'Anonymous' & 'Kameen' at the Imperial War Museum Short Film Festival

Kameen

There has, in recent months, been a whole wealth of content that has explored the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. It’s not very often however, that it’s told from a Palestinian perspective. I had high expectations of the film for this reason, filmed by a Palestinian videographer in Kafr Qaddum in the West Bank. However, I think that the voiceover took away from the power of the images a little. It began by stating the facts but as the film continued, more opinion made it to script. He offered up explanations of what was happening but also represented quite a bias view in explaining why it happened, who was to blame and who the bad guys were. I wanted very much an unbiased witness account for me to decide for myself who the bad guys were. Tell me the facts, let me work out the rest.

I did find the visuals fascinating, particularly as I visited Israel last year and wanted to know more about the Israel/Palestine divide but I would much rather have seen it with the soundtrack turned off. Music was well-chosen and images captured well. But my high hopes for a moral standard bearer, weren't fulfilled. there's still room for someone to come along and claim that one.

Anonymous

Anonymous was an unusual insight into life in a Syrian refugee camp.  Our film-maker, led by a man who knew his way around every inch of the camp and wanted to show the entirety of it to the camera, managed to capture some of the most impoverished and under-provisioned parts of the Domez Camp. For example, there is a clip sharing that there are 4 doctors among the entire of the camp and it's getting worse every day. The worried mothers, the makeshift hospital and check-up room, the pharmacy with handwritten signs to show the entrance and exit. There are kids singing their national anthem. There are men telling us how they have no bathrooms. Then there is the realization that although everyone in the camp recognizes our guide, no-one seems to know his name. Which is almost a statement applicable to the entire camp. The anonymous, those that everyone seems to have forgotten about, who everyday grow in number.

Was a really great insight and one of the best short films at the IWM festival. I only wish that the film was longer.

Imperial War Museum Short Film Festival

The Coach That Made History

This film had an interesting concept. I never knew the significance of coach 2419 in which or around which so many defining events took place; the first armistice in 1918, second armistice in 1940 and so many more. The narration allowed me an insight into just how large a part it played in history and just how clever Hitler's propaganda radar really was. However, after a while I wanted more than narration. I wanted experts, I wanted interpretations, I wanted more than just some archive and a knowledgeable narrator.

That is not to say that there was not a remarkable amount of archive that had clearly meant a lot of research. But the absence of a contributor left the production searching for visuals, leaving some of the images that perhaps would ordinarily be thrown out, to find their way in (A thing I too am guilty of within my first production). There were wobbly pans and over-exposed pull focuses that although were relevant, just took away from the fact that this was actually, a very finished, interesting and informed piece.

The narration was well written and well researched but was annoyingly ruined a little by the rather intriguing choice of music. In short, I thought the music was terrible. I understood that at times it was supposed to represent jeopardy and therefore fell away from major tones and pleasing notes, but it swelled into a key bashing mess that became too prominent to ignore. My advice, find a new composer. I'm sure that their other works are better, but the thought of this soundtrack makes me shiver.

In all I thought that this would work well as a historical piece and if they sorted out the music and some of the contemporary shots that were a bit wobbly, they've got some grounding to look for distribution within museums, maybe even the IWM themselves.

The Last Words of Gavrilo Princip

I was a lot more excited about the promise of this film than it returned. However, it was an interesting angle to tell the story of Franz Ferdinand's assassin. The location was well found. The cinematography wasn't bad either. The costume was well attempted. The hardest colour to make look dirty is white, I'll say that much. A tip for the next time you need a white shirt to look like it's been worn for years, to buy a grey one. It's kinder on the aesthetic for a period piece and MUCH easier to make look dated and dirty.

I would have liked to have seen a flashback, cleverly shot could have meant there was no need for crowds, just for a third character to be shot. And a reaction shot from Gavrilo Princip. I'd also have liked to have seen some form of written reveal. He is given paper but we don't get to see the result of it. He really DID write whilst in prison, there is record of two letters written by Princip... could that have been used to give it more grounding? Particularly with the title being 'The Last Words'... we never know what those last words are!!!

The booklet was entitled Gavrilo Princips Bekenntnisse, Gavrilo Princip’s Confessions. It was published in Vienna by Rudolf Lechner and Son. It was a short monograph consisting of 32 pages. The first part was an introduction and a commentary including two letters that Princip wrote. The last section contained the stenographic notes of the conversations that Pappenheim had with Princip from February 19 to June 5, 1916. http://serbianna.com/analysis/archives/2737

These are all suggestions of course, as a piece it was nice but I feel it could have been even better as the team showed clearly that they had the skill and dedication to make something worthwhile.

Time Bleeds

I liked Time Bleeds quite a bit. I'm still a little unsure as to whether the candid voxpops/interviews were the actors being genuine or if they were acting there too. Aside from that, it was a great idea to show the relevance of the world war in our modern lives. Rather than preaching it, it painted the picture for us, which made it less of an appeal and more of a dramatic exploration. It also portrayed the impact it had on a generation, a young generation. It had some powerful re-enactment scenes with those characters we'd already met elsewhere.

More than that, I have to applaud the actor's ability. Particularly the girl with the ginger hair. I liked the symbolism and I like how the group did not try and attempt to be something that they weren't. they were an acting group, and they were portrayed as just that. I think it could be an interesting film to show within other drama classes when exploring the world war.

Desecrating Eden

Desecrating Eden was a nice angle on something I'd never known about. It did however, need a bit of context to inform the audience what it was about. There's only so much we can tell from a poem and some silent images. A blurb on screen before and after, explaining which conflict it was about, which year it concerned and what happened would have added a lot more meaning to what we saw on screen. I still don't know any more than i did about that particular part of history than when I walked in. Although I did appreciate that there were some nice archive reels within the film.

Chronicles of Courage

Chronicles of Courage was wonderfully shot and the best of the bunch that I was able to see. It had some nice Visual effects, particularly with the silhouette of our soldiers against a fiery orange sky.

The trench scenes were particularly impressive and the make-up (particularly the scar) was brilliantly done. It conveyed research, it told a story, it acknowledged that a soldier's tale is not the only tale of WW1. What was nice is that it was based on truth. Real letters that passed through the fingers of those at war and found themselves dramatised for an audience 100yrs later. There's almost a bit of magic in that and the magic was justified. 

The narration was well read, the cinematography well planned and well executed. The grading was nice. I can't really fault it to be honest, It's voice was not to inform, nor to teach, more to express a personal reflection on personal experiences therefore we can find no fault in that.

Great film, I hope it's released by Savage Mills for the masses to enjoy.

It's even inspired me to think more pro-actively about a documentary idea about women in WW1.

Lesson 2 - Visuals are Important

Lesson number 2 from Barry Hampe - visuals are important! A commentary is merely a collection of comments made on a particular subject. What makes a documentary MORE than just a commentary, are the visuals. And here's another shortfall in my debut documentary that I now recognise.

I was so focussed on capturing the words and comments of our contributors to piece together the story, that visuals became secondary. I believed that archive reels would suitably cover the moments I failed to shoot original footage for, and it did to an extent but it took away from the personalities of our wonderful contributors and at some points felt forced.

In my approach, I now know I was wrong. The film still turned into a significant film for those involved and I feel carried the message I'd intended. It was emotive, it told the truth... but it did so verbally rather than visually and I realise now that this let it down.

Still, onwards! Learning for next time!

Behind the Fence

'Behind the Fence' is a 12min Polish documentary with no voiceover nor narration. But it doesn't need either to be brilliant.

Film-maker Marcin Sauter manages to capture on film some of the best moments of childhood. Through merely observing, we are allowed to assume our own narrative whilst being treated to the gentile nature of children and their devotion to discovery, learning and determination.

A particular favourite moment is when the young girl is dressing herself. She shows such determination in trying that it's almost infectious. I couldn't help but feel a smile spread across my face and a will for her to complete her task!

In reading Barry Hampe's 'Making Documentary Films & Reality Videos' he speaks often of the need for visual representation of the story. He says that images should speak as images alone, without the need for narration and this film not only illustrates but proves his point, innocently and beautifully.

The film is available to view for free here: http://dafilms.com/download/key/PR0JqK6Cdx
So why not give it 12mins of your time?

Film-making's Easy, Right?

Today I began not only reviewing factual television (if you can call my ramblings a review) but discovering how they are made. I have experience of creating my own documentary, my first documentary about a cause I care very much about. In fact you can watch it here: https://vimeo.com/94738448

It becomes clear to me each time I watch it back that its misgivings are too large to ignore. The technical aspects of the film are far from superior and the story could have been told better. Don't get me wrong, the contributors are excellent and I am immensely proud of the content over the technical ability on offer to us. I completely and wholeheartedly adore our contributors on and off screen but I am becoming ever more aware of my first film's shortfalls and am now committed to making my next film, much better.

And so, I begin my journey with a venture into Barry Hampe's 'Making Documentary Films & Reality Videos'.

Thus far I have learnt that documentary film-mkaing is far from easy. I've also learned that I wasn't far off in my first attempt but that the following things are probably useful to keep in mind when making a documentary film to ensure we get the content we really need to create a compelling film:

• the purpose of the film
• the kind of behaviour [we are] is trying to capture
• what is happening in the scene being shot
• the fact that the footage will be edited for presentation to an audience
• how what is being shot in this scene might go with what has been shot before and what is to follow
• how to get the best possible images and sound as visual evidence of the event
• how far the crew can go with this and still remain on their own side of the invisible wall

Interview set-up (2 camera)

I am sure there are other things that are useful to know, such as how to interview to gain good responses, how to light the scene and how to record audio and visuals well. However, it all begins with the bullet points above. It's not as simple as pointing your camera at people and hoping they say the right things and capturing good moments on film, its about pre-empting and researching, planning to get the good stuff down the lens. It is about knowing the purpose of your film from the very beginning so that by the time you reach the edit suite, you get the same delight you get from completing a well-made jigsaw puzzle rather than the fatigue that follows the putting together of a kinder egg toy with missing pieces. You need the story all there, rather than a bunch of images and talking heads that don't amount to anything.

Of course, these things are common sense to most documentarians, but in the heat of the moment when the lights are on and the contributors are mic'd up and ready to go, when time is pressing on, it takes the very best of use producers and directors to remember the values at the doc's core and proceed.

Whatever words of wisdom I discover in my reading, I will share on this blog. So please, check back in a week or two!

'The Happiness Hypothesis'

I don't normally write blogposts about books but this time I feel as though I have to, or I won't sleep. What sounds like a self-help book is actually one of the most intelligently written publications I have ever read, so much so that I found myself regularly looking up definitions to work out what author Jonathan Haidt was talking about.

happinesshypothesis.com

What I found within this brightly coloured little book, were the keys to the kingdom. I was treated to a bundle of well-chosen, inspirational quotations promoting human understanding and the need for coherence between the sciences and humanities. What followed was a deep satisfaction for finding someone else in this universe who seemed to believe in the importance of sociology and of peace and tolerance, but not in the way that would see me confined to a country teepee around a bonfire, smoking grass and playing the didgeridoo - although that's fine too. Instead it offers an insight into the greatest psychological findings from across the globe, both ancient and contemporary, explaining not just how we find happiness in ourselves, but promoting an understanding of why humans act in the way we do, what is built into our physiological being and what we ourselves have conjured to cover our traits. It seems there is no categorical imperative for any ethical decision based upon these findings.

Our tongues are quick to lawyer the actions of our unconscious being, our biological reactions to nurture, empathy and 'divine experience' are bonds between all fellow social beings, regardless of where they may come from or which beliefs they may hold. We find honour in accepting our own misgivings, we find joy in love and love in work, we work towards virtue whilst simultaneously dismissing the virtue of others as 'pure evil' because we, through our own 'naive realism' expect that we and we alone see the world for what it truly is - regardless of whether this paragraph makes any sense to you or not, it champions how wonderfully complicated we as humans are. It depicts our very creation as a work of art to be cherished, to be studied, to be read and read it can be... all within the pages of a little yellow book (with the assistance of a dictionary).

My reading was indeed a happy experience, it made me feel somewhat lighter and has inspired me to make my own investigation using certain theories within Haidt's book. My investigation will be based around the reasoning behind the rise in entertainment television and the gradual extinction of specialist factual programming, drawing upon the psychology that accompanies the emotions we share with our TV screens and perhaps, the benefits we are denying ourselves by not experiencing adversity or disappointment through what we watch, that could consequently provide us the opportunity to learn and to grow.

I could be here all night, and I'm not convinced that writing any of this down will help me sleep but I thoroughly recommend this book. You might just stumble across your very own happiness hypothesis along the way.

Oh and help Haidt and his friends in their research by taking part in their online surveys and questionnaires here: https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/

More Sex Please, We're British

I only recently came across Channel 4's 2012 doc 'More Sex Please, We're British'. Now in the last few years, I've been invited to more Ann Summers parties than I count on my fingers, so what on Earth has happened to Britain's stiff upper lip - (couldn't resist).

teddy babe plush doll - lovehoney

Going behind the warehouse workings of Lovehoney, we were treated to find ordinary people with a vivacious sense of humour for dealing with their day jobs. With a sticker system for dirty phone calls and photo shoots in the boss' bedroom, it could very easily be misconstrued as seedy and inappropriate, yet the company characters charm us by speaking smutty at the dinner table and sharing their popular chat-up lines.

It might not have given us the customer access that we wanted so much to complete the picture of this £20million annual craze, but it at least gave us our first glimpse into one of Britain's most popular dirty secrets. With unrestricted access to the warehouse, the returns room, the call centre, the photoshoots, the marketing meetings and to product testing, it was interesting to watch as normal people interacted with some very abnormal everyday objects - or perhaps not so abnormal anymore. So, I may not be about to take on a Teddy Babe anytime soon but I suppose a programme that champions 'happy rabbits' over lonely hearts, can certainly do no harm.

Not a bad insight but would have loved to have had access to a few raunchy consumers for the REALLY juicy stuff!