Going forward with my documentary structure, I have taken videos of the different interviews and tried to edit them together to create a coherent documentary narrative structure. Our brief indicates that the final major project should be within the limits of 1-3 minutes; however, the current edit below runs slightly over that. Baring this in mind, I still feel that the current length allows more space for the interviewees to speak more fully about their experiences and adds further emotional quality and informational aspects to the video that I would not be able to cover with less time. I will create space, however, for easily removable sections for contingency and also in case there is a limit that needs to be adopted later on.
The process of editing these clips has given me introspection into the inherent control and interpretation of documentary, considering the ideals of the film inevitably shaped it “in relation to an imagined eventual audience” (Ellis, 2012, pp.64). The process of cutting these clips together made me consider what I inherently want to convey and what I think the audience will gain from the experience of perceiving it. In part, my primary aim is to reflect on the ‘mundane’ of the lockdown that ensued through the coronavirus pandemic, stressing what an everyday experience could be in the eyes of the people around me. However, my other aims also beg the question of a wider viewpoint, what did the pandemic mean, and is it something we should not just brush aside to move on from but hold onto in a space of self-reflection? I feel it is a time period to be remembered and considered in more than just a widely catastrophic way, but to force viewers to focus on experiences perhaps not too dissimilar from their own. Helping incite a connection with not only the animated agents on the screen but also with themselves and who they have become due to this time.
Looking further into the thematic ideals surrounding the aesthetic for this documentary, I want to play on Grierson’s “creative treatment of actuality” (1933, Pp.8) by utilising the animated form to make a more conceptual and abstract version of the video above. An intriguing aesthetic exploration I have taken particular inspiration from is Max Mörtl’s ‘Island’, which aesthetically encapsulated different characterised and stylised environmental aspects that explore a world or reality that feels both alien and earth-like in the way it interacts and behaves. I also feel the way it uses sound to enhance its charm and performance is something I will consider using within my own film, despite its use of the indexical recorded voice. As stated by Honess Roe, the “non-conventional relationship between image and reality in the animated documentary also places greater emphasis on the soundtrack” (2013, pp.2). This heightens my exploration and intrigue into the use of the voice and how I intend to portray it.
Going forward into next week, my aims are to begin character design and development as well as produce more solidified artistic concepts.
References
Grierson, J. (1933) ‘The Documentary Producer,’ Cinema Quarterly, Vol 2. No. 1, Pp. 7–9.
Honess Roe, A. (2013). Animated Documentary. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ellis, J. (2012) Documentary Witness and Self-revelation. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.