Filming: Day One

Finally me and Conor got to film at last. It was great to get some filming for this under our belts and I think that it's really going to turn out well.

We filmed a lot of shots of Rory working in the workshop. The workshop is very  impressive and tells us a lot about Rory and the way he likes to work. It's a very relaxing and calming environment.

Some of Rory's pieces to be fired

 Conor was familiar with the workshop which was a great advantage as he was on camera and got some really beautiful shots. He used his Canon 550D mostly that has such great image quality. I shot a little on the Canon XF100, but we couldn't use it as well as the shutter speed settings are really strange to work out and did not look well in the lighting conditions. I fixed some settings that made it better, but overall, the best quality was on the 550D. I experimented a lot with some slow tracking and pulling focus.

We only filmed Rory working on some pieces as they will serve a great purpose for cutaways and telling us a lot about Rory and showing us how difficult and precise this craft is.

It's a massive confidence booster to get some filming done finally. We are going back to film on Sunday evening which will be a very exciting bit of filming as we get to  film Rory firing the kiln. After that we need to film an interview with Rory and some location shots and that will be us finished.

Class Viewing 3: Searching for Sugar Man

What a film. Just what a film. Searching for Sugar Man was the third film we watched in class and was directed by Malik Bendjelloul.

I personally think that this may be one of the best films I have ever seen. The way it makes you feel when it's over is shocking, it feels so good and I felt so glad that I had been told this incredible story.

Sixto Rodriguez was a singer from Detroit in the late 60's who was signed and released two albums. Both flopped in the US and he was released. He gave up singing and disappeared. Years later his music became a massive hit in South Africa. His records sold upwards of 500,000 copies. He was bigger than Elvis.

However, no one knew anything about him. Many believed he committed suicide by setting himself alight on stage. Yet no one had seen this happen. From here, a massive journey of discovery for Rodriguez begins and ends so amazingly.

The film resonated with me for days (it still is) because of this amazing journey. We are led down the road for so long about this mans suicide and we believe ourselves that he's dead as we just get let down so many times and the evidence all points that way.

Yet we discover that he's alive and it's about a man working in poverty who didn't know he was famous and his music was prominent in the anti-apartheid movement. It's a glorious moment.

It was interesting to point out that some of the interviews at the start that we see about the people saying who they didn't know who this man was and that they believed he died are also the same ones shown at the end when we know the truth. It has been cleverly edited together to tell the best story which works so well.

It's emotional when we hear from the producers who worked with him and are sad about what could have happened to him. Yet at the end, his fame doesn't get the better of him as he still lives in the house he's lived in and donates his money.

Class Viewing 2: Encounters at the End of the World

The second week's viewing was a film entitled: Encounters at the End of the World directed by Werner Herzog.

I had heard of Herzog before now and was aware of his success in the documentary field but had yet to watch any of them. He is strange for his involvement in both documentaries and fiction fields, directing Bad Lieutenant: Port Call of New Orleans and playing the 'baddie' in Jack Reacher. A unique filmmaker.

Encounters involved Herzog and a small film crew going to the South Pole in Antarctica to observe the life of the people who work there. The film is so mesmerizing because of the way Herzog tells the story.

We learn soon on of the truck driver which is essentially a bus that collects them and several others when the plane lands. Firstly, this bus isn't a normal size. It is a giant behemoth with wheels bigger than houses. Herzog asks him what he did before coming here, expecting a truck driver or a cab driver, but the man reveals he worked in a bank in Colorado. This was shocking. 

The man tells us that he moved to Guatemala and got involved in the civil rights movement and was captured by these gang members who were going to kill him with a machete, but thankfully he escaped. He closes by telling us that there was another woman captured who didn't make it and was killed. It was a very emotional and sad moment that laid the groundwork for the film.

It was very interesting to find out about the different people who live here, like the divers who must blow a massive hole in the ground then dive in sub zero temps. They don't use a tether line either and must find their way back to the small exit hole. They search for sea creatures and anything else they can find, sometimes finding new species' of creatures. According to them it's a 'very big deal' but remain calm and unnaffected because it must happen pretty regularly.

Herzog is a very effective documentarian and it may be his experience of both this genre and fiction that enables him to be so good at it. He blurs the line between fiction and reality and we almost don't know what we're watching and we get lost in it. I think it makes for really effective storytelling. He has clearly staged certain things for the camera and has paid off miraculously.

I feel it would be a cardinal sin to skip talking about the visuals in this film. The cinematography is incredible, the cavern walls look like they can tell so many stories and the underwater photography is also breathtaking.

Class Viewing 1: Nostalgia de la Luz

The last three weeks have involved us, as a class, watching a documentary that has used specific conventions and techniques to achieved a required effect. Each of these techniques are meant to make us think about how we want to make our documentary and think differently than the usual TV docs we are used to.

The first film we watched was called: Nostalgia de la Luz, translated as Nostalgia for the Light. It was a Chilean film by a man named Patricio Guzmán. The film largely deals with the aftermath of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile.

This film is very interesting because it combines two things: the search into the past of humans by astronomers and the search by the Chilean people who had relatives killed during Pinochet's reign.

 The film opens with a telescope looking at the moon. It takes us on a journey that leaves our world and into the beyond. We are then taken back down to the earth again and shown different pieces of technology, telescopes, that allows us to see into the void that is space. We see the desert, an abundance of history. We finally see a house that someone lives in and lets us known that there is life.

It is a mesmerizing opening and lasts a solid four minutes and could pass for a short film. It speaks volumes itself with the journey it takes us on. I see it as a journey of showing us that there is much more out there than we think. We live on this planet but there is so much more and so much that we do not know. The cosmos is massive and much bigger but these telescopes allow us to see what is beyond us. The desert, dry and no life, could be viewed as an indication that even though we are full of life, we are surrounded by places that aren't. 

These places, like the Atacama desert, are the location of these majestic telescopes that allow us to see what else there is in the universe and it can also be seen that before we existed this already existed.

The opening is also unique in that it is solely visual images and the sounds of the machines, all natural. No voiceover required to tell the story which leaves it open to interpretation, a powerful tool. One that I really want to use in my documentary.

 
 

Directing the Documentary

This is something I've been asking myself a lot this week. With shooting our doc coming up very soon, I really needed to find an answer for it.

Documentary is a great genre and something I wish I looked at far more than I do. It can be so powerful and moving as well as being informative. This goal for our docs is to try and move away from the TV Documentary that is very talkative with voiceover and interviews. Instead of being told the story through speech, we are asked to take the cinematic route and use visuals.

Our documentary features Conor's dad, Rory. An artist and a potter in his free time. We are going to explore his work as a potter. I really wanted to do this when Conor suggested it, as it's so unique and many people are impressed by those who can do it and do it well.

The first question is what kind of story do I want to tell? I guess I'm still not sure. What I do know is that I want to focus on the process of it. There is no voiceover and we've decided to ditch interviews completely which eliminates any speaking, I think this is a good factor.

It's very hard to tell any backstory about Rory with this technique but it will allow us to see the work involved in creating these works of art and how he does it. From start to finish. I feel by opening with where he lives and the local surroundings we are told that this isn't a place of work. It's neutral and it's where he lives. So it's not a chore, so he enjoys it. 

By seeing him start the process and his readiness, we see how meticulous he is and what is needed to make these the way they should be. Use of sound will be important. We want to hear the raw sounds of the throwing, the wheel, the kiln, everything. It will feel more natural and real. I also want to show some finished pieces, what they become in the end, from a simple piece of clay to a finished art project that people want to look at. All from the creativity and the skill of his hands.

Inspiration

I've been trying to watch as many short documentaries as I can the past week and try and understand them and learn from them. I want to post some here and say what I like about them. Some were very powerful and moving which is extremely inspiring.

 The Heat Short Documentary

The first short I wanted to write about is The Heat. It's about a single mum in Brooklyn who wanted some focus in her life instead of having a kid and falling into a marriage. She wanted something to do in her life. It's an incredible short and very inspiring. The doc features a lot of voiceover but visually, it's stunning. It's very good near the end where she talks about the effect of Hurricane Sandy on her life and how she and everyone came through it and rebuilt their lives.

I love her story and how the doc was made. The images where there is no voiceover for about 20 seconds and we see people embracing after the hurricane and her training, to people rebuilding their lives and her winning fights. It's a simple message that people can overcome and do anything if they put their mind to it, regardless of the situation.



This documentary is quite short, around 3 minutes and is about Reindeer Wrangling. It's a different kind of short documentary with no voiceover or anything. It is all visual and dependent on the natural, raw sounds of the surroundings, very much like the documentary we are going to shoot.

It's a majestic short because of the reindeer in it because they always seem to appear only in fiction, but this time they are real. The film was shot in Finland in -18C temperatures and shows the work of these herders that they have done for generations. It's hard to relate to as we know nothing of this process but it is stunning to look at.

Youth - A Documentary Short 

This last documentary is called Youth. It features footage of a photographers friends that he filmed over 4 months and made a short out of it, highlighting the innocence and fun of being that age.

It stands out to me and others I would guess because it makes you think of a time gone by. Being older, you realise that a good part of that time is over. Admittedly some are around my age I would think, it still makes me think of when I was around 16/17. It is a very moving short that jut features strong and powerful visuals.

Processing....

I decided to take some time and really look into the process of pottery so I can understand as much of it as I can, I can't do the documentary justice if I don't understand the process.

I found a very helpful, yet short video detailing the process which really helped. It explains each stage with some visual help.


The first part of the process is called: Wedging. This is where the clay is prepared for moulding. The clay is pushed and compressed against the table to get rid of any air bubbles or creases.

The next stage is the Throwing stage. The clay is then made into the shape of an object using the potters wheel to make pots for example. You can also use handheld items like a rolling pin to make slabs or pinching the clay.

The clay is then left to dry for a few days and reaches a stage called 'Leatherhard.' From here you can cut away excess clay or add to the object by giving it handles or decorate it. This is called Trimming.

Following this, is the first firing called the Bisque Firing. The clay will be hardened after this and is easier for a glaze to be applied.

The glaze is a process itself, where the pot is essentially dipped in liquid consisting of silica and metal oxides, giving it the shiny look. 

Finally comes the Glaze firing which is the last process. This hardens the glaze coating and sticks on the ceramic.

Admittedly this is the process in its simplest form but has given me a better understanding of pottery. 

Production Update

Things are moving a fair bit forward now as we will be shooting this very soon.

A major development is that we have decided to drop the interview aspect from the documentary. We wanted to stray away from making the clichéd tv documentary and decided to focus solely on the craft process.

The theme is about hands and this is a very specific skill that many people appreciate and admire and we want to show that and do it justice. I think removing the interview aspect will make it very visual and cinematic which will look great and make it a little unique from other documentaries.

The only doubt I have about this all is how much of an input I will have in this. It's being very visual which is Conor's passion and he is very good at it but this is vastly different from anything I've done before and as director, it is a little difficult for me to think as one for this project. I know how we are going to film it, so I have a good feeling about telling the story in the edit.

Influences

Here I will post some other short docs we have found that have influenced our documentary:


Two Fires - Short Documentary & Artist Profile</ 

This first video is arguably the chief influence we have found and when we first saw it, we knew it was something like this that we wanted to make.

Admittedly this short has a voiceover playing in it which adds to the story but when we first watched it, it was without audio and it still struck a chord with us. The amazing thing about this video is that it works incredibly well with and without audio. Without it, we are drawn even more to the skill of this potter and glassmaker and with audio we learn their story and how they work together which is very touching.

The shots in this short are absolutely incredible, the smooth tracking shots really stand out and unique shots of the potter wheel.

 

Update

It's been several weeks now since I posted here last and things have moved forward a fair bit.

I have partnered up with Conor for the production of this documentary, I am doing the directing/editing and Conor is doing the camerawork.

Our documentary is to have the theme of 'hands' which can be as literal or as different as you want it to be, depending how you look at it. It's quite an interesting theme to go with I think, but we have been told our docs cannot include voiceover which is a bit unfortunate as they want them to look cinematic and using voiceover can be a cheap trick to advance the narrative.

We have decided to do our documentary about Conor's dad, Rory, who teaches at the BMC but is also a potter. This is a very interesting and cool skill to have and it would make great subject material. From some of the work I have seen, his dad is very skilled at it.

Originally we were going to shoot some interview footage with him and incorporate that into the doc, as you normally would. But the more we looked at it and thought about it, that is no different from a documentary you would see on TV. We decided then to focus on the process itself and the skill that Rory has. We will let the visuals of the potting and sounds of equipment, throwing and the kiln etc tell the story.

I think it sounds like a great idea and visualising it, it looks like it will be great. Conor is a very good camera man and has a great eye for detail and shots so I have zero worries in that department. 

We found some very influential pieces on vimeo that are in the same vein of what we are trying to achieve so I will post them here as well.

Making a Decision

The theme of the documentary we have to make is 'hands.' This can be as literal or as metaphoric as we want it to be. The duration is to be between 5 and 7 minutes.

I have three ideas in mind for the documentary subject and they could all be quite good. I need to examine the pros and cons of each idea and decide which will be the best to shoot.

The first choice is a local wrestling company located in Lisburn called Pro Wrestling Ulster that I am quite familiar with. They have been getting bigger in Belfast the past few years and the wrestlers don't get paid for it so they are extremely passionate about it and would be very good subject matter.

As I have teamed up with Conor, he pitched the idea of using his dad who is a teacher at BMC and is a skilled potter, which sounds like it could be a really nice subject as working with clay is calm and we could get a really good interview and nice shots to go along with it.

The final idea is taking the theme of hands quite literally and looking at the Red hand of Ulster which is a very loyalist emblem in Northern Ireland. We could look into where it actually came from and the meaning behind it and how it came to stand for sectarianism. This however, is a big subject and would require extensive research. It would probably suit a feature or a longer documentary.

Doc It Up

So second year has finally arrived of HND Media Moving Image and we finally have a documentary class.

As part of the class, we have been asked to create a blog for the class and the documentary that we will make for it. Essentially I'll update the progress of the blog and how I feel about it.