Tuesday 26 April 2016
So that i could get an idea on how i should go about carrying out this portrait documentary, i went to the library to carry out some research into the subject matter to help build a steady understanding as to the workflow that goes into creating a documentary, and find out from the industry experts as to how they work.
The defined terminology for what my role actually is, is defined as a Documentary journalist
“Journalist shooting in a cinematic style using cinematic conventions in structuring story
The books that i read to help me with my research was:
Video journalism for the web
"video journalists who want to craft thoughtful, character-driven pieces-the documentary journalists who are given the time and give the time to let their characters speak.”P.2
This book really helped me out, providing so much useful information on how to go about structuring the story, especially pages 16 - 19
“Figure out what the story is and in order to tell that story, you find characters and viably interesting scenes. For longer pieces, you deal with character development. It’s almost like a feature film way of looking at it. Your character has a conflict or has to overcome something and changes in the meantime. There’s some overlap with Hollywood - this is what quality video storytelling is" (Pitzer 2010) P.16
PITZER, ANDREA. "Travis Fox On NPR/Frontline Collaboration: "I Feel Like It's A Great Model For The Future"". Niemanstoryboard.org. N.p., 2010. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
PITZER, ANDREA. "Travis Fox On NPR/Frontline Collaboration: "I Feel Like It's A Great Model For The Future"". Niemanstoryboard.org. N.p., 2010. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
(Lancaster, 2013:17)
(Lancaster, 2013:18)
How to develop a story - ask key questions before you start shooting
(Lancaster, 2013:19)
Before you begin shooting, answer these questions
Who is your character and what makes him or her tick? you need to get personal
What is the story in one stench? Be sure the summary contains the seed of a conflict.
A summary of the story. Identify the possible hook, conflict, climax, and resolution.
What are some of the possible actions you can get on camera? (The visual material.) Who will the shots in each sequence show the hook, conflict, climax, and resolution?
Creative documentary
De Jong, Wilma, Erik Knudsen, and Jerry Rothwell. Creative Documentary. Harlow, U.K.: Pearson, 2012. Print.
This was another useful book, as it further supported what was written in Video Journalism for the Web, giving me reassurance as to how to go about structuring the narrative for the documentary, plus providing useful information about editing and interviewing, plus information from other filmmakers that i could later revisit for further help.
(De Jong, Knudsen and Rothwell, 2012: 273)
Tell me something
Documentary filmmakers
Edwards, Jessica and Thom Powers. Tell Me Something. New York: Film First Co., 2013. Print.
With this book, is was more of an advice book, with advice given from a wide range of documentary filmmakers throughout the world, each giving a page of advice on how to go about making a documentary, with different professionals such as: producers, directors, cinematographers, sound recording artist editors etc.. each contributing useful information on how to go about planning, shooting and editing plus promoting your documentary.
Here’s a few exerts of useful information that i took from this book.
Alan Berlimer
“Enter your subject with an open spirit. Each film you make is a journey. Throw away you expectation, your assumptions, and your detailed itinerary. Allow yourself to get lose along the way. Make room for surprises and discoveries. Play… Know that some things will be out of your control. But also know that one thing leads to another. Quickly or slowly, but always know that a path is a path. Listen to your film it will tell you how it needs to be made." (Edwards and Powers, 2013: 24)
Michael Apted
"The success of the work depends on your skills at electing trufil and memorable material."
“The skill is integrating what you uncover into your narrative. :et them be who they are and work around that." (Edwards and Powers, 2013: 17)
Steven Bagnor & Julia Reichert
“Film present - tense situations. That’s what most contemporary documentary demand. People going through tough stuff, who trust you enough to let you film it, who believe as you do that the act of bearing witness to this event is important.” “Love your subject, because making your film will be really hard, and if you don’t love it, you might give up on it." (Edwards and Powers, 2013: 30)
