My Roles
Researcher
As the researcher I will be finding all related information on our topic. I will sort through what is fact and fiction, find us valuable people to take part in the documentary and make sure what we are getting across is true and as layered with as much information as possible. My job is to find what will make our documentary interesting and different from others of its kind.
Director
As the director I will be taking all of the information I have learnt from my research and putting it into a coherent and entertaining documentary. I will be putting my vision of the VJPJ onto screen and making the information into something people will want to watch. I want the documentary to be taken seriously however I want it to be upbeat and get the audience smiling.
Michaela Farr
Documentary Directors
Frederick Wiseman is an American documentary director. He believes his work to be an elaboration of his life and personal experiences, making the documentaries more personally to him. They are not an ideological portrait of his primaries. Wiseman has a technique that he only stays between four to six weeks in the environment of the documentary without doing much pre-production. Wiseman also has a distinct climax and conclusion, to make the documentary seem dramatic, which he makes from carefully place footage not reconstructions. Wiseman does, however, admit that he manipulated is subjects to get the dramatic structure he wants. The main thing Wiseman does is that he doesn’t involve narration, interviews or reflective footage. His argument is that he is not documenting his story, or filmmaking therefore the documentary does not need them.
Nick Broomfield is a modern documentary filmmaker who has been influenced by Wiseman. Broomfield started off by being interested in photography as a teenager. He was drawn towards the observational documentaries however he created ‘Driving Me Crazy’, a participatory documentary following himself trying to get paid for a job, which proved more difficult then it should have been. One of the main reasons Broomfields work is so popular is that he discovers something that he shares and it makes a difference. Broomfield has recently started a new drama called ‘Ghosts’ which he calls ‘Direct Cinema’, where he gets non-actors to play themselves.
Together Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou directed the 1996 documentary ‘Microcosmos’. This was their first film and it was about interactions between insects and struggles from their world. They was no narrative however it managed to capture humor, drama and romance with its shots and music. It included 15 years of research, 2 years of equipment design and 3 years of shooting to create this unique documentary. And it all paid off as they won five awards and were nominated for three more. This proves that the idea can be so extremely and yet be a brilliant documentary.