Helloooo Tampa Bay

We made it!!! Today was the first day of States and I already have some great footage that I'm very excited about. Since it was the first day, other than opening ceremonies, we had a relatively free day to roam around Tampa and explore. My main focus of filming today was following our troupe's State selected pantomime to their opening ceremonies performance and documenting their experience. Other than that I got a few interesting shots of our troupe rehearsing and just hanging out on the bus, which I know I want to include in the documentary, but since my excerpt is mostly focusing on already being at States, I'm still thinking of a way to incorporate it with out making it about the journey to States.

a sneak look at the beautiful Tampa Bay area and our hotel

Tomorrow our large group, which I'm a part of, is performing so that's gonna be all about capturing our rehearsals, our performance, and our troupes support. I also need to start getting a majority of my interviews and get footage of my troupe as a whole. It's a busy week, but I'm taking it one day at a time and I'm already off to a great start! I also have great friends who are helping me out with filming since I obviously can't be everywhere at the festival at once.

I was so set and ready to film my documentary that I kind of just dived in and realized I never updated you guys on some of my specific plans, SO, just a few updates!!! Last week my class met in groups to discuss our projects and they helped me decide on a few important factors of my project; the most important being that since I am so involved in my drama club and am part of two of the six performances that we took to States, I'm a rather large part of my troupe in this festival. However, the documentary is about my troupe and our community and being the documentarian, I felt that if I included myself in it, I would take away too much of the attention and the documentary would end up becoming about me, something I definitely DO NOT want. And so I struggled with the decision of whether or not I would be part of my project. Ultimately my group helped me decide that although I wouldn't be a main subject in my documentary, it would be okay and honest if I showed up in videos of my large group performance and acknowledged my participation in that event. Something else we discussed was concerning my usage of handheld shots, if they would be used and to what extent. I brought a tripod with me (thanks tstock) so I could easily and efficiently film interviews, establishing shots, performances, etc., but since my documentary is about bonds and relationships and is more of an intimate piece, my group and I felt as though a few handheld shots would be appropriate in making the footage seem raw, real, and making my audience feel as though they were involved in the festival and part of my troupe. If used purely stabled pieces I feel as though the final piece would look to picturesque and "fake".

That's pretty much all I have for now, like I said, today was relatively filled with free time so I'm happy I got a lot done for my project today and was able to focus on it. Hopefully the rest of the trip will be the same, if not, tough luck because it's gonna have to be!

"Moore" Over and Make Way for Ale Duque

Michael Moore: documentary filmmaker, author, activist, super woke

As an avid consumer of documentaries, I like to think I’ve learned a thing or two about this art form simply  just from viewing. As a creator however, I’ve only ever made one documentary, it was a collaborative effort, and if we’re being honest, it definitely had a lot of issues; but that's okay, nothing is perfect the first time, or ever really, and now at least I have the experience of attempting to create a documentary and I know what went wrong the first time and what I need to improve on this time around. For additional tips of what to consider and keep in mind while creating my documentary, I took to the internet and found Michael Moore’s 13 Rules for Making Documentary Films. I absolutely adore Michael Moore and his films (not to mention he is one of my favorite twitter follows), so of course I eagerly read what he had to say and as always, he had some pretty insightful advice.

Editor's Note: Moore’s documentaries usually strive to inform about and expose some dark truth, serving as a scathing commentary on our society. His advice was also specifically catered for documentary “films”. There are some discrepancies between these characteristics and the ones particular to my documentary since mine is looking to be more lighthearted and explorative and is being made as an excerpt from a TV documentary, so needless to say I took some of Moore’s words with a grain of salt, adjusting them for my specific goals.

1. “We are not documentarians, we are filmmakers.”

Moore makes an excellent point which although I knew in the back of my mind, it was not something I ever really thought about. When one examines what a documentary really is, it is a form of art, a form of cinema that is striving to tell a story. One could say the same for a movie, or in my case, a TV show. Moore points out that although many documentarians may look down on films and the aspiration of “entertaining” audiences, because they somehow see their project as more serious or professional, this is exactly what their goal should be! No one wants to go see a didactic documentary where he feels he is being scolded or lectured; no! Audiences want to be entertained and there is nothing wrong in a serious documentary doing this while still being effective and getting its message across. As Moore says, “ You’ve chosen this art form — the cinema, this incredible, wonderful art form, to tell your story. You didn’t have to do that.”

2. “[The audience] doesn’t care whether you make them cry, whether you make them laugh, whether you even challenge them to think…”

This goes back to the no lecturing thing, as well as not making your documentary something the audience already knows. In other words, make your audience FEEL something!!! It’s what any good and successful work of art does. I also love the idea of making my audience think. Seeing as my documentary is about a theater competition (pretty nerdy stuff in the eyes of many) my target audience is mainly young adults to adults in the artistic community, but overall this community in general; however, for anyone not already appreciative of the arts that may stumble across my production, I want them to be able to see and understand how art affects communities and relationships and for them to be able to begin thinking of art and theater as a much bigger concept than they already see it. Same goes for theater fans who may only see this craft on a shallow level.

3. “Make you films personal”

If you make your film personal, chances are your unique personality will shine through and it will be different than what anyone has seen before, thus peaking interest in your production. This is definitely a goal, especially since my documentary topic is something so close and personal to me and the community I surround myself with. I want it to be seen how much I care about this topic, that way, perhaps my passion will extend to others. From an artistic point of view, as I keep creating, it would also be cool to develop a personal style and touch that could be evident in all of my productions, making them undoubtedly mine.

4. “ Less is more. You already know that one.”

It’s true. I already know that; you, whoever is reading this, already knows that. This one is obvious and goes without explanation. Nevertheless, it’s an important reminder because whether it is in writing, filming, editing, whatever, this always seems to be a problem (why do I do these things to myself?).

5. “Sound is more important than picture”

“Sound carries the story.” This might seem a bit hyperbolic, but just think about it. In an example that Moore gives, if in a film at the movie theater, the projection is a bit shaky and glitchy at times, people might question it, even complain, but at the end of the day, no one will really say much. However, if at this same theater, the image is squeaky clean, but the sound keeps going in and out, or worse, it’s completely inaudible, RIOTS WILL ERUPT! Because without sound, without dialogue to explain and advance the story, without diegetic sound to remind you of the realness of the piece, without music to help insight emotion, the piece of film being seen is nothing. This is an extremely important tip because in my amaeture career as an editor, sound is the component I have the least experience with and honestly, am most afraid of; but soon, that’s gonna change!!!

With these ideas in mind, coming directly from a well established individual in the industry (alliteration alert) who I greatly respect, I feel even more ready and prepared to make my debut in the documentary world. Make way for documentary filmmaker TV show maker, Ale Duque.

Question Time!!!

One of the most important parts of a documentary, and a strong driving force of it,  is interviews! The main task when thinking of questions to ask your subjects is to make sure you can establish the foundations of your story: who, what, when, where? After this, you need to make sure you create questions that elicit the type of responses you are looking for. Because you obviously can't control what your subjects say, this means you must cater your questions so that you almost guide your interviewees in a specific direction. This is what I tired to accomplish with my questions. Right now I have 20 of them, I may add more as the come to me or as I see the direction my interviews start taking; as i researched tips for creating interesting questions, spontaneity of the moment was one of the biggest ones, I think this will really help me get natural ad truthful footage of responses. I have a few main subjects I plan to focus my documentary around (two returning States performers and two "newbies") so for them I will ask them the full list of questions; in terms of gathering sound bridges and extra clips, I plan on interviewing other "random" members of my troupe with a watered down set of my interview questions.

Other things to consider for the best possible interviews: even though I may not end up using all of the visual footage, I have to make sure I scout out interesting, appropriate, and diverse interview locations. Another thing to keep in mind, which I learned very well from my first attempt at documentary making earlier this year, is to really figure out the frame of your interview shot. Head room and natural vectors are two VERY IMPORTANT aspects to think about. As far as the actual process of filming the interview, it shouldn't be a problem to have my interviewees feel comfortable  because I have a personal relationship with all of them and they are all performers who are not shy in front of a crowd or camera, but this closeness may make it difficult for both the subject and myself to remember that this is a formal interview and not a casual conversation between us. Me keeping quit during the interview so that anything they say is clear and an option for usage, and having them repeat the question (two very helpful tips I also found) for clarity and continuity reasons will be vital for a successful interview.

Without further ado, here are  the questions!

States questions:

1. Introduce yourself- name, grade, first time at States, how long have you been performing, etc.
2. how big or small of a part would you say theater, the arts, and performance have had in your life?
3. How did you get into theater and become interested in it?
4. Which aspect/aspects of "the arts" do you feel is most personal and important to you?
5. What did you perform/ create at districts that got you a spot on the trip to States?
6. What are you doing at States this year- observing, performing?
7. What are you most excited about for States/ what are you most looking forward to?
8. Why do you think States is important?
9. Why do you think the arts are important?
10. How do you feel trips and events like this impact your life and relationships?
11. Do you feel a sense of community not only among your troupe, but at States?
12. If you've been to States before, what is your favorite States memory?
13. Do you plan to pursue theater, whether it be performance or technical aspects, in the future?
14. If so how do you feel States plays a role in accomplishing those goals?
15. What do you think makes our troupe unique?
16. What reputation, if any, would you say our troupe has among the many that participate in states?
17. What's something you think everyone should know about States?
18. What does a typical day at States look like for you?
19. Do you branch out from your typical social group in the troupe at States?
20. Your overall opinion about the experience?

resources:
http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/interviewing-tips.html
http://www.thewildclassroom.com/wildfilmschool/gettingstarted/interviewquestions.html