Favorite

I don't believe in picking favorites, but I'll blog anything that will credit me with two blog posts. It's so efficient.

I was glad I got to meet and speak with every one of the guests who came in to class. Each talk was informative in different ways, and each was inspiring. The thing I took away from them, collectively, was that you really have to hustle to make it happen.

Peter Esmonde, cynical as he may have been, stands out for his dedication to the artistry that is part of our craft. John Fiege was super sharp, and it's nice to know he's applying his considerable powers to the types of projects he seems to be motivated by. Michael Scott had quite a story for us, which is espescially inspiring to hear from such a recent graduate. But it was Bradley Beasley who captured my attention more than any of them, if I must pick one.

"Little Boy Blue," that still cracks me up. I appreciate those who don't mind breaking the rules, because screw the rules. I also appreciate those who do what they have to do, even if it is reality TV. Beaseley certainly seems to be hustling, and I was impressed with his plan to use his short documentary as nothing more than a promotional piece. That's not exactly what I see myself doing, mind you, but I like the ingenuity of it. He's still selling noodling t-shirts. Come on. He's got keen eyes: one of them is a cinematographer's and the other is a business man's.

Fiege Films

I really enjoyed having guest speakers come in this semester. Especially since many (or all) of them were recent RTF graduates, it's helpful to get an idea of how they proceeded following graduation. The most helpful/inspirational speaker for me was John Fiege.

I found his explanation of how they went about El Ranchito the most intriguing. A lot of what I've done in the past (and hopefully will continue to work on in the future) rests on rethinking the entire approach to telling stories in a new light. His persistence in taking the route he thought was best despite instructions and wishes against it is something I definitely need to develop.

His unique approach to music for the piece was also interesting. Again it was cool to see how he tried to appease the requests to include a super cheesy song while not having it ruin the effect of the overall piece.

Overall it seems like he has an understanding of how to work with clients while also preserving his artistic inclinations to make a beautiful piece. He knew that using the El Ranchito theme song as the primary music for the piece wouldn't work but at the same time, completely ignoring the request wouldn't make his client very satisfied either.

Journeys with an Artist: What I've learned This Semester

Wow, It's been quite the semester. Going into advance doc, I wasn't sure how much I was going to learn, but I knew I wanted to make another documentary. Naively, I thought I'd learned almost everything there is to know about doc production in the intro class. Was I ever wrong. This semester has been a lot of fun, but also has been quite challenging as well. When starting on the Benini Doc, I had all these preconceived notions about how the film would look and what it would include. Of course, nothing ever turns out as one expects. I, of all people, should've known this, as one of my doc projects from the previous semester has taken a similar course. I guess part of learning is relearning.

When I realized that Benini wouldn't let us film him painting, I was at a loss for words. An artist documentary without the visual process of creating art - how would this be possible? I knew we were going to have to get creative to pull off any semblance of a documentary. Limitations always force one to be creative. Nonetheless, I enjoyed figuring out how we were going to piece things together. Structure was definitely the most difficult part of the process. Because we had limited footage (Benini wasn't what you'd call the most available subject), we had to use certain shots that weren't ideal. Yet by manipulating parts of the footage, we were able to mask certain flaws and bring out hidden strengths.

While I don't think I'll be doing another artist documentary any time soon, I am truly grateful for the experiences I've had in making this one. The briefness of a semester can always make it difficult to pull off a documentary, even when the subject matter is less abstract/more solidified. Regardless, I'm quite happy with the piece we've put together. Now we just have to wait and see what Benini thinks. Showing a film to one's subjects can be a nerve-racking process, but so far, I've never had a bad experience. Will there be a meeting of the minds? We'll keep y'all posted.  In the mean time, congrats to everyone this semester for some great work!

Errol Morris First Person "Stairway to Heaven"

I've been meaning to blog on this series but somehow have put it off until now..my apologies.

I've really had a documentary focus this semester, being a part of this class and also working on a long doc editing project in intermediate editing. Errol Morris definitely has a very unique way to of telling the story. The First Person series is a great collection of many short docs of very interesting characters. I highly recemmend watching some of them.

"Stairway to Heaven" is a lovely piece about Temple Grandin, a very interesting autistic woman. I will just jump into why his editing really works for me. Rather than just exploring her story by cutting together a sequence of her interviews and using appropriate b-roll, Morris really tries to get us as the view INTO her world and her mind. One particular sequence that really got me was the part where Temple explains the process of how she uses a sqeezing machine to make her feel relaxed (that's another story). But she basically explains that farmers would use "sqeezing machines" on cows to make them relaxed. She tried the idea on herself and it worked well for her. Just as she ended her line explaining how it brought her into another world, the audio track fades to nothing and an interesting ambience comes in. A picture of her walking admist a crowd of cows fades in, slightly blurry, bringing us into a simulation of what she is experiencing. It really tells her story in a way that a straight up interview really couldn't have communicated.

Having said that, I do also think that he makes good use of different camera angles to make the talking head more interesting. He also tends to film at an angle and has an out of focus, undistinguishable background. His timing in his use of b-roll and illustrations also really helps him tell the story.

Travel Blogs

So here is another idea especially for the summer if you will be doing some traveling. Why not shoot while you're there? I actually did this when I studied abroad in Vietnam and it kept my shooting and editing skills up. A more amateur site for travel videos would be http://www.travelistic.com/place . You can kind of look at what is most watched and again, see what people like in the videos. Also this is just really helpful if you want to travel and see what there is to do and what the place is like. When I blogged for my trip to Vietnam, I actually used Blip.tv which I would recommend because they have a really nice interface on their player and its relatively easy to embed it into your own site.

So how will you get paid while you do this? Well there are some sites which I've looked at in the past where you can make a little extra cash while traveling and shooting. You have to have someone to speak and know the location as in whats good to eat, what places to stay or entertainments but that's what makes the trip more fun. You will be extremely immersed in culture. One example of this would be:

http://www.tripfilms.com/

You would go up to the tab Jobs and they will give a listing of places they need videos for and show what accommodations they will make for you. There are other sites that are similar to this one as well. Some are more international based while others are actually within the United States. Well hope this helps and happy traveling guys!

Video Blogging

So we've already spoke in class a bit about how video is really evolving and how feature documentary film may not be here in the future so I thought it would be a good post to mention a bit about video blogging. Understandably the problem with video blogging is that you have to know how to make money off of it if you want to make a living. I've looked at the top video blogs in the past and tried to follow their steps in making my own blog. I decided to look at the ones for last year. Although some are more news based, others are more creative. All in all, you can really take from it a gist of what people want to watch and what you can do yourself.

http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-video-blog/

Another site I went to is the Forbes site for video blogs:

http://www.forbes.com/bow/b2c/category.jhtml?id=316

This one has a variety of of video blogs that come with a review and then their sites. It ranges from home videos of people about parenting to actual design/arts based sites on random topics. I feel that keeping up with a video blog site would really improve your skills in shooting and editing. It gives you a deadline of when you need to have a video up and how much time you have to edit. You also get a lot of feedback from people about how you are doing and if you can put a story together that is relatively short. Just an idea while schools out for the summer!

Dark Days

I hate to put the gloom on after that last cheery post but I wanted to write a bit about this documentary I recently saw, "Dark Days."  It is the story of a group of homeless people who find shelter in an abandoned railroad tunnel in New York city.  You meet several characters who have built their own huts out of scraps of wood and whatever else they can find and you learn about how they survive.  They steal electricity from Amtrak lines and so they have a few lights plugged in here and there and they can cook on stove tops.  At one point one of the characters reveals that probably 90% of the inhabitants are addicted to crack.  They battle the rats that they share the tunnel with and they scavenge for food in trash cans.  This is a tough world.  But it seems even tougher when authorities come in to tell these people, some of which have been living there for 20 years, they must vacate the tunnel.  Could these days get any darker?  I won't spoil the ending.

This film is extraordinary because it exposes these extremely poor living conditions and how humanity still hangs on.  There is still a sense of community in this place.  It is shot on film, which is also amazing, because it is literally so dark down there that it seems it would be very difficult to get a proper exposure.  The director, Mark Singer, spent two years in out of these tunnels to make this documentary and so you really immersed in this world.  There is no narration which I think is beneficial for the feeling of actually being there instead of just looking in.  I highly recommend it so check it out.  You can watch instantly on netflix.  

Six Pitchers

Fun time w/ Ellen.

Doc

Soooo, like an idiot I budgeted the wrong time for class on Wednesday and showed up too early and threw everything off. Like I need more stress...anyway, I apologize for not being able to comment on your docs today and also get feedback from you. I like the online feeback style, so here is the latest cut of my doc. Congrats to everyone this semester on some awesome work. I wish everyone luck who is entering into the contest and if you put your documentaries online please post them up on the blog too (I recommend using Vimeo).

Drift Doc from chixwithtrix on Vimeo.

Austin Reggae Fest

One of the key things I learned this semester is that stories and characters are all around us. They can unfold anywhere and at any time. I was kicking myself for not having my camera when I went to see Turk Pipkin's "One Peace At A Time", and after walked out to find the SWAT situation at the Apple Bar. So after recently acquiring my new camera I made the conscience decision to bring it to events that I had not planned on filming..because you never know what might unfold. It's hard to turn off the filmmaker frame of mind, and most of the time one cannot capture a certain moment because they don't have a camera. Well now I have the opportunity to film whenever I want, and i took advantage of that during the recent Austin Reggae Festival. I wish i had some interviews...but most people did not want to be on camera..so it was definitely run and gun filming.

The Interview Project: An Interesting Direction in Interactive Documentary

Perusing the net recently, I stumbled upon an upcoming documentary series by none other than David Lynch. I'm not sure that I would've ever thought Lynch would be involved in a documentary project, but the news nonetheless excited me. Basically, the interview project is a series of interviews from all across the country. In fact, 121 interviews segments have been put together, and one will be released every three days for a year, starting this June. 

I can't vouch for the quality of the interviews, or whether or not anything interesting will come of them. What I do find fascinating is the concept: filming a bunch of material, editing it, and releasing it periodically. More so what I'm fascinated by is the rapidity of the releases. Typically, webisodes are released on a weekly, or sometimes monthly basis. With the interview project, episodes will be released so frequently as to hold an audience's attention for a longer period of time, granted the material is good. You never know what you're going to get when you venture into the world of David Lynch, so I'm not going to make any predictions.

So many of the docs this semester could be turned into awesome webisode series. However, I've always found daunting the task of coming up with a new episode each week. What I find inspiring about the Interview Projects is the notion that all the episodes, footage, etc. can be shot and put together before the series even begins. This model certainly allows for more breathing room and fine tuning, something I'm sure we all need at this point. Anyways, I hope y'all found this post interesting. To check out the trailer for the interview project, visit interviewproject.davidlynch.com!

Too Much Talking Head? Not For These Crazy Lovers!

The talking head, to me, is probably one of the most over-used devices in documentary film today. Just to be clear, I've used talking heads as well, and I'd be a huge hypocrite if I said otherwise. They're convenient and explanatory, but often times they leave me desiring more. On occasion, a documentary will shoot a talking head to make it more visually appealing. Still, I'd rather see more of life unfolding as it happens. Then again, when the life you're documenting has already unfolded, you're either going to have to get mighty creative or embrace the talking head. The following film review fits into the latter category, and it succeeds based solely on its incredible story.

The film I speak of is Crazy Love. At 92 minutes, the film is almost entirely talking head interviews, and these talking heads are very traditional. Thank goodness for the story, which is so incredibly strange that I had a hard time believing it true till I confirmed everything on the internet. Basically, the story follows an obsessive man, as he stops at nothing to win the love of a girl that's quickly slipping away. To make a long story short, he throws acid in her face. Yeah . . . not your typical sign of affection. This isn't anywhere near the strangest aspect of the story, which contains more twists and turns that an M. Night Shyamalan film.

The film proves (at least for me) that all you need to make an engaging doc is a great story. There's absolutely nothing special visually about Crazy Love, but I only realized this much later. In the meantime, I was so engaged in the complexities of the narrative that I had a hard time turning my head from the screen (even though I wouldn't have missed anything, visually). Films like these provide me much comfort, as they reassure me that I don't need the latest and greatest technology, just a storyteller's vision. In fact, some of my favorites docs have been lacking on the visual side (ie Ghengis Blues) but far made up for this with character. We shouldn't be thinking red, red, red; we should be thinking story, story, story. That's just my opinion. I'm sure other's would frown upon my advice. Nonetheless, do yourself a favor and check out Crazy Love (and don't read a word about on the internet)!

“ The culture that is emerging can be channeled, encouraged, even deformed, but it cannot be cut off.”

As more and more online videos are popping up, more and more questions are being drawn about copyright law and fair use. An interesting read about this very same topic, entitled Recut, Reframe, Recycle, attempts to discuss ways to control online piracy as well as identify 9 common kinds of re-appropriation practices.
I’ll attempt to highlight some of the more interesting chunks of info and give a broad overview of the topic.

Essentially, fair use is essentially the ability to use copyrighted work without a license. Currently courts analyze fair use on a case by case basis, but smaller communities are also taking it upon themselves to create a shared understanding of these practices through a community designed code of practice.

Legally to fall within the definition of fair use 4 considerations are taken into account: 1. purpose of use, 2. nature of copyrighted work, 3. amount our portion used, 4. the effect of the value of the work.
Aspects of fair use that have long been acceptable are: 1. Media critique, 2. When copyrighted material is incorporated into a moment being documented for a separate purpose or for 3. Short illustration.

+Note: Although most videos on sites like you tube are not used for profit, of which is the main concern of the Act, sites like you tube is an ad-sponsored site so essential the videos are turning over a revenue to someone in the long run.

In conclusion, fair use should be recognized for those interested in an open society and while clarifications are ultimately still needed it is important to still keep the doctrine as it ultimately is, flexible.

For a more in depth analysis of the other types of purposes (satire and comedy, pos./neg. commentary, pastiche) and the relationship to the fair use doctrine, check out the Center for Social Media pamphlet.

The Most Inspiring (and Cynical) Guest

Browsing through the posts that were written before this one, It's safe to say that John Fiege was the most inspiring guests for many of my peers. Indeed, I found what John talked about to be both fascinating and useful. I'm always trying to think of creative ways in which I can make my documentary skill set work, and John definitely demonstrated that we can be documentarians all the time, even when it comes to work for non-profits or businesses. However, if I had to choose my favorite speaker, I would pick Peter Esmonde, the very cynical industry professional.

Peter told us what we didn't want to hear, that the industry is difficult, that PBS screws over filmmakers time and time again, that companies are interested in exploiting our skills for their own nefarious needs. I didn't mind this, as it's always a good idea to be at least partially grounded in reality. Yet for all his cynicism, you could tell that Peter had a love for documentary, even though he essentially deemed the medium a fraud. His understanding and take on documentary film lead to some very interesting discussions. Particularly, I found it interesting that Peter thought that documentaries are always lying, and that they try to fit into certain blueprints. Indeed, we've had similar discussions in the past, in particular when talking about movies such as American Teen.

What I found most inspiring was Peter's life story, which illustrates the notion that it's never too late to make that first feature film. Peter spent most of his adult life in television and internet/interactive work, in order to make a living and support his family. I often feel that I'll have to follow a similar path, taking a job that's not ideal, in order to make ends meet. I've worried in the past that if I take this route, I'll get distracted from my passion, and never actually end up making a feature documentary. This would be sad, no doubt. However, individuals like Peter help us solidify that idea that one can make a film at any time. Sooner is always better than later, but at least I can ease my mind, telling myself that my chance might come at age 50. 

 

At SXSW, Peter was certainly one of the older first-time filmmakers, but he was just as passionate as anyone half his age. I could also tell that he was having a great time hanging around with his subject, the ever-eccentric Trimpin. If only I can be so lucky some day, I will die a happy man. Until then, I can look towards Mr. Esmonde for inspiration.

strange boys - who needs who more

this is a music video i edited this semester.  it was shot with three different HD cameras at the Alamo Ritz by the production company i intern for, Super!Alright!  this was for a documentary series called Dead Venues Live for delllounge.com.  The idea is to have current Austin bands play music in the locations where popular venues were in the past, regardless of what the location is currently being used for.  The Ritz was a rockin' punk rock venue before it was a movie theatre.  

It was a very interesting editing exercise because there were six takes, each with 3 different cameras.  This made for 18 different shots to choose from.  My first step was to synch them all up and make multi-clips.  

Anyhow, I suggest applying for an internship with this company if you are looking for one.  I didn't always get to work on cool projects like this one but I did learn quite a bit about how some companies in the industry work these days.  Really quick turn around times from shoots to final cuts and most all of their work is made just for putting on the internet.  

You can check out more of the Dead Venues Live series on delllounge.com and see how it is not just performances but mini-documentaries as well.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkg9d8BzbJA

Use this link to view in HD bigtime.

Most Inspirational Speakers

I had a hard time decided one individual that motivated me this semester. I decided that Bradley Beesley and Michel Scott were the two that ensured my colligate career choice was the right one. I respect Brad because he not only does documentaries, but he participates and produces a lot of other non-fiction motion-picture works. I am a musician myself, and I believe that film and video can really accent the artistic beauty of audio. Brad has developed an amzaing outlet for music and docs due to his fortunate group of friends, stern decision making, and a passion and natural ability to take a subject some would see as dull and make it soooo badass. He did a great job of portraying how crazy the industry can be at times, but he did it in a fashion that didn't scare me away like other speakers have in the past. Whatever documentaries I am working on, I try to get intimately involved in my subject. Putting yourself in other peoples lives in an active manner allows you to gain an insane amount of knowledge on your subject, gain the necessity of trust with individuals, get access to materials that others wouldn't even know about, and ultimately receiving the greatest filmmaking experience that you can.

I enjoyed Michel just as much. His past experience of experimental filmmaking really drew me in and interested me because it allows filmmakers to portray themselves as a subject. We work on documentaries that are about other people and shaped accordingly to the filmmaker's experience, but experimental art like Michels really allowed me to get a glimse of where he was coming from....and I really enjoyed that. I guess the most important thing was that Michel truly inspired me. He is a young male that has recently graduated from the same institution I am currently in. He did some small work out of college, but then an oppourtunity arised, he felt really drawn to the subject, and the next thing he knows his film is in sundance. I see myself as the same type of person. I like taking adventures no matter how dangerous or potentially unsuccessful they might be. If an oppourtunity arises that you know no one else has had, you better plan a little, get a small crew if needed, research quickly, mentally and physically prepare yourself, and then saddle up and get the shit done. I relaly just admired Michel's attitude about his whole expereince. He didn't try to blow things out of the water when he told us about his journey. He mentioned the difficulties of filming off of a horse and the hardships that any filmshoot has, but he said just enough so that when he finally did see the film, our minds ran wild with questions like, "How did he get that shot?" , "How the hell did they get that good of sound in that situation?" , "How is he capturing these great moments with his subjects?", and "How is it possible for somone so young in the industry to make a piece like this?

Michel and Brad's styles of filmmaking have truly inspired me. They make me feel comfortable with my style of filmmaking, because I have heard these talented individuals who have found unique subjects, made some sacrifices, had some guts in tough situations, made a great product, and had one hell of a time doing it!

I cannot wait to hear more of Spiro's alumni speaking in the future to kids who are picking up a camera for their first time today.


Thank you to all who have allowed us to enjoy and learn from these professionals

SXSW: Finding the Angriest Man in the World

One of the films I was most interested in seeing at SXSW was Ben Steinbauer’s feature debut, the Winnebago Man. I had heard really good things about the documentary from some of the RTF faculty, and I was very interested to see Ben’s hard work presented on the big screen (he’d been working on the film for somewhere around three years). Man, was I ever in for a treat. The film ended up being my favorite doc at the festival (or near favorite), and it was doubly cool that I could tell everyone that a former professor of mine was the director (lame, I know).

            The Winnebago Man is certainly a journey film, if we’re looking to categorize the documentary within a smaller subset. Ben Steinbauer sets out to find a reclusive ex-journalist Jack Rebny, whose outtakes from a Winnebago sales video made the man an unwilling celebrity on the underground video circuit (and more recently, youtube). Ben’s journey is an epic one, as he travels all across the country, looking for a man that may very well be dead.

            The main story thread serves as a microcosm for the larger issue of unwilling celebrity in the youtube age. As Ellen has advised before, It’s always a good idea to use a small example in tackling a larger issue, instead of tackling the issue on a grand scale. Microcosms allow for greater development of story, character, and emotion. Steinbauer’s documentary would certainly be a joy to watch at face value, but when you think of the how the story provides a commentary on our modern celebrity age, the film is even sweeter.

            One other point I’d like to touch on is that this film goes in directions unexpected. These directions were unexpected by the director during the filming process, and also unexpected by the viewing audience. I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll just say this: The Winnebago Man clearly illustrates that one should never give up on a documentary, for as hopeless as a situation may seem, life will often time provide us with surprises beyond our wildest expectations. Here’s to hoping that the film will get a great distribution deal, so that all you can see it soon!

John Fiege

I have really enjoyed all of the speakers that we have had the opportunity to learn from this semester. Of the ones we herd from John Fiege and Bradley Beesley were definitely my favorite. The most inspiring speaker, however, was John Fiege. I thought it was very interesting that he wasn't even a film major in college. I also loved how he is kind of a rennaisance man. He directs, writes, produces, and edits. He has worked in many different forms such as feature docs, narratives, and shorts. John has worked on many films as a cinematographer and also has a camera rental business for the Red Camera. He is a great example of someone who has learned to adapt to the ever changing industry he is in.

I loved hearing the stories of his travels, since I want to one day be able to travel with a camera. His photography was great as well. We also got to see footage shot with the Red Camera which was amazing. Its good too know that they are becoming "more" affordable.

All in all I enjoyed all of our guests for the semester, and got too see first-hand that you can survive in this industry if you can find your niche.



clh

The Documentary Doctor: Fernanda Rossi

Hi All,

I found a lecture online with the Documentary Doctor, Fernanda Rossi. She makes a living helping documentary filmmakers solver their structural problems.

Check it out:

http://forum.wgbh.org/lecture/documentary-story-structure-great-excellent

Happy Editing!
Ellen

The Travelling Documentary Salesman (or how to survive in an age of diminishing distribution deals)

There's no need to lie. It's rough out there in the real world for documentaries. Recently I've been wondering how I'm going to scrape by after college (although, I don't really mind scraping by, as long as I'm doing something I love). Ellen's been telling us the last few weeks that the feature documentary is dead (or possibly dead, as we can never really predict the future). Regardless of this doomsday outlook, I still think there is a life out there for a longer documentary form. However, it's becoming more and more apparent that filmmakers must changes there standard models of distribution, in order to keep up and adjust in a topsy turvy world. 

One model that I've continually read about and find more and more appealing is that of self-distribution. If nobody wants to take a risk on your film, who better to sell it than yourself. The lack of a distribution deal should never be the end for a documentary. As Ellen has talked about in class, one of the most important things to think about when crafting a film (from a business standpoint, that is) is the potential audience. More specifically, we need to think about niche audiences. Filmmakers like Bradley Beasley have exploited this concept to the nth degree. Mr. Beasley in particular has sold countless copies of his Okie Noodling DVDs to Noodling fans across the nation and the world. All it takes is a killer website (and an attractive film).

A more ambitious model I've run across (for those that have a little extra cash in their pockets) is that of the travelling film salesman. A couple of years ago, David Lynch took his utterly bizzare (and utterly unmarketable) film Inland Empire on a tour of major cities. I believe he self-financed this tour, but I think it payed off in the end. Not only is traveling with a film a great way to create buzz, it also creates some real opportunities for bringing home the bacon (or atleast paying off your travel expenses). Say you sell DVDs of your film in each city, even going as far to . . . autograph copies! These discs could be sold for $15-20 a pop. If you manage to sell 20 dvds at each stop, that's $400 dollars right there. Of course this doesn't sound like much, and I'd be lying if I said this strategy will make you rich. However, the $400 dollars could help finance a nation-wide, grassroots publicity tour. It's worth a shot (for the brave soul out there). 

In the end, one thing I know for sure is that we'll have to be ready to adapt to an ever changing market place. In the age of twitter (what a mindless application), anything is possible. There are opportunities surrounding us, and all we have to do is reach out and grab them. It'd be nice to get that HBO deal, but in the meantime, I'm looking toward different models. If anyone has any other ideas of how to distribute documentaries, feel free to comment!

interactive storytelling

Hi folks,

Here is an interesting example of interactive storytelling:

http://www.thalhofer.com/

Enjoy!

Ellemn

This is the picture I took with Mr. Bill Clinton at the CGI U conference at UT Austin, after a day of community service. Like I said, little things make a big difference. Just One Piece at the Time!

Most inspiring Speaker

I always enjoy live speakers in class because they give a different perspective to the normal flow of things and are usually inspiring.

My favorite speaker this semester was John Fiege. His down to earth perspective on the industry was great. I liked how he had used many formats over his career and experimented with those that were not the easiest to work with, as in Mississippi Chicken. His style was interesting, I also liked his photographs. I almost went photojournalism and appreciate the mastery of the still camera and well as the motion picture camera.

Of course what hit home with me was actually meeting someone who had worked with the RED and gave honest opinions of it. How it had an excellent picture, but with some baggage that might turn certain potential buyers off. In my course of work right now I may never work in the film industry, but rather the TV, commercial and technical sector and his examples of HDV and the RED got my mind working on what my future might include.

All in all he was inspiring and gave relevant opinions/suggestions about what to do as a student of motion images.

Inspiring Speaker

I feel like John Fiege was a refreshing guest to come speak with the class. He brought a lot of hope for film students soon going to graduate and I feel that is very essential at this time. But even in doing so, we are not disillusioned with challenges that may and most likely will happen. I remember the most about how he talked about getting a geology undergrad and a geography masters and then getting into film school. This shows that not everyone has to have their future mapped out exactly the way it is going to happen. Change is not always a bad thing.

I also liked John Fiege because he really showed how he got to where he is today and also has interest in helping others get into the film industry. I myself am not going straight to film after I graduate but hearing his advice and his beginning story really motivated me in anything I wanted to do. It applies to more than just flm students; it applies for life.

One Peace at a Time

I was fortunate enough to go see this documentary at the Paramount on Tuesday. Prior to the film, I had no clue what the Nobelity Project was about, and had little idea of what the film was even about.

I was truly blown away at how well Pipkin was able to weave together and make sense of so many different types of people, interview settings and verite footage. The overall subject of the movie was given in the ad by the movie sub-title and title, respectively, "a film about a messed up world...and how we could fix it" "one peace at a time". I think this is very strategic because they were able to go right into the subject and not take time to communicate their message first. I really like the approach to structure, by presenting different examples of other people doing their part and inviting us as the viewer to find our nitch place to give back to the world.

Since in my own project, I'm struggling with having too much "talking head" and trying to really establish the story though the verite footage, I was especially careful to see how they did it. From what I recall, I'd say only about 2% of the movie was an actual straight on talking head interview. I thought the did creative work arounds especially for Willie Nelson by having very artsy camera angles to really emphasize him as a character. My one complaint about that section was that actually seeing the camera next to Pipkin bothered me a lot. Overall though they did a great job creating a captivaing visual sequence to completment what Pipkin and the other interviewees had to say.

Over the Hills

I really enjoyed this film. In my opinion it’s probably one of the best we have screened. There is no doubt that the story in and of it self is extremely compelling, but I thought the film’s flow and editing were just as well executed.

This movie is as much about the Rhen as it was about autism and that mysterious and enchanting country that Mongolia seems to be for so many documentaries. Scott does a really effective job of balancing these three elements, that I think would otherwise have probably out shined each other.

Some of the more interesting images for me were the scenes involving Rhen’s tantrums. Whether public or private, it was pretty rough watching this kid deal with the symptoms of his disorder...all the while, I kept thinking how diligent and utterly great his parents were with dealing with every single outburst.

At the end of the day I came away with a lot from this film, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. Apart from a new understanding of the disorder and a new perspective on children, I came away with the urge to go out and make a film…hopefully with half the amount of inspiration and heart Over the Hills and Far Away evoked.

Les Blank films ONLINE -- FREE ! ! !

HI All,

I have not had the opportunity to show any Les Blank films in class but I have discovered that a good portion of them are available for FREE online through the UC Berkeley archives. If you are interested in passionate films about really interesting subcultures, you will love his work:

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/flowervideo.html

Les is also very resourceful and has survived and thrived on his documentary work for many decades. Check out his homepage to see how he does it:

http://www.lesblank.com/main.html


Ellen

Visual Acoustics

It didn't take too much to convince my visiting parents to come down to the Ritz and watch Visual Acoustics with me last Wednesday. They had been to the Ritz the last time they were in town, to see No Country..., so they we're excited, if skeptical, that this interesting new movie might live up to that experience. It didn't, but only because we couldn't get in.

This was embarrassing for me, you understand, because I had just heard from someone at the AFS that their credit card machine wasn't working and that plenty of tickets were available to purchase on site. "Don't worry about it," I told my folks. But when we arrived the line was so long I had no hope of getting in, even with all my damned connections and everything. This, I'm guessing, was on account of the triple advertising efforts of the Blanton, the AFS, and the Alamo.

But it did pay off to try, because on Friday I was tipped off that they were showing the movie again Saturday morning. We went and, along with about 10 other people, were treated to a great show. The film is about the architectural photography of Julius Shulman, who documented modernist buildings exclusively - and did it well enough to become known as the greatest architecture photographer ever. He's also a just hell of a guy, still larger than life in his mid nineties.

So the first-time filmmaker (Eric Bricker) had an interesting and wonderful challenge on his hands. How would he make a moving picture about still photography? He more or less split the movie between the character and his work, using a combination of talking heads, veritae, and the incorporation of the stunning photographs. His method for the latter was sometimes as basic as showing the photos full screen, and other times using what he called symphonies - a barrage of photos creatively displayed, put to music, deviod of dialog or narration. These moments were the most expressive of the film, they served as welcome mental breaks for all the info, and they were all very different from each other.

One "symphony" opened the film, and it was this one I found most interesting. It was a fairly simple photo slideshow, although the photos were each oriented differently and thus the screen seemed to be flipping around a la the beginning of 2001 A Space Oddessy. To do this, I think, he simply bordered the photos with a black background and placed them next to eachother where either walls or shadows spanned the entire side of a composition. In the case of modernist architectural photos with all of its leading lines and sharp edges, this great plan worked easily.

Aisde from that, the I noticed a whole bunch of different video/film formats were used to put this thing together. During the Q&A, Bricker characterised this as a mistake and described his post-production as a nightmare. Probably worth it though, I'm guessing.

My drift doc rough cut 1

Advanced Doc ROUGH cut 1 from chixwithtrix on Vimeo.


rough cut 1
needs a lot of editing and smoothing out. Will be taking away talking head and putting in more other footage, just ran out of time and threw in some b-roll.

I know some shots are repeated, the characters have no identification bars, etc. Like I said, its rough. Looking for where the story is weak/strong or good/bad visuals, etc.

Doc Site with very New News: Stillinmotion site

Hi All,

Please check out this doc site for very up-to-date news and posts about what's happening in the doc world RIGHT NOW. Stillinmotion is also chock full of good resources for emerging doc filmmakers:

http://stillinmotion.typepad.com/

Happy Easter, Passover et al,

Ellen

Scary News for Political Documentarians

The post that follows was authored by me for a political blog that I write for. While those of you reading this post may or may not be of my political persuasion (I'm a libertarian, by the way), I hope y'all will still find the information interesting and relevant. I haven't seen the film that's mentioned in the article, nor do I intend to (it sounds like a right-wing smear piece). This fact is irrelevant. We should stand up for documentarians, if simply for the sake of the first amendment. Now for the post (as written on March 24):

Something has disturbed me recently. A few of my well-intention friends have professed the desire to have our media nationalized (and in particular, our cinema). The dangers of a nationalized media should be clear (just take skim over a little Nazi history and you’ll quickly see what I mean). Once the government has the ability to regulate what we read, watch, and listen to, it won’t be long before these regulations will be used to suppress the people. Oh, hold on . . . we don’t have to wait for anything. This situation is already a reality.

While there is no way to fully gauge the extent to which our first amendment rights have been trampled on (in terms of media suppression), one might simply turn to the news to find instances of such egregious activity. Recently, I stumbled upon a CNN article which summarized an utterly horrifying Supreme Court case that is currently being decided. The case (Citizens United v. FEC) deals with a documentary film about Hillary Clinton that was supposed to air near election time. A federal court blocked the filmmakers from running promotional adds and airing the documentary on CABLE television. The rationale: airing a politically motivated film during the heat of the election cycle is a violation of campaign finance reform laws (specifically, the abysmal McCain-Feingold act, our favorite war monger’s crowning legislative achievement).

As of right now, the supreme court is ruling on whether or not the federal court violated the first amendment, in blocking the film from airing on television (and cable television, no less). You’d think there would be an obvious ruling in favor of the constitution, but as of right now, the Supreme court is split on the issue. The final ruling will be given around late June. Here’s hoping that the court rules in favor of justice. Unfortunately, the court has an awful record when it come to respecting the constitution. As Thomas Woods has stated before, “The Constitution . . . died a long time ago.”

Click here to read the CNN Article mention above.

Ethics in "Documentary"

No Lies is a  short, “fictional documentary” from 1973 in which a woman tells of her experience of rape to an insensitive filmmaker who refuses to believe her.

No Lies is an exemplary look into the relationship between filmmaker and audience. Mitchell Block does an outstanding job at breaking all the rules to manipulate his audience. There are several things he does to dupe his viewers. By using a non-fiction approach to his fictionalized work, Block assumes responsibility on his subjects.  He makes his audience believe that this is a work of non-fiction. After enduring a truly disturbing look into the woman’s experience with rape, Block reveals that the film is, in fact, acted (subliminally, through the use of credits). This is his first step in manipulating his audience.

The second aspect is the relationship of filmmaker to subject. Block creates a script in which the filmmaker (or actor) forcefully probes the information out of the woman, and then refuses to believe her when she admits to her experience with rape. This insensitive filmmaker is inturn hated by the audience, further manipulating the filmmaker/viewer relationship.

The third aspect is really a combination of the two. Block creates an immoral and unsettling filmmaker, and then tricks the audience into thinking that this is indeed a real person. When all is revealed to be a “lie,” the audience is left feeling a sense of betrayal.

His efforts to manipulate his audience are not in vain. In my opinion, Block uses this style to make a statement about the reality of rape. By lying to us and creating this situation (which isn’t far-fetched from reality), he is critiquing society’s view on rape. By taking on a sceptical viewpoint, he is mirroring the many cases of rape victims stories called “unbelievable.” He might not have been able to focus on the important topics involving peer, authoritarian, and personal relationships if it would have been a true documentary.

What do y’all think? Could fake documentary sometimes fill in the gaps where cinema verite or traditional documentary lack?

Still picking up pieces of my mind off the ground...

So I decided to go to Vulcan video last night and check some docs out other than the ones in the Spiro Library, and I came across a doc right next to Ellen's Body of War. The documentary was called The Dali Dimension. I must say if you are a fan of fine art then this doc is for you. The film is centered around the discovery that Salvador's extraordinary works were influenced by the scientific breakthroughs of his time.

I myself have been obsessed with advanced theories involving the search for hyperspace and the elegant universe. I was a huge fan of Dali's work before, but now after realizing his influences, I am forever loyal. The awesome thing about the documentary is the viewer doesn't have to have any knowledge on any of the intense theories related to Dali's work. The filmmakers did a great job of making it very informative. I felt like I was getting a lesson in art while refining my knowledge of the unknown at the same time.

The filmmakers had an amazing archive of interviews with Dali to work with. It is also woven with interviews of top scientist and other crazed artist. From my guess the doc wasn't all that expensive to make production wise, although the rights for Dali's interviews and artwork may have been a challenge. I think there was a lot of things in this documentary that have inspired me to structure documentaries in a unique way.

I believe the choice of the filmmakers to take science and meet it with art in a beautiful yet simple manner. We should be looking for something with a unique relationship like this doc did because not only is it badass and interesting, but you have two select audiences that you can market with this piece that are pretty unrelated in most cases. The doc could have been bought by art museums and channels and science museums and channels.

I really enjoyed this documentary even though it wasn't one of the top productions I have seen. I suggest it to all who have an interest in bizarre art and theories that will implode your mind.

Some different flavors of Documentary

My documentary style has always been to document. I started when I was 12 years old documenting RC flying events and it only grew from there. Since then I've traveled around the US to shoot various sporting events, including being an intern for Red Bull shooting the Last Man Standing dirt bike race and staff for a large drifting organization.

My purpose in documentary is to promote the sports/ways of living that I, and others like me are interested in. In this class I feel that a lot of this type of documentary is not touched on, mostly because of the limited time constraints of a semester and the fact that these documentaries are a minority to more socially relevant films. I thought I'd utilize our blogsphere to post op a small fraction of the people, documentaries and videos that inspire me to continue documenting what I love.






Red Bull World Drifting Championships 2008 from Will Roegge on Vimeo.


Slide America Trailer. from Andy Sapp on Vimeo.

CURRENT TV AND APM MUSIC BREAK THE ‘SOUND BARRIER’ WITH BROAD MUSIC CLEARANCE AND LICENSING AGREEMENT

APM Music Deal Gives Producers Extraordinary Online Access to Premiere
Film and Television Music Library; Current Assumes Costs

San Francisco (September 14, 2006) – Providing filmmakers an unprecedented new tool in
creating short-form content that viscerally connects with young audiences, Current TV has
signed a multi-year agreement with APM Music, the largest and most diverse provider of music
for use in film, television, radio, and new media productions. APM and Current TV are two of
the first companies to empower independent producers by giving them unfettered access to the
largest music library in the industry. Current will pay for all associated costs, which include
synch and master use fees for use on Current’s broadcast network and website.

For the first time, Current’s video producers – what the network calls its viewer created content
(VC2) community – will have access to over 200,000 professional recordings through a cobranded version of APM Music’s website, accessible through Current’s online studio
(www.current.tv). Producers can score their own short-form “pods” with music that may be
easily downloaded and searched by a deep array of styles and categories, using proprietary music search functionality developed by APM Music in conjunction Los Angeles-based Globalist.net, which allows content creators to easily find and audition recordings based on guided and textbased descriptive queries.

“Throughout the history of media, there was a great ‘sound barrier.’ The best stuff was reserved
for the media elite, and everyone else got what was left over. Today, APM and Current have torn
down that barrier. It’s another step in our mission to democratize media,” stated David Neuman,
president of programming for Current TV.

Recent productions featuring APM Music’s recordings include the major motion picture releases
Superman Returns, Cars and Nacho Libre, theatrical film trailers for The Devil Wears Prada, XMen 3 and Monster House, the television shows “The Simpsons,” “Nip/Tuck” and “The Daily
Show” and the videogame titles The Godfather, Grand Theft Auto and NBA Live 07.


“This arrangement, the first of its kind, makes the vast APM Music library available to the
creators of consumer generated media, while recognizing the rights of the respective copyright
owners,” stated APM Music President Adam Taylor. “This will be an important model moving
forward for all consumer generated media sites.”

Prior to this offering, clearing rights for music used in a film required several arduous steps.
Producers usually have to conduct extensive research to find who held the publishing rights (the
intellectual property rights around the actual composition) and the master recording rights (the
rights to use the composition recording), and then negotiate permission to use the music in
synchronization with a visual image. Each rights holder typically needs to be compensated, and
failure to do so can result in copyright infringement.

The sheer scope and complexity of the process is a barrier to most independent producers, many
of whom are not even aware that such permissions need to be obtained. The arrangement
between APM and Current TV not only simplifies the music clearance process, it also goes a
long way towards educating producers about their legal responsibilities when using music
created and recorded by someone else.

About APM Music
APM Music, a joint venture of EMI Music Publishing (the world’s largest music publisher) and
BMG Music Publishing (a division of Bertelsmann AG) provides the United States and Canada
with exclusive access to over 23 different music libraries specifically created for use in film,
television, radio, recording, and new media. APM Music is the largest and most diverse
collection of original music available to entertainment and media producers. For more
information about APM’s production music library as well as its custom music services, please
visit: http://www.ipressroom.com/pr/apm/info/news.asp

About Current TV
Current TV, which launched August 1, 2005, is the first national network created by, for and
with an 18-34 year-old audience. The network shows young adults what’s going on in their
world, in their voice. Current is also the first network in history whose programming is supplied
in part by the very audience who watches it. It has developed the television industry’s leading
model of “viewer created content” (VC2), which comprises roughly one-third of Current’s on-air
broadcast, and allows the audience to submit short-form, nonfiction video “pods,” “viewer
created ads” (V-CAMs), and mobile video. Its award-winning programming ranges from the
hottest trends in technology, fashion, music and videogames, to pressing issues such as the
environment, relationships, parenting, finance, politics and spirituality. Current is available in 30million U.S. homes via Comcast (channel 107 nationwide), Time Warner Cable, and DirecTV
(channel 366 nationwide). For more information, please visit the website: www.current.tv.
# # #

Southern Comfort

I checked Southern Comfort out from Ellen's blog and absolutely loved it! I really admire the filmmaker; it was so obvious that she completely immersed herself in the lives of these people. She did such a good job of setting up the plot, and revealing a little bit more piece by piece throughout the story. Sometimes I find this annoying...I want to know certain things right away or I'm already asking myself questions before the filmmaker reveals the answers. That was not the case in this film. Right when they revealed something, I had just asked myself a moment before. It would be a question like 'hey what about when he was younger? Did he always know?' She revealed these things to us in a tasteful and timely manner.
Another part of this movie that I really liked was the cinematography, which I think could have been a bit challenging. It didn't seem like she had a lot of equipment, but she definitely made the most out of camera angles and what she let us see. At one point for example, when two characters were hugging, the shot was just of their legs and lower half of their torsos. It was obvious by their dress that they were male/female, but when she opened the shot up wider, we realized that the characters were once female/male respectively. This technique allowed us to really feel their emotion and got us out of the technicalities of the gender plot line.
At one point I did get a bit bored. It lulled at one point for me, but the beginning and end were both really strong. There was a lot of really good character development that made me want to know how these people are doing now. It really was a great movie, and I suggest anyone looking for a great doc to watch should check this one out!

We're All On Display, says Ondi Timoner

We all live in public. It's a reality now. Everyday when I log on to facebook, I have the option of reading all about what people are doing. And now with Twitter, people have become more obsessed with a barrage of constantly updated details. We all want to know what our friends are doing, and we also want all of our friends to know what we are doing. One of the most fascinating documentaries I saw at SXSW, We Live in Public, dealt with this whole phenomenon in an interesting way.

In We Live in Public (2009), director Ondi Timoner (of Dig! fame) tells the story of Josh Harris,  a former internet pioneer who predicted our current facebook culture back in the late 1990's. Josh hinted back in 1998 and 1999 that millions of people would one day voluntarily expose themselves to the world. The idea sounded incredibly radical at the time, and indeed it was. It took Timoner ten years to make her documentary because, according to the director, technology had to catch up with her subject's vision.

The film was whittled down from 5000 hours of footage (including archival footage) into a 90 minute feature. I could not believe these numbers when I heard them at the Q & A, but they quickly began to make sense after I thought about the film's content (you'll see what I mean when you get around to watching the doc). Regardless of how long it took to edit this film, the editing was time well spent, as the documentary is absolutely terrific. Not only does it take the audience on an incredibly unique and unheard of journey, but it also manages to raise a lot of really interesting questions.

Currently, Obsessed (a studio movie released by Sony) is running a viral marketing campaign (via the movie's website) that allows you to send stalker videos to your friends. The videos might seem invasive at first, but one must realize that facebook is ten times as invasive (or at least as invasive as me make it). We're all exposed now, and we've all been documenting our lives via the internet for years. Whether or not we feel we're being stalked, we are all probably doing a little stalking ourselves. Next time your're on facebook (or twitter, or myspace, etc.), just remember, you're being watched. 

P.S.: To check out the creepy stalking application mentioned above, follow the link below:

www.getobsessedwithali.com

Good ol' Bradley Beesley!

I love when Bradley Beesley visits the class; there is something inspiring about that man. He is very different from our guest 2 weeks ago, Peter Esmonde, who left a rather bitter taste in my mouth. Instead of being cynical about post-graduation and entering the film industry, I liked how he told us about people he knows that have started out as production assistants for different television shows and have eventually worked up to becoming executive producers. Although this takes a good amount of years, it is still nice to know that we can start somewhere after we graduate and work ourselves up the ladder to the position we would like to be in. I know there are other ways to make it in the industry, but starting out at the bottom isn't so bad, and heck, you'll learn a ton on your way up.

Bradley's work was again very well done, especially his piece on the conman hypnotist. The subject was phenomenal and his work was out of this world! Bradley said that when you look at it all on paper it's just epic, and I have a hard time imagining how much more crazy it could get. I was very suprised I hadn't heard of the guy, but I think that makes it all the better for selling purposes. It's a very fresh story instead of one that has been played out. I definitely think it has a very good chance of being sold to a production company. This, in and of itself, was very interesting as well. I never really thought about how you could make a short documentary and sell it to another production company to be expanded/remade, but it makes sense. I wonder how much he could sell that short for to a company wanting to produce a feature length narrative? And I wonder if you could run a business making short films and selling them? That's something we could all do right now even in school.

Sarah and Lauren's Experimental Production Report

Killeen, TX

- Sarah and Lauren

Submit to 10 under 10 !

You can pick up an entry form at the RTF office. (6.118) or email us at tenunderten@gmail.com and we can send one. 

The deadline is Tuesday, April 7th!

Transgeneration - Doc Series

          Another one of the films I watched over the break was an 8-part series put out by the Sundance Channel called Transgeneration, which follows four college students through a few years in their gender transition. There are lots of questions that surround transgender and transsexual identities, and I'm not sure that this series does much work toward answering those questions. The episodes, however, do a fantastic job of normalizing the trans experience, presenting these students as just ordinary people. There is not much extraordinary about the film techniques or the editing style or anything else artistic that we look for in the documentaries we watch as doc students, and I feel, at times, detached from the characters. Maybe that is my cisgender privilege shining through - I have never spent time considering the "meaning" or significance of my gender identity. The filmmakers do a fantastic job of getting access to these students and their struggles with college life, transphobia, hormone treatment, surgery, expenses, unsympathetic parents, friends, relationships, sex, drugs and everything that most transgender college students would probably experience.

          If there's one thing I can say for Transgeneration, it would be that this film exposes a life experience that never ever gets talked about. I imagine that for the most part, people in our class, in our major, and even in our university know very little about non-conforming gender identities or transfolk in general. I have been privileged with an interest in LGBTQ studies and being part of the first Peers for Pride program in the school of Social Work. Now I can say I know more about this community that never gets mentioned, but this invisibility rarely gets talked about. The trans community never gets unveiled. No one can be blamed for this masking - homophobia and transphobia and just plain old ignorance keep cisgender people out of the loop, and fear of being outed as trans keeps transfolk from being visible and talking about their situation. Even in the LGBTQ population, transgender and transsexual people rarely get their fair shake, and Transgeneration, and films like it, are definitely overdue. If you're looking to kill 5-6 hours of your time watching what is basically a reality-TV-style documentary, that's what you'll find in this series. And if you're looking to learn more about transfolk or a walk of life you'll probably never otherwise be exposed to, check out Transgeneration.

SXSW: Trimpin Sounds His Inventions

One of the documentaries that I was most looking forward to seeing at SXSW was Trimpin: The Sound of Invention. I was certainly intrigued by what our guest, Peter Esmonde, had to say during our lab. I was very interested in seeing what kind of style Esmonde had put together, considering the fact that he slammed many of the formulaic documentary narratives (ie the competition film ala Spellbound).

What I ended up seeing on screen really impressed me. Trimpin: The Sound of Invention is a very subtle film that mixes verite elements with a few talking heads to great effect. Not once does Pete make his filmmaker presence known (no cameos, narration, etc). This film is what it should be: a portrait of Trimpin. The film had some really great sound design, incorporating Trimpin's musical inventions in a nice way. As Pete mentioned, there is a bit of an arching narrative, but this narrative never gets in the way of the artist portrait. Towards the end of the film, I began to understand what it is that makes Trimpin tick. Leaving the theater, I was inspired to create my own musical inventions. Needles to say, I've yet to follow through on this inspiration, but hopefully I can dive right into this undertaking in the near future.

The whole film experience was made better by the fact that I got to meet Trimpin himself. The artist had his own mini gallery set up inside the State Theater downtown. I tell you, nothing is cooler than getting to hand out with a really insane/brilliant artist/inventor. Not only did I get to meet the subject, but I also got to experience some of his incredible work first hand. As all this was transpiring, I couldn't help but wonder why Trimpin isn't more well known. Hopefully Peter's doc will raise the artist's profile. Here's hoping that film gets distributed, and that some day, I can commission Trimpin to make an invention for myself!

 

Lipan Apaches get Texas State recognition

For those of y'all in our class last semester, just wanted to update you on some awesome news about the Lipan Apache Tribe. Nancy (the Tribal Historian) emailed me with this to say:

"The Tribe was up in Austin yesterday, where the Texas Legislature voted a Joint Resolution recognizing the Lipan Apache Tribe's historical and modern presence in Texas. Yay!!!! Finally, the government is beginning to recognize that we've been here all along, and your documentary played a big role in getting us to this point. Thank you again for your great work.As a matter of fact....... I sacrificed my copy of the documentary so that Texas Senators and Reps could see your documentary and I think it played a big role. So you had other viewings that you didn't know about until now."

More information here: http://news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=235726

SXSW: A Great Week for Documentaries

Wow, it's been quite a spring break. I decided to purchase a film pass, and I recommend anyone reading this do so next year. The pass turned out to be an incredible value (only $70), allowing me to see films I may never get to see again (although, I hope this isn't the case).  Anyways, to get to the point, during the next few weeks, I'll be posting reviews on many (if not all) of the documentaries I had the chance to see. I hope that all of you will go out and see many of these films if and when they become available. Happy Reading!

Welcome Back!

Hi All,

Welcome Back! We have a busy week with two guests coming. In class we have John Fiege, a graduate of our MFA program.

Check out his websites:

www.fiegefilms.com

www.redcameratexas.com

Bradley Beasley will be coming to lab. Feel free to bring guests.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Beesley

Let me know if you would like to meet individually this week: I am available Wed. before 2 p.m. or anytime Thursday.

Ellen

Spring Break Documentaries - Gendernauts

     While all of you were sunbathing or getting married or editing your docs (yeah, right), I was stuck in San Antonio watching documentaries on a laptop. Now, please, I don't need your pity. I know it sounds awful, but don't cry for me - I'm not worth your tears.

    The first film I watched featured our own Sandy Stone from the RTF department in an era when her hair looked a little bit better but she was still just as sassy and verbose. Gendernauts: A Journey Through Shifting Identities, directed by Monika Treut, a German native whose work has spanned across the narrative-documentary spectrum, presents a spectrum of its own. Featuring half a dozen or so characters in fairly standard talking-head interviews, Gendernauts presents gender identities and theories about gender and sexuality that are changing the way the world thinks about "men" and "women."

          Sandy Stone's theoretical vociferations bookend these interviews, and she is presented as a sort of fairy godexpert, omniscient and omnipresent, able to talk about everything from MTFs, FTMS, boyz, butch dykes and everything in between. Some of the major characters in the piece include Texas Tomboy (pictured on the cover above), Annie Sprinkle (celebrated sex artist), Jordy Jones, Max Valerio and other gender-benders from the San Francisco Bay Area. Now, if you're looking for "interesting interview techniques," as our instructor has challenged us to do, this may not be the right movie, but if you just want to expand your understanding of gender and its infinite possibilities, Gendernauts might be the film for you. The incredibly provocative and inspiring characters make the otherwise by-the-book interviews exciting. This film is completely worth it just for the subjects and what they have to say. I guess that's the whole point of a good documentary, anyway. Right?

Peter Esmonde Lecture

I really liked what Esmonde had to say about the "reality" of documentaries. I agree with him in that saying documentaries are completely true portrayals of reality is "horse shit." No matter how observational and objective we aim to be in our filmmaking, our documentaries are still a construct of reality. Even if our cameras were hidden, like the lipstick cams used in Taxicab Confessions, we still have to edit the footage into something concise enough not to bore the shit out of our audience.
For an example, the other day I was watching Taxicab Confessions with a friend of mine, who like most is relatively media-illiterate. She made some remark about how short the cab rides seemed to be and I began to tell her about how the producers had to edit the rides into episode format and were likely to only include the most sensational or compelling footage. "If they included everything the person said we'd be bored to death," I told her. Reality television and documentaries might be closer to "reality" than narrative, but by virtue of the editing process, we essentially "edit" reality into a different version of itself. We take out the parts that we don't think are important or interesting, but that other people might have included. All of us are familiar with how easy it is to portray our subjects in a particular light. In my documentary from last semester about study drugs, I interviewed people and used only a couple minutes in the final cut. Some people definitely thought that Justine, one of my subjects, came off as kind of crazy. I found it funny because I know her personally and I don't think that's the reality of it or what I really wanted to do. But I didn't even take her out of context, I simply included the footage I thought was most interesting. So, even though our work might help to expose the greater truths of society (like how the phenomenon of using non-prescribed study drugs is certainly real) we can also easily come off as misrepresenting the truth (like how Justine is really a pretty sane individual). The Heisenberg Uncertainty principle states that you cannot know both the exact velocity and the exact position of a subatomic particle at the same time because the very act of measuring changes the momentum of the particle by a degree that cannot be determined. Think of our cameras as the photons of light that bounce of the particles in order to measure them.

Personal Release Forms

Hi All,

You should get release forms signed by all your primary subjects. Underage subjects need parent or guardian signature.

You can print out a release and customize with your info HERE:

http://www.sawvideo.com/youth/downloads/RELEASE%20FORM.doc

DJ Spooky's Antartica Project

I mentioned DJ Spooky in class today.

Here is the link to his work:

http://djspooky.com/art/terra_nova.php

Documentary Journalism

Hi FOlks,

The links I wanted to show today, before we ran out of time, are here. Check out the differences in approach.

Documentary Journalism:

In the first video, from CNN, “Girl poet takes on the Taliban with her pen”, we see the story of a girl, Tuba Sahaab, who fights the right for her education as the Taliban try to prevent her and other girls from attending school..

Narration guiding the viewer along into the story. The piece from The New York Times, below, also has narration, but the differences are clear: the first one pushes us into the story in a rapid style telling us what to think, taking the story at face-value, while the documentary–while guiding us with narration–feels more like an invitation into the story, taking us deeper into the emotions that circulate among the characters.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/17/pakistan.girl.poet/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

Of course the longer length of the film in the New York Times video helps when creating more depth. But these are the kinds of choices that online newspapers can offer–outside the corporate broadcast news model–allowing for the publication of a nearly 15 minute documentary that gets at the heart of what makes good documentary journalism: a character centered story of a man and his daughter standing up for their rights against the narrow spectrum of Taliban’s Islamic rule. This documentary is by Adam Ellick and Irfan Ashraf. It contains a great story structure that balances cinema verite style with a newsy narration approach that provides context for the political struggle occurring in Pakistan’s fertile Swat Valley.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/02/22/world/asia/1194838044017/class-dismissed-in-swat-valley.html

Rise School Post #1

I wanted to make a quick post in case anyone was curious about the Rise School and John and I's progress. In session 11 months out of the year, the Rise School is home to children 18 months to 6 years old. The program caters to children with all types of special learning disabilities, but each classroom is split about 50/50 with what they call "typical" children, those without disabilities. There are about 10 children per classroom grouped by age, one teacher with a master's degree in childhood development, and 2-3 TAs, many of them grad. students. The program and learning is therapy based and students meet with therapists every week. By graduation, the children, both typical and with disabilities, have progressed tremendously and go on to Kindergarten. The school gets about 67% of its running costs through special events and fundraisers, and is located, although not affiliated, inside an evangelical church (think Marjoe...shit!) in south Austin. Everyone associated with the school is really excited about the project and we are finding great families and stories to document. Here are some pictures. Video to come soon.


Typical classroom setting. The kids are learning about different countries.


Kids doing this really funny running back drill. Look at all the little future Colts.


Little ones painting. Cute as crap.

SXSW: GET READY, HERE THEY COME ! ! !

Hi All,

This is a remarkable year for RTF alum and friends at SXSW.

CHECK OUT THE FILMS BELOW and remember you can buy a FILM PASS CHEAP!

6 DOCUMENTARIES WITH LOCAL CONNECTIONS, NOT TO MISS
Listed in order of their SXSW premiers (and check the websites at each film for their other screening dates and times during the week)

SATURDAY, MARCH 14TH

11 AM, Paramount Theater (713 Congress Ave. - over 1000 seats, so you'll get in for sure)

Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo
Director: Bradley Beesley, Editor: Lucy Kreutz (RTF grad)
In Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo, filmmaker Bradley Beesley ("Okie Noodling") visits and explores an oddball American phenomenon: that of the prison rodeo. He journeys with his cameras to Oklahoma State Prison - the only remaining U.S. prison rodeo that is actually located on penitentiary grounds - and watches, cameras rolling, as ill-prepared male and female convicts risk their lives for the promise of cash and a brief spotlight.
http://sxsw.com/film/screenings/schedule/?a=show&s=F14868

3 PM, Alamo Ritz Theater (320 E. 6th St.)

Sunshine
Director: Karen Skloss (RTF grad), Cinematography: Lee Daniel
It all starts with getting knocked up. An unplanned pregnancy for an unplanned girl sets off SUNSHINE, a playful, yet ultimately stirring self-portrait of an adopted woman driven to search for answers through reconnection with her biological mother.

http://sxsw.com/film/screenings/schedule/?a=show&s=F15896

7 PM, Alamo Lamar (1120 South Lamar Blvd - lots of parking!)

Winnebago Man
Director: Ben Steinbauer (RTF grad), Edited by Malcolm Pullinger, Cinematography: Bradley Beesley & Berndt Mader (RTF grad)
Jack Rebney is the most famous man you've never heard of -- after cursing his way through a Winnebago sales video, Rebney's outrageously funny outtakes became an underground sensation and made him an internet superstar.

http://sxsw.com/film/screenings/schedule/?a=show&s=F16174#

SUNDAY, MARCH 15TH

4:30 PM, Sunday March 15th - Alamo Lamar

Chronicles of a Professional Eulogist
Director: Sarah Jane Lapp
Okay, it's not a documentary, but based on interviews with eulogists galore, including the aforementioned Rabbi, this beautifully hand-drawn animation, scored by Mark Dresser, follows a eulogist-in-training and his encounter with the interstitial spaces our communal memories create between mortality and immortality. A decade in the making, this world premier is part of the SXSW Experimental film program at 4:30, Sunday the 15th.

http://sxsw.com/film/screenings/schedule/?a=show&s=F14864

TUESDAY, MARCH 17TH

11 AM, Paramount Theater

Over the Hills and Far Away
Director: Michel Orion Scott (RTF grad)
Over the Hills and Far Away, which premiered at Sundance this tear, is a film about one family's struggle to find answers to their son's autism. Shot over the course of two years, this film follows the Isaacson family as they journey on horseback across Mongolia from healer to healer, and the amazing healings they found for their son, and for themselves.

http://sxsw.com/film/screenings/schedule/?a=show&s=F15281#

____________________________________________________________________

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18TH

7:15 PM, Alamo Lamar

The Eyes of Me
Director: Keith Maitland
An extraordinary look at 4 blind teens. The parallel stories of 2 freshmen and 2 seniors unfold over the course of one dynamic year at the Texas School for the Blind in Austin. EYES offers a fresh perspective on growing up and fitting in. Distilled from over 250 hours of footage, this experiential doc captures a textured portrait of its characters.

http://sxsw.com/film/screenings/schedule/?a=show&s=F15043


THURSDAY, MARCH 19TH

7:30 PM, Paramount Theater

Along Came Kinky...Texas Jewboy for Governor
Director: David Hartstein (RTF grad), Editor: Sam Douglas, Music: Kinky Friedman
For all of you political junkies, "Along Came Kinky..." chronicles singing Jewish cowboy Kinky Friedman's 2006 independent gubernatorial campaign in Texas.

http://sxsw.com/film/screenings/schedule/?a=show&s=F15244#


Enjoy!

Ellen

something to think about

Everyone asks me how I get my subjects to open up to me. There’s no formula to it. It’s just a matter of who you are and how you talk to people – of being yourself. Your subjects will trust you only if you’re confident about what you’re doing. They can sense that immediately. I’m really bothered by photographers who first approach a subject without a camera, try to establish a personal relationship, and only then get out their cameras. It’s deceptive. I think you should just show up with a camera, to make your intentions clear. People will either accept you or they won’t.

 

- Mary Ellen Mark -"American Photo", September/October 1998. , Page: 92

Check out her documentary Streetwise if you get the chance as well.