16] with the commentary. Moore ends this scene by saying in a sarcastic manner that: “...Roger Smith was a true genius”[17]. Moore has already set his subjective and ideological position to the audience, by cleverly placing this montage near the beginning[18], and as Nichols tells us: “We take our cue from the commentary and understand the images as evidence or demonstration for what is being said.” (Nichols, 2001: 107). As the commentary in documentaries explain the images, they are thus seen by the audience, higher than images in terms of ‘evidence’. (See Nichols, 2001: 107).
But how can a ‘voice’ which proposes a subjective outlook be seen as evidence? Stella Bruzzi points out that because voice over’s connote “individualism and instruction”, they tend to signify a distorted and fictionalised documentary. (See Bruzzi, 2000: 64). Moore did make Smith seem much more like a buffoon than even his own bumbling character, with the clever juxtaposition of image and audio, so this could be seen as the ‘creative treatment’ which takes away the ‘actuality’.

Overall, it can be seen that a documentary goes through a ‘creative treatment’ process where a filmmaker gets ‘actuality’ and constructs it to form a manufactured object (See Izod, Kilborn, 1997: 116) which only creates an imitation, not the real thing(See Niney, 1994:21). Grierson knew film interpreted reality, but believed that the average spectator should not share that recognition, and that a illusion of reality was essential in order to make the narrative as powerful (See Aitken, 1990: 70). This tells us that a documentary, by its nature, lies to the audience since it makes a truth claim right from the outset which leaves the ‘documentary’ in a particularly vulnerable position as it can be used a dangerous means of communication if the audience take the documentary as reality.

Bibliography:

Aitken, Ian (1990) Film and Reform: Routledge

Bruzzi, Stella (2000) New Documentary: A Critical Introduction, London: Routledge

Izod, J. and Kilborn, R. (1997) An Introduction to TV Documentary, Manchester: Manchester
University Press

Nichols, Bill (1991) Representing Reality, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press

Nichols, Bill (2001) Introduction to Documentary, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press

Niney, Francois (1994) The Fiction of Reality in Documentary Film Quarterly

Winston, Brian (1995) Claiming The Real: the documentary film revisited, London: British Film Insitute

Barnouw, Eric (1993) Documentary – a history of the non-fiction film, New York: Oxford University Press


Films referred to:

Triump of the Will – Leni Riefenstahl’s (1935)

The Thin Blue Line – Errol Morris (1988)

Nanook of the North – Robert Flaherty (1922)

Roger & Me – Michael Moore (1989)

Endnotes/website:

[1] http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/26853.Bertolt_Brecht
[2] http://www.nybooks.com/articles/9280
[3] http://www.kamera.co.uk/features/leniriefenstahl.html
[4] http://www.nybooks.com/articles/9280
[5] http://www.cinephobia.com/thinblue.htm
[6] http://www.cinephobia.com/thinblue.htm
[7] http://www.cinephobia.com/thinblue.htm
[8] http://www.documentary.org/content/errol-morris-thin-blue-line-1988
[9] http://www.cinephobia.com/thinblue.htm
[10] http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/01/16/morris.html
[11] http://www.cinephobia.com/thinblue.htm
[12] http://www.cinephobia.com/thinblue.htm
[13] http://www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/MultimediaStudentProjects/98-99/9500048s/project/html/fakena.htm
[14] http://www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/MultimediaStudentProjects/98-99/9500048s/project/html/fakena.htm
[15] http://www.oneworldmagazine.org/seek/nanook/nanotext.htm
[16] http://www.angelfire.com/film/articles/moore.htm
[17] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30p71PNXEx8&feature=related
[18] http://www.angelfire.com/film/articles/moore.htm

Ramadan - Month of Reflection

NO food and no drink from sunset until sunrise for a whole month. Can you do this? May seem crazy to some people but for Muslims this is routine. Every year millions of Muslims across the world are fasting in a special month known in the Islamic calendar as the month of Ramadan. For Muslims this month rivals every other month purely because of its psychological and mental benefits as well as the patience one attains when fasting.

Fasting isn’t just about letting your stomach groan at you by remaining hungry. It’s about fighting ones inner desires, lusts and passions and keeping them at bay, whether they be eating chocolate (or any food for that matter), watching movies, fulfilling your sexual desires or even playing too much on your Nintendo Wii. The main purpose of fasting is to direct the heart away from all the unnecessary attachments of this world and to more of a closer attachment of God. Through our thoughts and actions a person has to try attain purity and hopefully your development of character and personality in this month will show through out the rest of the year.

And fasting for a whole day isn’t necessarily easy when you think about it, especially as the days are becoming longer each year. Being a student doesn’t help either as I will always see people eating in front of me, whether it is in the cafeteria where I usually grab my lunch or just outside near the town centre. I see the food, I want to eat the food, but I won’t eat the food, solely because God commanded me not to eat the food. This also goes for the bad habits one may have such as slandering, backbiting and lying.

But why is this month so important to Muslims? Well one of the main reasons is that its believed the Holy Quran was sent down in this particular month and so muslims are obliged to spend it in worship throughout the day, maximising in every supplication and worship towards God. Ramadan for Muslims is an exciting month in which everyone is in anticipation for since the rewards are great, both spiritually and physically. Its just like the feeling you get when waiting for a new film to come out or a computer game. No words can describe how good it feels to complete a day's fast or the joy and the feeling of festivity when the day's fasting is over.

For me this holy month is the only month whereby I can really have an x-ray of myself. Its like a month of training for me. Not really the, 'going into the gym and lifting 100kg' training, but more of the body and soul. I look and reflect on all the things I take for granted, such as my food, money,education, nice warm house, nice cup of tea, nice toast, nice this and nice that - the list is endless. When everyone's around the table just about to break the fast, the fragrance of the food hits yours mouth like strawberry and chocolate swirling in your mouth. Its that good. Since you remain hungry throughout the day, just about anything you eat will make you feel good. This is when your hunger is at its peak and that’s when you know what people in the third world countries are feeling like who are literally living in starvation because they are so poor.

Aside from the religious reasons and making you feel pity for the poor the health benefits of fasting are immense. If done properly, which means without overindulgence at the time of breaking fast, meaning saying a no no to those oily samosas, kebabs, burgers, parkoras (and again the list is endless), fasting can make you lose weight, control addictions and help your natural defence system making you heal much faster.

With all these benefits of fasting I find it weird to see many people don't fast. Believe it not though everyone fasts during the night anyway since the term 'breakfast' literally means 'breaking your fast' becasue you don't eat anything for night.

I have to admit though as the fasting hours get longer every year and the surprising remarks you get from people who are not fasting get funnier every year, the month seems to pass by so quickly. It just shows that rather than counting down each day in anticipation for Eid, we should really make each day count. That's when we'll really benefit from this 'month of training'.

40 days in the Path of Allah....in Wales!

I've been slacking off in my blog posts i know, but I was away for 40 days in the path of Allah and just came back on Monday. I have to say...it was an experience and a half. If anyone doesn't know what i mean by going out in the 'path of Allah'...don't worry it's not some kind of extremist terrorist training scheme! Far from it. Its called 'Tabligue jamaat' the group which 'conveys' and calls towards Allah.

Tabligue literally means 'to convey' and this collective effort is something like missionary work where you are out giving your time for any number of days you can do. Usually it's recommended to do 3 days a month, 40 days a year and 4 months once in a lifetime. You are in a jamaat (group) and go from mosque to mosque in the country you are sent to, or in my case England. You work and make effort in each local area with the concern as to how Islam can come into our own life, the locality and the how the whole of mankind be saved from the fire of hell.

This effort mainly works on the people who are already Muslims to make them steadfast in the Islam, before going onto non-Muslims. This is because unfortunately most Muslims these days (even myself) are Muslims by name or by our tongue, but inwardly our faith in Allah is very low. We believe things like food and money are sustaining us when in fact Allah is sustaining us. These things are just a 'means' of sustaining us. We have to have such belief that even if we were to drink sand, through the will of Allah, this can even quench our thirst. The impossible does not exist for Allah because this is no difficult task for the creator of the whole universe.

We also strive so very hard in this world to try and attain success and status, forgetting about the hereafter and forgetting that one day we will die and be judged for every single action we did in this world. The nature of human beings is such that whatever status or position we get to, we will always want more. Nothing will ever satisfy us, until one day death comes knocking on the door, and we find that the value of this temporary life is over. The prophet Muhammad (pbuh) once said, this world is like a paradise for the non-believer and a prison for the believer. He also said we must be like a traveller in this world, just stopping for a short while and getting ready to go onto our next destination, which is the real and never ending life.

So the main purpose for this effort is to mainly rectify yourself, and to build your faith in Allah. Since your in the mosque 24/7 for basically 40 days , your faith boost up like a recharged battery. You are away from all the desires and bad temptations of the world and in the environment where angels are residing and in a place where constant worship is going on. Everyday there are certain programmes which take place and certain people in the group are given certain roles to fulfill. For example, after the early morning prayers we get together in a circle and make shura (consultation/meeting). During this period we make concern for the local community, as to how everyone can be regular in the mosque for prayers and just generally bringing people closer to their faith. But we always bear in mind that we are in fact in need of guidence more than anyone else and we should never think we are better than someone in terms of faith. The more we invite people towards Allah the more my faith in Allah will grow - and this is the desired result.

During the consultation, everyone gives their opinion as to how the effort should be done in the area and who should be given which responsibilities. I was sometimes given the role of doing a short speech or lecture on the greatness of Allah. Other roles include taking care of each others well being which is called 'Khidmat' in arabic. This involves preparing breakfast, lunch, dinner for everyone, keeping the mosque clean and tidy, ironing and washing clothes, etc. This role is a very important part of Tablighi Jamaat since it is supposed to kill off the base desires of human beings and especially the pride which one has, since pride is a quality which only Allah, the creator and sustaniner of the whole universe deserves to have.

Other activities include reading from 'Hadith' books, which contain the sayings and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and just general individual worship e.g reading the Quran, rembering Allah through prayer beads, making supplications, etc. We learn though that even in our general lifestyle we can make anything worship but only if we do this act for the sake of pleasing Allah and follow the way in which prophet Muhammad (pbuh) would have done it. Everyone gets a turn in doing different activites so everyone is constantly learning.

Apart from staying in the mosque we go out and visit brothers door to door, and just generally on the streets, parks or wherever and give them dawah (invitation) towards the greatness of Allah. The greatness of Allah is really emphasised while we are out in jamaat because unless this conviction is not in the heart, all other Islamic practises will seem meaningless and 'empty'.

We first went to Dewsbury (the main headquarters of this effort in the UK) and we were sent to make effort in Wales. Wales is a wonderful place with nice scenery. The people there were generally quite friendly. We went and stayed in Bristol, Bath, Barry, Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot, Bridgend, Cardiff (which we stayed the longest), Gloucester and Cheltenham. I was surprised how very few people could actually speak Welsh, and how very similiar the neighborhoods were to that of places like Luton and London. We did face some antagonism but this was little enough to be shrugged off. There was the occasional beeps from the cars while we walked past, along with people screaming out of the cars saying God knows what but other than that it was pretty quiet.

There is a beauty in this effort where i haven't seen in anywhere else in the world. You're with brothers you don't even know, where you eat together, sleep together, worship together and give dawah together, all united with one concern, the same concern that our beloved Prophet had (pbuh) ....and this is how the whole of mankind can be saved from the fire of hell and enter into paradise.

It's pretty sad that it's ended since i wanted to do so much, and you'd be surprised at how quick the time went by. But at least i came back to the month of Ramadan where a whole new spiritual level is now being opened up.

My bike got stolen...too bad...

I feel angry ...yet contended at the same time. I'm angry because someone actually got away with taking my bike but happy at the same time thinking that it probably happened for the best.

I was in a meeting for One Nation in their offices in Curzon Road Luton, when i decided to go out and read the magrib prayers, (prayers after sunset). When i finished i decided i wanted to come back to the office since we left some boys in there to paint a One Nation emblem on the walls. Instead i joined the Mushwara in the mosque (which is basically a meeting discussing what problems that need solving for the mosque and also how Islam can come into the local peoples lives). Anyway after this finished (after about hour) i came back to Curzon road with another brother to find out my bike was missing. I had locked it up beside a large pole.

I then looked hurriedly inside my pockets to see if i still had the keys since i thought i might have left them in the lock and thus someone easily could have just taken it away. Then i find my keys and look even more puzzled. I go into the office, suspecting the boys in there had something to do with this. They immediately tell me someone apparently snapped the lock and rode away with my bike. One of the boys says he must have used some pliers to break the lock and ride away. He said to me he did try and chase him but it was useless, since the thief went really fast into the roads nearly crashing into the cars.

I looked at him in dismay, since i had a bit of a doubt in what he was saying. but then he explained to me more that another person seen the incident which made me know that he was telling the truth. What i was angry about if the fact that i couldn't do anything about it. If i see someone riding the bike i will obviously try my best to get it back. BUT as a Muslim i cannot feel remorseful over this. Everything happens by the will of Allah and so this incident probably happened for the best. I've never actually had anything stolen from me before so this is a first.I guess its experience...in the future i will take care of my things more properly.

The funny thing is i only recently started to ride the bike again. It was in my shed for about two years, then my mum started to complain saying if you you dont ride the bike i'm gona get your dad to sell it, and thats when i started to ride it again - well just to the mosque and back.

I reflect back in this incident and think of the things i could have done to avoid it. Like the lock for example. I actually got this bike lock for free, so its cheap bike lock which probably in hindsight should not have been used. But also the area i left it in was pretty quiet and open. Which is quite bad actually...but since i was coming back there i thought, "why not just leave it there...it's locked?". BUT even if all these precautions were taken the will of Allah cannot be avoided. It will always prevail. So I've decided to forget about my bike, it's gone!
...although IF i did see it on the streets with someone....lets just say....MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!!!!

BBC Work - Flog It!

Today was quite an experience. I done a days work as a steward for the daytime BBC programme Flog it! And yes i got paid for it which is quite nice. Normally these kind of things don't happen. I got the chance to help the production team which broaden my experience in TV production, as well as doings lots of Steward jobs, such as being all nice and smiley, greeting people, ushering people to the right places etc.etc.

The shooting was to take place in Whipsnade Zoo near Dunstable, not far from where i live so it was ok. The day was quite sunny and warm - a perfect day to go the zoo, so i was expecting many people to come and get their antiques shown and evaluated. I arrived there early in the morning by taxi (since i don't have a car yet...) and was anxiously looking for the place to meet up with the film crew. My contact was Hannah Ford, who was a runner for the program. She was the person responsible for taking care of the stewards. Surprisingly most of the students who applied for this steward placement were from the University of Bedfordshire, which was quite surprising. I would have thought every media student's eye would have lit up when seeing something like this, or was it just our University of Bedfordshire students that knew about it? Well what ever it was, it was good for me!

Hannah gathered all the students around as the film crew were setting up their their equipment and gave us a briefing. We had to were the Flog it! t-shirts to let people recognise us as 'part of the team' as well advertising for the programme. We were told if we appeared in front of the camera, it wouldn't matter since we have the Flog-it! t-shirts on. Either way, I didn't mind, since my Celebrity Cash in the Attic Experience only had me in view from a mirrors refection! so being in front of the camera this time would be nice!

But who am i kidding, i never came here to be in front of the camera, i came here for experience! Afterwards we were all assignmed different task to do, some were to greet people outside and give them directions for the valuation place( where the antiques get an estimated price), and others had to usher people to their seats, take surveys from people, make tea and coffee for the film crew and presenters as well as help lift items to the main building.

The roles were always rotated after an hour or so by Hannah, who seemed alittle under pressure as the day went by. I guess this is wht the pressure of TV production can, since one small mistake can ruin everything, so as the runner (as the name suggest) she had to make sure we (the stewards) are all ok as well as make sure everything is running smoothly.

Some famous faces we met were Paul Martin, who wa sthe main presenter of the show. Evryone of his scenes were rehearsed and constructed, which wasnt no suprise to me since i had seen this before in my experience in Celebrity Cash in the Attic. He seemed like a cheerful guy, but also seemed nakered, mabe becasue it was a very hot and sunny day. At on point i thought i was going to get sun burn since i was positioned at one spot just outside the entrance ushering people to the building and just being smiley. The sun rays were like laser beams hitting by body making my sweat come down like rain. Maybe thats a bit too detailed but thats how hot it was.

When it was my turn making the tea for the film crew, i spoke to some of them and nearly all of them said they were freelancers, just working on contracts. So nothing seemed like it was permemant and they just got by when wrok was available. This made me abit worried. How will i fare out if theses guys are just about making there money here there thorugh contracts.

Hopefully though i will build my portfolio and skills to the highest possible leel i can take it, during my stay in University and then going for job interview shouldnt be that hard...should it?
All in all this experience did show me the tough side of working in TV. But hey, atleast i can say i've worked for the BBC and got payed for it!

The dust settles...assignments are OVER!

Thank the lord, I'm finally free...free from the burden of assignments deadlines. Well i actually i was free about a week ago but today was my last exam . It was a multiple choice based exam so it wasn't that bad - about media law and politics. Quite a combination eh? Well as a journalist I'm supposed to know my boundaries, as in what i can and cannot report. So it this whole media law module was very insightful.

As for my other assignments, well lets have the grades do the talking shall we? The magazine assignment and the documentary assignment were both group work and i think we managed to pull it off quite well, with MY persistence of course. I don't want to blabber on to much about this though just in case i jinx myself and my grades end up worse. I don't really believe in the jinx stuff of course but just in case...

Last week, the University of Bedfordshire had its student union media awards. And guess what? yup you've guessed it, i won an award! YAAAAAAY! I know you may be thinking: "What a...weirdo", but this actually meant quite a bit to me. It was held in the student union bar, so at first i was a bit reluctant to go but i knew i may have been up for an award so i went anyway. Obviously for me it was weird since, i've never really been in a 'bar', especially where people are gulping down alcohol. Luckily my journalism lecturer was there and she kept me company for most of the part. While i drank my J20 orange drink, (which i was cautious of for any spiking) and my lecturer was drinking a glass of champagne, we talked about my future and what i could do as a special project for my third year.

And then came the awards part. I was quite anxious at first since so many people were getting awards yet i wasn't getting anything. Then right near the end i heard my name: "2009 News Writer of the Year...Imran Choudhury!" My patience had paid off. I went onto the podium, hoping i wouldn't do a disastrous trip up the steps and grabbed my award. Fantastic. My grin was bigger than any clown I've seen.

Sunshine and Assignment deadlines...

The sun rays warm my skin at 20 degrees. Why is it all of a sudden sunny and bright now? I'm just so tempted now to go out and play footy with my mates. But this month of May is the busiest month for every University student in the UK. Its like i'm free for 2-3 months then suddenly KAPOW!! Assignments galore!

I've got a 10 minute documentary to shoot edit and write about, a 2000 word feature article and a 20 page magazine to produce which includes an extensive plan. OK its just three assignment but 2 of these are BIG. Also when your working in groups its just hard to rely on other people. I HATE relying on other people. There you go i said it. If there's one thing I've learnt in my university experience so far, its that you should never rely on someone to get something done. You have to go out and do it yourself!

But i guess working with people who you don't really like working with (not that i don't like working with my group :D ) does bring out the best in you. I've noticed this myself. I'm a lot more patient and persevering than i was last year, where i would try an get everything done myself. Trust is a key thing in teamwork and if that's not there the whole team will break apart, so i'm beginning to trust people more now.