The treatment for ‘End of the Line’ is quite an interesting read as it is evident that the film progressed and changed once the filmmakers went out on location and filmed, resulting in a slightly different film that was screened in the lecture. While it appears as though the filmmakers decided to film in Broken Hill rather than at the Silverton mine and interviewed different participants rather than a married couple living on the mine, the same alien, isolated tone has been achieved.

While they didn’t show the life of a typical Australian family living in the outback and in isolation, they were still able to depict the perspectives and characteristics of the townspeople. They also achieved their mission to capture the incredible sky, sunrise and red earth that make up the ‘alien’ Broken Hill that they wished to portray.

The focus of “total isolation in a bizarre environment” is definitely achieved in the participants that they chose to speak to, in particular the older lady who decided to move to Broken Hill to die. Her story stuck with me after the film had ended, and her biblical, yet slightly bizarre outlook not only gave meaning to the theme of living in isolation but emphasized the alien landscape combined with the haunting non-diegetic sounds.

This case demonstrates how a film’s focus can change throughout production and while the idea outlined in the treatment is of investigating the happiness of a family living the quiet country life compared to the city tourists who stop by and would have been an interesting film, the film it became is probably even more so. They’re choices in editing demonstrated an alien, strange town that is Broken Hill by speaking to the locals and their listening to their stories. While it didn’t turn out exactly as they had planned, the film they made was very unique, sometimes uncomfortable to watch, haunting and provoking; proving that changing and letting the film take on its own shape works quite well.

2. Select from one of the readings and briefly describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you. 

The reading that I chose to focus on was Curran’s ‘Documentary Storytelling for Film and Videomakers’ (pg 27-37). The text describes how important it is to choose a subject that you are passionate about and interested in as it means that you can bring a distinctive viewpoint to that particular topic. It will also ensure that when the idea of making the documentary becomes overwhelming or frustrating; your passion and interest in the topic will ensure that you continue and don’t get discouraged by challenges you face during production.

Researching not only your subject, but media (newspaper articles, other documentaries, etc) on your topic will give you an idea of the different perspectives that already exist for your subject. This will allow you to look for an alternative and unique angle to take for your particular topic.

Doing your research and honing in on what in particular about your subject interests you is important when setting off to speak to participants and collecting video and sound for your documentary. Doing multiple tests and editing what you have, deciding if you like the direction you are going in or finding the new interesting theme that has emerged will allow you to discover a new angle that you previously hadn’t thought of.

Being open to the subject and not being biased will also allow you to discover an interesting ‘gem’ that may give the project a unique and engaging angle. All of these points will help me in honing in on my own documentary ideas as well as working with the material during production and post-production.