Liverpool Stories- Overhead

Liverpool Stories - Overhead from Katherine Muldowney on Vimeo.

Producer- Hamish McCarter
Director- Hannah Porter
Sound- Patrick Clifton
Editor- Dylan Oscroft
Camera- Kathy Muldowney
(Asst. Camera- Dylan Oscroft)

PRODUCTION: Shotlist

PRODUCTION: Research/The skills of a documentary cinematographer

During researching my role, I found this article from Red Gecko Productions to be of much use. It clearly distinguishes the difference between narrative film cinematography and documentary photography. It also discusses the important relationship between cinematographer (myself) and the director (Hannah), and my specific responsibilities which come with my role. 

Jan Keck 

July 2010

The skills of a documentary cinematographer

http://red-gecko-productions.com/redgecko/2010/07/29/the-skills-of-a-documentary-cinematographer/ 

Two Important points; 

Relationship between cinematographer and director- 

• One of the most important relationships in production of any film 
• Very important that the director is as clear as possible about his/her vision and that the cinematographer understands and can help to realise this 
• All shots should be planned out with the director prior to filming on location
• Director has to trust and rely on the cinematographer more than anyone else

Role and responsibilities-

• Scouting locations to assess lighting
• Setting up camera instruments 
• Deciding camera positioning in collaboration with director
• Making all camera movements. 

Difference between narrative and documentary film making

Unlike narrative film where the cinematographer’s job is to create images, with documentaries his job is finding images. The cinematographer needs a sensitivity to what is going on in front of him/her to be able to pick up on small cues, fleeting facial expressions, telling hand gestures – the little things that reveal characters and moments. He/she needs to perfect the skill of finding these images and image sequences that director’s mean when talking about the “emotion of the moment”, “documentary moment” or “documentary butterfly”. Most of  those moments happen only once in a lifetime, so when the cinematographer needs to observe and listen and always be ready to shot it, or it’s gone.- Jan Keck (2010)

PRODUCTION: Treatment (Annotated)

Liverpool stories- Overhead

Treatment finalised by Hamish McCarter
Shot annotations by Kathy Muldowney

PRODUCTION: Research/Inspiration

Two documentary films I have researched have personally helped to inspire our film; when it was suggested by Hamish that we use drawings to represent what the Liverpool overhead railway would have looked like, it reminded me of a stylistic technique used in James Cameron's Ghost of the Abyss (2003), whereby shots are superimposed on one-another to represent people, structures and objects of the past. Another film which more informed the documentary style of our film, was Itzhak Perlman's documentary for the BBC, titled Harry Patch: The Last Tommy(2009). A very personal and emotional piece as Harry Patch, the last living WW1 veteran, recounts his days in the trenches.



Ghosts of the Abyss- Stylistic

Stylistically, this documentary about the shipwrecked Titanic inspired a lot about how I visioned our piece. In many of it's scenes, it demonstrated the historical significance of difference aspects of the ship, by combining two different shots- one of the old and rusting wreck at the bottom of the ocean, and one superimposed over the top, to represent how it would have looked when people dwelled aboard the fated ship. The aim for our own film, much like in Ghost of the Abyss, is to superimpose drawings of the Liverpool overhead railway, on top of our own shots of where the structure used to stand across Liverpool, in order for the audience to be able to visualise for themselves what it would have looked like, and also to draw a parallel between past and present. I feel this will give our film a sense of realism, much like it does with Cameron's documentary. It helps us to picture and see that these structures (both the ship and the railway) really existed and were experienced by real people. It provides a real visual experience for the viewer, and I hope it will have the same effect in our own film. 


Harry Patch: The Last Tommy- Personal/Story-like interview style

For our film, we'd like to make our interview with Hamish's Grandfather (George Bates) more personal and story-like, rather than just informative. In the documentary film The Last Tommy, Harry Patch gives a very personal and emotional recount of his experiences during WW1 (and emotive and sensitive subject matter to begin with). Hearing  about the war from someone who actually experienced it, as opposed to a historian perhaps, gives the documentary a lot for meaning in my opinion, and also provokes a lot more thought and interest. Like this, we have chosen to let George (a frequent rider of the Liverpool Overhead Railway) tell us about the railway in his own words and relating to his own experiences. We hope to get a personal recount of his times on the railway, and how is did (and possibly still does) hold a certain significance for him. 

Images-
1. Ghost of the Abyss, James Cameron (2003)
2. Harry Patch: The Last Tommy, Itzhak Perlman (2009)

"Blackfish" Documentary Analysis

Documentary Analysis- Blackfish (2013) Gabriela Cowperthwaite

Title - Blackfish

Gabriela Cowperthwaite

Year - 2013
Running Time - 90'00"

The documentary focuses on the captivity of Tilikum; one of the largest Orca’s in the world, captured and kept in captivity. The film centres around the fact that Tilikum has been involved in three deaths during his lifetime, including two park trainers and one civilian. The documentary intends to critique the cultural concept of show animals and performances within the entertainment industry. It argues the idea that keeping animals in captivity has a negative impact on the their temperament, this being the primary reason for the fatalities caused by the 12,000 lbs Orca, Tilikum. I think this documentary intends to give a side to these stories that the newspapers or park spokespeople intentionally do not show; these instances are all put down to ‘trainer mistakes’ and ‘accidents’, whereas this documentary seeks to show people the real and bigger picture behind these ‘mistakes’, the real picture being that animals kept in captivity become sick and aggressive. 

“Blackfish” is primarily made up of interviews, and makes heavy use of archived footage. The interviews we see in the film are with the trainers and handlers who used to work at both parks where Tilikum has performed and been housed, and also the families of the victims. The interviews mainly consist of each person's recount of events that led up to the fatalities, and the aftermath in regards to the law and the media, and the impact had on friends and families of those attacked and killed by the whale. I think the archived footage is intended to cause an emotional response within the viewer throughout the duration of the film. For example; we see a clip depicting the capture and removal of young Orcas from the ocean, and their journey to various waterparks around the world. I think this is supposed to cause feelings of shock and anger within the audience, as the voiceover describes and explains the stress-calls of the baby Orca’s and their mothers, from whom they are being brutally separated from. Another example of archived footage being used to create emotional response, is the incredibly graphic footage captured of the attacks themselves; we see the animals temperament completely change during their public performance, the exact moment that they turn on their trainers and begin to viciously attack them, causing serious injury and, in three unfortunate cases, even death. This also creates shock within the audience, because this is no re-enactment, it is real footage depicting the real deaths of real people. I think it causes the viewer to respond with two thoughts; firstly, sadness and shock for the fates of the the trainers, but also anger and frustration at what may have caused these usually harmless animals.

The visuals in this film are captured in an incredibly engaging manner, in spite of the traumatic subject matter. There are many shots of Orcas in both their natural and captive environments, footage captured which spans Tilikum’s lifetime to date (33 years), and despite it’s age, the older footage captured on VHS camcorders holds a very significant place in this documentary, well presented in a captivating manner. The director also uses various other visual materials, including photographs, newspapers headlines and various online material, which I think helps to emphasise the critique style and personal stance that the director has taken.
The film is edited in a chronological sequence as to document the events that have occurred throughout Tilikum's life from capture, to events which led up to the attacks, interviewing people who observed his changing behaviour as a result of living in captivity. I think this is a very clever technique used by director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, as it captures your attention as soon as you see the baby Orca being torn from it's mother, and holds it as it shows you the trauma that this animal further endures while being kept in captivity, leading up to the climaxes that are each attack.
The sound within this documentary doesn't tend to draw much attention to itself, no (if any) music is used for effect, which seems it would be quite irrelevant given the shooting/editing style. Also, a lot of the sound in the archived footage (which is as much as 15 years old) is of course diegetic, therefor it is of low quality, although the director has made the choice to include this, as it contains vital information to the narrative of the film.
I think Blackfish has a huge, mainly emotional, impact on it's audience, through use of both it's visuals and subject matter.  I think the employed editing technique of depicting chronologically the lifetime of Tilikum, has great effect in generating this emotional response. Also, the in-depth and heartfelt interviews with park-workers and family further engages you in the emotional theme of the film. 

"King of Laughter" Analysis

King of Laughter from Tarmak Media on Vimeo.

Title - King of Laughter
Nick Hillel
Year - 2006
Running Time - 3'10"

"King of Laughter" explores the positive power of laughter, in what has been named Britain's unhappiest place to live, Walsall. The piece follows Belachew Girma, originally from Ethiopia and holder of the Guinness world record for longest continuous laugh, as he makes his way through the town's city centre, using his infectious laughter to brighten the days of strangers. 
The subject matter deals with the cultural idea that we cannot be truly happy unless we are in possession of certain things e.g. money and material goods. There is a sort of nostalgic hint to the narrative at this point, as the elderly women describe how there is no time for the family anymore and no time to enjoy yourself (other than to watch the telly). They describe how everyone has now become absorbed in 'their own little cocoons', no longer aware of the joys that life holds.
Belachew explains that, having endured two counts of extreme bad luck, resulting in the loss of his possessions and his business, he had to teach himself in order to get through it, and how it was such an important element in his survival after tragedy. His words put emphasis on the importance of laughter in a world full of challenges and troubles. This documentary piece has a very strong and relevant message, which is portrayed throughout the entire film; you as the viewer instantly feel better as you hear the laughter spreading thorough the people as the piece progresses.    
The film makes use of various different types of visual material; first we see Belachew being filmed interacting with different people inside a convenience store, he is facing into the camera for a majority of the film, although this scene seems pretty standard, with a few cut-aways of different parts of the store. I think the next location holds more narrative significance, as it makes use of visual material through decorations and wall displays. For example; we see a cross-stitch image which reads "Laughter is shrinking", a prominent message relevant to the nature of the film, which also mirrors what is being said in this particular scene. Another interesting aspect of this scene, is that the words and sound is not synced up to the image; we see lips moving, but what is being said doesn't match. Perhaps this technique has been used to convey the idea that the times these people knew are now behind them, giving the idea that being happy and laughing for the sake of it doesn't exist anymore. 
Additionally, in terms of visuals, the use of the steady-cam of Belachew's laughing face and reactions, creates a very personal, and infectious, feel to the documentary. The constant view of his smiling face and laughter is very effective in engaging the audience. 
The sound within the film primarily consists of the sounds of laughter, from both Belachew and the strangers that he encounters. However, there are few slightly more complex features which contribute to the sound of the film. Firstly, in the supermarket, we hear a voice on the intercom announce "Good morning shoppers, we have a very special offer on for you today", I think this is prominent for the reason that is denotes a sale is on at the supermarket, but the connotations of a 'special offer' result in the appearance of Belachew to the customers. During the scene with the elderly ladies, we hear them singing "If he wants to laugh, let him laugh", also prominent and relevant to the subject matter of the film. 
Overall, I think the effectiveness of this film on it's audience is great. It immediately sends out a 'feel-good' message to viewers, through the combined use of it's visual and subject matter. 

Interview techniques

http://www.videomaker.com/article/14239-documentary-interview-tips - This website really helped me to identify the key necessities for interviewing for documentary, including set-up, positioning and how to pose your questions for the most useful and informative responses. 

Open and closed questions:

Open: How are you?
Open can give a longer/bigger response, but the response is less controlled.

Closed: How would you describe you are feeling?
Closed can give a more detailed and controlled response, but the response maybe shorter.

Planning Setups:
Set/Shot:
Meaning to construct a  set or shot, in a location and setup all other equipment around the shot.

Framing:
People mostly need talking space, by having them face the opposite way to where they are int he frame.
Mise en scene (what is included in the interview) can say a lot, give quite a bit of cinematic language.
Have the interviewee looking just away from frame, while having the interviewer just sitting/standing off camera.
Having the interviewer talking slightly left to the camera is more natural (maybe linked to direction we read books.)

Developing shot lists:
Planning shot lists to use for cut aways through storyboarding and Location Recces one you get to the locations etc.

Shooting Coverage:
Shoot enough to edit together the length of documentary you want to shoot. Meaning shoot pretty much as much as possible so you have as much media to work with as possible. For example, this means taking photos that you could use in the credits. Taking recordings of people, surroundings to overlay on footage that may have bad

Know your contributors:
Have the people you work with feel comfortable, get to know them inside out and talk to them.
Ask some of the question you are going to ask in the interview, before you conduct it, to give you an idea of who they will respond and how you can base your documentary around that etc.
Make sure you  have consent from everyone/all your contributors, so you can have full control of your content. Permissions include locations/ music and archive footage/media etc.

Notes:
-Interviews are the back bone of most documentaries
Producer needs to be very sociable and supportive of interviewee.
-Have interview questions ready and planned, including having warm up questions to relax and make interviewee feel comfortable.
-Have questions planned relative to your desired story and/or edit, making it easier to edit in the interview with your documentary subject. Meaning to have your question progress and add to the structure and story of your documentary.
-Remember to ask most basic questions, to make sure the audience are always aware about what the interviewee are talking about and who they are in comparison to the story or subject of the documentary.

Project Pitch

Admittedly, we were slightly under-prepared for our project pitch to the rest of our class, the reason being because we had some trouble verifying the people in our group. At the briefing, there were only three of use out of the required six, and it took us quite a few days to find and brief the rest of our group. Still, with only five of us, we had little time as a result to share ideas and research and develop them enough to present in a pitch. Therefor we came up with three loose concepts for our documentary, which still needed a lot more development and planning.

After some further discussion in the session, we decided to rule out the Chinese new year idea; for the reasons that I pointed out during my initial research, in order for this to be successful, we would need the help of somebody inside and involved in the event, which I predict would be incredibly difficult considering the short notice of time and their availability. This left us with two other options; the Williamson Tunnels and the Liverpool overhead railway. Both of these ideas had the downfall of being quite a historic part of Liverpool, leaving us with the problem of how much archived footage that would be required, given the fact that the the overhead railway was closed and dismantled many years ago, and we are unsure of the access and availability of the tunnels. We finally settled on making an informative and historic look-back on one of the overhead railway, something that was considered miles before it's time. However, there is still the problem that the railway no longer exists in any part of Liverpool, therefore this documentary would require a large use of archived footage. In order to overcome this, we have had an idea of taking shots of areas in which the railway stations and tracks used to run, and illustrating the old trains and stations on top of the shots. Though this would rely on our editor having the technical abilities to do so. It is quite an ambitious move, but I think it would be incredibly effective if we manage to achieve this. 

Final film idea treatment, Liverpool Overhead Railway, written by Hamish McCarter

"Pockets" Analysis

Pockets from Pilgrim Films on Vimeo.

"Pockets" is a thought provoking short documentary, revealing aspects of peoples' identity through the objects they hold within their pockets. The short piece shows a wide variety of different people, with short stories and brief descriptions of the objects they hold in their hands. For example; the second character we see is a woman showing the camera a crack-pipe, and revealing that this, a long with the money and cigarettes in her pockets, are things that she uses everyday. At first impression, we jump to the conclusion that she is a relentless crack-addict, but then the camera cuts to a shot of her face, and we see the regret and self-dissaproval she has within herself, creating a sort of sympathy with the obviously troubled character. Some interviewees are a lot more innocent in their stories, the young boy we see for example; in his pockets he holds a spider keyring made by his mother, attached to a key which he tells us 'opens nothing'. From this, I see an expression of childhood innocence and curiosity, as well as the love and fondness of the sentimental objects we choose to keep on our person, as is a common theme throughout the documentary. 
In a way, it almost seems to me to be a personal and confessional piece; their is no intervention from an interviewer asking questions, it allows people to tell the stories behind these objects in their own words and through their facial expressions. It allows you to see each person as an individual, not just the random people you see on the street everyday. I think it is very effective in generating an emotional response within the viewer; with some of that characters, I felt sympathy and sadness for their struggles and losses. With others, the children in particular, it causes you to think back and relate to the innocence of childhood, or particular fond memories from your own past. 
In terms of the filming techniques, I think the fact that their is no interviewer featured in neither the sound or in the frame makes it a very personal piece, and to feature such would be unnecessary and would change the overall feel of the film. I also really liked the combination of close-up shots of the hands, coupled with the reactions and facial expressions of the characters; very simple, yet very effective filming techniques. The documentary is extremely stylised and uses well composed static shots of the subjects smiling with their voices cut over the top, this gives the impression that it is the subjects inner thoughts rather than a staged interview, a lot of thought has been put into achieving a certain aesthetic, using pull focus and strange angles that cut out part of the subjects face. The observational style makes this documentary look carefree and effortless, these are elements that i would like to incorporate into my own documentary.

Liverpool Brief- Initial Ideas

This brief gives potential to endless subjects and possibilities in terms of subject matter for out documentary film.  I started my research by looking at various news items around Liverpool, in accordance to the theme of 'Liverpool stories', this provided a lot of inspiration, but I think it's important to be ever conscious of our limitations and what would be achievable in the time that we have. I would much rather take a simple concept and use our skills to make a great documentary, than be over-ambitious and find that a lot of what we set out to accomplish, cannot be done.
These are a few ideas that I initially thought of before sharing with the rest of my group, and after a first read through relevant topics in Liverpool news items and events.

Chinese New Year
Liverpool Boxing

Chinese new year is celebrated in Liverpool's Chinatown on the 19th of February; I thought this provided an opportunity to create an incredibly visual and colourful documentary, what with all of the costumes and decorations in preparations to the celebrations. My idea was to get an angle from someone involved in the events (an organiser/costume designer/a member of the Chinese community) and explore how much time and preparation goes into the event, and what it means to them, their family, and the community as a whole. 

Difficulties with this idea, one of the major ones I predict, would be finding someone with enough involvement in the celebrations, who has the availability to film for long periods of time with us. I think the only way to get a successful angle on this, would be to follow the journey of a member of the community who is involved, but I think being so near to the actual date would make it almost impossible to find someone willing to give up their time. Another problem actually comes down to our own time; although we would be there in the three days that build up to the main event, we will have already left before the main date, I think this would leave our documentary a bit open-ended without the climactic event that it would have been leading up to. 

There may also be ethical issues involved, as it might be difficult to intrude on their community and celebrations with cameras and recording equipment.

This idea was my attempt to do something outside my comfort zone, something that i'm not incredibly familiar to me. I found that Boxing is a very popular sport in Liverpool, featuring approximately 22 amateur boxing clubs which have produced notable boxers such as John Conteh, Andy Holligan, Tony Bellew, and David Price. Boxers from Liverpool also were a significant element to the 2012 Olympic boxing team. This seemed like a good opportunity to explore the rich culture and pride of the sport, with the possibility of interviewing aspiring young boxers, their motivations and why the Liverpool boxing scene has become so popular. 

I think this idea would be pretty achievable; there are a huge variety of amateur boxing clubs in Liverpool to approach for filming and interviews. The only downfall I see is that it would require a great deal of research on my part, as I know very little of the sport, and I don't feel it would be appropriate to make a documentary on something I don't have the time to research enough about in depth.