I have heard plenty of times that scripting a documentary film is one of the best things you can do if you want to produce a good story. With this project however, I kept putting it off, saying that I didn’t know enough about my characters or my subject to write out a whole script. So instead I settled for brief, basic outlines for the film. These outlines however did not seem to be getting me very far or giving me much direction with the film.
So this week I finally sat down and scripted out the film in as much detail as I could. There are still a few parts left fairly open, and I am also open to any unforeseen events that may arise, but I now have something concrete, a direction I can follow that is reasonable and accomplishable in the following month that I will be here. I no longer feel like I am wondering about, hoping for a story to happen. I have my story, and now all I have to do is collect the different parts and then put them all together.
I am the kind of person who works much better if I have a checklist; something that shows me everything I need to do, and then I can systematically go through, do each item and check it off. That’s exactly what this script is for me: a big checklist. Now all I have to do is follow it, get each of the scenes, and then put it together. And if, along the way, anything else interesting pops up, I am more than willing to be flexible with the script.
I am also very lucky to have a wife, a field study coordinator, and two film professors who are able to read the script and give me feedback on it. With their help the film will be much better than I could have ever hoped to make it on my own.
The whole idea of scripting a film like this fascinates me. In the travel writing class I did in the field I was so nervous about imposing my version of reality on the events and places and people I was describing. I think I would have an ethical meltdown if rather than simply writing about what happened I was writing what I wanted or expected to happen.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm too sensitive on this, but are these concerns that film makers consider at any point? Is it something they worry about?
Jay,
ReplyDeleteI know we've talked about this before, and I had a lot of the same worries. However, I've found that in writing my script I'm not controlling the people or the events so much as I'm just making sure that I will get my project done and that it will have some unity or story too it.
My script helps me to direct myself mostly, saying, "Ok, I need to go to these places, talk to these people, observe these interactions, and ask these questions." In the end, the events and answers I get are often different than I originally expected them to be. So then after each thing I've shot I get to go back and do some re-writing to fit what actually happened into the script.
It helps that I've been here for a while and gotten to know these people so I can make some guesses as to what people will say or do, but in the end I feel like I am still allowing them to basically do or say what they want.
I actually feel like more ethical concern will come into play when I'm editing and have to decide how to show everything I've captured.
It is hard making a documentary film that's completely and ethically appropriate, and I suppose it's not just hard but impossible. The only hope is that the message of the film will justify any ethical mistakes. And that's what I'm trying to do. So as of right now, and how much the script has helped me already, I think it is a plus because of how much it is helping me to focus on that message or theme I am trying to represent.