Working on a Documentary. Part 2.
As I said in my previous post, this is a continuation of my documentary story about one of the coolest people that I have ever met, Jason Barnes, the drummer from Atlanta, Georgia.
I’ve never done anything like that before. I worked as a videographer and editor but never had my own projects to do deal with. I tried to use the tips for the interview that I posted before, but it didn’t really work that way. With this sort of interview you just go with the flow. Of course, you have to have a set of basic questions, but you don’t necessarily have to follow them. Because the interviewee can tell you something interesting that you would want to develop with an improvised question, not jumping from one question to another without listening to your interviewee.
Jason was very friendly and was able to speak openly about what happened. When he told his story, I was holding my tears. It is a heartbreaking story that I would want to share with others.
Later on I’ve got the footage of him playing the drums. It wasn’t easy to record because his rehearsal room was pretty small and we had to move the drums so I would get the best angle and the best lighting. You always have to keep in mind the lighting. If it’s way too dark, you have to be ready to set up the light kit and remember about the lighting techniques.
Luckily it was still sunny so we didn’t have to use the light kit.
The next day I got the footage of his everyday life, how he does his routine with prosthetic arm. I hate to say this, but it really looks so natural when he does things with it.
We went to shoot the guns and in order to get the best shots I had to stay so close to him that the shells almost hit me. That stuff was scary, but that’s what you have to do in order to get the best quality footage.
That weekend taught me a lot of different things. First off, not everything always goes the way you planned. You might have a great plan and vision of all the set ups, but you have to realize that you the actual shooting scene might differ from what you have imagined. And then you have to adjust and work with what you have and try to make the best shots.
Also the interview process is always a hard process, especially when you met the person for the first time. You can’t just jump straight into personal questions. The most important thing that I’ve learned is that you have to make your interviewee comfortable around you. Start off with some really simple questions and then dig deeper.
One more thing. In order to get the best routine shots you have to become invsisible. You have to rememeber that a lot of people are camera shy and be careful around them. Make sure that you do not bother them first, before shooting. And when you shoot you have to remain silent or your sudden remarks like “ah” or “yeah” will ruin the mateial and you will have an extra work, editing the sound later on.
Overall, I think that this project gave me a lot of useful experience. I’ve learned a lot of new things about my future profession, I’ve got to know one of the coolest people I’ve ever met and also I’ve got tons of inspiration and motivation.
I hope that it will be a great work of mine when I finish my film.
And here is a little video of Jason chilling at the river.
