Steven's Short Story 'Nonfiction'

I never gave much thought into what it takes to shoot, direct, edit, and complete a motion picture. Sure, it may sound fun, but after this assignment, it felt like a lot of work. There are quite a few specialized groups that put together the films that we enjoy in our movie theatres. No wonder why it takes months and even years to edit a film, these folks are making sure things are done and synced correctly! The following essay will identify information pertaining to film and importance for their audience so the person or persons watching can have an understanding of what it is they are viewing. A story that has no meaning or becomes very confusing in the details that are presented does not make a good film.

As if the grammatically incorrect title were not enough to thwart you from this book-made-movie already, the opening scene both antagonizes you and pushes you away with its blatant warning of the events yet to unfold. However, something unexplainable about Greg Gaines’s unprecedented view of the world keeps you eager for more. Suddenly the pause button becomes nonexistent. You have to keep watching. Beginning with a stock quote, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” and then stating that the story he is about to tell involves a film that quite literally killed someone, we immediately become mesmerized by the enigma that encompasses Greg Gaines, the socially awkward, aspiring film maker who cannot come to grips with the world

Condit plays into the MTV-esque “shot fragment editing,” to create a densely collaged narrative through frames that “fly by the audience at a break neck pace.” Through this “assaultive” editing style, Condit “constructs collages of processed video, Super-8 film, found footage, original music and sung dialogue” and combines these materials with repetition to further progress the narrative throughout Possibly in Michigan. For example, the recurring 8mm footage of a woman running away through the snow as the two women discuss “mother’s crazy sister Kate.” Kerrie Welsh elaborates on this scene in her article “Lost in the Badlands: Cecelia Condit’s Ephemeral collection,” speaking on how the meaning of this footage changes throughout the

Documentarians often want to get as close to their subject matter as possible. Some documentarians have an insider perspective which ignites a spark to create a piece that illuminates a specific topic or area of study. There are also documentarians that have no affiliation with said subject matter, but want to explore the topic in question. Finally, there are documentarians that have a foot in both worlds. Insider/outsider is a theory in which a documentarian can be close to a subject, but also possess characteristics or traits that make them distant from the topic in question (Coles, 1998). Such is the case with the directors of both Stranger with a Camera and The House I Live In. Due to their own location, both Eugene Jarecki and Elizabeth Barret exhibit characteristics that make them fall into the insider/outsider roles as directors. Robert Coles defines location by stating, “We notice what we notice because of who we are” (Coles, 1998, p. 7). Included in this is, a person’s education, race, class, and gender. Both directors realize they are outsiders and utilize a lens into a world in which they are not otherwise a part of. Jarecki’s lens comes in the form of Nanny Jeter, his family’s nanny from when he was a child. Barret’s lens for her documentary is the community that she shared with Ison. The two directors enter into a world that they are not a part of because of their location, but forge a connection to the subject matter through means of a lens.

This summer, I had the joy of discovering the work of several independent filmmakers who are genuinely making a difference in this sect of the world of film. One of those immensely gifted ladies just happens to be Mel Mack, director and writer of the indie short film Touching Mary. She eagerly agreed to chat with me about her experience in the industry, the making of this singularly thought-provoking short film, and a little about what she sees in her future.

Documentaries serve as an insight for the lives of individuals striving to change the way societies think. These individuals bring to light issues that lack coverage and rarely cross the minds of the populous. Many documentaries illustrate their story-telling in ways that differentiate themselves from other types of cinematography. Documentaries utilize master and close up shots to create a close connection between the subject of the documentary and its viewers. In Herzog’s Grizzly Man, Herzog pieces together the unorganized footage left by Timothy Treadwell a grizzly bear conservationist, into a well-composed narrative that illuminates the dedication of Treadwell to the conservation and protection of grizzly bears in the Alaskan wilderness.

A series of visual shots tell the story of The Place Beyond the Pines with little dialogue from each character. Even though little narration is given, I watch each character struggle internally while they struggle with external problems through the

the first of its kind to be made with a small budget, unknown cast, and limited resources. This proves that this film is unique by showing how differently the director and actors

Because I follow the life and career of Tammy Gillis so closely, I was well aware of her current film, Menorca. Being the indie film champion that I am, I did my homework and discovered who the writer and director was--John Barnard. Recently, I had the opportunity to ask him a few questions about how he got started in the business, his notable works, and even a hint at his upcoming works.

The characters in Robert Altman's film adaptation of the Raymond Carver anthology Short Cuts think they're islands entire of themselves. They suspect their lives and their worlds of isolation, alienation, separation, in multiple senses of the words. They fail to see, or perhaps purposely ignore, connections between themselves and those around them, between their actions and the ramifications of those actions. And while a typical director of a slice-of-life work might be content to show all these people in their ignorance of connections, what makes Altman's final product so marvelous is the way he toys with them, and the comments he makes about them.

Cinematography plays a huge part in portraying McCandless’s journey. In the film, a variety of camera shots are used to describe the setting and emotions of scenes. Before exploring cinematography and

Once, there was a masterpiece called “My Dinner with Andre” that consisted in two men engaged in conversation about their lives while seated at a restaurant table. Well, that movie, directed by Louis Malle and written/acted by Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn, somehow came to my head while watching “The End of the Tour”, which doesn’t take place in the same spot and doesn’t match the brilliance of the cited either, but is assuredly a great film. The reason for this, is that this compelling drama about the real short-term relationship between two novelists, David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel), who enjoys an incredible peak of fame after the launch of his acclaimed novel ‘Infinite Jest’, and his fellow interviewer and Rolling Stone reporter, David

In this essay, I will explain why a documentary is always more realistic than a fiction film. I will show my thesis by exploring elements that influence how realistic a film is: film editing and format, genre, and transparency. I will use the documentary of Armadillo (2010), by Janus Pedersen, and the fiction film of The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968), by Danièle Huille as examples.

This real based true story film revives in our character some traits that we are sadly unable to explore with our current social environment. It is an environment where we lack honesty, braveness and decisiveness.

In a light of growing appetite for entertainment, filmmakers face uneasy decisions. Decisions that challenge their ethical obligations to make professional documentaries for the social good, not for commercial/financial gain. The tendency to produce cheap and fast films makes it difficult to maintain the scope of professionalism. The title of “documentaries” obligated to be based on real subjects, themes, words, sounds, and images. The scenes cannot be staged, or cut out.