Analysis/Reflection 2, Q2

Select from one of the readings and briefly describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.

Week 2 – Documentary storytelling for film and videomakers

  1.  “Finding” the story during production
    In Film-TV 1, we made a drama short which was quite planned and scripted. Now, in Film-TV 2, we’re making a documentary which doesn’t necessarily have to go according to plan. When interviewing, there’s no need to stick closely to your scripted questions. Go with the flow of the conversation; be open to new insights, stories, plot lines. I think, as a greenhorn in documentary making, I would feel obliged to stick to my questions and my anticipated version of the film, just because I’m afraid the resulting film might not have a proper structure. I’m writing this down because it reminds me to have faith in my subjects and to allow stories to “flow”.
  2. Telling a chronological story, but not chronologically
    There is always a stigma that comes with non-fiction – that it is boring. I always thought that of documentaries – that they were straight up hard facts. But I think completely otherwise now. You can still get creative; you can still dramatize documentaries and spice up non-fiction stories. The only thing is you can’t distort facts. Also, I reckon the beginning of a film is always important and perhaps even more so for a documentary – it needs to capture the audience’s attention and lock it in. The beginning has to make the audience ask “why?” and want to know more. Knowing the film does not have to be set in chronological sequence allows more room for creativity and experimentation with the beginning and subsequent flow and presentation of events.
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