On Friday, Jess and I showed the class a second look at our work in progress. This time, we put forward a sequence with the women talking about what they’ve learnt and how the class has affected them. We asked the class whether this would work better as an opening or closing sequence, as well as whether subtitles or music would be appropriate.

We got a few different opinions regarding the opening/closing sequence question, some saying it works better at the beginning and others at the end. After listening to a few different voices, we decided a ‘mini’ version of this sequence would work well as an emotional hook at the beginning, while the rest could close out the film.

We were told subtitles weren’t necessary for the film and that it could come off a little bit patronizing if we inserted them, so I don’t think they’ll end up going in. As far as music goes, we still haven’t really gone anywhere. A couple of people said music would work in the sequence but I’m not entirely sure what type of music to use. I looked again for something that might work but it never feels like it’s right, I’ll continue to look and use some of the suggestions Kim gave us for royalty free sites, and hopefully we can get our hands on something that fits.

I plan on smoothing out this sequence soon and finishing off the rest of a rough cut, so we can start to refine the final film as soon as possible. Jess is going to put some 30-60 second individual documentaries together as well. We’ll continue to stay in touch with Kim and Good Shepherd when we need to and keep working away until we’re not just done with this thing, but happy with it too.

This week Jess and I presented our work in progress for the class – we put our interview of Wendy, the sewing tutor, together with some B-roll footage in the background and asked for everybody’s thoughts. The feedback we got was fantastic, so as we continue editing our footage we’re going to try to keep as much of it in mind as possible.

The first piece of feedback we got was to make sure our audience is informed about what the interview subject is talking about. Wendy mentioned Hilary (Community Services Development Worker) during the interview, yet the audience wasn’t aware of who she is or what she does for the program. While this was just a snippet (so it was difficult to give context), this is good feedback for us to keep in mind if we decide to go ahead with Jess’ idea of creating mini-documentaries separately (30-60 seconds) of single people, as well as the final film.

One suggestion that popped up a couple of times was to include archival photographs. Unfortunately we don’t really have access to any, and the sewing program is only three years old (not that we’ll be covering it in a historical sense). We think B-Roll footage should suffice and fill the role that archival pictures would, and we’re going to take the suggestion to include more B-Roll footage on board in places that we can. We were also given feedback regarding our selection of B-Roll, and were told we should include some shots of Wendy teaching. We have a few of these from memory so this should be no problem to fit in.

All in all, we were happy with what the class had to say and we’re going to try and use every piece of feedback that we can, where appropriate. Moving forward, we’re going to begin a rough cut of the main ~5 minute film, so hopefully we can show a sequence, or maybe even the whole film in week 11. After that we can use the feedback to cut our final film. If there’s one thing I’m concerned about in the future it’s music – I looked at a few royalty free songs for Wendy’s sequence but everything I listen to seems to miss the mark. The film’s tone is tricky to balance with music, so hopefully we can find something that’s right.

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration http://www1.rmit.edu.au/students/assessment/declaration

Quite a bit to talk about this week – I’ll start where I left off in the last post I made. On the Wednesday during the break, Jess and I went to St. Albans and scouted the house where we would later film the sewing group, and Spoke to Ruby and another Good Shepherd employee (Hilary) about what they wanted the short documentary to be. They told us an ideal length of around 2 – 2 and a half minutes, and we conversed a bit about ideas they had. They talked about how they really wanted to express how the sewing group is more than teaching a skill that may be useful to people who want/need it, but is also about the friendships that are formed and giving the women something to look forward to each week. I mentioned that I wanted to explore the action part of the film we’re making more deeply in the week 6 blog post, and this meeting helped me understand how it could really make an impact. Many of these women are socially isolated and the sewing group gives them an outlet, a place where they can relax and do something they enjoy while forming lasting relationships. If we can properly convey this on screen then other women in similar situations may reach out and join the program.

After scouting the location and preparing all the necessary forms and equipment, we shot the next Thursday in the house. I think it went pretty well for the most part, with some small difficulties as all shoots run into, such as a few audio and technical issues. We spent the majority of the time shooting B roll footage to cut to, and I think we got some pretty good stuff. However only 10 – 15 minutes worth of interviews were shot. I think this will be enough for a 2 – 2 and a half minute video for Good Shepherd, but a 5 minute + documentary for our project? We’ll have to see during the editing process – Kim suggested going down again, which may be a good idea if we can’t put the film we want to make together. It may be difficult for a few reasons though, as participant consent concerns were a slight difficulty. All of the women were willing to be filmed except one, who decided she was okay with it halfway through (which made things a bit confusing). As it’s a documentary, the film’s identity will continue to progress as the editing (and potentially more shooting) process progresses, and I’ll continue to update how the it is coming along.

The first half of the semester has been wrapped up and I have a much clearer idea of what I’ll be doing over the coming weeks. Good Shepherd has proposed that we come to them and film a sewing class that they run in one of their community houses, interviewing them and asking what kind of impact the group and Good Shepherd has had on them. As a first step, Kim suggested we check out the location that we’ll be shooting at so we can work out the different factors that will come into play such as framing etc. We’ve e-mailed Ruby and we should be able to work a time out with them where we can scout the house next week.

Going forward I need to start thinking about what else can be done to prepare for principal photography: questions we can ask during interviews, what we want to get out of the participants, as well as what kind of footage can be used to cut away from the interview itself. I also want to ask what action I want this film to take, seeing as this was my primary motivation for choosing the studio. I suppose the action is in spreading awareness about Good Shepherd and what they do, in turn perhaps helping others at risk, but I think this can be taken to a deeper level. As I learn more details and develop the project I can delve into this matter a bit more over the coming weeks.

As for what else I can do over the break – I’ll continue to research Good Shepherd, begin to prepare my pitch for week 7 (it was useful to watch a pitch today so I have a general idea) and prepare some of the necessary documents such as an outline, personal and location releases and a director’s statement.

I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration.

My final project for the semester will involve me working with Good Shepherd – what exactly that will entail I don’t know for sure yet. After meeting with Ethne and Ruby, I know we’ll be filming something between now and the end of semester, perhaps video portraits of people and their stories, but other than that it isn’t completely clear. I can’t definitively connect what I’ve done over the last few weeks to a documentary idea. However, I’ll talk about the techniques I’ve learnt and how they can translate into situations where I may be working with participants for Good Shepherd, as well as how the readings and other material has influenced my thoughts on documentary and its purpose.

Working as a media student with Good Shepherd there will be a certain expectation that I will have at least basic knowledge of whatever equipment I am using, if not thorough. Having a couple of weeks to learn my way around the camera will not only allow me to be more efficient when working on a production, but will also give me the flexibility to experiment and change different settings to create interesting shots. The week 3 homework exercise allowed me to play around with these ideas a little bit, but I think I may continue to use the cameras in my spare time to get a better feel for them and improve my skills.

Looking at Michael Renov’s four functions of documentary, my purpose is to persuade and promote – Working with Good Shepherd will hopefully allow me to do that, no matter how small the impact is. As I tried to find inspiration for my project over the first few weeks I looked at other documentaries which fell under this function. An Inconvenient Truth was one example of this type of documentary. While well known and a commercial success, it didn’t necessarily have a profound or visible impact on the issue it covered. On the contrary, Blackfish, which I covered in my week 4 blog post, created a rippling effect which eventually led to change as Seaworld stopped breeding orcas in the US. Both were interesting examples that had achieved different levels of success and impact, yet researching them reassured me that this was the direction I wanted to take.

Something new that has piqued my interest over the last month however, is experimental film and how techniques seen may be used in documentary. As I mentioned in my video, if I for whatever reason don’t end up working with Good Shepherd, I have discovered several other things I may enjoy. Our brief look in class at experimental film inspired me to look elsewhere, which brought me back to a film I looked at in my first year Introduction to Cinema class, Ballet Méchanique. An extremely unsettling and odd experience that revolves around strange moving shapes and images, I’m not sure I still completely understand it. However, I found it engrossing, and I believe I would really enjoy creating an experimental documentary that conveyed an important message in a subtle way. I feel confident that I could take off in a different direction if I needed to for this project, or even try something like this as a side project.

References

An Inconvenient Truth, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=inconvenienttruth.htm.

Renov, M (1993), Theorizing Documentary.

Blog links

Week 1: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/matthew-kennedy/2017/07/22/week-1-blog-documentary-as-action/

Week 2: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/matthew-kennedy/2017/07/29/week-2-blog-documentary-as-action/

Week 3: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/matthew-kennedy/2017/07/31/week-3-blog-documentary-as-action/

Week 4: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/matthew-kennedy/2017/08/11/week-4-blog-documentary-as-action/

During the class on Monday a couple of people from Good Shepherd came down to talk to us about working with them, which gave me a general idea of what I’ll working on over the coming weeks. We discussed what Good Shepherd does and what the organisation’s values are and they sound great. They’re committed to helping at risk women and children in various ways, and aim to provide them with a community they can confide in. Ruby and Ethne presented us with a project to jump on board with next Wednesday, however it isn’t the best day for either Jess or myself. We talked about other potential projects, particularly short portraits that could be filmed about people who have volunteered for, or been assisted by Good Shepherd. They said they’d stay in touch over the next week or two and try to set something up for us, so there isn’t too much we can do apart from become a bit more familiar with the equipment we’ll be using when we film. Overall I’m happy we’re somewhat on track and working with such a great organisation!

Just to preface this post quickly, our last week with Robin involved us playing around with the Sony EX cameras some more and conducting a short interview to test our technical skills a little bit more – framing, exposure, focus etc. I thought this was great preparation for our production; we can have all the ideas but if we can’t execute them properly we won’t have a final product we’re happy with. I’m feeling pretty confident about being able to use the cameras properly now, so hopefully I won’t keep any participants in my video(s) waiting around while I’m changing settings.

The main topic of this blog post, however, is documentary impact. After reading up on the Documentary as Action blog, the recent trend of impact being an important factor in documentary has piqued my interest. Caty Borum Chattoo’s article on ‘The Blackfish Effect’ was an interesting read. The different factors that are factored in when determining the impact of a film are numerous and varied, and some of them are perhaps out of the hands of the filmmakers themselves. Blackfish gained traction not just due to the quality of the documentary itself, but also huge amounts of media coverage and word of mouth. Few documentaries get to see this level of exposure.

The impact of documentaries ties in directly to this class and why I chose it. I’m not a documentary fanatic and never have been, so being able to take action is the main reason I chose the studio. Working with a not-for-profit organisation will allow me to use my skills to aid people that are helping to make change, so even if I make just a tiny impact I’ll be glad to know I’ve done something beneficial to others. As for my opinion on documentary in general and how ‘impact strategies’ are affecting the landscape of the genre – I believe more documentaries being made and funded to have an impact on society is a great thing, only if other documentaries aren’t excluded because they aren’t larger scale and have less potential to spread nationally or globally.

Chattoo, C (2016), Anatomy of “The Blackfish Effect”, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caty-borum-chattoo/anatomy-of-the-blackfish-_b_9511932.html.

As I’m planning to work with a not-for-profit organisation, ethical issues with participants may be easier to avoid. Participants will most likely be well aware and informed about what they will be participating in, and we probably won’t be pushing any participants very far out of their comfort zones. However, I can’t be sure of this and can never know exactly how different participants will respond in different situations. No matter the project I take on, it will be my goal to maintain the ‘mutual trust’ needed throughout the production.

One problem I may encounter is differences with others working on the production, whether it is other students or a not-for-profit I may be working with. Juggling the representation of participants may be challenging with different voices and influences. The editing process will especially have to be carefully done. I enjoy the editing process and hope to get the opportunity to work in post-production, but I’ll also have to be careful of these potential issues and tread carefully. Preparation and releases that are a proper representation of my/our vision for the final product can contribute to avoiding this.

Going through the readings about the experiences of others (particularly Edward Martinez) has been interesting and educational. Understanding that it’s likely I will encounter problems throughout the filmmaking process, and taking the necessary steps to be prepared for them is all I can do. Martinez wrote about how even the simplest shoots can turn into something of a nightmare. One anecdote describing a simple tripod shot overlooking a valley being interrupted by a woman hollering for them to leave was fascinating; knowing anything can happen at anytime will allow me to prepare the best I can, whilst knowing it may not always work out perfectly.

Martinez, E (2016), Navigating the River: The Hidden Colonialism of Documentary, http://www.documentary.org/column/navigating-river-hidden-colonialism-documentary.