When making a documentary, I believe it is important to create a ‘rhythm’ in order to achieve ‘non-fiction’. I think it is important to keep the presentation of the video as simple and natural as possible. I used the short documentary Boxing Gym (Frederick Wiseman) mentioned by Rohan during tutorial as a reference and tried to apply the filming techniques from this short film to my own work. Therefore, I chose to shoot from a distance to a close up, recording the whole environment in a distant shot and then slowly drawing in closer to a close-up, giving the viewer the feeling of slowly approaching the subject. For example, in documenting Rachel completing a class exercise in a home online class (02:39), I first used a distant shot to document her overall learning environment, and then drew in to a medium shot of a frontal shot, as if the viewer were sitting across from Rachel watching her working hard on the computer. As Rachel is not a professional actress, she is not used to the various professional instruments used for filming. As a documentary photographer, I had to use many methods to make her act as natural as possible. I could barely feel Wiseman using any extra light source in Boxing Gym either, so in order to relax her and still get the best possible shot, I only added an extra light source – her own floor lamp – to the right of the frame to illuminate Rachel’s face and make her facial expressions stand out. In addition, I used my phone to record the white noises in her home. These sounds are combined with the images to fully immerse the viewer in what is playing in the moment. I’ve done a version with just background music before, and while it worked well, it was a little unrealistic. It was as if the images were detached from the sound and it didn’t feel like a documentary. I remembered what Rohan had mentioned in class about ‘The sound design also gives the piece some of its rhythm.’ I watched the boxing gym again and realized that one of the things that added to the immersion of the piece was the sound produced by people moving, such as the sound of a sandbag being hit. When I put in the sounds I had recorded in her flat, the immersive experience went up, giving my piece its own rhythm.

Word Count:  403

Reference:

Rohan, S, 2021, Topic 4: Wiseman’s observation and Rhythms, PowerPoint slides, COMM2627, RMIT University, Melbourne.

Frederick,W, 2010, Boxing Gym, course material, COMM2627, RMIT University, Melbourne.