Angeline's Paradisiaque Palaise

Posts Tagged ‘documentary’

sound in docu

I found sound recording is very important for documentary making actually,

During our shooting on Corey’s interview, the sound is really low-quality. Actually I really like Core’s interview, he was passionate and he is good at explaining the idea about holly spirit and speaking in tongue.  My group members and me are all feeling sorry for this problem.

But we did not give up. And we will film Jame’s interview soon.  Hope everything goes all right.

• Documentary sound tracks may include voice-over, dialogue, music and effects

• Noel Carroll argued that the hallmark f Hollywood movie narration is clarity and comprehensibility.

• While documentary films often use narrative forms , they rarely demonstrate the degree of clarity

• Problems” Rarely approaches that of popular movies; characters lack clear motivations, speech may be inaudible in parts , lighting haphazard and variable, camera movements , follow actions with difficulty , sound spaces, differ radically between scenes, microphones, accidentally appear in the image, jump cuts disrupt continuity and questions remain answered

• Observational filmmakers were not to intrude on the lives f their subjects, not to ask questions, conduct interviews , or otherwise direct, stage or influence the events for the camera ; they were to be as flies on the wall.

• Wanted to eliminate overt narration devices like voice0over in favor of stories that begin the medias res and unfold seemingly without a narrator .

• An American Family remains the most widely seen and debated example of observational documentary in the USA.

• One of the major stylistic characteristics of documentaries that use sounds recorded on location is the lack of clarity of the sound track

• Ambient sounds compete with dialogue in ways commonly deemed unacceptable in conventional Hollywood practice

• A low signal -to -noise ratio demands greater attention from the viewer to decipher spoken words

• Slight differences in room tone between shots make smooth sound transitions difficult

• without recognizable sources in the image to anchor the sounds , we hear a virtual cacophony of clanging  snippets of dialogue and music and various unidentifiable sounds, almost an experiment in concrete music , and various unidentifiable sounds, almost an experiment in concrete music

• location sound recording in observational documentaries does not clearly differentiate foreground and background spaces, rather , all sounds compete together in the middle ground

• the lack of clarity of the sound undermines the communicative intent

• Observational shooting and editing techniques conform to continuity conventions established in the film industry during the silent era

• Hollywood: repeated takes are done until   satisfactory sound has been recorded; if necessary, dialogue will be postproduced through dubbing techniques to ensure clarity

• Characters n documentary films typically demonstrate a wider variety of accents, dialects and speech patterns than those found in fiction films

• the absence   of visual cues necessitates a constant use of verbal signals to indicate that the listener is in fact awake and listening

• during the interview, you should maintain eye contact with your subject and give visual feedback while the interview goes on. Nodding , smiling , looking puzzled, signifying agreement or doubt are all forms of feedback that can be relayed through your expression  .

• music plays an important part in the soundscape    of documentary films.

• While the conventions of observational film require that music be recorded on location, the function if music in the narrative structure of these films appears quite similar to that of music in classical Hollywood cinema.

• Music provides continuity, covers up edits, facilitates changes of scenes, provides mood offers entertaining spectacle, allows for narrative interludes and montage sequences and comments on the action

Week 7

The article” Searching the Frame, Exposing a Vision” gives us some knowledge and tips based on the analysis of the French director Kristen Johnson’s experience.

• Previous experience on the studying of fine arts brings her an instinctive obsession for quality lighting and framing

• She combines an artistic sensibility with an innate passion for the story and a deep commitment to creating images that fully communicate themes and substance

-à I think that is very important for us to create the sense of passion in our documentary

• Her humanity, focus, generosity and c careful consideration of the subject bring her collaborative style –its her own vision.

• And she likes exploring things during her travelling, so it adds the visual freshness to her cinematography and subject matters.

• She pays attention to her subjects, she develops a personal connection and human attention, and those are based on her understanding of the ephemeral nature of real-life stories.

What I got from the reading :

• Keep your attention and interests

Like Kristen Johnson, she developed her interests in politics and filmmaking during the period in college.

• Keep learning

If you have some experience on cinematography , visual arts , music or sound design, keep learning on it. Because it helps you to develop you own style on your works.

• Be curious

It helps you to find your subject quickly and find the useful information  for you to create content and the depth on the understanding on the subject.

How to shoot interviews

Interviews are sometimes sensitive or with a kind of distance. Interviewing people is an access to get into another person’s life and thoughts.
So there are some points of interviewing people that we need to consider before we actual shooting:

• Who interviews: makes subjects can act /talk naturally

• Setting: lower barriers , surroundings, with significance

• Pay attention to the presence of others off the camera

• Vox pops

• Camera placement: interviewers face to audience or to someone off-screen

• Considering cut point

• Shot size and cut aways can evoke time, mood and affects

• Editing ( cutting): similar physical attitude, speech / sound flows, action flows between two shots. (match cut/jump cut)

• Wide shot : cover each questions

• Medium shot: after the answer has gotten under way

• Close shot: something particularly intense or revealing

• Settle people and yourself at ease

• Questions: interesting, rehearse. Focus, eye contact, cross boundaries, elicit feelings, in depth, with orders

• Privileged moments

• Believe in your authority

• Clarifications , examples

• Check back or offer opportunities if need to add more

Research 1–Speaking in tongue

Here are some videos I found on the Internet . To be honest,”Speaking in tongue” is a new word to me. I have not heard about it. But after done the research on it, I became to remember that actually i had heard of that  from one of my friend, she told me that she can speak another language which she has no idea what she is speaking. When she is praying , she thought those words in Chinese in her mind. But when she realized she was speaking another language , she recognized that is a special way between the god and herself, so that devils nearby cannot understand and hear the conversation. That was the long ago , i heard of it. Now my friend is in New Zealand, and she was a good friend of my friend, we did not talk much before. So I think it is a big shame that she in not in Melbourne.

this is my favourite one, i like the way of the editing , what s more , it teaches me to understand more about “Speaking in tongue”  , but i think our group work will be much different from this one, at least a kind of different style.

Speaking in Tongues

this one is a little bit scary , but it leaves a deep impression. ( hard to watch it by myself  at night though)

the quality of this video is quite poor , but what she told us is quite useful. it is the basic understanding of “speaking in tongue”.

Review the Nicolas documentary theory:

Modes +   Description

• Expository         “Voice of God” commentary, didactic ,directly addresses historical issues

• Observational        No commentary or re-enactment, but lack of context and background

• Reflexive      Purview, abstract , questions, conventions, subjective

• Participatory    Interviews or interacts, or archival film

• Poetic      Abstract, like poems

• Performative      Concrete, embodied, but over reliance on style and subjectivity

What is documentary

What is documentary

1.Directing documentary contains a modicum of power and this brings ethical issues and moral responsibilities

2.Documentaries explore the mysteries of actual people in actual situations.

3.’ creative treatment of actuality”

4.time: present and past

5.documentary is critical: uncovering further dimensions to actuality and implying social criticism

5.concern for the quality and justice of human life lifts the documentary out of the purely factual realm and propels it into moral and ethical dimensions.

6.Scrutinize the organization of human life and attempts to develop a humane consciousness in its audience.

7. organized story:  successful good story , engaging characters, narrative tension , intergraded point of view

Myths, legend, sagas and folk tales

8.forms:

can be unpredictable, lyrical and impressionistic, starkly observational

9.No limits to the documentary’s possibilities, but it reflects a profound fascination with and respect for actuality

10. documentary can be an unfolding evidence by exposing us to evidence that is contradictory and provocative it jolts us into realization and inner debate

11. Documentary is a social art: authorial attitude and mediated by the individuals