Practical 4

This week's task was to film a moving camera interview about Brighton nightlife. We had to film from three different angles, whilst recording the dialogue with the boom microphone. Jessie and I took it in turns with camera and sound.


1) Camera follows pair from behind

I was responsible for camera work on this shot. I tried to keep the framing centred on the subjects whilst we walked, but this was quite difficult to do as it ended up looking very shaky. Moreover the boom sometimes appeared in the shot, so I tried to keep a fair distance from it.

2) Camera follows the pair from the side

For this shot I was responsible for sound. I held the boom mic quite low down so that it didn't appear in the shot, however this meant that the sound was very muffled, especially since Ruth (left) was speaking into her scarf. I also found it very difficult to keep up with the subjects and Jessie on camera as they were moving.

3) The pair walks towards the static camera

I found this easier as I only had to follow the subjects and not the camera, which gave me more freedom to move without stretching the wire too far. However the microphone still did not pick up a lot of the audio since I stood too far away, in an attempt to avoid being in the shot.

Overall this exercise was quite difficult. I think that if we are filming moving action, it would be best to use a clip microphone. Using the boom mic should be restricted to interviews where the subject is still and possibly indoors, so that it doesn't pick up too much ambient noises.

Workshop 4

Aesthetic Principals
Shots

• Long Shot
• Establishing/wide shot
• Medium shot
• Close up

Camera Angles

• Point of view
• Reverse angle shot
• Low angle shot
• High angle shot

Movement

• Pan 
• Tilt
• Pedestal

Composition

• 16:9 - TV
• 2:39:1 - Film/Cinema
• Rule of thirds
• Symmetrical/asymmetrical frame
• Look space, headroom and walk space
• Depth of field

Grey Gardens

• Establishing shots are initially used to show the beautiful locations around the American town
• This is juxtaposed with the dilapidated house that the main character resides in

•  The camera pans up and down to follow what the subject is talking about

Titicut Follies

• A long shot is used to show an overall view of the band as they sing. Creates an ambiguous tone leading the audience to become curious about the subject manner

• A close up on one of the subjects shows his facial expressions - suggesting that he is uncertain of himself

How to make a good story:

• Dramatic tension, curiosity, contradiction or surprise
• Make sure there's a hook/angle
• One perspective/argument is boring
• Visual/aural presentation
• Must determine who the audience is
• Reveal something the audience doesn't already know

Nichols - The Voice of Documentary

"We may think we hear history or reality speaking to us through a film, but what we actually hear is the voice of the text" pg. 20

• An argument is always provided through narration in documentary to present the director's viewpoint.
• Although it may seem like an unbiased presentation of history, it has been re-presented through the mind of the director

"Observational documentary appears to leave the driving to us" pg. 20

• In an observational documentary the audience are left to make their own decisions on certain arguments, since they are less likely to have been specifically crafted to create a certain tone. 
• Instead they use minimal editing and diegetic sounds in order to create a natural view of reality

Direct address - subjects speak directly to the camera, rather than listening to the narrator.

"Often, film-makers simply choose to interview characters with whom they agree" pg. 26

• This again reinforces the director's ideas even though it seems like it's unbiased
• The editor will remove any answers that don't fit the focus of the narrative

Rabiger - Creating Narration

• Filmmakers want to avoid traditional voice-over, like "voice-of-God" style

Problems it can solve:

• Getting the film started
• "The audience needs more information on a participant's thoughts, feelings, choices" pg. 493
• Simplifying complicated story lines

"Viewers are apt to assume that a narrator's voice is the voice of the film itself" pg. 493

narration is useful in short films to save time on displaying the information visually

Documentary may

• "Use a characters voice-over as narration because he or she has insider knowledge and a right to an opinion" pg. 494

Method 1: Read from a script

• Useful if based on letters/diary
• Faults: literary writing. Ambiguous representation of who is narrator/author

Method 2: Improvisation

• Participant as narrator
• Use own voice to sound spontaneous

Bad narration

• Ready-made phrases and cliches
• Syntax of writing
• Jargon or impressive language
• Too much information
• Describing what's already evident
• Condescending humour

Good narration

• "Active language" of speech
• Simplest vocabulary
• Least amount of syllables
• Balances and powerful to listen to

Divorce Iranian Style

• Narration provides news style information - giving a live run down of facts
• Very formal and serious tone
• The camera follows the action as others speak
• Long period without narration allows the audience to concentrate on the subjects and what they have to say
• Long, continuous shots (camera tracks to follow the people speaking). Subsequently minimal editing is required which makes it closer to the truth.
• Mostly diegetic sounds are used which again gives the audience a realistic insight to the surroundings

Sans Soleil

• Begins with voiceover narration over a black screen, then cuts to footage of children playing
• Narrative voice - calm, soft, neutral, not deep, friendly, therapeutic, voice of reason

• Visuals probably wouldn't make much sense without the narration - e.g. Japanese people travelling
• The narration doesn't just describe what's seen, but fills in its back story
• Mostly non-diegetic sound
• Subjects looking at camera 07:00
• Clips of culture without narration allow audience to make their own decisions
• Long scenes just observing with no dialogue or explanation 112:34- 13:20
• Close ups makes the audience feel intrusive. But also makes it feel like we're given special access rather than being part of it

Narration - Bruzzi pt. 2

'The Woman's Voice - Sunless'

"The closer the text is to the image the less it seems to connote it" (Barthess 1977: 26)

• Images connotative function is reduced by literalness of text
• Audiences aren't left to make their own mind up about what's being shown
• Text tells the audience how to interpret the images

"Secondary, connotative meaning is limited"

• I agree that audiences are less able to determine their own meanings. However I believe successful documentaries should present one dominant message, through presenting evidence

In the reading, Bruzzi argues that in documentary tones of authority are usually from masculine voices. Therefore the female voice subverts this.

"Divest the disembodied male voice of its 'discursive power'" (Silverman 1988: 164)

• Man = voice of God, Woman = "woman filmmaker from behind the camera"
• Female narrator = authoritative, deep voiced, popular actress (for familiarity)

"A woman's voice embodied protest because women had traditionally been sidelined by history and documentary alike"

"Woman's voice as 'physical utterance' vs "the 'voice' as the metaphoric accessing of women's inner selves, their thoughts and identities"

 Bruzzi states that in Sunless the voice is of thoughts from letters of fictional character Sander Krasna. This creates a "fluid" relationship between words and image. It is not the voice of God but recognisable voice of the author (Horak).
"Whereas traditional voice-over documentaries are about closure, Sunless remains intentionally open, and within this openness the female narration (in its distance from both Marker and Krasna) provides a space for the interpretations"

• Bruzzi argues that it's "randomness" challenges what is a documentary

Practical 2

We completed our script for the Glastonbury video task:

We worked as a group to refine the editing of the clips.

Pete recorded the audio using a formal voice, changing his pace to suit the speed of the images. We then used Premier to cut the audio to fit the timings of the scenes.

Workshop 2

Voice-overs

Inferior form of documentary?

• Information from interview is non-biased
• however we edit interviews to fit our own points
• combination of both useful to show different perspective

Do narratives ruin the view of image?

• Yes because should be down to interprepation
• People are passive and listen to what narration says
• Follow the argument that's provided
• Narration provided at same time as image - no time for interpretation

Narrative voice

• Formal
• Detached from argument
• Neutral accent (British or America, middle class)
• Usually white, male, old

Subverted narrative voice

• Michael Moore - informal, ironic
• Morgan Freeman
• In my documentary last year we used the voice of a young, Asian women which is the opposite of the stereotypical narrative voice

"Telling stories really is telling lies" Jonathan Coe

• Not necessarily lies but someone's perspective of the truth
• Omitting elements of the story to shape audience's perspective
• You cannot be objective

Conflict Model

1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption
3. Recognition
4. Attempt
5. New Equilibrium

Inductive Model

• Storyline unfolds over time
• Has to be compelling

Deductive Model

• Opening with statement
• Scenes relate to main question
• Conclusion of point at the end

Reading: Narration, the film and its voice - Bruzzi

• Voice-over gives "insights and information not immediately available from within the diegesis" - disembodies, omniscient narrator
• Criticised for being boring and "didactic"
• Rotha argues photograph is more powerful than narration "sound will contaminate the image"
• "By blending omniscience and intimacy they address the spectator directly"

Reading: Story Structure - S.C. Bernard

Ronald Blumer "Film is not a visual medium, it's a story medium"

The narrative spine/train

• You want audiences to be curious about information supplied
• The direction of a film
• Okay to change train

• Must appeal to all audiences - those who are experienced in subject area and those who wouldn't usually care
• Be specific on part of story being told

• Shot - A single 'take' on an image
• Scene - A consecutive group of shots in a single location
• Sequence - A collection of shots and scenes that together tell a continuous story of an event
• "Each scene creates a shift or reversal that is at least minor, each sequence a change that is moderate; ad each act, a change that is major" Robert McKee
• Act - A series of sequences that drives to a major turning point
• Inciting incident - The event that sets the action of the story into motion
• Point of attack - when film maker enters story. ushers viewers into filmmakers' viewpoint
• Backstory - events before main story. materials critical to audiences' understanding. Can include: titles, interviews, narration, conversation

Practical 1

For this task we used an existing video from Glastonbury Festival, then cut and re-ordered the footage to fit our own story. We will then create a narration to explain what’s happening.

We came up with the story of a virus that was caused by cows (and we'll show cutaway footage of cows).

Beginning with an establishing shot

The virus was caused by eating beef. It first emerged in the 60s. The symptoms of the virus include: being cold, vibrations, uncontrollable movement

The final stage of the virus is turning  half human half animal hybrid

Workshop 1

Nanook of the North (1922)

• This documentary used titles in order to explain the story
• It received criticism for fabricating elements of the Eskimo's lives, raising questions of whether or not it was really true to the documentary genre

Documentary conventions:-

• Real life events - not fabricated
• Should tell the audience the truth
• Neutral but with an argument
• "Creative treatment of actuality" - Grierson

In history, heavy cameras were used, therefore action had to take place in front of the camera (since the cameras couldn't move to follow the action). Sometimes these actions would have to be fabricated in order to be captured on camera. However this suggests that the events weren’t truthful to the documentary genre.

Documentary modes:

Expository:

Bowling For Columbine (2002)

Political documentary filmmaker Michael Moore explores the circumstances that lead to the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and, more broadly, the proliferation of guns and the high homicide rate in America. In his trademark provocative fashion, Moore accosts Kmart corporate employees and pleads with them to stop selling bullets, investigates why Canada doesn't have the same excessive rate of gun violence and questions actor Charlton Heston on his support of the National Rifle Association.

• Follows the director's perspective
• Reveals evidence
• Demonstrates argument

Poetic

A Propos De Nice (1930)

A silent short documentary film directed by Jean Vigo and photographed by Boris Kaufman. The film depicts life in Nice, France by documenting the people in the city, their daily routines, a carnival and social inequalities.

• Abstract shots
• Cross fade transitions
• Association images

Observative:

Don't Look Back (1967)

In 1965, the iconic troubadour Bob Dylan toured the United Kingdom at the age of 23, and director D.A. Pennebaker was allowed behind the scenes to provide one of the most intimate glimpses of the private and frequently cantankerous songwriter. The film chronicles Dylan's concert appearances, hotel room conversations, and transportation downtime, pulling back the curtain on the folk messiah at the end of his relationship with Joan Baez and on the cusp of his creative shift toward rock music.

• Filmed handheld behind subject
• Following action as it happens

Sisters in Law (2005)

Following the caseload of a group of feisty female legal professionals tackling cases from marital violence and kidnapping to child abuse and rape. 

• Follows the subjects as they continue with their day-to-day lives 

Participatory

Chronicles of a Summer (1961)

Chronique d'un été is a 1961 French documentary film shot during the summer of 1960 by sociologist Edgar Morin and anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch, with the technical and aesthetic collaboration of Québécois director-cameraman Michel Brault.

• Director questions audience with their responses

51 Birch Street (2006)

Several months after documentarian Doug Block's mother dies, his father announces that he plans to sell the family's Long Island, N.Y., home and move to Florida with his former secretary, Carol "Kitty" Duffy. Though Doug always believed his parents had a happy marriage, his father's sudden decision makes him wonder if their relationship was more complicated than he realized. In the weeks before his father moves, Doug interviews family and friends to learn more about his parents.

• Conversational interview

Reflexive:

Man With a Movie Camera (1929)

Part documentary and part cinematic art, this film follows a city in the 1920s Soviet Union throughout the day, from morning to night. Directed by Dziga Vertov, with a variety of complex and innovative camera shots, the film depicts scenes of ordinary daily life in Russia.

• Director shows himself and the process of filming
• Subjects response to camera

Performative

Supersize Me (2004)

Director Morgan Spurlock's social experiment in fast-food gastronomy sees him attempting to subsist uniquely on food from the McDonald's menu for an entire month. In the process his weight balloons, his energy level plummets and he experiences all sorts of unexpected -- and terrifying -- side effects. He also examines the corporate giant's growing role in the lives of American consumers and explores its methods of indoctrinating young people and its contribution to America's obesity epidemic.

• The director carries out the actions in order to fulfil the objective of the documentary