After reading some of the suggestions in my earlier post about what people would like to see on The Documentary Blog, I think i’m going to start taking the time to irregularily post updates on my personal projects. I’ve sort of been uneasy about getting into this territory. I don’t want the site to be overrun by my own personal posts, but they will be so few and far between that I don’t think it will hurt in the long run to keep you guys updated on what i have going on. (which isn’t much at the moment) Afterall, it may be a fun look into the process of VERY low budget documentary filmmaking.
I’m a recent graduate from the prestigious Niagara College Broadcasting: Film and Television program located in the booming metropolis of Welland, Ontario. Although it’s a smaller town, the College actually offers a decent filmmaking course with a great amount of hands-on experience and a staff of great profs. As a third year final project, I had the opportunity to direct a short documentary film on the subject of time travel. The idea was simple: examine the possibilities of time travel from the persepective of three levels of interest, the hobbyist/sci-fi fanatic, the scientist, and the self-proclaimed time travellers. To my suprise, it was actually easier then i’d expected to find subjects to fulfill these three roles. Here’s the synopsis:
Is time travel possible? In this fascinating short documentary, director Jay Cheel explores the real-life theories behind the science of time travel and the strange subculture of enthusiasts who are obessed with it. Meet Michio Kaku, world-renowned theoretical physicist and author of the book Hyperspace. Meet Rob Niosi, a hobbyist building his own full-scale home replica of H.G. Wells’ time machine. Meet Larry Haber, the entertainment lawyer representing the family of John Titor, an alleged time traveller from the year 2036. Do these people know something about the world that the rest of us don’t? Obessed & Scientific is a quirky look at the intersection of science-fact and science-fiction.
Although I was pretty happy with the final product, I still feel that the film is somewhat limited. The story just isn’t given the time to play itself out in the detail that I would’ve liked. The editing was rushed, there was barely a budget, and the post-production was so stressful that I got shingles. I’ve always wanted to revisit this idea and see how far I could take it. I’ll try and post some detailed stories about the making of the film and i’ll eventually get some clips up on the site in the near future. Until then, I think it’s time to start working on my proposal again and we’ll see where it goes. Feel free to share any criticisms, suggestions, personal stories, advice, connections (*wink wink*) or what-have-you in the comments section as we go!
It’s hard to critisize anything atm… As for connections I offer none.
I did however direct a short documentary myself about 1½ year ago. It was a short short, approx. 8 minutes long. It was about a soccer team in my small hometown of Græsted, Denmark. The only thing I can relate to compared to your experience, is the lack of post-production time. When you have to share the editing tools with a bunch of retards who’s only there to get an easy passing grade you’re limited in your time to experiment and try creative approaches. My ‘movie’ turned out to be pretty much a piece of shit… And I blame nobody but myself. I failed to set the goal of the documentary from the beginning and I ended up with a mess…
Not much of a point really… Making a movie is hard, even when it’s just a short one. Making a documentary is no different, and even though things like pre-production may seem like it’s unnecessary you will benefit from a clear vision just as much as when you’re making a fictional story.
Jay, glad your are posting your project up here. This is a great way to help shape your project and to get feedback. When I shot Greensboro’s Child, it was the first time I went out with a camera and shot anything. My first interviews where extremely important to the film but my aesthetics where horrible. I had to shoot while monitoring the audio and while asking the questions. The result is obvious. It looks very raw and some interviews I couldn’t get access to the same mics as I used before.
When I showed it for my class project my professor told me I had a strong film but to take some time off and let it brew. That was the best advice anyone told me. I finished school and moved to NYC to work in Indie films for 6 months before I realized that I had a project that needed to be complete. One of my challenges was lack of equipment. This was around the time when Canon first introduced the XL1 and Final Cut was a rumor. I used public access and their facility to put together a rough cut of my doc until I got my hands on some real equipment. I added some interviews and sexed it up in FCP and wa la I won an award for best documentary.
You can visually see the growth of my production value as I gained production experience. All in all it took me 7 years to finish the documentary while I was in school and while I delivered Pizza to the residents of Greensboro using my tips for tape stock and equipment. It’s a long road but how sweet it is when you accomplish it.