DOCUMENTARY LESSON

Film Production CYCLE + Roles
Modes of Representation,
and Ethical Concerns / Recording Human Behavior

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• Writer:
  
  Writes the story, adapts the story to a screenplay (includes character and scene descriptions, dialog, action and transitions). Sometimes it's also the director.
  
  
  
• Director:
  
  — Responsible for the overall creative vision of the film (what it communicates, how it looks and feels).
  — Directs the actors and works closely with the DP & Editor
  
  pre-visualization:
  
  
  1. Shot plan:
     a checklist of shots to capture during film production. This list should include what is being shot and how it will be shot to help you prepare for the shoot
     
     
  2. Storyboards:
     Visual boards take it one step further. They tell us what the action/dialog is and how to get from one shot to the next:
     
     
     • The Type of Shot
     • Camera Motion
     • Dialogue/Action
     • Transitions
     
     
     
• Producer:
  
  
  • Responsible for all the logistics: budget, casting, location scouts,
    equipment, scheduling, salaries, and all other production details
  
  
  
• Cinematographer / Director of Photography:
  
  Cinematography:
  
  The discipline of making lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema. The cinematographic qualities of a film are not only what is filmed but how it is filmed.
  
  Qualities of the "shot plan" include:
  
  
  • (1) the photographic aspects of the shot (ie. lighting, depth of field, color)
  • (2) the framing of the shot (for dramatic effect- everything is purposeful)
  • (3) the duration of the shot (psychological effects of speed)
    
    
    
• "camera position":
  
  
  • Whose POV is being expressed?
  • Where is the camera?
    
    
    
• "camera angle / HEIGHTS":
  
  
  • What is our relationship to the subject?
    
    
    
  • High angle / "birds eye view" – belittling, leaving a scene, godlike perspective
    
    
    • Example: High Angle shots in Alfred Hitchcock films
      
      
      
  • Direct – intimate, we're in the scene, in the conversation, in the action
    
    
    • Example: Metropolitan by Whit Stillman
      
      
      
  • Low angle / "worms eye view" – empowering, frightening, cowarding
    
    
    • Example: Tarantino (he loves them)
    • Example: Citizen Kane by Orson Welles
      
      
      
  • OTS / "Over The Shoulder" - camera is positioned behind one subject's shoulder, usually during a conversation. Implies connection between the speakers as opposed to the single shot that suggests distance.
    
    
    • Example: The Godfather by Francis Ford Coppola
      
      
      
  • POV ("Point of View")
    
    "Inventory POV" Examples:
    
    
    • Example: Raising Arizona (on DVD) by Joel Cohen / Establishing + POV shot
    • Example: Halloween by John Carpenter
    • Example: Jaws by Steven Spielberg
    • Example: Spellbound by Alfred Hitchcock
    • Example: Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julien Schnabel / Focus + POV

    "Object POV" Examples:

    • Example: Robin Hood Prince of Thieves by Kevin Reynolds
    • Example: The Color of Money by Martin Scorsese
      
      
      
      
• "shot size":
  
  
  • What distance are we from the subject, psychologically?
    
    
  • Extreme Close Up (face takes up entire screen or closer)
  • Close up (bust and up)
  • Medium Shot (Waist & Up)
  • Medium Full Shot (Knees & Up)
  • Full Shot (Entire Body)
    
    > Here are some screen shot examples of various shot types
    
    
    
• "line of action":
  
  

• 180º degree rule:
  Imaginary line running in front of camera to make sure that if
  multiple angles are shot, they can be cut together without a confusing reversal
  of left and right screen space.
  
  
  
• "MASTER" / "ESTABLISHING SHOT":
  
  
• Establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme long shot at the beginning of a scene indicating where, and sometimes when, the remainder of the scene takes place.
  
  
  • Example: Lord of the Rings by Peter Jackson
  • Example: Various compilation
    
    
    
• "camera movement" / "DISCOVERY":
  
  
  • Panning (camera remains stationary and follows subject matter)
    
    
    • Example: Shawshank Redemption (at 1:23) by Frank Darabont
    • Example: Blow Out by Brian DePalma
    • Example of "Whip Pan": Hot Fuzz by Edgar Wright (Same as a pan but so fast the picture blurs beyond recognition, usually accompanied by a 'whoosh' sound.)
      
      
      
  • Tracking / Dolly / Follow Shot (camera moves with subject)
    
    
    • Example: The Shining by Stanley Kubrick
    • Example: True Detective, HBO, 2014
      
      
      
  • Tilt (lens moves up or down while keeping its horizontal axis constant. Nod your head up and down - this is tilting / Staring...).
    
    
    • Example: Nashville by Robert Altman
    • Example: Dark Passage by Delmer Daves
    • Example of "Search Up": Ferris Bueler's Day Off by John Hughes
      
      
      
  • Zoom in, zoom out (fast or slow has different effects)
    
    
    • Example: A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick
    • Example: Limitless by Neil Burger
    • Example: The Quick and The Dead by Sam Raimi
      
      
      
  • Focus in, focus out (dream, loss of consciousness)
    
    
    • Example: Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julien Schnabel / Focus + POV
      
      
      
  • Crane shot (most fluid, "god like")
    
    
    • Example: Touch of Evil by Orson Welles, 1958 — opening crane shot
    • Example: Boogie Nights by Paul Thomas Anderson — crane/establishing shot
    • Example: Shawshank Redemption by Frank Darabont — crane/establishing shot
      
      
      
  • Handheld, "Shaky Cam" / following footage
    
    
    • Example: Blair Witch Project by Eduardo Sánchez, Daniel Myrick
    • Example: Mean Streets by Martin Scorsese
    • Example: Sympathy For the Underdog by Kinji Fukasaku
      
      
      
  • Vertigo / Dolly Zoom (Exaggerates perspective — dizziness, confusion, surprise, boredom, ecstasy)
    
    
    • Example: Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock
    • Example: Jaws by Steven Spielberg
      
      
      
  • Spin Around / 360º Tracking Shot (A subject around whom the camera circles to provide a rotating view from all sides. Can give the impression the subject is spinning).
    
    
    • Example: Martha by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
    • Example: Swamp People Season 2 Trailer
      
      
      
  • Mirror Shot (shot of mirror reflection with no disruption when it reveals reality)
    
    
    • Example: Contact by Robert Zemeckis
    • Example: Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky
      
      
      
  • Slow Motion (When time appears to be slowed down)
    
    
    • Example: Raging Bull by Martin Scorsese
    • Example: Zombieland by Ruben Fleischer
    • Example: Thelma And Louise by Ridley Scott
    • Example: Wes Anderson (compilation; he loves slow motion sequences)
    
    
    
    
• Production Designer:
  
  
  • In charge of visual design of the story
  • Mise-en-scène: ("Mees on Sen" = French Pronunciation)
    Literally means "putting in the scene"
  • All of the elements placed in front of the camera to be photographed- the settings and props, lighting, costumes and makeup, figure behavior. The "Production Designer" is the term used in the film and TV industry to refer to the person who works directly with the director and producer to select the settings and style to visually tell the story.
    
    
    
• Editor:
  
  During production or in post-production, the editor is responsible for piecing together image and sound to tell the story.

 

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Observational Mode:

• Example: High School by Frederick Wiseman
• Example: Streetwise by Martin Bell
• Example: Salesman by the Maysles Brothers
• Example: Don't Look Back by D.A. Pennebaker
  
  
  • Depiction of everyday life
  • Stresses non-intervention of the filmmaker
  • "Fly-on the wall" or "cinema verite" style of shooting
  • Filmmaker records non-obtrusively what subjects do
  • Subjects do not explicitly address the camera
  • Editing enhances the impression of live or real time
  • Success depends on filmmaker's ability to include representative
    & revealing moments
  • CON: Lacks historical context

Participatory Mode:

• Example: Roger & Me by Michael Moore
• Example: Sherman's March by Ross McElwee
• Example: First Comes Love by Nina Davenport
• Example: Supersize Me by Morgan Spurlock
  
  
  • Emulates the approach of the anthropologist: participant and observer
  • Situations in the film are affected or altered by the filmmaker's presence
  • Encounter between filmmaker & subject becomes critical element in the film
  • CON: Narrow in POV, may reflect the creator more than the issues being addressed
    
    

Reflexive Mode:

• Example: The Man with a Movie Camera by Dziga Vertov
• Example: Driving Me Crazy by Nick Broomfield
  
  
  • The most self-aware mode
  • Its reflexivity makes audience aware of how other modes claim to construct "truth" through documentary practice
  • Uses many devices to acknowledge the filmmaker's presence, perspective and
  • Selectivity in constructing the film, narrative form is very apparent and transparent
  • Dares the audience to question the intent of the filmmaker
  • A documentary becomes more objective when it acknowledges its own biases & agenda
  • In other words, a doc becomes more objective when it admits its own subjectivity
  • CON: Too abstract, loses sight of actual issues
    
    

Expository Mode:

• Example: An Inconvenient Truth by Davis Guggenheim
• Example: Food, Inc. by Robert Kenner
  
  
  • Addresses the viewer directly with titles or voices
  • Voice of god commentary
  • Advances an argument about the historical world
  • Images illustrate commentary around a need for a solution
  • CON: Overly didactic and authoritative

 

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• A filmmaker is representative of the social, political and economic interests of others
  
  
• Should represent others with sensitivity to their own ideas of identity
  
  
• There should be informed consent, consider how much your subjects know about your project
  
  
• How much input and control do they have over their own representation
  
  
• What does it take to record human behavior in a way that most successfully reveals the truth?
  
  
• Prepare carefully, select the crew and the equipment that will do the best job
  careful prep should lead you to a location where you have a high probability of shooting the behavior you're seeking
  
  
• Trust & credibility (with subjects & audience)
  
  
• The ability to discard preconceptions & plan for the unexpected
  
  
• An understanding of how what is being shot relates to the edited film that will be made
  
  
• The ability to be inconspicuous, non-interfering
  
  
• To allow people to act differently in different situations (this is more naturalistic, their behavior will remain consistent with their beliefs about themselves and their place in the world)
  
  
• Don't worry about behavior that happens off camera, shrug off a missed shot
  
  
• Be active in the process of selection and decision making
  
  
• What you point the camera at
  
  
• How you shoot the subject matter (angle, framing, lighting)
  
  
• When you turn the camera off and on