A key concern of the Zephyr studio was creating an authentic piece that accurately portrays your chosen subject and their creative passion. Our final work, Utterly Unacceptable, portrays our subject Luke Nicolaou in a genuine manner that reflects his passion as a musician and his studies as a music composition student. The final video has an overall punk aesthetic, achieved by the dark and energetic B-roll shots of him onstage, as well as sound design and experimental editing, which reflects Luke’s personality and his music. We included a range of different types of B-roll, showcasing all aspects of his creative practice, (which was another key idea of the studio), which engages the audience and encourages them to consider the hard work and effort that goes into being a musician. Our final video incorporated a mix of serious moments and humour, which was appreciated by the audience and got some laughs in the studio exhibition! Including a combination of serious and light-hearted aspects was also reflective of Luke’s musical experience, allowing the audience to be immersed in his journey, almost like they were experiencing it for themselves.
The most successful aspect of our finished work is our sound design. All the music and sound elements are directly from Luke and his work; we did not use external music or sound effects. We smoothly blended the different clips together, having to navigate the challenges of incorporating different types of music to still make it appear seamless. Our decision to not have a constant layer of music underneath the A-roll interview proved to be effective, as the B-roll had enough music and sound elements to make the final piece engaging. Having a continuous layer of music may have distracted and overstimulated the audience, which is why our decisions of sound editing were successful. The most problematic aspect of our finished work was developing a cohesive storyline. Our interview was very extensive and went for an hour, so refining that down into a micro-documentary of four minutes was a challenge. Luke spoke in great detail about many different topics, all of which were interesting and insightful. In having to chop it down so much, a problematic aspect was deciding how to take the best parts from the interview and still make it an organised narrative. Whilst I am extremely proud of the work we did, I feel the overall narrative could have been stronger.
If we were to continue working on this micro-documentary, a core component that I would want to improve would be compelling visuals. The theme of our story, punk music and breaking rules, would allow us to incorporate interesting, visually appealing experiments that would enhance the aesthetic and engage the audience. Solberg (2023) asserts visual storytelling to include the use of multiple forms of visual material to “convey a narrative or message”. The B-roll shots we included of Luke practising for his show and at the gig demonstrated his narrative, though the use of more creative editing techniques could have conveyed the messages and emotions in his story more effectively (one of his messages being to cross boundaries and limitations in his creative process). Moreover, Chong (2024) claims that experimental films often challenge traditional stylistic conventions of film; this idea corresponds with Luke’s musical journey, as he often speaks about breaking traditional music composition rules. Therefore, the use of heightened use of abstract or experimental visuals could have complimented and enhanced the storyline.
One thing I’ve learnt from this studio is the importance of preparation with the subject in a documentary setting. Conducting pre-interviews is essential before shooting the final A-roll to gain a deeper understanding of the subject’s personality, on and off screen, as well as gathering information regarding the narrative of your final piece, if it isn’t immediately clear (which ours was not). Moreover, Canet (2022) asserts that establishing a bond and friendship with your subject allows them to feel more comfortable around you, and are therefore more likely to divulge more information to you. Canet contends that both the filmmaker and subject should ideally become “emotionally involved” in the story, in order to create something that is more meaningful and intimate. The filmmaker should genuinely want to understand the “subject’s reality” and world before they create a documentary on it (Canet, 2022). During the making of our film, the pre-interview we conducted with Luke was crucial as most of the group had not even met him before. Through this interview, it allowed us to observe his personality and how he reacts to being filmed, as well as simply getting to know him, gaining trust and building a rapport.
A key takeaway from working collaboratively includes the need to all contribute ideas that inform the final product. Especially in the editing stages, it’s essential to have everyone’s input, to make the final video a product of the whole team’s creativity and vision. I’m pleased to say my group collaborated efficiently and was able to produce a final video based on each of our ideas and skills. Our group only had three members, whereas other groups in the studio had four to five, so we had to each individually contribute a higher work ethic to realise this final piece, which I am very happy to say that we did, as our film was selected to be screened at ACMI for the Playback Festival. In sum, a key learning from this experience is to include everyone’s ideas and input, as any group project cannot just rely on an individual, it must come from a range of different perspectives.
References
Chong, J. (2024, November 4). Unpacking documentary, experimental, and animated films. Emory University. https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/introtofilm2024/2024/11/04/unpacking-documentary-experimental-and-animated-films/
Fernando Canet. (2022) Filmmaker‐subject relationship in documentary filmmaking. Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies, 14 (1), 23 https://doi.org/10.1386/cjcs_00058_1
Solberg, S. (2023, August 15). 10 powerful documentary storytelling techniques. Documentary Film Academy. https://www.docfilmacademy.com/blog/10-powerful-documentary-storytelling-techniques. Accessed 10 June 2025.