Second day of Filming

On this day we wanted to film our interviews so we tried to get a hold of the drama room, but this wasn't made possible as there were classes being taught so we started our research into the illuminati again, we created different questions for our interviewees instead of using ad-lib asking them from memory, although some ad-lib may be required depending on the subjects answer and our option to further the question. Faraz got in contact with multiple professors from different universities to try and find out if they have any knowledge in the field and if so we would have asked them if they were available for an interview.


This was the Email we sent:


Good Morning Steve,

I telephoned your office on Friday afternoon and spoke to the receptionist. I was wondering if it would be convenient to call you back within the next half an hour?

I am an A2 Media Studies student at The NEW Academy and I am currently producing a documentary on the Illuminati. The purpose of the telephone call is to clarify whether yourself or another lecturer would be happy to be interviewed about your views on the subject for our documentary.

My teacher Zoe Lynch is a former student of yours who studied Media and Cultural Studies. I shall be calling this morning.

Kind Regards,


Faraz Rafiq 


Unfortunately we didn't get a reply to this email. This could be due to the professor being busy. 




This was another email: 


Good Afternoon Dr Jones,

I am an A2 Media Studies student at The NEW Academy and my team and I are currently producing a documentary on the Illuminati. The purpose of this email is to enquire whether yourself or another lecturer would be happy to be interviewed with your views on the subject for our documentary.

Alternatively, if you have a contact of someone who is interested in the Illuminati conspiracy or could voice their opinion, it would really be of help.

My teacher, Zoe Lynch, is a former student of Media and Cultural Studies and she recommended that I contact you as you may have information or may be interested.

I hope you can help us in this matter.


Kind Regards,


Faraz Rafiq 




This was his reply:


Hi Faraz,

apologies for delay - I'm in the middle of marking and the start of the new semester.

I'm afraid I can't be any help. I only really have a superficial knowledge of the topic, and don't think I'd be any use in your documentary. I used to know one academic expert on the Illuminati, but I've discovered that he's now moved to the US. I've asked a colleague in History who has researched underground organisations, but he too has very little knowledge of either the original Illuminati, or the various groups since associated with it.

Good luck with your work, and sorry I couldn't be more helpful. 




If we do not find another expert in this country we will try and get in touch with the professor who is an expert on the matter,and try get a video conference or another sort of communication we we can find out his opinion on the matter.






We also created set questions so that our subjects could answer with their own beliefs, these included: 


Why do you believe the illuminati created?
Do you believe that they still exist or are just used as a scaremonger tactic?
Do you think that jay-z/rihanna/new artists are part of the illuminati? Taking into consideration the likes of beethoven and mozart were former members.
Why is the illuminati tied into conspiracy theories such as the assassination and the crusades?

First day of Filming

We started our filming today, and we got our introduction done. We set up our camera and helped Faraz (the Narrator) work through some of his lines and helped him put together a solid opening. After a few failed attempts we finally got the introduction done without mistake.

Research & Planning: Aperture Test

Aperture is 'the size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken.' This means that when you hit the shutter button on the camera a hole opens up to allow your camera image sensor to catch a glimpse of what you want to capture. We decided to look at aperture as it would allow us to change the depth of field in the shot, we felt that this would be a good idea as it would enable us to focus on the narrator and give his surroundings a blurry, out focus to add effect and make sure that the narrator stands out and is more poignant, giving him control over the product.

Research & Planning: Locations

We have took some photographs of possible locations where we will film our documentary. We have chose these locations based on the effect it will have on our documentary, e.g. we have chose some locations where it is dark and mysterious which goes with the mystery and thriller behind the subject and we have also chosen locations where there is a lot of natural light, which goes with the topic of the documentary which is illuminati, so lots of light will give the impression of the setting being illuminated.

This location is for one of the interviews that will take place, this location would be very good as there is a lot of high key natural lighting, me and my team discussed that this location would be good for an interview, where the interviewee will be leaning on the wall and looking away from the camera giving a very documentary feel to the interview and suit the subject as it is serious and by looking away into a distance gives the impressions of in-depth thinking.

This location could be used for the opening scene in for my documentary we felt if there wasn't much natural light and it was slightly dark we could use this to our advantage as it would add intensity and atmosphere which matches our topic, illuminati.

We took this as an establishing shot as we may start of the opening to our documentary here, we felt this surrounding was dark and uninviting due to the huge tower blocking out some natural light so when it is mid-day it may be darker adding a gritty, social real effect to our documentary.

This was outside the tower I felt this wall, I could use as one of the possible locations where we could hold an interview we felt that this gritty setting could add a visual effect on our documentary that will give a professional look to my documentary.

We found this server box, where I thought it may be good to sit in front of the box with the box appearing behind him, and the interviewee could have been a technician that is familiarised with the illuminati and find his take on it.

This will be our primary interview room, the drama room is very dark and has surround lighting so we can make the room as dark or as light as we want as we control it, which is extremely crucial to our documentary as our interviews will be serious about this mysterious topic meaning that we can make the room dark and shine a light on the interviewee so only they are in the shot, making them more poignant.

These shots were taken purely for experimental purposes I wanted to test the aperture on the camera as this is a visual effect that can change simple images and videos into professional looking ones.

Shot List

Shot Number	Location	Description/ shot
1	Art Block Ext	Jump cut of narrator, leading to a midshot while talking, then close up as he walks off screen.
2	Title sequences	Multiple Images flash on screen and speed up.
3	Mason Lodge	Shot reverse shot of narrator and interviewee.

Change in Technology

Nikon D3100

Me and my team have decided that the equipment that we used to film our AS main tasks was inadequate, this lowered the quality of the film which gave an amateur feel and look to out main tasks. I myself am a photography student and had the idea to use the Nikon D3100, which is SLR (single lense reflex) which adds a professional look to images which we have used to our advantage, and have taken the shot locations with this camera.
This camera we have used also has a video feature, which we used to record a brief explanation of what we are going to do. We took a shot of a location and then video explaining why we have took the image and what we are going to use the location for.

A brief explanation of the key features-
D3100 employs Nikon's latest breakthrough technology to deliver superb results. A newly developed DX-format CMOS sensor with 14.2 effective megapixels works in tandem with new EXPEED 2 image processing engine to produce highly detailed images containing rich tonal gradations and faithful color. This combination also helps produce beautifully defocused backgrounds - a hallmark of quality digital SLR cameras. In addition, a maximum ISO of 3200 (expandable to ISO 12800 equivalent using the Hi 2 setting) allows you to shoot without worrying about camera-shake blur.

Documentary Plan

Here is a brief plan of our documentary.

Opening Scene:
The first shot will be the presenter giving the audience an incite to what the documentary will be about and sort of things they can expect to see.

Second Scene:
The second shot will contain either a voice over or moving footage of the presenter talking about the history and why the illuminati was created. Here we may include archive footage of the creaters of the order and maps showing exactly were the order was created.

Third Scene:
We have decided that in the middle of our documentary we shoiuld include an interview(s) these would be with academics and the public so we can get both takes on the illuminati.

Here is a brief plan of our documentary.

Opening Scene:
The first shot will be the presenter giving the audience an incite to what the documentary will be about and sort of things they can expect to see.

Second Scene:
The second shot will contain either a voice over or moving footage of the presenter talking about the history and why the illuminati was created. Here we may include archive footage of the creaters of the order and maps showing exactly were the order was created.

Third Scene:
We have decided that in the middle of our documentary we shoiuld include an interview(s) these would be with academics and the public so we can get both takes on the illuminati.

Research & Planning: Potential Target Audience

For conspiracy documentaries, there is a wide target audience, they can target intellectuals, young and old, depending on the conspiracy, one like 9/11 will attract a huge target audience this is due to the impact this cataclysmic disaster had on the world, a documentary on the illuminati will have an acquired but still substantial audience, those who know about the illuminati may watch the documentary, this is purely because the mysterious background behind the illuminati due to their questionable exisitance. I feel my potential audience well be young adults, who are at secondary school, college and universities, this is purely due to the reason that illuminati have been said to be involved with popular music of this generation e.g. lady gaga, jay z etc.

Research & Planning: 102 Minutes That Changed America

102 Minutes That Changed America is a 102-minute American television special documentary film that was produced by History and premiered commercial-free on September 11, 2008, marking the seventh anniversary of the attacks.
The film depicts in virtually real time the New York-based events of the September 11 attacks primarily using raw video footage from mostly amateur citizen journalists. The documentary is accompanied by an 18-minute documentary short called I-Witness to 9/11, which features interviews with nine firsthand eyewitnesses who captured the video footage on camera.