Unit

"Documentary"

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Roles in the production

Under the development and work of this unit, I have been in a group consisting of Imogen, Rosie and myself. As the project has been ongoing we have all participated in different areas, all of us did research together but after the research for the project was done we took on different roles in the production. Imogen has written, produced and been sound while Rosie has directed and been casting director. I have been camera operator and editor, as well as we have all regularly met up discussed and come to agreements on how we wanted the final end result to look like. The time we have had at our disposal, we have made good use of and been structured, organized and efficient. 

Actor & casting

The actor we decided to go with for the Presenter role was, Micky Dartford. We found him casting outside the classroom using Casting Call Pro. We only had a few applicants, but we still chose to hold   a small audition round. Where the applicants interested in the role had to send an audition videotape, reading/acting out a few lines from the script. We made sure that the actor that got the role had a 100% commitment to the project and shooting days. 

Why we chose our story

We chose to make this story because of how the White Cliffs of Dover is a big symbol and icon for England, as well as to the how vast the nature and wildlife on the cliffs is. We wanted to lift this icon forward, as well as establish awareness of the challenges, risks and uncertainties of the future the cliffs faces. We wanted to show off the beautiful nature and wildlife, and the committed people dedicating their time and effort to continue to keep the cliffs clean, safe and in well preserved. 

The goal

The goal with this unit was to research, develop, set up, shoot and edit our own original documentary film in response to a defined brief. The goal for the documentary we made was to fulfill the criteria, as to what a documentary actually is and consists of. Documentaries are not easy to define, there are many forms - but the most important was for it to contain real people, showing or doing real things and tell real stories/facts. We also wanted it to consist of different styles, so we combined still images, moving images, sync, and V.O. to achieve a different but interesting look and context. 

My experiences

I found this unit to be more interesting than I originally thought it would be before we started it. In general, I have not been to fond of documentaries, but through this unit, I discovered that documentaries are actually okay. I even found some documentaries or different styles and types of doc´s that I like. I like how some of them combines different styles such as still images, animation etc. I feel that we have worked really well together as a group, and the time we have had at disposal has been plenty enough. We have efficiently spread out the work, I will say we spent the longest on research, plan and prep. Shortest amount of time on the shooting, which took us two days. Even though those two days required quite some effort, hiking around the cliffs for hours. But it was great, and the footage and nature made it so worth it. And finally   the remaining time on post-production, which has been a week-ish. There has been no stress, and we have gotten everything done in time for deadlines and sessions, which feels great!

Conclusion

When it comes to if the goal has been reached, I want to say that I am very pleased with our finished product and the group work. I have learned that documentary is okay, even though it might not be what I end up working with after uni. It has been a cool experience and I have truly loved working with the girls. I feel that the criteria for the unit have been reached, and that I have managed to contribute positively to this project, and that we together have managed to reach our goals with the documentary. We have definitely achieved the look and style we were going for, and I think I can speak on behalf of us all when I say that we are very pleased with how it looks. All in all a product I mean answers the assignment, and shows understanding for research, teamwork, technique, editing tools, writing as well as camera techniques. 

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"We´d rather take risks and learn from them if things don´t work, than not take risks. There´s no reason to not take risks."

The Guardian

Brief background 

Laura was born in Boston but now lives in New York working as a director and producer of documentary films. Her parents Patricia (Pat) and James (Jim) Poitras, donated in 2007 twenty million dollars to found The Poitras Centre for Affective Disorders Research. She has two sisters, Christine Poitras, which works as an ESL teacher and Jennifer Poitras a disaster response planner and consultant. Laura has won several awards for her work, such as the 2015 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for her latest film - Citizenfour

In-depth background

Growing up Laura did not plan on working within film or television industry. She actually wanted to become a chef, and she even spent several years as a cook at a French restaurant in Boston. It was not until she moved to San Francisco that she lost interest in becoming a chief. 

She then started to study at San Francisco Art Institute, working and studying with experimental filmmakers. In 1992, she decided to move to New York to pursue a film career at - The New School for Public Engagement - where she graduated from in 1996, with a bachelor degree. 

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"There is nothing I love doing more than filming - my camera is the tool that I use to see the world"

The Telegraph

/ 2014 /

/ 2010 /

My Country, My Country - / 2006 / 

Responsibility & Consequences

To be one of the Americas most celebrated documentary-makers also brings a lot of responsibility and sometimes consequences. Making documentaries sending dispatches from the nation´s frontier zones, Iraq, Yemen and militarised cyberspace to mention some. 

It was Poitras reputation that inspired disaffected former CIA employee, Edward Snowden, to come in contact with her. After exchanging anonymous emails where he hinted at previously unimaginable levels of secret state monitoring. After months of sounding each other by encrypted correspondence, they met up in Hong Kong. 

Where Laura filmed him backing up his revelations and outing himself as a whistleblower. This resulted in her newest film "Citizenfour" which was named after Snowden´s online alias. A film she won an oscar for. Snowden however, immediately became one of the world's most wanted men. She was accused of being his collaborator and has been stopped and interrogated by US authorities dozens of times. To protect herself and her sources from around the world, she moved to Berlin. 

Art Exhibition 

Laura Poitras is a woman who keeps a lot of balls in the air at the same time, additionally to filmmaking she also makes time to be a journalist, winning a George Polk award for reporting, as well as her first solo art exhibition, at Manhatten´s Whitney Museum. 

In this way, Poitra´s is unique, as to how it is less common for documentary filmmakers to embrace  other styles or do work in other branches such as art or commercial features. Many doc makers don´t move from the film circuit to the more enclosed terrain of modern art. 

Astro Noise

Laura´s art show, that refers to an encrypted file Snowden gave to her, as well as the background disturbance of thermal radiation left over from the Big Bang. Astro Noise is a contrast to Poitras earlier work - it has more abstract and ambiguity to it. Laura was on Manhattan´s Upper West side when the planes hit the world trade centre in 2001 - which has been an inspiration for this exhibition. 

-It opens with six blown up photographs, it transcripts that they are reprocessed images from encrypted data hacked from Israeli drones. 

-In the next room is O´say Can You See, a two-sided video installation: one side shows slowed-down footage from New yorkers gazing at ground zero in the aftermath of 9/11. 

- The other side shows grainy images of two prisoners in Afghanistan, hoods over their heads, being interrogated by American soldiers.

The message is clear, everything that is seen in this show - art exhibition - is in some way a consequence of 9/11. 

"In film there´s a lot of time that´s that´s not creative, I´m keen to expand, to challenge myself in different ways"

The Telegraph 

What interested me

Laura interested me by the way she is so brave and determined to get people's stories out there, and constantly working to reveal or fabricate the reality and truth. She truly puts herself out there and is not even afraid to expose her own name or life to danger or threat. 

When it comes to how she has inspired my work on this project, in the way of always keeping in mind the importance of the truth. And that the truth and sometimes hidden reality should always shine through. To make sure that our documentary represents something of reality, presented in the rightful and most honorable way as possible. 

//All images from Google

Laura Poitras

//Sources of information

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0688636/

http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/LauraPoitras

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Poitras

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/30/laura-poitras-documentay-field-of-vision

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/artists/laura-poitras-interview-the-woman-who-keeps-the-secrets/