Producing with Passion. Dorothy Fadiman

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      CHAPTER 5

      PLANNING AN UNSCRIPTED

       DOCUMENTARY

       1. Many documentaries are unscripted.

       2. An unscripted documentary will develop as you work.

      3. There are various distinct “styles” of documentary. You can choose one of these styles, or combine them.

      4. A straightforward way to get started on a film: Clarify what you want your film to be about, write a brief overview, decide what you want to shoot, and begin shooting.

       5. Shooting without a script does not mean grabbing the camera and running out to shoot whatever you see. It means planning thoughtfully and being open to the story that emerges from the material.

      Some filmmakers prepare a script, treatment, and proposal before beginning to shoot. My approach is different. I usually do some background research, make contacts with crew and interviewees, start filming, and then allow the story to emerge from the footage. I gather material and raise money as I go.

      This chapter suggests ways to start your film before you know exactly where you will end up, and encourages you not to worry about how you are going to get there.

DO YOU NEED A SCRIPT?

      One of the first decisions you will make is whether or not you will write a script. Many modern documentaries are made without scripts. Scripted documentaries, however, have a long and prestigious history.

       Scripted Documentaries

      Some documentaries — such as most educational and industrial films — call for a clear structure and a script.

      One of the best examples of a scripted documentary is Night Mail, a film made in 1936 by Harry Watt and Basil Wright.

      Night Mail shows the nightly mail trains between England and Scotland. A voice-over narration, written by W. H. Auden, tells how the mail service delivers mail each night to towns and villages.

      A combination of great camera work, strong images, poetic narration, and compelling music made the film an instant success.

      Night Mail (1936), Harry Watt and Basil Wright.

      There are many good books that address scripted documentaries, and one of the best is Directing the Documentary by Michael Rabiger.

      But — for the kind of documentary that this book invites you to dare to make — what you need more than a script is a sense of adventure.

       The Power of Unscripted Moments

      The key to success when working without a script is to be ready for moments that become the heart of the story. After deciding to make a film about an innovative school, my videographer, Peter, and I chose to spend the first day in the schoolyard, ready to record whatever happened.

      The first day of filming, Peter waded into a group of twenty nursery school students. Soon the children forgot about the camera. He filmed as they screamed with excitement, dunking fat brushes into cans of paint, bristles dripping with thick wet color as they painted their climbing equipment, and sometimes each other.

      I didn’t need to tell Peter what to shoot. He knew, intuitively, how to spot “the action.” I watched as he followed a little boy with golden curls who was starting to cry. The child ran over to his teacher to tell her he was sad. She leaned toward him to listen.

      As Peter came closer, the camera microphone picked up the little boy’s words, “John splashed paint in my ear.”

      The teacher asked, “Did you tell him you didn’t like it?” The boy shook his head “No,” then turned toward the other little boy, who was now far across the schoolyard. Peter followed as the boy toddled over to the other child.

      We picked up his voice as he announced, with determination, “John! Don’t splash paint in my ear!” There is no way we could have scripted that moment. Did we have great sound? No. Was it good enough to capture a great moment? Yes.

      Later, during an interview with the director of the school, she said, “We don’t label children’s behavior as good or bad, we look at what’s working and what isn’t working, and that makes sense to kids.” Her statement explains why no one was reprimanded in the paint-splashing episode.

      To film an unscripted documentary, you decide generally what to film — the time of day, the location, who to interview — and prepare to shoot that material. Then you let the story unfold. In this case a scene was built around one unplanned exchange that tells a story about this alternative approach to education. Ideally, the footage and the emerging story “click.” (See Chapter 15 for a description of editing.)

      Be alert for opportunities СКАЧАТЬ