Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tutorial 6: Observational Shoot
Today we did a one-hour observational shoot as an exercise. Observational documentary is often an fascinating form of documentary because it captures the true side of people and reveals how people react without the camera, or when they see a camera directed at them.
Initially I wanted to give our documentary a style by shooting everything from high angle, but since it is so hard to find places with high angle, we decided to shoot a hidden-camera-documentary in the library. And we named it "Library Spies: From an unknown eye".
Over the exercise, I realized that in order to shoot a good observational documentary, camera needs to be on for a longer period of time. Sometimes our eyes and brain are able to record something interesting happening around us, but the camera can't. It is the matter of timing when it happens, and when the camera captures it.
Hiding a crew, a camera, and a HUGE boom pole isn't easy. Fortunately library has a great collection of books so we were able to hide behind them. Similar to the surveillance camera, the Library Spies captured incidents happened in the library, without the subjects noticing it.
Initially I wanted to give our documentary a style by shooting everything from high angle, but since it is so hard to find places with high angle, we decided to shoot a hidden-camera-documentary in the library. And we named it "Library Spies: From an unknown eye".
Over the exercise, I realized that in order to shoot a good observational documentary, camera needs to be on for a longer period of time. Sometimes our eyes and brain are able to record something interesting happening around us, but the camera can't. It is the matter of timing when it happens, and when the camera captures it.
Hiding a crew, a camera, and a HUGE boom pole isn't easy. Fortunately library has a great collection of books so we were able to hide behind them. Similar to the surveillance camera, the Library Spies captured incidents happened in the library, without the subjects noticing it.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Documentary Research
Research is a vital part of making a documentary. If we do not have enough research, we would not know what to expect, or rather, what kind of unexpected issues to expect.
Before today, I thought animal communication is a totally new subject. But in fact, my research tells me that it has been existing for quite a while and there are many videos on animal communication on youtube! To see how other people do it gives me more ideas on what I want to cover in my documentary and what to expect.
Besides, we also did our location research after class and decided to use Royal Botanic Garden, mainly because it is nearer to the city. None of us drives so we have to rely heavily on public transport. The closer the park / location / garden to public transport the better as we do not have to carry all the equipments and walk long distance.
We went to Flagstaff Garden to have a look as well.
It is a beautiful park i must say. Unfortunately, the size of the park is too small and it makes it harder for us to film an interview because the camera can easily capture trams and cars passing in the background. Sound would also be a major problem if we were to choose Flagstaff Garden to do the interview.
Not only Royal Botanic Garden has a huge lake (and a quiet garden), it is also an ideal place for people to walk their dogs. As Robin suggested, it would be great to have people walking their dogs in the background as we interview Caroline.
However, one major problem shooting outdoor is the unexpected weather and lighting. Thus it is crucial for us to do a weather check before deciding on a shooting date.
Before today, I thought animal communication is a totally new subject. But in fact, my research tells me that it has been existing for quite a while and there are many videos on animal communication on youtube! To see how other people do it gives me more ideas on what I want to cover in my documentary and what to expect.
Besides, we also did our location research after class and decided to use Royal Botanic Garden, mainly because it is nearer to the city. None of us drives so we have to rely heavily on public transport. The closer the park / location / garden to public transport the better as we do not have to carry all the equipments and walk long distance.
We went to Flagstaff Garden to have a look as well.
It is a beautiful park i must say. Unfortunately, the size of the park is too small and it makes it harder for us to film an interview because the camera can easily capture trams and cars passing in the background. Sound would also be a major problem if we were to choose Flagstaff Garden to do the interview.
Not only Royal Botanic Garden has a huge lake (and a quiet garden), it is also an ideal place for people to walk their dogs. As Robin suggested, it would be great to have people walking their dogs in the background as we interview Caroline.
However, one major problem shooting outdoor is the unexpected weather and lighting. Thus it is crucial for us to do a weather check before deciding on a shooting date.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Staged Interview (Practice Session)
Stereo is such a pain in the ass, especially when the settings on mixer were different when we did the second angle. It makes it so much harder to edit, and very confusing as well! The difference became very obvious when I cut 2 shots together, louder on one side and lower on the other (audio).
So instead of exposing the comparison, I decided to insert pictures and use the audio from one of the shots.
Other than audio issue, I have also encountered some problems when exporting the video as I used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit the film. The settings are pretty much the same but it would not allow me to change its Image Size initially. I had to change the 'level' of compression in order to change other settings. Besides, there are 2 selections for its Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels, Standard 3:4, and Widescreen 16:9. I tried exporting the film with Widescreen 16:9 selection but it looks very strange, so Standard 3:4 is used in this film.
Filming Exercise
We had the opportunity to go out and film a staged mini documentary by ourselves during the tutorial hours. Since we will be doing a documentary on Animal Speak and we had no idea what to interview during the practice session, we have decided to interview Azwin to get her point of view on animal communication (and she has 15 cats back home!)
Even though the interview questions were totally random, Esther doing sound for the first time, and I was not fully confident with the camera, everything went quite well. The practice session gave us opportunity to experience the shoot and also gave us an idea what kind of angles we have to shoot for the documentary we will be doing.
Even though the interview questions were totally random, Esther doing sound for the first time, and I was not fully confident with the camera, everything went quite well. The practice session gave us opportunity to experience the shoot and also gave us an idea what kind of angles we have to shoot for the documentary we will be doing.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The grey area
I especially enjoyed this week's reading - Ward's Documentary: The margins of reality. Once again, it discussed on the complex relationship between fiction, non fiction and documentary, an extremely arguable issue. The 'blurred boundary', as described by Bill Nichols (1994) is what makes documentary interesting.
Salesman (1969) showed in this week's lecture is great demonstration of the grey area. It is shot using documentary stylistic and aesthetic approach with real people's life recorded, but it was carefully edited and shaped into the version that we watch today. Besides, has the existence of the camera or the crew affected any of the salesmen's behavior? Paul Ward mentioned "...simply because they are a kind of improvised drama, then certain aspects of reality will never adequately be represented." Even though the statement is commenting on reenactment or performance of real life stories, I think it is applicable in such situation. However, it is still appropriate to say that reality is represented, in certain ways.
Salesman (1969) showed in this week's lecture is great demonstration of the grey area. It is shot using documentary stylistic and aesthetic approach with real people's life recorded, but it was carefully edited and shaped into the version that we watch today. Besides, has the existence of the camera or the crew affected any of the salesmen's behavior? Paul Ward mentioned "...simply because they are a kind of improvised drama, then certain aspects of reality will never adequately be represented." Even though the statement is commenting on reenactment or performance of real life stories, I think it is applicable in such situation. However, it is still appropriate to say that reality is represented, in certain ways.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Inspiration & Motivation
My major inspiration for the documentary Animal Speak came from her - Meow Mi.
She is a close mate, a companion and even a family member to me. Few months after I came to Australia, she went out and never came back. Till today, I do not know if she is still alive but she is always in my heart. She has since become a motivation for me in making this documentary. To me, it is no longer simply an assignment, but a meaningful production.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Contact
Getting the animal communicator to be interested in this documentary idea is so much easier than I thought it would be. I've contacted 2 animal communicators so far (one in NSW, and the other one located in Springvale) and they both are very happy to help us with this documentary!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
My favorite doco
WATCHING documentaries is one of the important stages in documentary-learning.
One of my favorite documentaries is Capturing the Friedmans. It is really amazing and attractive because it is distinctive from the rest of the documentaries in the market. Capturing the Friedmans utilized archival footage and news to present the reality - a truth and genuineness that other people (especially those who were involved in the case) can not see from the surface, a broken family, devastated hearts and ultimately, joyful reunion. It plays well with audiences' mind, making you believe that Friedmans are terrible people in the beginning. It then gradually create sense of sympathy, doubt and confusion in viewers. When I first watch the film, I can't help thinking about it all day. So provocative yet stimulating!
One of my favorite documentaries is Capturing the Friedmans. It is really amazing and attractive because it is distinctive from the rest of the documentaries in the market. Capturing the Friedmans utilized archival footage and news to present the reality - a truth and genuineness that other people (especially those who were involved in the case) can not see from the surface, a broken family, devastated hearts and ultimately, joyful reunion. It plays well with audiences' mind, making you believe that Friedmans are terrible people in the beginning. It then gradually create sense of sympathy, doubt and confusion in viewers. When I first watch the film, I can't help thinking about it all day. So provocative yet stimulating!
Week 2 Reading and some thoughts..
IN MacDonald and Cousins' Imagining Reality, Pawel Pawlikowski mentioned that "Most documentaries claim to be simply recording reality. I make no bones about manipulating my subjects. I do it through choices in photography, sound, music, editing and narrative devices."
It made it clear how easy it is for a filmmaker to present reality based on the personal vision of the director or filmmaker. However, is it ethical to do that? Then again, what is the guideline to ethical documentary-making?
It made it clear how easy it is for a filmmaker to present reality based on the personal vision of the director or filmmaker. However, is it ethical to do that? Then again, what is the guideline to ethical documentary-making?
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