Contextual research fmp final
- 2. Research Intentions My main piece of research in context is going to be documentary makers. Different documentary makers have their own ways of telling a story through a documentary and that is what I want to talk about. I am also going to look at little things that they do to create a style and what about their style makes their documentaries so good. I am then going to look at the things that makes their work good and see what aspects of their work I can put into mine to make something unique whilst at the same time making my documentary good and creating a style. I also plan on trying their different technique in the pre-production stages so that I can understand how to do them and see if I defiantly want to use them in my work. I am also going to do this so that I defiantly know how to use the different technique when it comes to filming.
- 3. Ken Burns Ken burns uses manipulation as one of the main things in his documentaries. He believes that all story is manipulation, this is because you get a story and present it in a certain way with editing elements added on top and you can manipulate people into having strong emotions and feeling for a story that they would never have cared about if it wasn’t presented in that way. An emotion truth within a story is something that you must build, and you can’t just present it to an audience because they need to become slowly attached to it. His mother died at the age of eleven, so his historical documentaries are a way for him to wake the dead and bring them back to life. He believes that his historical documentaries are there to remind that we are not going to live forever and that is okay. This is because he mainly does documentaries of Americas past and on people who are dead. This is obvious in documentaries such as 'Thomas Jefferson – 1977' and 'Frank Lloyd Wright – 1998'.
- 4. His Works • The war – 2007 • The Civil War – 1990 • Country Music – 2019 • Baseball -1994 • Jazz – 2000 • The Dust Bowl – 2012 • Prohibition – 2011 • Jackie Robinson – 2016 • Brooklyn Bridge – 1981 • The Central Park Five – 2012 • Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery – 1997 • Mark Twain – 2001 • Frank Lloyd Wright – 1998 • The Statue of Liberty – 1985 • Huey Long – 1985 • The Congress – 1989 • Thomas Jefferson – 1997 • The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God – 1984 • Baseball: The Tenth Inning – 2010 • Unforgivable Blackness – 2004 • Thomas Hart Benton – 1988 • Horatio’s Drive: America’s First Road Trip – 2003 • The Address – 2014 • Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Candy Stanton & Susan B. Anthony • Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio – 1992 • Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War – 2013 • The Mayo Clinic, Faith, Hope and Science – 2018
- 5. Dziga Vertov • Dziga Vertov was one of the first documentary makers. Dziga Vertov was from the USSR and made his first documentary in 1918. The reason that I have put him into my contextual research is because I think that he is very important to present day documentaries. He was one of the first people to capture film about people's living standard and problems in the world. For example, he did this in his silent documentary called 'Nanook of the North' from 1922. His documentaries were truly unique at the time since he was one of the first people to make them.
- 6. Wim Wenders • The reason that I have chosen to look at Win Wenders is because I like his creative approach to documentary making. He originally started out as a painter but then liked the idea of using a camera because to him it was like painting but he could add more detail and it made more sense to him. I like the way that he uses travelling and the changing of locations to tell a story, I think that this is a very good way for the audience to be able to remember different parts of the story and not have the whole documentary blend into one when they think back to watching it. I would like to use this technique in my documentary by travelling so that there is distinctly different parts of the documentary which makes it easier for the audience to watch and remember.
- 7. Agnes Varda • I have chosen to research Anges Varda because she was so influential to documentaries and film making in France and women in the industry. A lot of her documentaries were important to the feminist movement in the last 50s and the early 60s. Her films such as 'One sings, the other doesn't (1977)'. Anges doesn't view documentary story telling as her telling a story to the audience, she views it as her taking the audiences hand and talking them through the film, not really telling a story, but telling the audience what cinema means in her life. I like the way that she uses documentaries and storytelling to educate people on issues that they may not know about, I would like to implement this into my FMP and show people issues without focusing on them or directly telling them.
- 8. Michael Apted • I have chosen to research Michael Apted, because he has done a lot of documentaries on people and things and the history of them, such as 'Bring on the night' where he talks about the making of Sting's first solo album. I also really like the way that he directs his documentaries. He makes sure that everybody including the actors and the crew are involved as much as possible so that everybody is enjoying what they are doing. I would like to do this in my FMP because I plan on making it with me and my friend and I think if we communicate very well i will have a better product. He also thinks that to have a good documentary it must have a lot of information in it to keep it interesting. I would like to do this in my FMP, I want to have a balance of educational whilst also being entertaining and funny.
- 9. Theory
- 10. A film theory summery • Film theory is the debate of different intentional and unintentional techniques used from the history of film. For example, a close-up shot in a horror film might try and portray fear, but a close-up in a comedy might portray something completely different, but because this is theory there is no definite answer. Film theory is based off facts and history which makes the theory's backable whilst also being subjective. Film theory is hiding hidden meanings and messages within films that may or may not be intentional by the film makers.
- 11. Types of film theory • Camera angles/shots - The angle of the camera -The focus of the camera -Close up shots -Wide shots • Colour -colour pallet helps set the theme and the tone for a film -Black and white -Colour grading is usually kept the same throughout the entire film to keep the theme -Saturation is used to set the tone and mood in different scenes. It can also be used in POV shots to show how somebody is physically or mentally feeling. • Editing -Editing is one the most important parts of a film because so much can be done in post-production that can't be done without it. -The editor decides what is seen by the audience and what isn't -Editing is how most of the other elements of film theory are put together.
- 12. • Lighting -Lighting is one of the most imporatnt things in filming because it changes how a shot looks. -The intention behind lighting is very imporatnt because it can completely change the tone and mood of a scene and can give your film a professional look or a home- made look, even with a cheap camera. -A lot of genres are determined by their use of lighting; such as horror. • Mis-En-Scene -Mis-En-Scene is one of the most important elements of film making. -It is how you put together and compose a scene. -Actors and props are both Mis-En-Scene. • Sound -Sound means: Sound design, sound mixing, music, sound effects and score composition. -sound sets the mood and the tone. -sound and music can completely change how a scene is taken by the audience.
- 13. Different types of films • Documentary -Informative -Lots of travelling -Not many special effects if any -Not a lot or no actors • Fantasy -the supernatural -Generically not real -Lots of special effects • Realism -Not a lot of editing -No special effects -Natural and not a lot of artificial lighting -Locations are not on a set My film is going to be a documentary, so I am going to follow the style of a documentary film, I am going to be filming on locations and I am going to have it be informative and not havemany special effects.
- 14. Contextual Statement • I have chosen to research all these people because they are all filmmakers who were very famous for their documentary work, I chose to research them so that I know what they did that made them so good at making documentaries and how I can implement this into my own work. I especially liked Ken Burns and Agnes Varda's approach to their work and I think that I could use the way that they make documentaries to make mine better. This also helped me to understand the different types of documentary audiences and I think it will help me understand how to implement all these elements so that I can appeal to the biggest audience possible.
- 15. Bibliography • Pewtrust.org. (2020). Ken Burns: 'America's Storyteller' on His Creative Process. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and- analysis/articles/2020/01/24/ken-burns-americas-storyteller-on-his-creative-process (accessed 8/1/21). • Kenburns.com. (2020) Watch Ken explain his process. https://kenburns.com/principals/ken-burns/. (accessed 8/01/21). • Britannica.com. (2021) Dziga Vertov Soviet director. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dziga-Vertov (accessed 8/1/21). • The-talks.com. (2016) Tim Wenders: "Everything I loved I had to defend". https://the-talks.com/interview/wim-wenders/ (accessed (8/1/21). • Bfi.org.uk. (2019). At home (and away) with Agnes Vadra. https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/interviews/home-away-agn-s- varda (8/1/21). • Nonfics.com. (2021). Michael Apted on '63 Up' and the Past, Present, and Future of the 'Up' Series. https://nonfics.com/michael-apted-63-up- interview/ (accessed 8/1/21). • Dga.org. (2018). An Aptitude for leadership. https://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/1801-Winter-2018/DGA-Interview-Michael- Apted.aspx (accessed8/1/21). • Careersinfilm.com. (2020) film theory: a beginner's guide. https://www.careersinfilm.com/film-theory/ (accessed 8/1/21). • James, W. (2011) Fantasy Film a critical introduction. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Fantasy_Film/5G7LAyrpH4IC?hl=en&gbpv=0. Page 5 • Bill, N. (2001). Introduction to documentary. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Introduction_to_Documentary/tFLMar9GsjQC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Page 19 • Leigh, D (2015). The Movie Book. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Movie_Book/Hi5wCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+movie+book&printsec=frontcover page 176 - 179