If I were to continue and develop and keep working on my media piece, a core aspect that I would have liked to work on more was having shots which cover and show Melbourne’s breaking/breakdance community as Fauntine mentioned in her introduction. These shots I imagine would have Fauntine interacting and practising with the other dancers at a competition or the local practice spot. Using more extreme close ups when Fauntine or other breakers were doing particular movements would also pair well with this aspect in putting the viewers into the perspective of as if they were in this community and there with Fauntine being in this environment as well showcasing Melbourne and also Australia’s breaking scene. These shots would also link well to areas that I had in the interview which did not make the edit where Fauntine told certain events she had been and invited too which means a lot to her and she felt proud of her achievements as a bgirl (female breaker). Having Fauntine and visually elaborating more on Melbourne’s breaking community would also paint a picture to create a better understanding of it if it were to be shown to a wider audience such as at a festival.

Another area that I thought that could have been extended further on was the training regiment of what Fauntine does when she practises, especially for competitions to show her focus and discipline in working hard. This area could also have Fauntine explaining and reflecting on areas of the dance she feels the strongest in but also the weakest in and what she is doing to progress.  Extending this area can make the documentary more relatable and create a connection for people who are enthusiastic about a sport or physical activity of their interest where they may have a similar mindset to how they practise.

If I were to develop my documentary into a different kind of work, a possibility could be Fauntine’s  relationship with the breaking community like I mentioned earlier. With this idea, a good closing segment to end the documentary I picture would be showing and getting Fauntine to talk about her non profit organisation that supports dancers and artists which she made with her friend who she met through dance. Having this aspect would nicely conclude how Fauntine is not only thriving in her breaking career but also has found an avenue in giving back to the community.

In my documentary, the scene where Faunitne discusses the myths associated with the label of the dance being “breakdancing” and the relation between breaking and injuries from the perspective of being an osteopath. This scene brings this dynamic of what may seem like this unreal form of dance into reality and a real world setting as it provides authenticity and reasoning behind gravity defying and mind blowing movements we may see in breaking. Faunitne emphasises in this scene the importance of understanding the fundamentals of steps and discipline taken to learn a move, instead of these breakers (also known to be break dancers) as a “super human” that can naturally do these movements. Fontz’s explanation highlighting the work that goes in learning these movers can persuade the audience that it can be done and achieved  by anyone with the correct guidance and initial steps. In Thomas Austin and Wilma de Jong book titled Rethinking Documentary: New Perspectives and Practices, they categorise engagement modes in documentary. One of which is referred to as multiple modes of engagement being reflexive in that it “highlights the idea of two worlds, the one we know and the one that is represented for us in the documentary. If we consider one of the fundamental aspects of documentary which is that it tells us something about the world, then the double mode of engagement acts as a two-stage process in the documentary experience.” (Thomas Austin and Wilma de Jong, “Rethinking Documentary: New Perspectives and Practices”, p225)  This can be found in this scene where Fauntine addresses  typical stereotypes associated with breaking that is most likely already in the viewer’s mind when they think of the term “breakdancing” then to giving insight and knowledge to the realities behind the dance which can go against these misconceptions viewers may have initially thought about it. 

The sound track also transitions to a more intense and disturbing tone, signifying the possibility of injuries associated with breaking even with taking all the safety precautions in learning and  participating in the dance form. The rhythm of cutaway b-roll shots extends and becomes longer (especially with the consecutive use of slow motion shots) than the scene prior which serves a purpose to connect and represent the anticipation that something bad and devastating can happen, in this case being the injuries that can occur from many years of breaking.  

The contrast of close up shots of Fauntine doing ground movements to then cutting to her treating a patient signals to the viewers the upcoming conflict that may occur which Fauntine refers to as the “inherent risk” that comes with activities similar to breaking. This represents the real world as part of a nonfiction media to the viewers in that there is a high risk and inevitable injuries that come with activities that are dangerous. 

Bibliography 

Thomas Austin , & Wilma de Jong, 2008, ‘Documentary Modes of Engagement’, Rethinking Documentary: New Perspectives and Practices, pp.217-232

Overall working alone on this project I thought I did a good job. Areas in particular include making a well thought out set of questions to ask my subject Fauntine “Fontz” Laribra where I had flexibility in changing the order of her answers to create an engaging structure of Fauntine’s narrative. Working by myself was very convenient and easy in planning the days I met up with Fontz and I thought I did well in organising all of that to meet her schedule. Technical wise I was successful in using and setting up the equipment I borrowed properly. A major concern and worry I had for myself was getting the lapel mics to work as I am not too confident and strong when it comes to the audio aspect so I was proud of getting them to work and have clear audio after using it. For the interview shot I am satisfied with the composition and overall exposure of it. Since there were not too many bright areas at Fauntine’s place, I used the tip told in class to shoot in front of a window which helped. Throughout the days of filming Fauntine I was happy that I got most of the footage that I intended to get. 

This being the very first short documentary I have made by myself , there are areas where I thought I could have improved. One of which being to film more of what I found relevant and taking what I saw as opportunities to film outside of the shot list and ideas I had in my mind and go ahead and video it. For example I noticed at Fontz’s place her living room was arranged in a way she had space to practice which was an opportunity where I could have simply just used the camera to pan around it or even capture Fontz training in her living room. Around the house Fauntine had  notes stuck to the walls and fridge where it had a list of drills she would work on for certain movements as a reminder for herself. Even though these opportunities I missed out on did not greatly affect my documentary, I felt like it would have enhanced it a bit in the narrative of Fauntine being very enthusiastic about breaking and taking it seriously. Another area that I could have improved on was looking at the interview footage a lot earlier and from it adjusting my shot list based on the response of my interview subject. This is because there were some shots I did not get and had to ask Faunitne to recreate herself. 

I think a key aspect required working as a solo media practitioner would be knowing the equipment that you are using well since help and support is very limited as compared to working with a team. And also having a clear vision of the final work and being organised in creating goals and being disciplined to meet them as again you do not have help with the editing working by yourself.

Having the opportunity to film at an osteopath clinic was where I was the most aware of ethical concerns whilst making my documentary as well as coming across new considerations I can add to my current charter. One of which was placing emphasis and reminding myself to get informed consent from participants in my film is what I would add to my ethics charter for future projects. This is very similar to what was mentioned in the tutorial slides under the heading “protecting the people we film”. I realised this was an important aspect when I went to go film at the osteopath clinic where patients were being treated in real time. I initially did not think of this until Fontz raised that point and asked the patients if they were okay with being in front of a camera before I started to film her at work. Possible consequences as a result of not getting informed consent is sharing private information about certain injuries or conditions that the patients did not want to share. A way I can get proof of this is by remembering to ensure participants of my documentary complete and fill out consent forms. A point on my ethics charter can also be changed instead from “Not to film people secretly and without their permission“ to “Not to film people secretly without their informed consent“. 

Another ethical concern I came across of obtaining footage of patients was having to mute and remove the dialogue from them communicating with Fontz for privacy and personal reasons as that was also brought up whilst I was filming at the clinic. This consideration can be added to my ethics charter and listed as “ask participants if I can use their dialogue from footage taken”. 

Like mentioned in the Week 4 tutorial powerpoint slides for this studio, ensuring the participant knows what they are being filmed for is something I did not have on my ethics charter before but in the future would want to add to avoid conflicts and confusion from the participants and their understanding of what they are a part of. This would also let participants of my documentary clearly know and trust that I will not edit footage and audio taken from them to be manipulated in a way that is out of context which is an ethical concern already on my charter. 

Being mindful of space and my surroundings when shooting and to not to be in the way of others that I do not intend to include in my documentary during shooting is another consideration I would emphasise and add to my ethics charter where consequences would be being in the way and disturbing the general public. This can especially apply to solo media practitioner work where I have no team or anyone else to warn each other about not obstructing anyone’s way.  Even though I did avoid doing this whilst shooting my documentary, I feel like it would be a good reminder in working in wide open spaces like QV where there are people walking by as well as close narrow spaces like the clinic.