This semester has brought with it a whole new set of challenges and obstacles. I quickly learnt that I felt a much greater affinity with documentary making than I did with the short, narrative films of TV1. I love being able to show something that is real in an artistic way. It is more human, and ultimately more moving.
This film really felt like a collaboration between the entire group, and the work was spread equally between all members. While I was formally named the ‘producer’, I spent a lot of time brain storming with Santilla in a bid to clearly mark out our concept. It was a logistical nightmare to try to film the dumpster diver who was put off by the idea that his face would be seen. The Cave Clan were unresponsive, and while it would have been great to film such an exciting and dangerous pursuit, the logistics here too were too difficult to get past. When we finally settled on the idea of the Melbourne Poetry Map I was worried our subject matter was too vanilla, too boring. When we met Luka, however, my fears were put to rest. He was charismatic and exciting, and was a new face in slam poetry in Melbourne. After spending a long day filming with him in the city, we quickly realised that we did not want the documentary to be about him so much as the city itself. Another change in direction! What ensued was many late nights filming in the city, timelapses from balconies, and trying to find a style that would keep the viewer intrigued. We decided that using poems to act as a guide through the city was a nice avenue to take as it seemed unusual. I feel that I was able to take charge of the shoots and help move things along so that we didn’t waste too much time.
Once we began editing, it became clear that we did not have enough coverage. This is one of the biggest lessons I have taken from this semester. It is imperative to film as much as possible so that there is a broad range of shots to play around with in the editing suite. To edit the film, the group came through the suite in trickles, filtering in and out throughout the session. We found that with a few simple FCP tricks, we were able to achieve the desired visual effect. The result is a film that I feel avoids looking like an ad for Melbourne, or a music clip (which was a concern throughout the process). We could have filmed a wider variety of shots, but I feel that the soundtrack was edited well and the overall effect is completely different to a stock-standard concept of what a documentary is. While I doubt in the professional world, we would have been able to veer so far from the documentary that was outlined in our treatment, it was interesting to see how the idea changed and came into being. Next time, I think I would like to have a clear outline from the beginning and then be able to develop it rather than change it drastically. What the film does well is portray Melbourne from an insider’s perspective. It does this not only with the images but the poems recited by Melbournians. For the film to be great would have required more polished cinematography and perhaps more of an arc, or a tension to keep the film humming along. The entire process did affirm for me that documentary making can be so much more than telling true stories. It can be an intensely artistic process, and reach your audience in a way that no narrative film could ever do because of the potential way a true story can tug at one’s humanity. Producing the film and acting as the Assistant Director was hugely enjoyable as I was able to take charge of shoots as well as help guide the artistic vision.
