Allen Berliner Salon

 

 

I had the great opportunity to attend a salon event with Alan Berliner, held by the Austin Film Society at the Austin Film School. It was an intimate evening with a room of 20 folks and Alan. The purpose of the event was to hear him talk and get feedback from a project you are working on. Well, it was more than just a talk with Alan, it was a conversation with him. He engaged with us in the room, starting out by having everyone go around and say their name. He is a very insightful, playful and smart man. He would question certain names if they were unusual and he found patterns of names in accordance with the seating arrangement. It was hilarious, but also great to see him pay so close attention to people. It made me realize how his documentaries are so in depth and ask and answer so many questions. He’s a very curious individual. His curiosity is what brings uniqueness to his documentaries.

Alan showed a few clips from his documentary Wide Awake about his struggle with insomnia. It played at SXSW a few years ago and was funded by HBO in which they broadcasted and distributed the film. After the first clip he showed, a woman in the audience asked him where he got all the stock footage? He answered: Well, I answer that in my film. So, then he showed us a clip of his home film and audio libraries. It was amazing. He’s a very organized person, too, with film reels categorized by not only subject but by color. Everything is alphabetical, also. And then is is crazy and awesome audio files. I couldn’t find the clip from the movie online, but I did find this:

After his clips, he opened up the questions by asking the audience a question: Who hates editing? Two people raised their hands and he was upset that people weren’t being honest. But the few who raised their hands, he asked what it was about the editing process that made them hate it so much. These reasons from people allowed Alan to talk in depth about how important editing is. He, himself, loves editing with a passion. It was great to hear him talk so positively and encouragingly about editing.

After 2 and a half hours chatting with him, I got to show him and the audience a demo video for the death row documentary I’m working on with some other filmmakers. It was the first time we had shown this video to anyone outside of grant purposes. Alan was very encouraging, giving us some wonderful feedback with great compliments and some suggestions to make it better. It was a great night!

Outside Event – Short Doc Heaven at AFF

Thank goodness I was in line to see Kat Candler’s short “Quarter to Noon” because I met Tim, a UT MFA student and he told me and my boyfriend about the short documentaries playing that night, the last opportunity for us to see them. So, we headed to the Regal Arbor and left very satisfied and happy went to program. I think there was only one short I wasn’t too into, about Japanese toys as an art form in the US, but overall, these short docs were awesome! And a lot of the filmmakers were in attendance, from Australia, Chicago and Brazil! Here are a few highlights:

“Little Ripper” directed by Australian filmmakers Craig and Jarrod Boord, tells the story of pigeon racing in Australia. This tradition is very heartwarming seeing old men care for their birds. It’s also astounding how much money they put into the hobby and how much money is given to the winner. The slow pace of the film with beautiful shots of pigeons give them personality, allowing for the audience to connect with these little birds we take for granted. It turns out these pigeons are very smart. They are trained well to be able to find their home even though they are freed hundreds of miles away for the start of the race. Here’s a trailer:

The documentary short winner of the film festival was an animation short documentary, “Q&A” incorporating audio from an interview with a mother and her 12-year old son who has Asperger’s Syndrome, with animation. This was so wonderful, sweet and hilarious. I wanted it to be longer, because it was so entertaining. I thought this short did a wonderful job telling a microcosmic story about a larger issue. Here’s a teaser:

One of my favorite short docs in this program was “Mr.Okra.” Talk about a compelling character! This was just awesome. Words cannot really describe how awesome this story and character was. There were a few questions I had that the filmmaker didn’t cover. I was a little disappointed with that, but overall it was a cool and funny short. The producer was present, from Louisiana, and was sorry to disappoint the audience about details of shooting with the character, Mr. Okra. He said it was just so easy. All they had to do was bring a camera and Mr. Okra made the whole story. There wasn’t much they had to do in coming up with structure or story, the character did it all.

“Team Taliban” was a very interesting short documentary I felt could definitely be a feature. It had an “American Life” feel and was again, another microcosmic story about a larger issue, this one being Muslims in America and how they are portrayed by the average American. This political story brought up issues of racism, ignorance of Americans, and self-identity. It was truly an amazing story to come across, from a documentary filmmaker’s point of view. Here’s a trailer:

And the last one I wanted to mention was a tragic story about a news reporter in Oakland who was wrongfully murdered. This investigative story was edited well, with great interviews and stock footage to create the connection between character and audience. It gave me some thoughts about the Mexican construction worker deaths in Austin idea that I’ve thought about pursuing. The trailer is online: http://adaylateinoakland.com/video.php

Screening at AFF!

Hey guys! I just wanted to remind you about the screening of a feature narrative I co-produced and co-shot. It’s called “Straight to the Bone” and follows a couple, Jay and Shannon, who have dated since college. Shannon is ready to commit and marry, but Jay is not as enthused. She ends meeting Blake, who has the same outlook on life as herself. Does Shannon move on with this new stranger or continue her comfortable but unfulfilling relationship with Jay?

A little about the filmmaking process:

Straight to the Bone was shot using a collaborative and improvised approach. The director and his performers came up with story and characters as a group. They took ideas from direct experiences in their lives, which provided a depth and variety to the narrative that may not have been possible using a traditional screenplay. Scenes play out in a realistic, naturalistic way, instead of feeling forced and contrived. This process was inspiring and exciting for both the cast and crew.

You can check out the film at the Austin Film Festival:

Thursday, 10/22 Long Center (Palmer Events Center) 9:30pm

Saturday, 10/24 Alamo LakeCreek 5:15pm

If you feel up to it tonight, we are having a fundraiser at the Scoot Inn with local musicians playing starting at 9pm! And we’re also having an afterparty Saturday after the Alamo screening at Nomad Bar off Cameron and Corona. At that party we’ll be screening deleted scenes (and there’s a lot!)

Hope to see you guys there!

Flatland Film Festival

Sooooo, I didn’t get a chance to see “Crude” this weekend as part of lab from last week. Very sorry Ellen! Buuuuut I did go to the Flatland Film Festival in Lubbock, TX. My boyfriend, Erik Mauck, screened his feature documentary “Zombie Girl: The Movie” to a great crowd in an awesome venue. His film follows a 12-year old girl who writes, produces, films and edits a feature-length zombie movie. The girl, Emily Hagins, was also in attendance. Her and Erik gave a half-hour Q&A to a crowd who just kept coming with questions.

Along with meeting other filmmakers, and going to a party with the director of The Texas Film Commission present, I got to see a short documentary in the shorts program. A group of canadian children, in partnership with Nokia and a Canadian organization went to the border of Mexico and Arizona to understand the issues involved along the border. It was filmed and edited by the teenagers, which at times the lack of story-telling could be seen, but shooting style was very professional. Various topics were addressed including young girl prostitution, drugs and addictions. The difference of opportunities among youth of America and Mexico are addressed with interviews on both sides of the border. It really helps the story when talking abut both sides of an issue to actually have someone personally telling about each side through their own experiences.

Overall, if you get a chance next year, it’s a little far, but a cool drive (especially with the Wind Turbine land in West Texas! which made me wonder if a documentary has been done on that) it’s a great festival with very friendly people. The venue is absolutely gorgeous and made me jealous that Austin didn’t have it! Check it out online: http://www.flatlandfilmfestival.com/

Film Shoot

Lauren, I and my boyfriend were able to shoot with KB last week on Thursday. It went much better than the one-person crew shoot I did by myself at the recording studio. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I’m going to get spoiled working with a crew and become a camera/crew diva. It’s just so nice to have a documentary crew and a 2-camera set-up!

On Thursday Lauren and I met up with KB at her house to film her getting ready for work. This time my vision of what the scene would like came to life. I shot camera as Lauren and I asked her questions as she put her makeup on in the mirror. It was great to step into her private place seeing the girly side of her, with her neat and cute bedroom, makeup all over the bathroom counter and even a little kitty named P-Kitty. Lauren talked to her in the car on the way to Copa Restaurant, downtown. And then we hooked KB up with a wireless mic and let her go. Unfortunately, we were there a little too early to get her waiting tables, but we plan on going back just to get some of those shots along with her dialogue.

Later that evening we did a sit-down interview with KB downtown at the Post Office parking lot on 6th St. and Guadalupe. With the sunset going down, Erik (my boyfriend and camera op) and Lauren captured some beautiful imagery with birds on the telephone wire and buildings under construction behind them. It was great and a lot of fun! I was able to concentrate on solely sound, with my headphones on and boom in the other hand. As I paid close attention to her sound, I was also able to focus on the questions I wanted to ask. Not having to worry about shooting (Lauren and Erik took care of that) and them informing me when the darkness was taking over, I had to make sure I came up with important questions for the film. I usually forget questions easily when they enter my mind, because I’m crewing everything else, but not shooting really helped me to phrase my questions well. Also, I’m so glad I thought about bringing a barstool! She’s really short and petite and I knew if she sat up on something tall we could capture the images behind her and not just the parking lot walls.

Once the sun went down (which was much sooner than I had expected and made me really bummed) Erik and Lauren thought of a great idea; another reason it’s great to have more minds on set! Erik notices an abandoned parking lot behind the post office that had a bright spotlight. Then Lauren suggested that that might be more appropriate due to the nature of her as a performing musician. So, the night and lights of the skyline would fit so well with the subject matter. I thought, brilliant! We grabbed our stuff and headed down there. I also suggested KB park her bad-ass car behind her as we talked to her. It kind of emphasized the hip-hop aura of pimp cars. We spoke to her more as Lauren and I went handheld. KB also rapped a cappella. It was awesome!

One thing I’ve really learned about shooting these short documentary projects for class is that I can be selective about what to shoot and still present a story. I can think a lot about the structure of the film and what I want to tell. I guess that’s what Ellen means when all documentaries are manipulated. And I have to admit, I did manipulate a shot. I wasn’t shooting on KB when she was leaving her apartment to head to work. I really wanted that shot for an easy transition to her driving and then working. So, I asked her to do it again. It was sort of weird I have to admit. But she was really cool about it and didn’t seem to make it a big issue.

Hip-Hop industry on The Daily Show

It’s not relevant to women in the hip-hop industry, but it made me think about some questions I could ask KB about the likeliness of being a successful rapper during this recession and how accessibility of technology may or may not help. Enjoy!

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

more about “Hip-Hop industry on The Daily Show“, posted with vodpod

An Unlikeable Guy

“We Live in Public” was great! It was a tremendous story told with outstanding editing! I don’t know how Ondi Timoner (Director) could have made her first editing move with all the 5000 hours of footage and probably the majority of them being sex videos. Her editing skills really showed in this movie. The first thing that stood out to me was how she was able to turn an unlikeable main character into someone the audience cared about or yearned to know more about him. If you don’t know the story:

Ten years in the making and culled from 5000 hours of footage,  WE LIVE IN PUBLIC reveals the effect the web is having on our society, as seen through the eyes of “the greatest Internet pioneer you’ve never heard of”, artist, futurist and visionary Josh Harris. Award-winning director  Ondi Timoner (DIG! – which also won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 2004 – making Timoner the only director to win that prestigious award twice) documented his tumultuous life for more than a decade to create a riveting, cautionary tale of what to expect as the virtual world inevitably takes control of our lives.

Harris, often called the “Warhol of the Web”, founded Pseudo.com, the first Internet television network during the infamous dot-com boom of the 1990s. He also curated and funded the ground breaking project “Quiet” in an underground bunker in NYC where over 100 people lived together on camera for 30 days at the turn of the millennium. With Quiet, Harris proved how we willingly trade our privacy for the connection and recognition we all deeply desire, but with every technological advancement such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, becomes more elusive. Through his experiments, including a six-month stint living with his girlfriend under 24-hour electronic surveillance which led to his mental collapse, Harris demonstrated the price we pay for living in public. (weliveinpublicthemovie.com)

I wanted to point out the greatness of the editing and how it is so important in shaping the story. In the first scene, we see Josh Harris in a videotape recording of himself giving a message to his dying mother. He tells her he wishes her well and to say hello to all the family when she gets there. It’s completely insincere and cold-hearted. The voice-over narration verifies his meanness. So, I thought to myself, why should I know who this guy is? But Ondi Timoner did an excellent job reeling the audience into a compelling and dramatic story. We learn of Josh’s highs and lows. And when he’s low, it’s really sad. The way those ups and downs are edited together, I first felt Josh was an intelligent and innovative individual, then a disgusting pervert and then a sad, lonely, depressed man. Ondi did well in editing the subplots so that they connected on an emotional level and flowed nicely. The pace of the story was superb. Sometimes I find myself bored with facts and backstory, but she set up Josh’s history and the history of the Internet very well with some great animation and voice-over narration. It was quick and understanding, leading to the climax of Josh’s career. She brought in the issue of Facebook and connected today’s social networking generation with Josh’s story. It was insightful and mind-riveting. The way the story was edited, provoked truthfulness of a lonely, but also egotistical man (He goes to myspace to pitch an idea years after his success. He walks in with a cigar acting big, but the Myspace director has no idea who he is and doesn’t take his offer because there was no formal pitch).

Kudos to Ondi Timoner for excellent editing and director skillz. And super kudos for being a woman and showing Shelia Nevins who’s the boss! : )

SXSW 2010 Deadlines

Hey ya’ll,

I just wanted to post the SXSW film festival deadlines, in case any of you are interested in submitting your documentary short. It was really beneficial for Jordan and I to have a deadline last semester when making our short together. It allowed us to keep on time with scheduling for production and post production. And even better, we finished a month ahead of time. If you haven’t been to the SXSW film festival, you’re missing out! It’s one of the best, biggest and coolest film festivals in the world. And if your short gets in, you get a badge! How awesome it that? The earlier you can submit, the better. They make a lot of decisions early on even before the deadline since they get so many submissions.

SXSW 2010 Film Submission Deadlines w/Entry Fees

Early Deadline	- November 5th
Shorts – $25	Features – $40
Late Deadline	- December 3rd
Shorts – $40	Features – $60
Last Minute Deadline	- December 11th
Shorts – $50	Features – $100

Here’s the SXSW link with more info on submitting: http://sxsw.com/film/screenings/submit

-Chelsea

The Road to Guantanamo

Like I said before the movie began, I’m not a huge fan of hybrid documentaries. The reason: it just messes with my mind! Honestly, I think too much during the entire film about what is real and what is fiction. However, The Road to Guantanamo was a hybrid I enjoyed immensely.

First, it made complete sense why this story had to be a hybrid. These three individuals had a horrendous, but important story that needed to be told to a general audience. But there was no way that someone could have filmed inside the prison while the actual events were unfolding. If re-enactments were chosen to tell the story, it could have been cheesy or even boring. Therefore, making an arching narrative about the boys, following them in the beginning on their way to Guantanamo allowed the viewer to get a sense of their lives before prison. This helped to make the prison scenes more intense, knowing they are missing out on a life they should be living at the moment. I think choosing a narrative story-telling approach reaches out to more people than a general documentary. It doesn’t have that Michael Moore stigma which can sometimes turn people away from seeing the movie because they believe it to be too political or completely against their beliefs.

Second, the use of actual footage and documentary shooting style contributed to the belief that this story is real. The intercuts of real politicians, like Donald Rumsfeld, talking about the actual event gave such a wonderful contrast that helped build emotion in the film. He talked about how they have the most dangerous people involved with Al Qaeda detained, when in reality, they have the most innocent people detained. Seeing the set-up of the characters in the beginning before prison really helped to show how ridiculous, wrong and shameful the government actually was. I’m not sure if an audience would be able to feel the same way with just an interview of one of the men stating they were innocent. I really enjoy documentaries because shooting style can be all over the place or totally controlled but both can look so wonderful. So, the handheld, shaky, but well composed shots of the characters moving from one place to another were great. I felt like I was following them closely.

Third, I’m glad real people were used for this narrative. I liked this hybrid better than A Walk with Bashir, because I believed The Road to Guantanamo to be real. For me, animation automatically puts a fence up between me and reality. So, I can’t connect emotionally to the characters unless I am sure it’s a fiction film. A Walk with Bashir just kept me questioning what was true and untrue. But in The Road to Guantanamo I didn’t think of truth as much. Patrick was talking today in class about how if a huge director with a big budget made Bashir it would be a spectacle and wouldn’t have captured the same mood or feeling it presented like it does now. I feel the same for Guantanamo. The fact that it didn’t come off super dramatic or filmed stylistically allowed me to keep my head in the story, to focus on the situation these men faced. The actual events are so traumatic, there doesn’t need to be a crazy camera angle or dramatic acting to accentuate it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this hybrid documentary. And thanks Ellen for showing it, because my closed-minded, linear, traditional style of documentary story-telling made me not think I was going to like it, but it was great!

-Chelsea