Throughout the process of making these videos I discovered the most important phase of the documentary film making process is the development and research phase. This acts as a catalyst for what we shoot and the concept behind the work.

Using a book of interviews as a starting point to create our documentaries worked well. It helped to create linkage between our work and the dominant themes and ideas the museum specialises in. It also inspired the possibility for us to explore the book’s roots in more detail in future projects.

I would have liked to capture more content at the museum. This would have added more visual emphasis to the piece as it was predominantly lead by the vocals. Next time I am exploring the observational mode I’d like to work with more moving and still images from the museum and experiment with them in Premier Pro. Because of the limited amount of time I had spent at the museum, it made it difficult for me to completely connect with the work. My piece was also quite abstract, I used footage I’d captured from around Pipemakers Park and superimposed it against images from the museum. This was my attempt at connecting present time with past times, however I think if I’d spent more time collecting content at the museum, I could’ve done this better. For example I could have gone to the school she attended and capture some content to make it more relevant to her story and the West Melbourne area.

I’d like to explore the interviewing process and the participatory mode. It would be a great experience if our group chose to track down and re-interview the women who shared their stories in the book. Furthermore, practising interview techniques and the technicalities of setting up sound and camera. I’d really love to spend more time on tools, working with the equipment.