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)