On A Mission

In preparing to develop a short documentary, we read about the forms of storytelling and its advent, which stems back to cave dwellers painting symbols on walls in combination with music and dance to share their perspectives. This evolved into written forms and the definition of storytelling and storyteller in the Cambridge Dictionary is:

“The activity of writing, telling, or reading stories. A person who writes or tells stories or reads them aloud.”

I recently watched the movie Jumanji where teens are sucked into a jungle video game that challenges them to solve a number of puzzles to “make it to the next level” and to get back to their regular lives. Video games create a virtual reality that many teens love where they try on different personas and participate in the unfolding game.

In this Tidal regarding aspects to a compelling story by Andrew Stanton, Pixar’s Toy Story creator asserts he has learned from another actor that every character in a story (whether fact or fiction), has a central motive (or “spine” as he calls it) that drives individual actions.

Regardless of its form, storytelling at its best involves the audience intellectually, emotionally or physically in a two-way exchange and includes elements like voiceover/narration, interview clips (Soundbites) of person in studio or on location, original or stock b-roll footage and photos to show what interviewees are talking about.

Faith Fuller at Desktop Documentaries recaps key steps for developing a documentary:

• Start with a topic that grabs the interest of the videographer.
• Check legal and copyright requirements.
• Research around the topic to find interesting facts and story lines.
• Plan it out, including the main character(s), core story points and what elements will create uncertainty, tension or intrigue.
• Create a shot list of the interviews and footage needed – these are the “ingredients”.
• Start shooting and create a variety of angles and mix of wide, medium and close ups.
• Edit the clips together “to create a roller coaster ride of emotion, some parts fast, some part slow to create a dynamic viewing experience.”
• Distribute the final product.

In thinking through topics for the documentary, there are several thought-provoking questions to ask oneself. In twenty questions to ignite your documentary filmmaking by Caitlin Cooper one of her primary assertions is that strong documentaries have staying power (think ten years).

One of the most interesting articles I read this week was by filmmaker Michael Moore who shares his unfiltered opinion on documentaries. Besides thinking of it as entertainment and avoiding obvious subjects, he asserts that interviewing people who disagree with you and finding topics that are controversial is a recipe for success.

Lighting is a huge factor in film and this week we discussed and read about three-point lighting: key light, fill light and back light.

• Key light: the primary and brightest light source can set an upbeat, softly lit atmosphere or a shadowy, moody feel. I’m going to go for the former in this video.
• Fill light: usually on opposite side of the camera to the key light, less bright than key and helps to fill in shadows.
• Back light: known as the rim or hair light creates depth between the background and the subject.

Professor Kent Golden helped me find the right camera settings for filming in low-light situations, so I adjusted my iPhone to 24 frames-per-second (FPS) and to a higher resolution (4K from 1080p), to let more light in when I went to watch improv and capture a few photos.

Research

In looking through examples of mini-documentaries I came across one that I found particularly compelling for its storytelling. Named ‘Kite Fight’, this Op Doc is a five minute video about a lifestyle habit in Rio de Janeiro that is more than a hobby, and for impoverished youth, it’s a form of self-expression and peaceful activism as “each man, boy for himself” creates and flies, just like a bird.

I grew up watching David Attenborough documentaries which were always narrated by him providing plenty of detail about animal life. They have since evolved into shorter formats, like the following mini documentary about a wolf hunting for artic hares. Watching this, I’m left to imagine about the wolf’s next meal and the camera crew who filmed this.

My critique of this piece is you don’t see the wolf catch his meal.

Pre-Planning Document I decided to build a mini documentary about improv and have gotten agreement from my old neighbor who performs at Tea Sea Theater in Hartford.