narrative cinematography for documentary storytelling

There were good and bad storytellers.

A good one could tell the same story

over and over again, and it would

always be fresh to us, the listeners.

He or she could tell a story told by

someone else and make it more alive

and dramatic.— Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

http://www.ngugiwathiongo.com/

“Documentary is not about form, a set of rules

that are either followed or not, it’s an investigation

into the nature of the real world, into what people

thought and why they thought what they thought.”— Errol Morris

The Thin Blue Line • The Fog of War • Standard Operating Procedure

coverageCORE COMPETENCY FOR NARRATIVE FILMMAKING

the camera in the right placeat the right time

for the right reason

cinematographymotion picture photography

MOTION + WRITING

LIGHT + WRITING

David Mamet wrote:

“Editing is the closest thing to writing.”

Playwright & Screenwriter, theatre & film Director

writing in light and motion,your cinematography is the first draft

of your documentary story

No such thing as “b-roll”

No such thing as a “cutaway”

Agreements:

What we mean when we talk about

“STORY”

Agreements:

What we mean when we talk about

“DOCUMENTARY STORYTELLING”

Agreements:

If this is the beginning of our story, what happens next?

If this is the end of our story, what happened before?

If this is the middle of our story: what happened, what will happen?

pick onebeginning, middle or end

—but must be three shots

Four relentless door-to-door salesmen deal

with constant rejection, homesickness and

inevitable burnout as they go across the country

selling very expensive bibles to low-income

Catholic families.

A STORY

SALESMAN (1968)

Clip | RT 0:08:08| Cinematographer: Albert Maysles • Editors: Charlotte Zwerin & David Maysles

GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (1992)

Clip | RT 0:02:54 | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104348/

Characters are the stuff of good nonfiction

just as much as they are the stuff of fiction.

ASIDE ON CHARACTER 1

“... it's in the nature of our relationship

to central figures in a narrative that we

want to identify with them, even if we

don't much like them.”— David Denby

We, the audience:

Review of “Arbitrage”, New Yorker, 24 Sept 2102

ASIDE ON CHARACTER 2

narrative cinematographyfor

documentary storytelling

narrativea chronology of events with meaning

cinematographymotion picture photography

MOTION + WRITING

LIGHT + WRITING

documentary“...the creative treatment of actuality.”

– John Grierson

ASIDE ON CREATIVITY

“Creativity is merely a plus name for regular

activity. Any activity becomes creative when

the doer cares about doing it right, or better.”— John Updike

story

?

Nope.

STORY isa detailedcharacter-based narrative of

a character's struggles to overcome obstacles

in pursuit of a goal or objectivewhich is meaningful.

OT: OUR TOWN

Trailer | OT: Our Town | RT 0:02:33 | http://youtu.be/wlL2_4IbhIs

STORY — OT: OUR TOWN

Dominguez High, in the infamous Compton, CA,

has not produced a play in over twenty

years. With no money and no stage, two

teachers and twenty-four students

attempt to produce Thornton Wilder's

American Classic OUR TOWN.

STORY isa detailedcharacter-based narrative of

a character's struggles to overcome obstacles

in pursuit of a goal or objectivewhich is meaningful.

ONLY WHEN I DANCE

Trailer | Only When I Dance | RT 0:03:47 | http://youtu.be/wlL2_4IbhIs

STORY — ONLY WHEN I DANCE

Two young kids try to dance their way out of the favelas of Rio.

“Victory, for those born rich, it comes

easy. For the rest of us, we have to fight.”

STORY isa detailedcharacter-based narrative of

a character's struggles to overcome obstacles

in pursuit of a goal or objectivewhich is meaningful.

THE COLOR OF OLIVES

Promo | The Colour of Olives | RT 0:02:11 | http://youtu.be/_dtE_0crg2w

STORY — THE COLOR OF OLIVES

Refusing to leave land that has been in their family for generations, the Amer clan

lives surrounded by the West Bank Wall.

Each day Hani Amer and his children

wait for soldiers to unlock the gate and

allow them to go to work and school. Sometimes they wait a very long time.

STORY isa detailedcharacter-based narrative of

a character's struggles to overcome obstacles

in pursuit of a goal or objectivewhich is meaningful.

BLUEBIRD

2nd Place: "48 HOUR FEATURE" Category | NPPA Awards, 2013 | RT 0:03:22 | https://nppa.org/spotlight/5071

STORY isa detailedcharacter-based narrative of

a character's struggles to overcome obstacles

in pursuit of a goal or objectivewhich is meaningful.

ETHICSdocumentary

“Nothing gets a bigger laugh than when

you refer to things like ethics...”— Ron Silver

Excerpt | Pretty Village Pretty Flame | RT 0:01:58 |http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116860/

STAGING?

Can you walk through the door again — but a little slower this time?

Whenever you ask someone to repeat an action, or attempt to direct someone, you are "staging".

A documentary first principle:

Staging action for the camera is

journalistically unethical.

It's can also be lazy and incompetent —

the opposite of creative.

Three other good reasons to not stage action

in a documentary:

1. You (& your victim) will probably suck at it

2. Your audience isn't stupid

3. … (see next slide)

3. SELF-INTEREST: The closer you stick to this

principle, not just in documentary but in all

your work, whether it's educational or

corporate production, the better the final

outcome will be.

SITUATIONAL ETHICS 101

When is staging not only okay

but appropriate, maybe even

necessary?

coverageevent • beat • shot • scene • sequence

learning from DRAMA

TEMPLE GRANDIN

CLIP | RT 0:01:20 | www.imdb.com/title/tt1278469/

THE BOURNE SUPREMACY

CLIP—DELETED SCENE | RT 0:01:46 | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372183/

THE POSSIBILITIES

CLIP | RT 0:01:45 | John Clement

LIGHT OF DAY

CLIP | RT 0:02:15 | Renée Gilbey & John Clement

coverageevent • beat • shot • scene • sequence

learning from DOCUMENTARY

SALESMAN (1968)

Clip | RT 0:14:14| Cinematographer: Albert Maysles • Editors: Charlotte Zwerin & David Maysles

What drives scene coverage?

1. Given circumstances

2. Objective

3. Conflict

4. Action (strategy/tactics)

5. Moments

FROM INSIDE OUT

21 GRAMS

CLIP | RT 0:01:16 | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315733/

Given CircumstancesWHO, WHAT, WHEN, and WHERE

of the scene

ObjectiveWhat specifically does the character

need, want, desire?

What's at stake?

“Who, what, where, why means nothing

if you don’t know what the point is.”— Nora Ephron

ConflictWhat obstacle(s) —internal or external—

stands in the way of our character getting

what he or she wants?

Action (strategy/tactics)What the character(s) does to achieve his or

her objective and to make thought and

feelings clear.

MomentsSpecific islands of import in the story’s

progression or arc; places in the script where

moments can be made, revealed, and/or

portrayed dramatically. Victories, defeats,

and discoveries are often made there.

1. action

2. reaction

3. interaction

4. line of action (continuity line, axis, 180-degree rule)

5. circle of action (internal and external set-ups )

6. characters in relationship to each other

7. characters in relationship to their environment

8. shot/reverse-shot pairs

9. the "look"

10. entrances/exits

11. insert/detail

12. context/ambience

13. transitions

THIRTEEN

RESPONSIBILITIES

OF COVERAGE

What drives scene coverage?FROM OUTSIDE IN

TEMPLE GRANDIN

CLIP | RT 0:01:20 | www.imdb.com/title/tt1278469/

nine-shot story(scene/sequence)