For week five, we focused upon interviews. The idea that there is ‘no formal element’ and ‘no particular aesthetic’ (Juhasz, Lebow 2015) when creating an interview makes it an experiment within itself. To create a storyline through someone else and discover an experience. Through discussion we thought about what made a good interview? To answer that simply, I would say a voice over that can tell a clear story. You don’t need to hear the question but with the answer of the interviewee, you can probably guess what is being asked. Interviews provide documentary with an experience from people. They are nostalgic in a sense. While some interviews attempt to be factual, the ones that tell of their own stories are what make a documentary succeed. They talk about specific topics in their own way which shapes and evolves the story line.
While exploring the use of interviews, I decided to share the experience of my grandma’s life in the 1950’s. She was a star on the stage. Performed for theatre shows like ‘My Fair Lady’ and ‘Oliver’. After watching the Melbourne International Film Festival ‘Birds Of Paradise’ directed by Aline Suter and Céline Carridroit, I gained inspiration. The visuals of flicking through Audrey’s life through a book which contained many of her prize possession images. It shared the outfits, the singing, the hair, the extravagance. I wanted to capture the reflection of what theatre was in the 1950s. I followed the idea that progressing through her book would progress through Audrey’s story of how she started acting. As this was my first interview, I believe I could improve of how much depth could be included within the audio, and add more visual representation other then the book, however I wanted the archival images to be the main focus. Godmillow claims that images do not accurately represent the world (in context the story in which is being told), which in a way is true, images are shown to tell a specific story that, as a creator you want shown. However I believe images enhance your documentary and show a true sense of experience.
Below is my video which captures Audrey’s dancing years. She has been singing for as long as she remembers and when she discovered theatre, she pursued it.
References:
Godmilow, J 2002, ‘Kill the Documentary as We Know It’. Journal of Film and Video 54, no. 2/3, pp. 3–10.
Juhasz, A, and Lebow, A eds. 2015. A Companion to Contemporary Documentary Film. Wiley Blackwell, UK.
MIFF: Birds Of Paradise
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