While reading Michael Moore’s 13 rules for making documentary films I learned a lot.I will use all of this while creating my movie but I want to take this time to share only some. I found the most important one to me was to make it funny. I can relate to this because I know that I personally like my funnier teachers better than serious ones. When they add a joke or a hint of sarcasm here and there I automatically like the class and the teacher better. But it’s important to know what sort of things you can’t make funny. You can’t be talking about rape or murder and make a stupid Jeffrey Dahmer joke, it’s just not right. There are also things you can make funny, like the 2016 presidential race. There’s Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton. What's not funny about that? Another tip I found to be really important is that short is better. People don’t want to be listening/watching something for 8 hours.(unless it’s Star Wars) Try to pack all of your information in a small time slot. You don’t want to bore your audience by having them watch for a long time. You know that saying “short is sweet but long isn't a treat”. Next tip that I found to be important is show why people aren’t talking about the subject. Why it’s not in the media, why it’s not being talked about. I didn’t really think about this tip until I really realized what it was saying. It is basically saying “why are people afraid to bring it up”. And as I get older I start to realize that there is a lot of things out there that people neglect to talk about. They keep it a secret or leave out the details. And your viewers want to know why. In social media all you hear about is celebrities and other public features. No one talks about things that might be important to your audience. It’s like when there’s a car accident the news they don't give every detail. Final tip that I thought was really important was exactly what I have been doing this whole blog post. Make it personal. Don’t make it all about you but tie some stuff back to yourself. This way the audience will try to relate to your topic. The more the audience can relate, the more they understand and enjoy the film. I really enjoyed reading this article. I learned a lot from it.
Moore, Michael. "Michael Moore's 13 Rules for Making Documentary Films." Indiewire. Michael Moore, 10 Sept. 2014. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.
I think that there could be a few different messages for our story but I think that only one really makes sense and stands out. I think that the message/ story of the DCF project would be that it’s an actual problem. And make people aware of these problems within the foster care system. On our last visit Alex brought up a good point while checking out the Vermont DCF website. Alex noticed and brought up that there may be a reason why there was no place to give or get contact information. I found that to be interesting and weird at the same time. We all came to the conclusion of “maybe they don’t want us knowing or contacting them”. And that made me think that maybe they are hiding something. Maybe they aren’t giving us all the details. Another reason why I think we should have our message be that it’s an actual problem is because people don’t talk about it nor know about it. I started to talk to my friends and some high school friends and they had no idea about the DCF system and that there was a problem. Clearly teens and kids don’t even know what DCF is and that there is even a problem. Last reason why I think our message/story should be that it’s an actual problem is because if people don’t know or believe that it’s a problem then there is no way to solve it. You can’t solve something without help. And if people don’t know its a problem then they aren’t going to help. That’s why I think our message/story should be that it is an actual problem.
Lydia,
ReplyDeleteI am very impressed with your analysis of Michael Moore's "13 Rules for Making a Documentary." You really latched onto some exemplary points. For example, you write: 'But it’s important to know what sort of things you can’t make funny. You can’t be talking about rape or murder and make a stupid Jeffrey Dahmer joke, it’s just not right. There are also things you can make funny, like the 2016 presidential race. There’s Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton." In reading this, it became clear to me that you understood Moore's point about humor perfectly. Humor is a great tool when used appropriately, and you highlight here great examples of when humor should and should not be used.
Another excellent point you make is about the length of an effective documentary. It will be the job of you and your group to find just the right footage to tell -- but not over tell -- your story.
And here is my favorite of the things you gleamed from Moore: "Next tip that I found to be important is show why people aren’t talking about the subject. Why it’s not in the media, why it’s not being talked about...And as I get older I start to realize that there is a lot of things out there that people neglect to talk about. They keep it a secret or leave out the details." And Lydia, unraveling these secrets and drawing out the details is the task that you and your group have undertaken. It is not an easy task, especially when you have a topic about which a people are legally or emotionally unable to share objective information.
I do wonder about the direction you see your story taking. You say "it's a problem" numerous times, and yet, I am wondering: WHAT is a problem? Like all institutions, I am sure that DCF encounters and has problems, but this is not new information. I think you should focus on WHAT is the problem? And something very important to remember is that there are multiple sides to every story. A healthy documentary will consider all of these angles, each of which will most likely present different "problems."
Good work and good luck. I see good progress in this blog -- much growth since September.
Courtney
Thank you so much! I really think that a problem is just something that people are either neglecting to solve or is hard to solve so it stays an issue. Sorry it took so long to respond. A lot has been going on and I haven't had a lot of time. But I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read my posts.
DeleteLydia.
ReplyDeleteYou wrung out so much information from Michael Moore. What I most appreciate is how you incorporated "voice" in to this post. You used humor effectively and that is what Moore taught you. For me, as I think about applying this to your DCF work that becomes a bit trickier. How can the group incorporate humor in a documentary about taking care of Vermont's children? As a teacher and a mom, I know I take kids'welfare very seriously. I wonder how you could insert some parts of this upcoming documentary with humor and yet describe the serious issues that your group uncovers. Worth thinking about it and maybe discussion the next time we meet.
I tried not to read Courtney's note to you before I posted but I just did glance at it. I agree with her about discussing those topics we would rather not discuss as a society. I imagine, since I believe that most people are kind, that we would like to believe that our state's children are being well taken care of. It is inconceivable to think that the organization in charge of taking care of our most vulnerable kids may be messing up. That's why people don't want to talk about it, because it destroys our myth that everything is okay. That's why the work in this group matters.
Finally, I think it's interesting you are thinking about making this personal - using Michael Moore's ideas. How can you use the fact that all of your group members are of the age where DCF could step in and take care of you? What perspective does your youth bring to you that could help to tell the story better? This could be really powerful if you can figure out a way to get it into the movie while not getting off topic of covering the DCF angle.
I think your discussion of the story itself that the video will be about gives your group some direction. That fact that people your age don't know about DCF shows that the video needs to do some basic education. You must identify a really important issue and cover that from a variety of angles. The problem you define seems connected to who will be the audience for this video. This is something to decide upon with your group before much more work is done. (Maybe at the January gathering.)
Fine writing and lots of thinking! Talk with you soon.
Laurie
Thank you, I am wondering those same things. And I am going to try to insert these things in our DCF work. Thank you again for taking the time to read my posts! Talk soon!
DeleteHi Lydia,
ReplyDeleteI’m glad that you enjoyed Michael Moore’s 13 Rules. There is some useful information there. You gleaned some important things. Funny can be useful when used appropriately. The key here is when appropriate. It is hard to see you using much humor in your DCF project but a light bit here and there will be a relief from some of the heavier issues.
Short is sweet and long isn’t a treat. Well said. This is, in my opinion, the most difficult part of filmmaking because it forces you to make big decisions about your story. When you conduct an interview you want to get as much from your subject as possible but it can be overwhelming when you look down at your watch and see that you have been talking for nearly 20 minutes and that you will have to edit this 20 minute conversation down to a few minutes. This goes with the territory. It will be a real challenge for you to break down the interviews but it is important that you don’t just take the first 2 minutes or the last 2 minutes or 2 minutes in the middle. You need to preserve the most important things that are said and do your best to weave a narrative using them. For example I recently made a short video about Laurie Hickey (one of your readers, though I’m sure you know) and I interviewed her in front of the camera for about 8-9 minutes. When I was done with editing it was about 3 minutes of talking and each clip was probably 8-10 seconds long. However, most people watching would think that it was three minutes of continuous talking. Have a look.
https://vimeo.com/149016417
I don’t want to overwhelm you with filmmaking tips but I think that it is an area that I can help you with. Laurie and Courtney will steer you in the right direction with regards to what to look into.
Good luck and keep up the hard work!
Sean
Thank you. Yes this might be complicated, because with such a delicate topic, I don't want anyone to be offended. And I think that when you talk about the timing, I think that you are absolutely correct. I think that we will only include what really needs to be talked about and what's really important. In order not to bore people. Thanks again for reading my posts!
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