This week, we discussed the practical elements and approaches to Documentary filmmaking, and the idea that documentary is essentially all about "something worth telling that the world wants to know".
Through looking at four different approaches to pitches and treatments for documentary films, Dreams of a Life (Dir. Carol Morley, 2011.) , The Baby Maker (Dir. Angela Morrow, 2003.), Osama and U.S (Dir. Jamie Campbell and Joel Wilson, 2003.) and Homeland (Dir. Jeanie Finlay, 2007.), the idea was introduced that each film has a different pitch and unique treatment , however there are several essential elements that all should have in common:
- The purpose of the treatment is to visualise the story that the filmmaker is trying to tell. Therefore it should be regarded as a realistic guide for the process, and as a tool to clearly communicate the vision for the film and the idea(s) that the filmmaker wishes to express.
- Pitches and Treatments should be about the character, and the realisation of ideas.
- In terms of character - questions should be answered about who it is the audience see and their development in relation to the narrative arc of the film.
Tips for building character and story in Documentary filmmaking
- Pre - interviewing contributors can be a helpful way of establishing the story and communicating the types of character and angle that the film is taking. Including quotes from key contributors within a pitch may help to communicate the idea more clearly and generate further interest or raise questions about the subject.
- Pre planning - plan interview questions and visualise shots - to avoid losing the story along the way. Remember that Documentary filmmaking is about chance, so be prepared to take risks. There does tend to be a sense of unpredictability when allowing the camera to be locked off and observational; sometimes it requires more than this observational approach to tell the story solely.
- Recognise the value of the writing process as a tool; keeps filmmaker, story and project focused, and gives them something to aim towards achieving. A realistic approach to an idea helps to keep the story 'real'.
- Prepare for the unexpected - e.g. during questions in interviews. Try to ask different questions to the ones which the interviewee is expecting, to gain an original and unexpected response.
Example - 'The Solitary Life of Cranes' (Dir. Eva Weber, 2011. )
The Solitary Life of Cranes is a documentary that has quite a poetic feel to it. The film explores a city, taken from the view of the crane drivers who work above and have a distinct and unique perspective of the city on a daily basis. The documentary takes an observational view of the city from high above, and communicates to the viewer the way in which we live in relation to our environments. One of the main themes in the film is contrast; that we rarely look up and notice cranes or think that there is somebody watching from them, however the people up there notice even the smallest of everyday occurrences, and have a unique insight into detailed everyday occurrences that we rarely get to see or notice.
In the following interview, Eva Weber discusses her initial inspiration for the film, what she discovered along the way and the challenges that she faced when creating the documentary. I have highlighted some of the key phrases that I find to be interesting and I think will be useful to reflect upon in terms of thinking about the challenges our own documentary might presented with during the filmmaking process.
" I originally got fascinated by the idea that there is almost another world above London (or any other city); yet most of us never look up to notice cranes or their drivers. The drivers, in turn, can see everything going on below them, yet their only way to connect with the world they are building is by watching it from a distance.
In many ways, the film builds and expand on themes touched upon in my earlier film, The Intimacy of Strangers--the conflict between being intimate yet distant, and how our lives are shaped by our urban environment. As one of the drivers says in the film, their work and the enforced closeness to some of the buildings around them means that it is difficult for them to not look at the lives of the people working and living around them. I feel this is definitely also true for many of us living in modern cities; there is almost an enforced intimacy in our lives.
Once I started researching the film, I was blown away by the sheer beauty of being up on a crane and seeing the world from such a different point of view. There is something about being so high up above the ground and removed from the world that puts everyday life into a very different perspective and lets you see the wider patterns of a city. Yet, in many ways it has been the small observations of the drivers that have really stuck with me: the way people walk differently at certain times in the day, the different way couples look before and after a long and stressful Saturday afternoon shopping trip, or the way office buildings in our financial districts change at night-whereas during the day, mirrored glass keeps the outside world out, you can suddenly see clearly inside at night.
When I set out to make the film, I didn't realize that it might actually take longer than for the drivers to put up a 50-story building. Getting access to construction sites proved to be an incredibly slow and difficult process, not helped by the fact that at the time there were a number of accidents involving cranes in London. As a result, the period during which filming took place turned out to be a very difficult time for the construction industry in the UK. In the end, it took months of e-mails, phone calls and meetings to build the trust with the companies to allow us access, albeit limited. "
During the filming, my producer and I got obsessed with weather forecasts, checking on them every few hours to see whether the following day might be suitable for filming. We were not only worried about rain and visibility but also about wind speeds, as cranes stop working when the wind gets too strong. We turned up plenty of mornings at a site, only to be told that we would not allowed up the crane that day. On one particular morning, we actually climbed up a 43-meter crane with all our equipment, only for my cameraman and sound recordist to arrive at the top and decide they could not take the weather conditions. Ironically enough, when we were finally trying to film on a rainy day, for the "weather" sequence in the film, London seemed to go through a dry period, and we had to wait for what seemed like weeks to finally film these shots.
However, regardless of the difficulties of organizing the filming and carrying the equipment up on the crane, there are still very few moments that beat being up on a tower crane for the first time. Even now, endless climbs later, I am still amazed at the view of the world you have from up there. Walking down the back jib and looking through the thin, perforated metal floor at the ground below is both exhilarating and nerve-wrecking.
When I set out to make this film, I had a very clear idea of the themes I wanted to explore, and this informed the whole filmmaking process--from the interviews, to the visual style, to the way I approached the sound design. For instance, I decided very early on that I wanted to divorce the image and sound in the film to reflect the way the drivers are separated from the world they are building below. My aim was to make a film that transcends individual stories, and for me, the detached, stylistic approach invites the viewer not only to engage in the portraits of individual people, but to recognize in them bigger, more universal emotions and experiences. So, while this film is told from the drivers' perspective, it is obviously also shaped through my own experiences and interpretation of their situation.
However, I always try to keep an openness to change my ideas about a film or a subject during the interviews, the filming or in post-production, and to respond to what is actually unfolding in front of me. I love being surprised by what I see and the way this changes the way a film develops. For instance, at one point during the film we see a small scene played out between two young kids on a playground. Moments like this are why I love documentary filmmaking--there is no way I could have ever thought or planned for this scene, which for me is now one of the most magical moments in the film. "
(Original interview in full can be found at : http://www.documentary.org/content/meet-filmmakers-eva-weber-solitary-life-cranes )
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