1. Purpose: (What is the message or intent of the piece?)
To inform and entertain the audience about the lives of former war
veterans.
2. Contacts: (Who do I need to speak to in order to get the information for my piece?)
Senior citizens at the retirement home I volunteer at. There are
numerous veterans who would be happy to share their journeys with me.
3. Interview Questions: (What do I want to focus on in the interview? At least 5 questions and avoid Yes/No questions.) (REMEMBER THAT WITHOUT STRONG CONTENT YOUR PIECE WILL FALL FLAT!!)
1. What is your name and can you tell me about the war you fought in or participated in?
2. Was it difficult to decide if you should/would/could go to war? If yes, explain the process of decision.
3. Did the experience benefit you in any way? If yes, how so?
4. How has this impacted your outlook on the world?
5. Would you do it again if you could? Why?
4.Shot List- What images do I need to make the visual part of the story work?
Interviews use mostly Close-ups, Waist shots, and B-roll. Background should
also be considered. Usually at least 5 to 10 different shots are combined for a
sophisticated piece.
I will have various shots of the location where I will film. The B
Roll will include various shots of the senior citizens in their everyday life
and this is where the viewer learns about their current lives. Next we go to an
interview, and possibly have images of theirs shown during the interview. This
will have many shots. Mostly I will use close-ups and wide shots. Since there
are members of a team/ troupe who fought in combat together at this home, I
will have a wide shot and close ups of both.
5. General Flow: Describe the beginning, middle, and end of your segment. Include any narration you might include as well as graphics or interviews. (Try to imagine the piece playing in your head)
In the beginning of the segment we will be introduced by a narrator who will tell the audience the main objective of the film. He will introduce the home and its members. We will introduce the lives of the people in the B roll while the narrator tells us about them. Then we will have various interviews and interesting dialogue in the middle part of the segment. We will also continue with showing what their lives are like now in the present day between these interviews as a sort of refreshment topic so we do not have to see the same thing continuously. We will show pictures and visuals relating to what information and feedback we get from the interview questions we receive from the above question. The end will be all of the senior citizens together saying goodbye.
Production Schedule- Dates for interviews/b roll
Saturday
December 1. Sunday December 2 (one day for primarily b roll, the other for interviews and insight on the citizens lives at many points of their life)
I like the idea that you have about the lives of former war veterans. This seems like it would be very informational and interesting. First of all, with the interview questions, you might want to add a question about if it was difficult to get a job right after service. From what I know, for the veterans that enlisted right after college or high school, it is very hard for them to get back in to a civilian lifestyle. Also, for some of the questions I would refrain from asking questions that could bring up some of the vets memories of losing comrades or friends, while in service. Also, talking about things like PTSD with the vets could be interesting, but could be too much for the vets to talk about. So just tread lightly when bringing up some of these subjects during interviews. Also, you may want to add some researched fact from the wars that the vets fought in, like how many people went straight to the work force after service or something. Just to add something extra to the documentary. Great idea.
ReplyDeleteGreat concept for a documentary Ashwin. Let me start of by saying that you might want to think twice about the questions you ask to the veterans as some of them might lead the vets to go through a painful memory. I think that the general flow works but your opening needs more development. I advise you to rethink how you are going to open it. If it were me I would begin from a black screen with subtle war sounds combined with the most emotional responses the vets have given you. By doing so you would immediately hook the audience's attention. But before getting right into this documentary I think you should do some research about the questions you are going to ask so you can be able to support them with facts. I also think that it would be necessary to conduct some research on the wars the veterans have participated in. As a critic I tell you that your photography needs to incorporate more creativity in angles and composition. Using just close-ups and wide shots dominantly in the documentary will make the documentary flat. For B-Roll I suggest that you look into acquiring some war footage that relate to the answers of the veterans.
ReplyDeleteWow this might make me cry. It's very important to highlight veterans considering many of them went to war and did not get the full recognition they deserved and that in itself is quite sad. I know you'll be doing them a great deal of justice :) I chuckled a bit at your BROLL, with shots of old people doing their everyday stuff. It seems a bit lackluster but maybe you could make it a bit more interactive? For example follow one of the veterans and ask him to explain certain items from the war :medals, photos, and whatnots. It will really make the audience interested compared to a man say eating cereal at a table. Looks solid! Good luck :D
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback guys!! If I use this idea for my documentary I will definitely consider your ideas
ReplyDeleteReally good concept for your documentary. Your idea seems really solid, I just think thatt you might struggle with finding good B-Roll relevant to the segments in the film. I would suggest asking if the interviewees have pictures from their tours that you can copy, photograph or any other way that you can incorporate the images into your film. Also maybe that you can ask them to tell a story about something significant during their service. The only problem with that is it could be really long. But otherwise, I really like it. I think that war veterans are a common concept in documentary style film and but always interesting to watch. Goodluck!
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really productive idea although it could be hard to shoot. First of all, I think it might be a challenge to gather the veterans in order to film them talking about the war. Like Arafat said, this could lead to painful memories and some of the war veterans dont even like to reminisce and some possibly dont like being filmed for reasons dealing with wartime. The B-Roll is also very nice although again, it could be hard to capture in the sense that they may not want you to follow them in their everyday lives. Another challenge is that you are at school during most of their Productive day and that they might not even do anything productive during the day. A challenge with filming on the go is always transportation of the cast and film crew. As long as you can sort these challenges out, I find your idea very well articulated and an encouraging piece to work on.
ReplyDeleteWow! I love how this piece sounds very powerful! And its nice that you are able to take your documentary from something that is already a part of your life. I feel that like the other comments stated, there will be a hard part to this interview, all of the reminiscing might lead to painful memories, how will you arrange your interviews? I would recommend leading up to any answers that are more powerful. I don't think you should just simply tell the audience what it is your documentary is about, that seems to be a bit of spoon-feeding, show the audience what it is you are trying to achieve by documenting this area. What are you really trying to say about their lives? Are they heroes? How do you view them? This seems to be an emotional piece for these veterans so it doesn't seem like just a simple entertainment to me. The B-roll you must be careful with, because what are you saying through it? I feel that your piece will be very good and I'm excited to see it, but I think you need to be more direct on what your documentary is saying and the impact you want on an audience.
ReplyDeleteI'm confused, is it on the lives of the veterans today in the home or in the past in war? Also I agree with Arafat that maybe asking them these sorts of questions could bring back intense memories, something that would be epic on film but sort of rude and saddening. Also, I think some interesting broll of them maybe younger could be really nice, just putting their lives into a larger scope of perspective. Maybe even some of them in military garb! Maybe add women who served as nurses in the war as well. It could potentially be a very emotional and well made piece although in execution I can see some potential problems. Also I would do some research on the wars they fought before hand in order to be knowledgeable as you can with them so they spew (pardon the pun) their most intimate details and specifications (potential broll, like a certain plane or gun or something).
ReplyDelete