Month: August 2017

It’s hard to believe that this week marked the official half way point of the semester.

This week we spent some time looking at how to write basic documents surrounding our synopsis’, treatments and pitches. These documents have been quite hard for me to develop at the present moment, as I am still in talks with Good Shepherd about what I am making. However, while developments have been slow, they are starting to become steady and I am becoming much more confident in my direction and documentary.

During Fridays class, we heard from one of Kim’s past students about his documentary experience, and we had a chance to actually watch some of his documentaries. I was blown away by what he was able to create, and will take crucial parts of his advice into account when making my own documentary. I found it interesting that he didn’t use a tripod very often throughout his documentaries. I want to create something personal, up close and authentic, and I have definitely thought about limiting my use of a tripod, yet always worried that there is too much room for error. Seeing the end result of Kim’s past students work without a tripod however has made me want to explore this technique in my documentary more, and see whether I can do it well.

This week I have been in further talks with Good Shepherd, and have planned that myself and my documentary partner Matt will create a documentary surrounding some women who attend a sewing group at the St Albans Community House with Good Shepherd. While i’m not exactly sure what this will entail at this point, whether it will be a long documentary or part of a smaller series, this coming week I will be attending the site of the sewing group, taking a look around, and hopefully discussing exactly what Good Shepherd are hoping to get out of this section of the documentary. I am hoping to have a lot of my planning done in the next week, and am therefore really relying on Good Shepherd to plan exactly what they want so I can continue on with my planning, especially because we need to present a pitch in just over a week. I would be happy to create a long documentary about these ladies and the sewing group, and make something personal about them and their journey to where they are. In saying this, Good Shepherd was interested in us making a number of short videos to be used on their social media, so this may only be a small piece of something bigger, only time will tell!

 

This week I made a large amount of progress with the actual content of my documentary. It was our first week back with Monday classes, and we had two representatives from Good Shepherd come out and speak with us about potential projects.

From this discussion, it looks as though I will be making a number of short videos that Good Shepherd can use on their social media pages and website that highlight the volunteers and Good Shepherd members. I am very excited to complete this project, as making campaigns for organisations and their social media is something I am potentially looking into as a career, and seeing how documentary can be used in this is very exciting.

At this point, I’m not exactly sure who I will be interviewing or creating my documentaries about, so this will effect the style I use. Certain techniques such as using my digital camera and my idea to use informal interview techniques may not suit this type of documentary, depending on the people and nature of the videos. I am happy to finally have some of these things locked in, as I have been feeling uneasy about getting my idea together.

In Fridays class, we discussed each others ideas, which was great as we have all listened to each others ideas throughout the semester, and its great to hear how everyones ideas are shaping, while also giving me some ideas for my own documentary.

We then watched a short documentary made for the AFL Women’s league. I found this very beneficial to watch, as it was used for promotion on the website, which is very similar to what my Good Shepherd work will entail. The AFLW promotion had a very informal style to its interviews, and was very well done, so I will take this as inspiration for making my own documentary. Of course, I am completing something of a completely different subject matter, so while I can take some inspiration, I will make sure to alter the style if I use something similar to fit my subject matter.

Over the next week I hope to continue my talks with Good Shepherd and lock down exactly who I am going to be talking to so I can start planning out my videos and exactly how each one will be set up.

For our final informal Monday class, we were asked to think about impact and documentary. We read about how documentary can have different impacts, some being large and wide spread, others being on a smaller scale, effecting the crew and cast more than anything else. For my documentary, I hope to make some kind of impact, either big or small. I definitely like the thought of impacting a wider audience with my documentary, and while I don’t know the exact nature of my documentary yet, I am most likely aiming to provide awareness about my not-for-profit organisation and what it does for others. However, even making something that emotionally effects me and potentially anyone else I work with on the project, or even just those who work at the organisation, I would be thrilled. In my documentary, I am hoping to centre it around one persons story, so even being able to make an impact on that person would be enough for me.

Our Friday class was our final one with Robin in the lead. It was my week to present my show and tell, so I decided to discuss and preview a little of my favourite documentary, Catching Hell. The thing I Iove most about this documentary is the fact that I felt real remorse and sadness for the subject, who was not actually present in the documentary. I hope that my documentary can make someone feel some sort of true emotions and can really move the audience the way that this documentary did to me.

After this, and a further discussion on informal interviews, we brought out the F4 sound recorders and the cameras to put all the technical skills we have learnt over the last couple of weeks into practice. We were sent out to create and record an interview using the devices. We kept our interview simple, sitting our subject behind a nice background and just having them answer traditional questions. This experiment was a good way to test everything we had been told about, from frame positioning, to lighting, to how to actually complete an interview. For my own documentary, I will probably mix a little bit of formal interviewing, like we did today, and informal interviewing to create both serious and more personal, light hearted moments.

The last few weeks have been helpful to me for a number of reasons. In my first studio, I did not complete much work using technical instruments, cameras in particular, so it has been very important to learn how to use the cameras and microphones, and their different settings. I’ve also learned exactly what to look out for in terms of lighting and framing, and how to do this correctly in my documentary. Finally, i’ve been able to really nail down the type of documentary I would like to make. Looking at the experiments we have completed, the ones surrounding interviews in particular, I am happy to say that they have guided me to work out my documentary style. I want to make a documentary that is a little more informal, and has a real personal feel to it. I want the audience to be able to engage with the subjects, and make them feel as though the truth is all that is being told. I like the idea of high lighting, and a mix of interviews that are both formal and have the subject sitting down answering questions, and interviews that are less formal, with all the mistakes left in, and shots of walking and talking, or demonstrating and talking included, to give the documentary many different elements.

Over the next week, I will be putting together and finalising Project Brief 2, while also hearing from Good Shepherd, a not-for-profit organisation helping people within the community, to see whether or not I can create a documentary like the one I am envisioning beginning to plan. If this all works out, I hope to begin working on a solid production plan, and slowly begin organising my subjects and begin shooting! Exciting things to come!

This week, I have begun to think more about the documentary I want to make and how exactly I will do so.

One of the big things of the week was ‘ethics in documentary’. The reading “Navigating the River” in particular made me think more about my own documentary, as it pointed out issues the author and documentary maker Edwin Martinez had when making his own documentary about a sensitive issue. As I am planning on creating a documentary with a social not for profit organisation with people who may be dealing with sensitive issues, it is important that I am delicate when presenting the issues that may come up. I also need to ensure everyone I include in the documentary is willing to tell the story as truthfully as possible. I also hope to get a number of different people who are able to show all sides of the organisation/story, to ensure that I can replicate this truth and cover the story as accurately as possible, avoiding issues that Martinez came across.

With Project Brief two looming, i’ve been doing some experimenting with camera techniques to see whether or not the ideas I have play out in real life. I did some practising using the camera in less stable ways, such as walking with it, or even just holding it down in my hand to see the effect it had on the shot. Looking at the finished product, I feel as though, if I did use this technique, I would need to make it a little more planned, even though I don’t exactly want it to look planned. The unplanned shots I took are a little too shaky and messy, however, could be useful depending what I make. I also experimented using a digital camera, which I hope to do a little more to try some different effects, although I am happy overall. In this weeks Friday class, we discussed our ideas, and received some feedback from Robin about them. I discussed my idea of using a digital camera, and he advised me to think about the value and purpose it will add. This is something I plan to think about over the next week, and even more so once I know exactly who I will be working with.

Robin also spoke about formal interviews towards the end of the class, and how they can set the scene for documentaries. In my own documentary, I think I want my interviews to be a little less formal, and used more as voice over rather than pure interview. I do feel relatively confident about interviewing, as my last media studio was radio based and did involve undertaking a number of interviews with different people. These, however, were more formal, so doing something less formal will be more of a challenge, especially interviewing in a way that fits with the overall theme of my documentary.

With all of this in mind, I would really like to nail down exactly who I am working with in the next week or so, so I can start to plan even further the style my documentary will take, and how formal or informal it will be!

This week, when looking at ethics, I first tried to think about documentaries I have watched that may have ethical issues. The truth is, almost all of them do have some potential issues. Just today watching the news I heard a report about the late Princess Diana’s brother asking a UK broadcaster to not play a documentary made with footage from the final year of her life, as it would hurt her sons. Of course, ethics comes into documentary in many ways,via the people making the documentary, the people involved in making it, even the area its made in. As discussed in the ‘Navigating the River’ reading, cultural issues are also prominent .

For me, the first documentary that comes to mind surrounding ethics is ‘Catching Hell’, a documentary I wish to discuss more during my show and tell, as I can surely say it is my favourite documentary I have seen so far. The documentary takes viewers through an incident that occurred at a 2003 Chicago Cubs game, where a spectator named Steve Bartman reached over the railing to attempt to catch a foul ball, and ended up accidentally intercepting a potential play, as a Cubs fields-man was right under the ball attempting to catch it at the time. As the Chicago Cubs began to collapse, word quickly spread about Bartman, with it resulting in him needing to be escorted out of the game by security due to the taunting and bullying. His information was found out, and Bartman, a private man, was put into the spotlight and made the scapegoat. The documentary follows the incident and its aftermath, using a mix of recently filmed footage, as well as footage captured at the game and beyond. The documentary features people sitting around Bartman, as well as sporting experts. Interestingly, despite the fact the entire documentary was about the incident he was involved in, Bartman refused to be a part of the documentary, and it therefore featured nothing from his perspective. Bartman made a statement at the time of the incident, however chose to stay out of the spotlight.  Film maker Alex Gibney himself said in an interview about Catching Hell that Bartman, despite Gibney’s multiple offerings, declined being involved in the documentary as he ‘just wanted to be left alone.’

 

For me, the ethical issue here is that a documentary was made focussed around an incident with a man who did not wish to be, and was not, involved in any of the process.While there are many documentaries around about people who do not wish to be involved, many of them choose this due to the negative effect it would have on them. Interesting, the documentary does not attack Bartman or negatively highlight Bartman at all, instead makes the audience feel sorry for him. Bartman could of had things to gain in being involved, yet he turned it down. Bartman had never spoken to the media and he was therefore only represented in the documentary by people who spent short expanses of time with him ten years prior. Is it ethical to make a documentary about a man who has clearly been though hell and want to be left alone? The documentary brought the incident up again, likely causing him further pain. While this might not be seen as a classic ethics issue, it does put into question the ethics of making a documentary about someone who clearly does not support it, and as a result may be missing pieces of the truth.

 

Taking this into consideration when making my own documentary, I hope to have participants who are actually willing to be involved and represent their own side of the issue. Of course, making a documentary with a not for profit social based organisation will pose many issues of its own, as there could potentially be vulnerable people involved that I may not be able to level with as I myself may not have been in the same situation. I will have to be mindful of these issues and approach them delicately.

Also, I will need to be mindful of the way I represent the people within the documentary, and try as hard as possible to not be subjective, though i’m sure this will be an issue no matter what I put together. When I eventually choose my not for profit organisation and my idea, I will go through and look out for ethical issues to combat as I go forward.