Dissertations, documentaries and such

Byrichard

I’ve been reading about documentary makers and it’s interesting. Today I read about several of them, took notes, and explored the ideas that they demonstrate. The one that has confused me is Kossanovksy and his ideas of Dogma. I’m wondering how you do a documentary without having interviews or cutaways. Does he mean that we should not use them gratuitously or in some other manner? I need to do more search on this particular aspect.

Once more I’ve watched Control Room, the documentary about al Jazeera. I found it interesting.

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First time directing a multicam

Byrichard

Directing a Multicam is easy, after being a cameraman at many conferences. it’s a matter of knowing which shots you would like to have had with just one camera but couldn’t get. It’s easy, switching from one source to another and making sure the pacing is right and that there are not too many screw-ups.

Overall it went well and I enjoyed it. It was different today as I was a simple camera operator. I had to concentrate on getting the right shot and fight away the desire to sit down or do something else.

On both days the last speaker was the more entertaining of the day.

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Sunday afternoon

Byrichard

Soon I may have internet access in my halls again and at that point the writing will begin again. it’s hard to be inspired in a library. On the positive side I’ve watched up to three new documentaries since last night so I’m wondering whether to look at the origins of french and English cinema.

I had some inspiration whilst attempting to watch Nightmail by Grierson.

Tonight I shall be watching Philibert’s L’empire des Sourd, documentary I recently read about.

I went to see Borat and it’s really amusing, a good excuse to laugh for more than an hour.

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Multicam work

Byrichard

There’s a studio, three cameras, four female dancers, one male. It’s a cabaret show yet no one is in costume. That’s because it’s a practice session for those who will be using the studio in two weeks.

I don’t like having a prompter on the front of the camera because it makes smooth movements harder to achieve. It doesn’t matter. I’ll get it right for the proper costumed event.

Approaching the first deadline

Byrichard

It’s six weeks into the course and the first deadline is approaching. It’s for globalisation and I need to work on it today to save on stress later in the week.

I went out to Central London to record some vox pops asking people about myspace. The weather was good and people were quite willing to talk to the camera. In fact, it’s quite surprising to see what a high percentage of people accept to talk about. In general, they accept to talk if they know about myspace.

I was editing for a few hours on Friday, getting one or two interviews shortened for later in the production. We’re missing a lot of footage at the moment. We need to listen to the interviews, see what is mentioned, and according to this decision on what shots best illustrate what is being talked about.

I’ve watched my fourth Broomfield documentary, soldier girls, last night. It’s a different style. He’s far less visible in front of the camera and it focuses almost entirely on one problem recruit. We only see him at the very end when the problem recruit leaves the service.

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Nick Broomfield

Byrichard

Yesterday I bought a series of six of Broomfield’s documentaries and I watched one of them today. Chicken Ranch is interesting because Broomfield lets the camera appear in shot, through mirrors and more. He also allows himself to appear, although only fleetingly, at least in this documentary.

He makes observational documentaries and allows the viewer to come to his own conclusions. This is a style of documentary where the action happens in front of the camera, with no use of voice over. Intertitles are enough, similarly to people like Vertov.

They are interesting documentaries because you can see that they have not been scripted. they document life, becoming more biographical and reflective of reality.

They do not strive to tell you what to think but rather encourage you to see and intuit from them.

How many documentaries do you watch that breath, that do not tell you what to think? Most attempt to say “he believes that” whilst “they believe that”. This is a more mature form of documentary making, one where the characters are the story.

I still have another five documentaries to watch and we’ll see what else I learn through watching them.

I found another documentary book today. It’s got many interviews with a variety of directors and I really hope that they help me understand the question that I want to ask and research without it being too broad.

Bad organisation

Byrichard

When you’re the producer one of the first things you do is make sure that the person you’re meant to be filming is at the location where you want him at the time you would like him to be there. A few days ago though, when someone else was producing the talents did not show up and we waited five hours for no reason. This was frustrating since i had at least two other things I could have been doing instead.

Today I have another more spontaneous vox pop gathering excercise around central London and probably Camden. I’m not sure about the best location but we should see this within a short amount of time.

I’ve been thinking more about the topic of my dissertation and the research queston and whilst reading Documentary In the digital Age I think I may have found an essay question. I have to fine tune it to be neither to focused nor too broad.

On being an Resident assistant

Byrichard

Being a resident assistant is a great job at the same time as it’s a lot of responsibility. It means that we have access to every room in halls for a few hours a week although in reality we’re only allowed to go from one room to another. We have to go around making sure that everyone is ok. We check that all kitchens are in a good state and that people are not unhappy.

What becomes a challenge is asserting authority without getting everyone to hate you. On the one hand, you’re a third year, which means you’ve had a lot of parties already and you’ve been weathered into uni life and on the other, you’re still in need of social interactions.

I went to my first lecture and I remembered how much I hate being in a classroom surrounded by so many people. It was a documentary module and this should be fun. We’ve got a week to think of a topic to research and carry on. In a few days, I’ll be going to America and I’m looking forward to it more and more. I’m excited about traveling to the Big Apple, seeing all those tall buildings, and more.

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Tomorrow I’m back in London

Byrichard

Yesterday I made a phone call after writing an e-mail to see about getting cheaper accomodation through one method and it went well. I’m going to be back in London tomorrow, once I’ve finished packing all my stuff into a suitcase.

It’s the usual good and bad. It’s good because although I’m leaving my skills are still in demand so there’s a chance I’ll be in demand when I get back. it’s It’s good because I’m looking forward to being back in England and getting this final year out of the way.

It’s bad because I would prefer to do another year of uni rather than being a student. I met some interesting people and it’s a shame I’m leaving.

Tomorrow is the moment when I put Geneva on hold and take my London life out of standby.