Documentary influence - 'Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond'

This 2017 documentary directed by Chris Smith focuses on Jim Carry's method acting as Andy Kaufman in the film"Man on the Moon". The film works with over a hundred hours of footage that was taken on the set of the film as well as Jim Carrey's personality and upbringing. The reason I wish to discuss this film is because of it's focus on a character as well as the film form and industry. There is a particular sequence in the film where we flicked through some images and footage from Jim's childhood, this moment is sentimental and manages to gain a sense of emotion and awareness. After watching this documentary I felt as though I knew Carrey, and left with opinions and emotions towards not only the documentary but the film in which it focused on. I believe this documentary was able to tackle many themes were not losing sight of the storyteller (Jim) and the film itself. The way in which Carrey discusses film and is passionate about it evokes emotions within those who hold film close to the hearts. The documentaries blend of nostalgic childhood imagery with images of savage Hollywood life and the beauty of film allows us see many aspects of what goes on behind the screen and in front of it. 

I believe this documentary can help us to balance our themes and build the narrative, It is also helped me to see how the mixture of film textures can be used together, As the film uses photos, old videos, documentary footage, interview footage and some footage from films. This documentary uses the main interview to guild the narrative and is not affraid to stay with other footage for a while before returning to the interview through voice over or visuals. I think this will help us to edit our own documentary and shows us our cutaway footage can be used as a larger element of the work. 

Cutting & Ordering Footage

When editing It became obvious to us that we had a lot of footage, much of it was filled with great content but we cannot use it all. Some of our favourite shots and interview moments will have to be cut down on what used. Through this process of cutting down the footage it has become apparent to me that what we see as good footage can sometimes stray from the message of the documentary or changed tone or outcome. For this reason I believe this process has been helpful to us all as we can now say we have the best of footage rather than just what was good. In this blog post I will be going through Some of the footage in which you liked but were unable to use and how we came to the decision of what was and was not to be used.

One moment that really struck out to us in the interview was when Janaan discusses a blackout which she suffered although this is a good moment that takes us into the mileage and on it also overlaps with the art footage which shows these feelings rather than using spoken word. We chose to show rather than say and this is why the story had to be cut. The story also had a comical element and although it was a moment of humour it took away from the overall tone of the documentary and to make sure that's personality is not lost we have kept in some moments of lightheartedness but stayed away from comical element.

Another clip in which we cut was another piece of interview with she talks about her favourite director. We are still deciding if this has any place in our work as though it shows Her love for film it did not make sense to have this at the beginning of documentary. This tackles another subject in which we are working with now which is order.

We have been considering the order of our work and how to tell the story. We had originally thought to begin the documentary with Janaan discussing her favourite director however this felt stiff and unrealistic and upon hearing feedback we discovered this was not the best that is why we are now working with different beginnings to see which outcome and sequence works the best. We want to make sure the documentary flows and for that to happen we need to work on outcome. We have some ideas for where the documentary shined it is making sure that the beginning and the middle mirroring the message of the outcome.

We are well on our way to having finalised edit, after hearing some feedback from the rest of the class we will begin to add the music and some possible side effects.

Art Films

Janaaan and I have been making films together for a very long time, it began with me filming her different locations using different props to display the murkiness of memories and evoke feelings of nostalgia. We soon realised that these images were representational of her own condition, and that the films in which I took were able to capture Janaan's emotions and feelings. For this very reason we have decided as a group that incorporating these films more heavily will help to displayed the audience visually what is going on in genomes might. This is also under the advice of our tutor who has seen the films and she believes they should be incorporated more into the documentary. 

Here are some of the shots from the films in which we are thinking of using and why we think there will be effective. It is also important that the audience is aware of why we are using these representations so we have decided to record Janaan explaining what they mean and what they symbolise.For the purpose of clarity I have inserted the images before they have been blurred and distorted, however we wish to show the blurred versions as this is what links best to general condition.

This is one of the beginning shots in the first art film we did, It is also the last shot. It begins with Janaan submerged underwater And in the end resurfacing. The shop was used to portray the feelings of depression and the overwhelming sensation of drowning in which Janaan feels when she cannot remember things or she is yearning to remember. It is also a strong shot to begin with as it betrays the want for freedom.

This shot uses a mirror and the natural landscape to suggest to her want to feel at one with her surroundings and not feel so she is a reflection of herself rather a whole complete version. The use of mirrors is also used in the shots we have taken for the documentary to this and make for a good transition.

This is another mirror shot however it predominantly focuses on the mirror rather than surroundings. This guy takes up most of the frame and renowned reflection seems to be at odds with herself, the flowers in the mirror display the beauty of Janaan's condition but the mirror itself shows the hardship of losing one's memories.

This shot takes place in the woods and shows her reaching for a camera, and then running away. This shot betrays the escapism aspect of film and how she is able to use it to leave everyday life once in awhile and feel some sort of normality. It also shows her passion and love for film as though it is what keeps you grounded and safe which is the overall message of the documentary.

This shot again was taken in the words and shows her with the camera, it looks different to the other shots as she is one with nature and comfortable with the camera in hand, it links to her ability to remember through film and how the form has become a place where she can feel normal and safe. The lens flare helps to create a dreamlike feel which also ties in the aesthetic of the documentary when we discuss Janaan;s dreams.

This last shot is from the second art film in Janaan shot, although the film is more grounded in remembering childhood it to has moments that highlight freedom and want to remember. We are thinking of finishing the film on the shot to display how she on has suffered and faced much hardship she has survived and become stronger because the condition and her lover film.

The use of Childhood Images

Through the editing process it has become apparent that theme of childhood and reminiscence has come up a lot in the footage we have got, we want to incorporate this into the film as we feel it is a big aspect of why Janaan loves film and how she tackles her amnesia. An idea which we had was to use footage from her childhood but this is unfortunately unable to happen because of timing issues and the location of footage. Moving forward we have decided to use some pictures instead, we feel this will get the message across and hopefully tie into our main themes. These are the images we are thinking of using and why we are considering them.

This first picture is one of the strongest ones we have it Janaan (and I) at the cinema, this visually connects her childhood to film And displays something which the audience can relate to as well as emotionally attached himself to as she is not only seen as grown-up she is also seen as vulnerable,

This image is more of a queue for when Janaan discusses her childhood, again this is more of a visual to help guide the audience and show them her childhood rather than a metaphorical image,

This last image is one in which we all find very strong and striking. The colours together make image seem a little blurred and dreamlike, it also shows John looking to camera by herself represents strength within childhood and also because of the aesthetic links to the theme of derealisation and depersonalisation. 

Overall I think using these images will prove to useful however we want to be careful not to shoehorn these in an overused them, just so we do not stray away from the original message of the film that is to portray her condition and how film was helped her.

How to Capture a Feeling

We have finished most of our filming and are now looking at what footage we like and dislike. Something we have been thinking about is how to show Janaan's condition, as not everything can be said is words. I think the best way to show Janaan's emotions will be to highlights her everyday  activities in her eyes. Some ideas we have are to show Janaan drawing/painting to display her thought and perhaps to show what her dreams display. Another idea we have is to show some of mine and Janaan's old art films that display the idea of distortion (a symptom of Janaan's condition).
Having this added texture will help us to have movement (following kinesthetic film principles), as so the audience will stay connected and active in the journey of the documentary.

Another aspect that we have changed is the film shop part, although we were hoping to film in a DVD shop to film Janaan looking around we discovered a permit was needed for the location we wished to film and upon further thought and discussion with Janaan I found that she visits another location tied to film much more. The media resource centre within the university is an area Janaan visits a lot, she enjoys working in the space and renting films to watch for pleasure and work. I began to take some shots of her in the space and found that she was comfortable and at home in the space which is exactly what we wanted to show, 

We have almost finish our filming process, though some b-roll shots are in the works, I feel we have worked well as a team to get over our set backs.

Music

When looking at music it seems integral to our work, so much so that I have begun to look at different aspects of out documentary that we want to show through music. 

1) Cinematic - as the documentary that's central theme is film (as well as Janaan's condition), I think having an ode to one of Janaan's favourite film would be good, weather it be a small snippet of the audio as she watches the film or and audio that mirrors the epic soundtrack of the film.

2) Nostalgic - The aesthetic of the documentary will have a melancholy, nostalgic feeling to evoke feelings of loss and remembrance from the audience. It is only fitting that the music also mirrors the bittersweet aspects of Janaan's condition as well as to help guide the audience on Janaan's journey to film. This music would be more calming and have an instrumental familiarity as though the audience has heard the tune but can not recall it.

3) Fantasy - Janaan discusses her dreams, and her fantasy drawings, these hold a whimsical feeling to them and almost hold music within them. this music would again be whimsical but more traditional in sound, with an almost Celtic tone. This will help the audience to enter into Janaan's world and display her creativity.

We are not planning to use all of these ideas, rather keep the best aspects of them and work from there. One member of out group had also reached out to a sound design friend who has offered to help us create some original music. By working with him we hope to truly bring Janaan's mind into an audible place,

Filming

We have started to film some of the documentary, though before we began the main interview I decide to take the camera for a night and film Janaan. This really helped to get her used to the camera as well as helping the group to come up with question. We also were able to see the effects of Janaan's mental health as well as hear what impact it has on her.

When filming with Janaan before the main interview the footage came out very natural and interactive and the image was clear but when shooting the main interview we hit and issue, when editing we realised the footage was very bad quality. The questions and answers were very well done but the quality was altered for some reason. We tried to rectify the footage but unfortunately it was impossible so we decided to re-film and possibly use the audio later.

I have spoken to Janaan and my team and we have decided to re-film this weekend to insure the best quality as well as this Janaan has said she would like this as she has much more she would like to add to her answers. Though we have hit a rock we are planning to speed on and create what we aimed to make.

Storyboarding

These are the storyboard's for the main interview and the day in town, they highlight the main shots we aim to take and what they will show.

Shooting scheduled

These are the times we are planning to film for the next few weeks.

Names of crew Hibah Jan, Rochelle Dalgetti, Guillen Gomez, Dan Ceteras	Addresses	Telephone numbers
Date - Tusday 7th November
Location - Janaan’s House	Shots: pre interview, close up’s and mid shots as well as some tracking	Props – none planned	Note – this will not be the main interview only the get to know part.
Times – 4pm-6pm

Names of crew Hibah Jan, Rochelle Dalgetti, Guillen Gomez, Dan Ceteras	Addresses	Telephone numbers
Date - Tusday 14th November
Location - Janaan’s House	Shots: We plan to shoot the main interview from a medium shot	Props – some film books	Note – we will film the B roll shots at a later date. .
Times – 4pm-6pm

Names of crew Hibah Jan, Rochelle Dalgetti, Guillen Gomez, Dan Ceteras	Addresses	Telephone numbers
Date – Sat 18th th November
Location - Janaan’s House, in Brighton	Shots: This will involve close ups of objects, mid/medium/long shots of Janaan on loacation and other shots that will be planned with the setting	Props – film posters, DVD’s, vintage camera’s etc.	Note – This will be in two places so we need to manage our time well.
Times – 11am-5pm

Presentation

We presented our idea to the class this week and received some feedback. These are the slides from the presentation:

Feedback - We got given some great feedback that will help us to improve our documentary, the suggestions made were to consider the use of having the film professor interview because of the shift in tone from the main interview. I agree with this feedback as we want it to be personal and not take away from the main themes and opinions. The second piece of feedback we were given is to consider the shots we will be using and how they will help to elevate our message and tone. 

Overall I am happy with the response we received and am looking forward to continuing our idea and beginning shooting.

Inspirational shots

Shots from films are a point of inspiration for me as I feel so much can be captured in a singular moment, whether it be the lighting, background or format of the shot when these elements meet something truly beautiful can be made. I will be looking at some shots that have inspired me and how I could apply this to our group documentary.     

Lost In Translation (2003), Dir - Sofia Coppola

I really enjoyed this shot, not only because of the background and positioning of  Scarlett Johansson's character (Charlotte) but also the beautiful blue tone. The shot perfectly shows isolation as well as sadness while linking to the surrounding. I feel this shot links to our idea as our subject is someone who may of felt isolated from society and it is important to know how to show this not just say it.  

Grey Gardens (1975), Dir - Albert Maysles, Ellen Hovde, David Maysles, Muffie Meyer

This shot, perfectly shows a moment in time, the subjects are in discussion and natural. This is also something we aim to do as we want to observe and keep the shots as natural as possible. The shot also allows us to see the subjects in regard to their surroundings, this is important as we aim to show how Janaan functions in everyday life. 

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Dir - Wes Anderson  

This shot allows the viewer to enter into the characters likes as we see young  Margot Tenenbaum read we learn she is an avid play write and can see how her room reflects who she is. This shot can help us as I wish to take a shot of Janaan's room and display how her possessions display her personality. 

Bright Leaves (2003), Dir - Ross McElwee

I really like this shot, though it features in a documentary it is beautiful and truly natural. I wish to take these kinds of natural shots without prompt to keep the 'fly on the wall' aspect while also displaying Janaan in an inventive way. It also shows a great deal of personality as the cigarette and sunglasses display the loud character. 

Submarine (2010), Dir - Richard Ayoade

Lastly but by no means least is this shot of Craig Roberts (Oliver Tate) as he looks over the sea, much like 'Lost In Translation' the shot shows isolation while using colour to elevate the tone. I think this shot captures the unknown as Oliver struggles to understand life we feel the sea symbolises this vast world in which he finds hard to grasp. This can help us as we two wish to use symbolism to represent Janaan's feelings and emotions. 

New Idea

Janaan Jan 

We have been able to make a breakthrough on our idea. We began by thinking about what the idea was missing, which was something/someone to ground in. We all thought about people we knew who used film and how it helped them, at this point I began to think of my own family, particularly my older sister who has 'Dissacociative Depersonalisationalisation/Derealisation Disorder, Dissacociative Amnesia'. Her mental health has caused some problems in her life but she never let it be and excuse to not pursue her goals. She has always used film to escape life when her mental health has proved to much and she also wants to enter a film related career in Film Theory.

This idea would focus on Janaan as a person, it would still explore the escapism of film but instead the film theme will be tied to Janaan's experiences. We would like to explore how the interviews would tie into the narrative and if both the film professor and film shop owner would be needed. In the new idea we do not want to shy away from the dark side of mental health but we also want to show the amazing things that Janaan has been given as a result of her condition. 

Overall I am looking forward to exploring this idea and seeing how we can bond both film and Janaan to raise awareness for mental health as well as the importance of film in today's ever evolving society.  

  

   

Where Film Takes Us

This is one of the idea's we have for our four minute documentary, it looks at the location of film, not so much the literal place but the place of escapism or safety. I think that this idea will work for all of us as we are all film lovers and have a point of view to show. However there are both positive and negatives to this ides.

The possible interviews are endless, but we have decided on three main types of interviews

1. film professor 
2. film student(s)
3. film shop owner 

These interviews will discuss the importance of film, the safety it offers and why we want to escape. Though I like this idea and feel there is potential, we all feel it  needs something more to create another layer that will help it link to one of the themes clearer and end more interest. It is also limited in terms of tone as we can not evoke any deeper emotion then slight realisation instead of something deeper.

We are going to continue to brainstorm for this idea and figure out a way to add more interest to this idea.     

Grey Gardens (1975)

This documentary follows two women, who are related to Jackie Kennedy. The mother, daughter duo are loud characters who have both lead interesting lives but now (in the documentary) they stay mostly inside. 

Notes on viewing

• Filmmakers voices can be heard
• Women talk to filmmakers
• Interesting characters
• Focus on two loud characters (their interactions)
• Long takes close up’s
• The tone shifts (anger)
• Confrontation. Raw emotions on New York and family
•  See house get wilder, into disrepair
• Dance, sing and preform for camera
• Loose handheld shots
• Characters look into camera

 I really enjoyed the dynamic of these characters, and how they are so raw and real, but some moments felt to long and as if they lingered on one topic too much, and the structure becomes repetitive. I think I would like to use interesting characters if we do a character documentary but perhaps have less of a presence as the filmmakers in ‘Grey Gardens’   

Bright Leaves (2003)

Bright Leaves (2003)

Directed by Ross McElwee as a reaction/response to the 1950 Gary Cooper film ‘Bright Leaf’. The documentary/biographical film looks into the tobacco industry.

Notes on viewing:

• Voice of filmmaker narrates

• Interviews with family

• We can hear the voice of filmmaker in in interviews (stand up on the move interviews)

• Filmmakers view, and perspective shown in narration

• Has preformative aspects as well as participatory

• Slow pacing, rather dull voice

• Cuts away to follow interviewer’s thoughts (‘black cat’)

• Covers many aspects and themes, family, tobacco addiction, history, film  

• Many shaky hand-held shots

• Questions to self in narration

• Can see camera in glass (reflective?)

• Shows setting up of camera (when seeing film critic/theorist)

• Chased by a dog (comic elements)

Overall, I liked some moments in the film, but I felt it tried to cover too much with no real outcome in any theme. I enjoyed the moments of comedy and the shots that captured personality (i.e. the girl on the cover smoking in sunglasses). Although the film had to many themes in my opinion I felt that having more then one helped to keep some moments from getting boring, but they perhaps should have choices two or three. Lastly I enjoyed the link to film itself and the discussion of cinema, this is something i'd love to add to our documentary as I myself have a personal connection to film and I feel that when we create what we love the end result shows passion.

Initial Idea

When first receiving the theme for the Four-minute documentary (a portrait of a character or location) I had many ideas, but one stood out to me. I began to think about not only a person or a single location but what builds up these things makes them individual. From a background in doing Art A-level on the theme of nostalgia I became interested in the metaphorical place of childhood and the want to return to it.

Concept

The idea would explore why we long for childhood and would focus on the theme as a metaphorical location. I would ask people of all ages where nostalgia takes them as well as asking a psychologist about the appeal of nostalgia and why it offers safety.  

Relevance 

I thought about how and why it would interest modern audiences and I came across the high influx of the theme of nostalgia in TV and cinema. Films like 'IT' and shows like 'Stranger Things' have become highly popular and have evoked nostalgic feelings even among those who were not born at the time, this shows how modern audiences are drawn to the theme and therefore there would be interest for my idea.   

Feedback 

After presenting the idea I discovered that although there would be a relevance to the idea, it may be to vague and therefore must be tied to a certain person or place. I was also missing some specific information and details making the idea too abstract. Although I enjoy this idea I also wish to follow the task and make sure the idea is as solid as possible, which is why my team and I will be brainstorming further to come up with some more ideas. 

Documentary Modes

Bill Nichols' suggests there are six different modes of documentary filmmaking, Poetic, Expository, Participatory, Reflexive, Observatinal and Preformative. These modes use different approaches to express their topics. In this blog post I will be exploring these modes.   

1. Poetic Mode - This mode is usually subjective, as it favours the audiences views rather then a determinant argument set by the filmmaker. It typically uses visuals to help guide audiences and has a rhythmic style. 
2. Expository Mode - This is usually a voice-over  ('voice of God') that is directed at the viewer and shows information rather than an argument (this is used commonly for TV news shows)
3. Observational Mode - this tries to observe the reality of the topic by having a 'fly on  the wall' effect, it tries to make the filmmaker as non-noticeable as possible.
4. Participatory Mode - when the filmmaker interacts with the subject, allowing for development or change in both the filmmaker and subject(s) or a reaction from the subject evoked by thee filmmaker.
5. Reflexive Mode - this tries to show reality by displaying the documentary making process in the final documentary cut. The filmmaker becomes  part off the film.
6. Preformative Mode - addresses viewer, and usually involves the filmmaker as participant. This can be subjective or expressive and can be experimental

Although Bill Nichhols suggests these modes come in in order (in history) I disagree as these modes usually become hybrids  and overlap. It also would mean that the older modes would be out of date and therefore not  used inn modern times however this is not the case. I also feel that it is harder to achieve a pure mode and that the documentaries that enter into multiple modes are the once that interest for me the most. 

Beginning documentary

This is an introduction to my learning process of the art of documentary, I have just begun to study documentary as a form, its origins and its present state. Although I have never been an avid fan of documentary I find it fascinating that the form is so rich and comes in many different styles. Before this I mainly focused on surrealist and artistic works so grounding my style documentary is going to be an interesting journey for me. Upon beginning the class I believe documentary to be stern form of film in which cannot be artistic however after looking at some examples and studying different forms I was able to see that this was not the case. 

The next few weeks I will be learning about the different stylistic and technical elements of documentary and developing my own ideas for our four minute documentary. Though we have not begun our own ideas yet I have already started to develop some understanding of where I may go in my concept. This proves to me that there is many a story to be told documentary not just the common everyday aspect but also the magical and even surreal.

There is also been some change as we have changed tutors, our class began with a tutor who was very knowledgeable in the form but had strong opinions and strayed us away from certain documentary types however a new teacher is open to all forms of documentary and has also what or why knowledge of the form and experience in making documentary. This change has opened some more doors for ideas and opportunities and has allowed us to be a little more open with ideas.

Overall I'm looking forward to taking this class and discovering how I can better my skills in filming editing and my overall knowledge of documentary as well as how I can betray my style in an effective way. This