Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: (My new documentary) This is the last time I do non-fiction!

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Posted by John Lasher (Member # 968) on 05-24-2005, 02:57 PM:

...Or even anything that looks like non-fiction!

I'm making a documentary about a local ballet school's production (they are unique in that they are the only ballet school in the country, maybe the world, that presents new and original story ballets choreographed around the dancers they have in the school) To make a long story short, I will never EVER make another movie without a script.

Why?

Because fictional characters don't get cold feet about you filming them, and LIA... well, I guess you're supposed to throw away the first pancake (I've never met anyone who actually does this, but it's an old saying. Shut up.).

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 05-24-2005, 07:42 PM:

John,

Don't despair! You have many feet of useful images waiting for a story. The shooting ratio of unscripted documentaries may be 7 to 1 or even higher. When you have a minute to think about the documentary, concentrate on the story YOU want to tell. Is there a particular person who influences the production of the ballet in a forceful way? Can you look at the production through that person's eyes? Is there a dancer with a particular gift or some difficulty they are overcoming? Is there a dancer who jut seems to befriend another and help them to succeed? I am quite sure that you have the full freight train, what you need now are the tracks.

KEN

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 05-25-2005, 01:06 AM:

I agree with Kenneth. It's certianly true that nonfiction rarely turns out the way the filmmaker originally intended it to, but the same is usually true of fiction, which can be seriously aggrivating too. However, if you've discovered that nonfiction is not your thing... then hey! at least you learned something.

-J

Posted by John Lasher (Member # 968) on 05-25-2005, 06:49 PM:

Well, I was originally doing this documentary as a "bonus feature" for the DVD of this years production, but the director of the school has a future-sister-in-law who just recently won some award for a video/"film" she did, and she has better equipment/more experience, so we decided to let her do the performance DVD.

So... it wasn't like I had pinned my hopes on a career as a documentary film/videomaker, this was just something I was doing... more as a favor/learning project than anything else.

This is also the last time I shoot any type of movie (documentary or otherwise) on video of any sort. Last night at the dress rehearsal, when the scenery was visible, the performers were washed-out, when I brought it down to a point where the performers looked natural, the scenery was too dark. I managed to find a semi-happy medium most of the time, but to put it briefly (too late) video sucks. [puke]

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 05-25-2005, 10:10 PM:

John,

SO! They have someone else to do the "glamour shoot". All the more reason for you to do a behind the scenes documentary as we discussed before. Your human interest piece may be as interesting as the show itself. (Get a copy of "The Company" a documentary of the Chicago Geofrey Ballet) That is an excellent example of what you are trying to accomplish.

Have you looked at any of the video that this other person is getting? You may be surprised to see that there is not much difference from yours.

Theatrical lighting and dance in particular have tremendous contrast in the levels of light on the set and the characters. If you have a spot meter, measure the light levels of the scenery, the shadows and the highlights on the characters. This very great dynamic exceeds the range of the video system. When shooting stage for "film", you will have to make a pact with the lighting director and get the contrast range of the scene down to within the range of the camera you are using. The dress rehearsal would be a wonderful time to get the lighting set for your shoot.

If you are serious about doing TV recording, then get a good spot meter and be sure there is a scale which shows the contrast levels in IRE units. If you have an oscilloscope you will see the range of light you can record without clipping whites or punching black.

As an inexpensive experiment, try taking some shots with one of those throw away cameras and you will realize that even film does not record that big range of stage lighting accurately.

Don't get discouraged, you are just discovering the benefits and shortcomings of your medium.

KEN