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.
Wednesday 30 October 2013
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.
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.
Thursday 10 October 2013
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.
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.
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.
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