Documentary evaluation

Evaluation
Learning about documentaries has been insightful yet challenging at times. Personally, I have found studying the idea of ethics in documentaries intriguing. There are many views /  stories explaining the lengths filmmakers can morally go to before it bothers and becomes an issue for the subject, this being a person or topic, some in which  I have found shocking, such as the documentation photographer Kevin Carter and the story ' The vulture and the little girl. ' The photographer captured an image of a struggling, hungered girl in South Africa with a vulture behind her. Instead of scaring or helping the girl, he captured an image and won a Pulitzer Prize award for feature photography - a journalism photography award. Months later, had committed suicide due to the guilt of not scaring the vulture or helping the girl. Ethically, I think there were issues when the photographer captured the photo and the balance between work and being emotional / human was challenged. This striked questions, such as "What is the ethically appropriate response of a documentarian faced with human misery?, What is the documenterians commitment to the truth of a situation?" all according to filmmaker professor, Linda Williams. Examples of other / further opinions include filmmaker Steve James' view, said in an interview with Filmbase - "I think you have to be willing to not film things that you really desperately want, if it helps build a connection and trust, just like you have to be willing to take things out of your movie sometimes if you feel the subjects want it out. In the best films you want to get to a place where you’re not making a documentary about your subjects but you’re making it with them."
Researching ethical issues has provided me with many filmmaker views and has provoked the thoughts and interests I hold in photography documentation. The knowledge provided has allowed me to realise ethical issues in documentation can be controversial, along with challenging the question as to what documentary truth is, and the difference between whats caught on camera and reality. 

Expository documentary
Personally, one of the most challenging topics has been expository. I have understood the concept of trying to tell a story to an audience, however I feel as though I need to practise filming myself to fully understand the style.
Our practical expository documentary is based around women's basketball and how it has changed over time, with similar themes to Ward Sirrills ' The heart of the game.'
Within the practical, there were many advantages and disadvantages. The advantages included successfully including an interview with a participant from the college in the women's basketball team along with a student in the team. The framing of the shots was successful, as the use of rule of thirds made the final footage cinematic and professional. The message itself within our theme about women's basketball changing over time was executed well through the use of voiced-over facts, along with the historical footage added in the edit. This developed and supported the story line, and is parallel to the voice over. For example, when the voice over states facts about Nancy Lieberman, a professional player, the footage is of her shooting in games, etc, adding overall clarity to the story.
However, aspects that could be improved include the sound at times. As the music in the background may be distracting at times for audiences, mostly in the main interview at the end of the documentary, where sound levels for the participant speaking could be heightened. I have
learnt, for future projects, to be sure to film in a location where not much background noise is evident / if outside, film at a particular time where students have a lesson and there are not many people surrounding in cars, etc. Other aspects such as adding another participant or footage of modern professional basketball players could be added at the end of the doc instead of the whole interview, to keep the audience interested more throughout the crucial answers of the participant.
Whilst filming, our group faced some organisational issues. This included scheduling to be able to film when the basketball court was free whilst getting our participant, the captain of the team, to also be free from her timetable. To overcome this, we decided to film the cinematic dribbling shots of the student in the team in the morning, when the court was quiet, then, film the other participant shots at lunch when they had no lessons. As this had background sound issues, I have learnt for future projects in these situations to have other locations if the desired location has a problem, or is unavailable. As we filmed in the morning, we had thoughts that the lighting would be an issue in pre - production, however during filming it proved to make the shot more visually pleasing and was not a major concern. However, if the lighting was an issue for future filming projects depending on the availability on time of day, we could fix the issue by colour correcting in post production or changing the location to a room (for example) that has windows with an outdoor view. This would therefore overall give our desired end product, by making the shots look as polished as possible.
Our documentary did not have major ethical issues, there were no shots reenacted, etc however there may have been sensitive subjects in the footage of the captain of the team being filmed. where there were people in the background of the shot playing football. Our team did not warn them about being in shot, which may have bothered them if they knew. For my final documentary, I would overall attempt to have minor ethical issues with surrounding people, along with being careful on the recording and use of sound. From this style, aspects I would use in my final documentary include a factual voice over.

Participatory documentary
The participatory documentary was an interesting learning experience through filming and editing independently. The theme of the documentary was art, and my message-  how art tells stories and creates meaning in the world, is one aspect in which I felt went well.
As the style of documentary was an interview, permission for the participant had been asked beforehand along with the only people within then documentary being me and the interviewee, meaning no unauthorised filming of anyone else. However, when filming the answers to my questions there were a few retakes to allow the participant to search up a fact about an artist. In the interview, this is perceived as the fact being from previous memory, therefore making that section of asking the question problematic. To resolve this issue for any future filming processes, I could style or change the question so it's purely based on the participants previous knowledge and nothing affecting that once hearing the question.
What went well cinematically was the location, which was in the TV studio of the college. I had placed the props so that there were a few colours evident in the background, from a green and white curtain, pink sofa and black wall. Cons in the documentary including the framing, which is a mistake I had realised when editing. I had attempted to use the rule of thirds however placed the subject too far out of the grid, which also proved to be an issue when scaling and positioning in Premiere Pro. I have learnt, for future projects, to consider the rule more and be sure that the subject has some space on both the left and right side of them, to edit and make the footage as professional as possible.
Independent editing  however allowed me to experiment and apply knowledge I had learnt outside the course, through a masterclass with a professional Ben, teaching BFI academy students on the 3rd of November, 2018. For example, being able to cut quickly between videos due to shortcuts learnt such as  'Q' to cut the start of a video along with deleting the gap, & 'W' for the end of videos and a sequence.
The video itself is clear and has issues which have been resolved in editing for example using the flip effect in Premiere Pro. I had also learnt this in the academy, with a professional editor, named Kate. This has helped me develop my knowledge within the software and has resolved issues with continuity. However, though the continuity issue with the footage of myself was resolved, there were issues on trying to cut when I am looking at the participant answering her questions, as I spoke too soon before and after each question. From this, I have learnt to always give two to three seconds between speech to allow time for cutting. I also learnt this when helping other groups film, along with filming outside the course - giving a few seconds for each action and cut to help in the edit. Also, in editing, to trim on action and cut from the director when possible / if appropriate. ( not appropropriate in times where the cut must start mid way during a characters action, etc)
I will take forward all skills learnt in the editing for my final documentary along with using cinematic rules like the thirds if an interview is included within my final footage. Other factors I may experiment with and consider in an interview situation is to allow the participant to answer freely without being concluded by another question, and allowing the idea of this to flow in the edit. To prepare for this, I could make the participant start the beginning of their sentences with a response to the question, so that the audience have clarity on what the person is answering without the actual question, for example, " who is your favourite artist " cut out to the answer" my favourite artist is..." I had also learnt this skill when helping a filmmaker ask teachers within the college various questions.
Other issues I faced in pre production of the participatory documentary included organisational, scheduling issues. The initial locations to film were the photography studio with a student studying photography, with the questions based around creative subjects sometimes being not as supported as core subjects would be, whether the participant agreed with the idea of that or not, etc. However, due to scheduling issues the participant was not free to film at times I was, along with the availability of the studio. This therefore meant I had to ask another student, however the delay meant I had less time for editing. From my last reflection about time management and backups, I had a few students in backup for unreliability. My questions and theme therefore changed to art, also because I wanted to stay in the same path as creative subjects and platforms, and concluding a message from within an art form.

Observational documentary-
I found this style of documentary most appealing to experiment with & found the concept of attempting to show a message or story interestingly challenging when the filmmaker traditionally has no input. Our example was based around a member from our class and their photography process - behind the scenes of the photos, etc. What went well was the cinematography for some shots, ranging from using shallow depth of field, close ups & hand held shots, following the photographer from a lesson to their habitat of the photography studio. The idea of having aesthetic shots and practising some of this within our documentary is a skill I would like to continue for my final documentary and in future projects. A cinematographer who I have therefore researched and aspire to follow in the industry is Darius Khondji, with examples of stunning shots in 'The beach,' directed by Danny Boyle. Viewing more of his work in the lead up to our final documentaries will give me insight / inspiration on viewing a location through the lens for final cinematic footage. Unlike the filming schedule for the other two styles of documentary, our crew finished and edited the final footage in time, though the process was elongated by some shots and attitudes.
There were also issues that were evident in editing where footage that made the observant not seem as professional or serious had been added in, along with an ethical issue of footage that the group did not know was being recorded, added into the final cut of the video. One of the filmmakers, the editor of the group, therefore did not consider a subjects desires by asking permission. To avoid this in future situations, we must make sure the whole group is certain on a final edit &  has viewed all footage and the subjected person is exceptional on what is being shown before it's finally exported. 
Issues I may face when filming an observational documentary may include what happened within our group where there may be filming when the subject is unaware. As my views on ethical issues agree with statements such as " You owe your audience to tell the truth, to get to the bottom of the story, to be accurate in what you’re presenting.” said by Gordon Quinn, a documentary director. I would be considerate as to what the subject would like to be finally shown. If the observant theme requires the subject to not know they are being filmed, I may, instead of releasing footage that they are unaware of, plan the scenes to portray the same messages without the subject being hurt in the end. Although, some may disagree with the concept of this as the question of documentation being real is raised as stated earlier from Linda Williams. Overall learning about observational documentaries has intrigued me and I have set goals to challenge myself if I chose this style of documentary finally. 

Conclusion - 
Learning about all 3 documentary styles has proven to be challenging, but also insightful as I have learnt much more about this side of filmmaking and aspects behind it. Researching into ethical issues has provided me with knowledge that I will consider in all future projects, along with now being more skillful at things such as editing in Premiere Pro by having the opportunity to develop and express what i've learnt. In my final documentary, I would definitely attempt to film in a way that allows a message and story to come across for the audience.

Bibliography -
Ethical research: 
https://cricketnthebrain.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/the-ethics-of-documentary-intervention-dennis-orourkes-the-good-woman-of-bangkok-linda-williams-documentary-ethics-lecture/
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/the-wolfpack-and-the-ethics-of-documentary-filmmaking
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/film/gaines/documentary_tradition/Williams_EthicsofIntervention.pdf
http://filmbase.ie/an-interview-with-documentary-filmmaker-steve-james/#.XBkv0mj7RPY
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2014/20-directors-who-are-good-at-making-visually-stunning-films/


Expository documentary:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2024238/

Observational documentary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_Khondji
https://www.indiewire.com/2014/10/the-ethics-of-documentary-filmmaking-69007/