This week’s meeting with Luke was mainly about what kind of documentary we want. Would we get involved? Or do a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ thing. I let him know my thoughts from the previous week and we agreed to just stick to observing as neither of us were comfortable being on camera. When it do a participatory documentary, you either get it really right or really wrong – we didn’t want to risk it. It takes enthusiasm and talent to be a good presenter and both of us felt like we were lacking in that department. So it has been decided that we will be doing a mainly expository documentary, with some observational features.
Another issue that arose was if there should be one camera person or if we should take it in turns. Of course Luke desperately wanted to be the cameraman, but I didn’t want to be sat around doing nothing so I suggested we take it in turns.
Today Linda Server took the lecture as her expertise is in fact documentary filmmaking.
We learned about all the different modes of documentary. These modes were created by a man named Bill Nichols. We’ve already learned about documentary modes in Mandy’s AV1032 but she failed to tell us who first came up with the idea so I learned sometime new from Linda.
You know the modes and I know the modes so I’m just going to briefly mention documentary filmmakers that regularly use each mode and a few of their films.
Expository Mode
This is the first and most identifiable mode that people usually apply to documentaries. Uses voice of God narration. A lot of the nature documentaries that come on BBC 1 and the discovery channel use this mode. Some say it’s boring but I say it’s traditional. You can never go wrong with expository documentary.
The Poetic Mode
Documentaries of this mode can be very abstract. They “move away from the objective reality of a given situation or people to grasp at an inner truth”
Robert Flaherty’s ‘Man of Aran’ is said to be poetic because of the way he presents the subjects of his documentary as men in harmony with nature.
I personally don’t think I have ever watched a poetic documentary.
The Observational Mode
A non-interventionist fly-on-the-wall type of documentary and one of the modes I prefer. The camera should not at all disturb the action so that subjects can behave naturally. There should be no interviews because the filmmaker should just be analysing that person’s world through the camera. People say seeing is believing and I guess that’s usually true. The truth is mostly seen and hardly heard.
Frederick Wiseman’s ‘Hospital’ is a good example.
Another documentary of Wiseman’s is TIiticut Follies which is about the treatment of inmates/patients at Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane.
We watched a clip of this in the class with Linda and I really couldn’t watch it because of the way the inmates were being treated. I understood that they were criminal but some of them clearly had mental disabilities and did not deserve to be treated the way they were by the guards. I could see that the guards had a lot of hate as well and I did not understand that. I felt sorry for the inmates where as some of the guards were purposely hurting them. What the guards failed to realise is that hurting someone with mental disabilities who has committed a crime makes you worse than them. Some were not even aware that what they had done was bad. There is so much hate in this world.
It has some conventions of the observation mode such as the fly-on-the-wall camera technique but it also has interviews in it.
The Participatory Mode
Direct interaction between the filmmaker and subject(s) which leads the filmmaker to become involved in the events being recorded.
I had heard of kind of heard of Michael Moore before we started learning about documentary filmmaking, but I didn’t know any of his films.
After watching Bowling for Columbine I became a fan. I understand that he twists plots and sometimes creates events but I have no problem with that. Everything he talks about in his films is absolutely fantastic and the fact that he does it in an entertaining way makes it even better. Whether or not his films should be referred to as documentaries is an issue. I haven’t quite made up my mind yet. His films do contain truth but he likes to twist the truth in order to make it entertaining. I think his should just make up a new style of filmmaking for himself because he is brilliant.
I just had to include this picture
The Reflexive Mode
Self aware documentary filmmaking which usually discusses the problems of making the documentary.
We watched a clip of Dziga Vertov’s ‘Man with a Movie Camera’ in the class.
I really don’t have anything to say about it except that maybe I should watch the whole film but I’m not really interested to. I doubt I will watch it this semester but maybe in the future.
Nick Broomfiled also uses the reflexive mode in most if not all of his documentaries. I was tempted to watch his documentary ‘The rise and fall of Heidi Fleiss’ as I am a fan of the woman but I couldn’t find a decent copy on the internet. It has definitely gone into my ‘Films to watch before the end of the year list’ though.
The documentary we watched in full in class was ‘Lift’ by Marc Isaacs.
I thought it was amazing. I sat through the whole thing completely mesmerized. How does someone come up with the idea to make a film about a lift ? haha
I loved the-fly-on-the-wall technique. It shows how interesting normal people can be.
I would definitely watch it again.
Technically, the sound levels were good. He couldn’t do much about lighting because he was in a lift. But it’s really the people who made the documentary. Marc Isaacs is just a genius for coming up with the idea.
We also looked at getting your ideas to the screen and the requirements raised by different channels.
In this week’s meeting with Luke we discussed exactly what we needed to film to fulfil the lighting/ camera requirements. I decided that we definitely needed shots of both camera and lighting equipment. I haven’t really used lighting equipment before so this is also kind of a way for me to learn some new skills while shooting the ‘making of’. I sent an e-mail to Dan Hutchinson and asked him who the cameraman and the lighting technician are, therefore I already know who to look out for when I get on set – instead of asking around and disturbing everyone.
I’m pretty sure the shoot days are going to be very busy which is expected seeing as it’s a feature film and I don’t really want us getting in the way which might lead us to create a more ‘fly-on-the-wall’ type documentary.
I also can’t wait to see all the really cool camera equipment – I’m pretty that because it’s a feature, the dollys and jibs and other pieces of exciting equipment (in contrast to the tripod) will be coming out.
Documentary of the week
‘Dreams vs nightmares’ Joe Berlinger
Short documentary because I was short on time. Someone close to me suggested I watch this because of my obsession with dreams and reality. However it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.
Turns out the documentary is really about dreams such as aspirations and dreaming good dreams that somehow help you in reality. I more interested in nightmares – the sinister side of dreams – because of my own experiences in the subject area.
Technically it was a weirdly well done documentary. It has close ups of side profiles first then showed full on faces which was unusual but I liked it.
All the interviewees were placed on the left side of the screen. I know we’ve been told in class to never do this and to always alternate but the filmmaker made it work by using different shot sizes for each interviewee.
Overall it was a good documentary, not quite what I was looking for but it was shot well and it looked nice.
Also turns out Joe Berlinger is the guy who directed the ‘Paradise lost’ documentary that I heard someone mention in class once so I might need to check that out.
I
love the actual advert and the making of was great as well – although a little
short I think.
It
was good to see how the advert had been put together, with preparation starting
a few weeks before the actual shoot day. When I first saw the ad I seemed to
think that random people at the station just started dancing together but after
watching the making of I can see how much work went into trying to make everything
look polished.
Dancers
had to be auditioned and even rehearsals took place. The actual advert clearly
shows that all the hard work paid off as it’s absolutely amazing.
Like
typical documentaries – members of the general public were interviewed when
they exited the station and it good to see and hear their reaction towards what
had just happened.
On
the technical side – I think the interviews were well shot in regards to the
situation. There was a lot of variety in terms of where the subjects were
placed and the lighting and sound was really despite being hot outside.
Overall
I liked the making of as it told me the background story of the advert but I
felt it was a bit rushed (although this isn’t a bad thing). However I also felt
that the fast pace of the ‘making of’ reflected that of the actual advert which
I suppose is a good thing.
When
I first saw the advert for this on tv I thought it was all fake (done with CGI)
but after watching the ‘making of’ I was amazed to learn that it had all in
fact been done for real and by hand. So people actually took parts of a car and
spent months trying to get them to knock into each other the right or drop the
right way to create the fantastic chain reaction which the advert shows.
I
think the making of was very good because it showed when things went wrong and
what people did to try and overcome it. Interviews were very brief but gave us a
lot of information. You didn’t hear the filmmakers asking questions but rather,
the interviewees included the subjects of the questions in their answers. (This
is a really good way to cut down on interview times). The music set the mood,
it was upbeat and kept viewers excited. The positions of the interviewees were
alternated – which is also very good.
Again,
I think this was another great making of as it gave us a lot of information and
it was fun and easy to watch. It was short and to the point which is another
reason why I enjoyed it.
Class Practical
There
was also a practical exercise where we had the choice of filming an
establishing shot, an interview and then a closing shot (all shots had to link
together somehow) or three short interviews with different people (also had to
link together).
Our
group decided to go for the first choice mainly because it seemed like the
easier option. We had little time to film and it seemed like it would be easier
to find one interviewee rather than three.
When
we got outside we all didn’t really have any ideas about what to film and ended
up dawdling a bit. But then we saw our class mate Joe Langlois walking around
the corner and literally forced him to become our interviewee. We made the
subject the essentials shop and how different it’s prices are from normal off
licenses as its supposed to be a UNI store.
The
setups were really simple with the establishing shot being and pan of Joe
walking into the essentials shop and the interview being shot right outside the
store.
I
guess this exercise was trying to teach us how important it is for all
clips/footage in documentary to link together in some way in order for it to
make sense?
I’m
not really sure to be honest but that’s what I got from it. I mean how weird would it be to be watching a
documentary about African wildlife and then you see a cutaway of people
swimming. Random I know, but it wouldn’t make any sense at all.
Documentary of the week
The
documentary I watched this week was ‘Beats, Rhymes and Life: The travels of a Tribe
called Quest’ – which has now become one of my favourite Hip Hop groups of all
time. I’m someone who prefers the music of generations before me rather than
the rubbish that comes out these days (Wouldn’t even class some of them as
music). So when I heard from my classmate that there was a documentary about
them I just had to and watch it.
‘Beats, Rhymes and Life: The travels of
a Tribe called Quest’ by Michael Rapaport
Rotten
Tomatoes : “A documentary film directed by Michael Rapaport about one of the
most influential and groundbreaking musical groups in hip-hop history. Having
released five gold and platinum selling albums within eight years, A Tribe
Called Quest has been one of the most commercially successful and artistically
significant musical groups in recent history, and regarded as iconic pioneers
of hip hop. The band's sudden break-up in 1998 shocked the industry and
saddened the scores of fans, whose appetite for the group's innovative musical
stylings never seems to diminish. A hard-core fan himself, Rapaport sets out on
tour with A Tribe Called Quest in 2008, when they reunited to perform sold-out
concerts across the country, almost ten years after the release of their last
album, The Love Movement. -- (C) Sony Classics”
The
documentary started off being about the group’s music, but then it moved on to
the personal problems (juicy bits) within the group which lead to its breakup.
I
would say I liked most of the documentary rather than all of it. The opening
sequence is absolutely amazing. It’s all animated with members of the group
included and it just looks really fun (only word that fit) to watch. I think
using this method was a brilliant move because it kind of diverted away from
the typical conventions of documentary filmmaking but it worked perfectly. It
fits in with the subject matter ‘A tribe called Quest’ because they are artists
and therefore need to be presented in an ‘arty’ way.
The
documentary gives a thorough history lesson about how the group came together
and what each person brought to the group – very informative.
It
has archive footage of the group’s previous concerts from the 90’s and also
clips of their first few music videos. It covers every inch of the group’s
lives as a whole but manages to also focus on each member and their personal
conflicts from each of their perspectives – It is COMPLETELY unbiased.
The
interview set ups were very casual but professional at the same time.
Interviews were filmed in their homes, at the park; sometimes even on a street
corner but the lighting and sound was always perfect (I really don’t understand
how they did it).
The
only bits I didn’t like were the handheld camera movements during the group’s tour.
It was really shaky at times and made a little bit dizzy – but this was the only
downside.
Overall
I think it’s an amazing documentary but I doubt you will enjoy it if you’re not
a Hip/Hop fan. If you are one however, prepare to be blown away as it will
leave laughing and crying at the same time.
Other
This
week I researched Public Service Broadcasting .(PSB) What I found out (this
could be wrong) is that it refers to TV programmes that are broadcasted for the
public’s benefit rather than commercial purposes. I didn’t understand how this
could be possible because I always thought companies (don’t know if that’s what
it is) like the BBC made money depending on the amount of viewers that tuned in
to each program but apparently it’s not so. PSBs can be viewed freely almost
anywhere nationwide Wikipedia says.
I
went on the ofcom site and it sort of made things clearer by saying that those
programmes were things like local news, arts programs and religious broadcasts.
Also TV and even radio broadcasters, have to include a certain number of PSBs
as a part of their licence to broadcast.
I
still don’t fully understand PSB but I guess that’s something I’ll have to
research more about myself.
Production Meeting
This
week I met up with my partner for the ‘Making of’ assignment Luke. We didn’t do
much work in terms of the assignment. It was just a meeting for us to get
together and get to know each other a bit more. Discussed the kind of films we
like and also the kind of documentaries we like.
Today a man came to talk to us about making films about
Preston for the Preston Guild. People could drop out of their electives and be
graded on this film instead but I had done my elective last semester.
To be honest I had no interest in this so I don’t feel
compelled to talk about it.
We discussed what a documentary was and came up with our own
definitions. I decide that a documentary was “A generally non-fiction film
which usually aims to inform” Hadn’t really watched that many documentaries to
didn’t want to apply certain characteristics to the form as a whole. But I
generally think that most documentaries have a point. Unlike films they are not
made to just entertain – subjects and opinions are explored.
There was a practical exercise where we had to keep the
camera static and record a few seconds of footage from a chosen camera angle.
Documentary of the week
I’ve
decided to watch short documentaries every week which I find interesting
because I think I’ll be able to analyse them better.
I
absolutely hated this documentary and I’m a huge anime/cosplay fan. The
narration was very unenthusiastic despite the fact that the clips being display
looked so interesting. The narration just spoilt everything and made the
overall documentary very boring. He had so much material to work with and did
not use it to his advantage at all. He should interacted more with the people
at the expo and should have even gotten involved himself seeing as he is a fan.
I
would not watch that again but I have to take into consideration the fact that
the filmmaker is only an amateur and therefore might not have the skills needed
to make a good documentary. However with this being said – the fact that he’s
into anime should have been enough reason for this doc to be more upbeat and
interesting.
Actuality Assignment
We
were given the Actuality assignment brief in class today. I was quite happy
when I got it – as you know I love to write.
Ideas
started popping into my head straight away, I have so many life experiences to
write about. I always thought my life was boring and blan, but since coming to
Uni I have looked back at my past quite a lot and I can now say that it was far
from boring. I’ve grown and evolved so much over the years it’s shocking.
This
assignment really made me think about my life so far and whether I’m happy with
it or not. For about three years now I’ve been really unmotivated and somehow
managed to convince myself that I’ve ruined my life. But after thinking about
ideas for the actuality I realised something very important – Life is about
living and learning from your mistakes. Yes you don’t always get what you want
but that’s the beauty of it. What you want might not necessarily be what’s good
for you. I can look back on my life now and say that I have lived. I have taken
risks and I have learned from my mistakes. Yes my life has not been perfect but
I’ve still lived it and that’s what really matters.
I
decided to write about when I was a little girl and lived in Ghana. One day I
got my leg stuck in a drain and stayed there all day till my grandfather came
to find me. What I love about the me back then was that the very next week I
was out exploring by myself again. I was a person who wasn’t scared to
experience new things. Even when I got hurt, I didn’t shy away or lock myself
up in my room, I ventured out again and took a different path because I wanted
to experience some new.
My
mum used to say that when I was baby I would never sleep when she took me and
brother out. Instead my small eyes would be wide open, trying to see new things
and trying to learn new things.
I
think this part of me is what drove me to university to study Film Production –
I wanted to try something that intrigued me. I wanted to see if I could be like
those directors who make wonderful movies and manage to touch such a large
number of people. I thought to myself, any smart person can do Law, but it
takes someone with courage to go out and do something that they have never done
before, knowing that there’s a chance they could fail.
I
miss that me very much and I wish she would come back because the me right now
is stopping myself from learning, growing and experiencing.
I
know I’m waffling but sometimes it’s like something sets me off and I have an
epiphany. That something this time was the actuality assignment.
