Talk to Me

British documentary ‘Talk to Me’ by Mark Craig was released in 2006. Mark Craig was reasonable for the majority of the production. The film follows twenty years of Craig’s life though answer machine recordings and still images. In 2007, the film screened at the Ashland Independent Film Festival and the National Media Museum. The film won various awards including, Best Short Documentary in the same year of its release at the Boulder International Film Festival.

Britain’s main rostrum camera operator, Ken Morse, was responsible for the cinematography in this production. The camera work really was amazing, the way it slowly took the viewer through each photograph of the person leaving the message. It gave the feeling of having a talking diary of sorts, it was really wonderful to watch. The soundtrack was really effective, it would change to fit the occasion whether it be birthdays, Christmas or the passing of a relative. At certain points you could hardly notice the music because it was so well suited.

It took me a while to tune in with this documentary, I think it has to be the craziest thing I’ve seen in years. I thought at some parts it became a little depressing but then it all pulled back but it was still rather deep. I think that anyone who keeps twenty years worth of answer machine recordings is suffering from Norman Bates syndrome.

Blackfish Trailer

Blackfish

Blackfish is a documentary by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and was released in 2013. The film follows the story of Tilikum, a bull orca, who was captured off the coast of Iceland and put into captivity in 1983 when he was only two years old. The documentary looks at how Tilikum was responsible for three deaths while in captivity and how the truth of the deaths and life of the orcas were twisted by SeaWorld. The film was nominated and won various awards including ‘Best Documentary’ and ‘Documentary of the Year’. The film had premiered during the Sundance Film Festival in 2013 and was picked up by CNN Films and Magnolia Pictures.

The film opens with the 911 call which stated that trainer, Dawn Brancheau had been killed by one of the orcas at the theme park. This theme of archive footage was continued throughout the film. Because the deaths and other killer whale attacks were during shows at the theme park they had been recorded by visitors of the park. These were used to show the dramatic power of the whales. Some of the first shots were a quick montage of people who all stated the same words, “I was a trainer at SeaWorld”. These former trainers would tell the story of Tilikum, the largest orca in captivity, and his former trainer Dawn Brancheau. Another montage that was used during the film was at the beginning, where you see news clips from America and around the world delivering the story of the most recent death at Orlando, Florida. The soundtrack of the film was comprised by American composer, Jeff Beal. The Jazz musician has composed for television series such as Rome, Ugly Betty and House of Cards. He has been nominated and won many awards including ‘Outstanding Main Title Theme Music’ and ‘Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or Special.

I found this documentary extremely emotional, especially the archive footage of the capture of Tilikum. I visited SeaWorld when I was younger and being so young I was blown away by the beauty of these animals and didn’t really think about how they are tortured and distressed. I think this is an amazing documentary and everyone should watch it, it really is one you could watch over and over again.

Ways of Seeing

John Berger is an English artist and art critic, he has won various awards including The Booker Prize. His 1972 four-part television series, ‘Ways of Seeing’, on the BBC made him a household name. Each episode would look at and discuss issues and hidden meanings in images from western culture.
The scripts from each of the 30-minute documentaries were revised to create the book of the same name.

The pace of the show was rather slow and mundane but it was the seventies and with the choice of only three television channels I assume people must have thought that Ways of Seeing was the best thing since sliced bread. Throughout the show John Berger would reappear in front of his beloved blue background being forever a dedicated follower of fashion. The soundtrack was extremely faint and sometimes worked so well with the footage you didn’t seem to notice it. This worked rather well as you’re not distracted from the message Berger is trying to convey.

I’m not too sure how I feeling about this documentary, I enjoyed the fact it is very of its time and I can imagine that it was extremely cutting edge in its day. With a mixture of the slow pace and John Berger’s voice I felt myself slipping into a siesta. Berger should definitely think about having a career in recording audio books.

Don’t Look Back

Robert Zimmerman also known as Bob Dylan is an American musician and artist, he has been active in the music scene since the 60’s and is still going strong. Dylan started out as a folk and blues singer best known for playing his acoustic guitar and harmonica, however, as the years went on Dylan changed his genre to rock and introduced an electric guitar to his act. Throughout all his changing genres, Dylan’s lyrics always included a variety of philosophical and political meaning. There have been many films and documentary’s made about one of the world’s greatest musician, including Martin Scorsese’s documentary ‘No Direction Home’, Todd Haynes film ‘I’m Not There’ where a number of actors all play Dylan in different years and ‘Don’t Look Back’ by D.A. Pennebaker.
‘Don’t Look Back’ is a 1967 documentary by American filmmaker, Donn Alan Pennebaker. The film follows Bob Dylan as he tours the United Kingdom in 1965. The documentary features Dylan, Joan Baez, Donovan and Dylan’s manager, Albert Grossman, who also co-produced the film. ‘Don’t Look Back’ has been dubbed as one of the best documentaries of all time.

There was a scene where Bob Dylan was playing a piano in front of a window and the light from the window darkened Dylan’s face and created a silhouette with an amazing halo effect around him.
While he was playing at the Royal Albert Hall there was a shot of Dylan standing performing on stage and the spot light which was on him cast an amazing shadow onto the unused space of stage behind Dylan.
The last shot of the film was of Dylan in the back of a car driving away from his second sold out night at the Royal Albert Hall in London. This scene was shot really beautifully as it is a low angle you are looking up to the young Dylan as he silently looks out of the moving car window.
The scene where Dylan is being interviewed by the reporter who is then interviewed and judged by Dylan is fantastic, not only does the viewer get a glimpse of Dylans genius but also the way it is shot. The camera is focus on the front of Dylan while he is talking and behind him is a mirror with the reflection of the journalist, the camera moves focus between the two men during the sequence.

There was a lovely bit of editing when Dylan was being interviewed and he was asked “What started it all off?” and before Dylan answers you are shown archive footage of an even younger Dylan is dressed down, playing outside in a field to a small number of bystanders and when they clap at the end of his song the clapping is used as a transition to a shot of Dylan playing a large concert hall for hundreds of people.
I think the editing is very flawless as you it makes you forget that you are watching a documentary and that makes you feel like you are I the room with Dylan and that’s very interesting.

The music in the documentary features mainly songs by Bob Dylan including ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’, ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’ and ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’.
The Scottish folk singer, Donovan, performed a few of his songs as well as the ‘Queen of Folk’, Joan Baez.

I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary, however, I imagine people could be deterred from enjoying his music as you get to see the young, arrogant, immature and egotistical side of Bob Dylan.
There were so many amazing shots in the film even though the camera could be a little shaky or unfocused at times. I loved the fact that when a song was played, you got to hear the entire song and they weren’t cut down.
When Dylan was on stage playing the camera was sometimes also on stage, level with him as to show his point of view looking towards the crowd. I found it interesting that you never see the audience as they are always in complete darkness as to show the documentary isn’t about his fans but about Dylan as a person

Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures

‘Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures’ is a 2001 documentary film by German film producer, Jan Harlan, brother in law to Kubrick, and narrated by Tom Cruise. The documentary has been nominated and won various awards including Best Original Retrospective Documentary and Best Documentary Picture.
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director who passed away in 1999 at the age of 70. Kubrick is considered to be one of the greatest directors of all time and is well known for his use of classical music and for covering an array of genres including horror, science fiction, war and romance. Some of his include The Shining, Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove and Lolita.

There was an extensive use of archive footage used throughout the documentary, the footage included videos shot by Kubrick’s father when he was a child playing with his sister, images of Kubrick as a young man directing his early work and shots of Kubrick on set of some of his most famous films.
There were fourteen segments within the documentary that examine each of Kubrick’s films, each segment showed certain scenes and interviews with actors who featured in the films. Every segment lasted around fifteen to twenty minutes and gave the documentary a structure and timing.

There was a segment near the beginning of the documentary about a photograph Kubrick had taken when he was only aged sixteen years of age. The photograph was of a miserable looking man in a newspaper stall, the man was surrounded by headlines of the death of the beloved President, Franklin D. Roosevelt. The image was shown with a voiceover of people discussing the photograph and Kubrick’s love of the camera.

The film ended with a final montage of Kubrick’s work beginning with his last film, Eyes Wide Shut and continuing through all his films in reverse. The montage includes the name of each film and the year of release. This was rather a nice touch as the film started with a montage of short clips of his work.

English musician, Jocelyn Pook, composed the soundtrack for the documentary. Jocelyn Pook, also composed the soundtrack to Kubrick’s final motion picture, Eyes Wide Shut which she was nominated and won awards for. Pook also composed for Martin Scorsese’s 2002 epic Gangs of New York.

I enjoyed this documentary, as I didn’t realise how many of Kubrick’s films I had actually seen. I thought that the film was suitable for someone who has never seen any of his films, however, if you were already a fan you might have found it a little boring as it was more of a review of this work. I thought that there was nothing special about the documentary, the interview shots were all rather mundane for the fact this was a documentary about a man dubbed as ‘one of the greatest directors of all time’. I found it a little too long for a documentary, after a while I could feel my arse cheeks going numb.

Spellbound

Spellbound is a 2002 documentary film by American Director Jeffery Blitz.
The film follows eight children from different backgrounds and cultures from various locations throughout America as they prepare for the 1999 National Spelling Bee.
The film has been nominated and won various awards including the Emmy Award for Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming and the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Jeffery Blitz has also won awards for his 2007 coming of age film ‘Rocket Science’, which stars Reece Thompson and Anna Kendrick.
There was a lovely medium close up of each child as they were standing at the microphone, it really made the viewer feel the importance of the competition to the children through their facial expressions.
As the final word is given to the last child, there is a few quick close ups to the children who have been eliminated as they show a range of different emotions to hearing the last word.
At the beginning of the film the viewer get a few minutes to be introduced to each child competing. The viewer gets the chance to see what kind of background each child is from and how they are preparing for the National Spelling Bee and how much it all means to them. This gives the viewer an opportunity to become attached to a child and hope they succeed.

At the beginning of the Spelling Bee a graphic appears on screen which shows all eight of the competing children’s faces, as the competition progresses and the main children are eliminated their picture fades from the graphic.
The ending of the documentary was ruined slightly because it cut from the last contestant, Nupur Lala, being given the final word to her being interviewed on a news programme about winner and then back to her spelling the final word. This method of editing seemed to be a little strange because it took away the excitement and intensity that had been building.
However this method must have worked because Yana Gorskaya won the American Cinema Editors Award for Best Edited Documentary for her final cut of the film, she also worked alongside Jeffery Blitz on his film ‘Rocket Science’.

The soundtrack was composed by Daniel Hulsizer and was extremely simple and didn’t distract the viewer from the visuals of the film. Hulsizer has also composed for the documentaries ‘Maybe Baby’ and ‘In the Name of Love’.

I found this documentary really interesting as some of the children were as young as ten and it was amazing to see such intelligence in a youngster. I enjoyed the fast paced edit and the range of camera angles that were used as it kept my attention throughout the film. The documentary reminded of a film I watched when I was younger ‘The Girl Who Spelled Freedom’ by Simon Wincer and I enjoyed the memories it seemed to bring back. I thought that the running time was acceptable as it gave the viewer a chance to become attached to the eight children

20 Feet from Stardom

Morgan Neville is an award winning American director, some of his work include ‘The Cool School’, Shotgun Freeway: Drives through Lost L.A’ and in 2013 ’20 Feet from Stardom’.
The film follows the stories of backing vocalists and shows how some if the singers made it to the big time and how their voices can be heard on some of the most famous song of all time. The documentary stars singers such as Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Gloria Jones and Judith Hill. Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger were also interviewed for the film about the amazing stars who sang for them.
The documentary has won various awards including the Academy Award and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary.

The interview sequences with the backing vocalists was extremely beautiful as the subject was lit with a back light which gave a halo effect around the head and neck and a second  light on one side which produced lovely shadows across the face. The interview sequences with the front singers such as Mick jagger and Bruce Springsteen were fully lit and there were no halo effects or shadows, this was rather interesting as it made the backing singers appear to be more important than the front men.

During the scenes when the backing vocalists were being interviewed a title appeared at the bottom left hand side of the screen. This title was not only informing the viewer of who was speaking it also listed a numbers of bands and artists that the backing vocalist has worked with in the past in a almost set list like style.
There was a montage about an hour into the documentary where everything seemed to go downhill for the singers as many of them don’t attain their dreams of becoming a solo star. The montage was of pictures and album covers of the singers and as the shot would pull out all the images and covers begin to fade.

There was no original soundtrack for this documentary, however, the majority of the songs that are included in the film are ones in which the backing vocalists feature in, including ‘Space Captain’, ‘ Young Americans’ and ‘Gimme Shelter’.
An end of record sound effect was used during the last stage of the film, which added a pleasant feeling of sentiment to the documentary as many of the singers in the film recorded on to vinyl.

I really enjoyed this documentary although at some points the film became rather emotional and you could feel it, however, it all ended up becoming very over blown and American with the sob stories and talk of reaching for your dreams and that kind of ruined it a little. I found it mind blowing that some of these women sing in some of my favourite songs and I never even seemed to notice that they were singing even though I usually end up singing along with them rather than the actual lead singer.

Touching the Void

Touching the Void is a 2003 documentary by Kevin Macdonald. The Scottish film maker is well noted for his films including ‘One Day in September’ and ‘The Last King of Scotland’.
In 1985, two young British mountaineers travelled to Peru to attempt to climb the west face of the Siula Grande. The documentary is centred on interviews with Joe Simpson and Simon Yates as they describe their near fatal expedition and a re-enactment of the story makes up the visual side of the film. The docudrama is based on Joe Simpson’s book, of the same name, about his ordeal on the mountain. The film went on to win the BAFTA award for Best Film in 2004.

The cinematography is truly beautiful and can be breathtaking. The aerial shots at the very beginning of the film reminded me slightly of similar shots in Catherine Hardwicke films.
One of the most beautiful shots of the entire film was the point of view shot when Simon Yates is looking down on Joe Simpson after he has slipped and damaged his leg. This shot was really intense as the viewer can really feel the situation along with the climbers on the mountain.
A few times there were some really nice shots where the camera would pull out and you could see the climber’s ascending the mountain. This was really interesting to view and also gave the viewer a time scale of the climb.

The use of the audio from the interview sequences with Joe Simpson and Simon Yates along with the re-enactments worked really well and it felt more like someone telling a story rather than simply watching actors.
There was a really strange and intense montage of different shots and subjects at the scene where Joe Simpson was losing his mind. The montage worked really well, with the viewer finding it rather confusing and a little unsteadying, which is what was happening to Joe Simpson.

The film had an original score by British composer, Alex Heffes who has worked on the soundtrack for many films such as; ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’ and ‘The Bridge’. Heffes has also composed many Kevin Macdonald films including ‘The Last King of Scotland’, ‘State of Play’ and ‘One day in September’.
The film contained certain sound effects that were rather chilling to hear, for example the sound of the high speed winds, the climber’s laboured breathing and the bone shattering in Joe Simpsons leg.

I didn’t know anything about this story when I first watched it and I didn’t really know what to expect. I really enjoyed it at the start and I thought some of the shots were really beautiful but after a while I became rather bored and didn’t really find it that interesting.
I think that this documentary could have been shorter, there were a few parts that weren’t essential to the story and they could have been edited out. I feel like it may have been better if it was an hour as supposed to an hour and forty minutes. After an age it felt like looking at someone else’s holiday photos and there is nothing worse.

 

Finding Vivian Maier

Finding Vivian Maier is a 2013 Documentary film by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel. This film shows the story of how John Maloof comes into possession of a large amount of undeveloped photographs. After scanning the negatives and finding amazing street photography by undiscovered Vivian Maier, Maloof went on a journey to find out who exactly this woman was. The film was nominated and won a range of awards including; Best Documentary, Best New Director and Outstanding First Feature.

The medium close up interview sequence with John Maloof was rather strange to view, he was looking right into the camera and was right in the centre of the shot. This angle was rather uncomfortable to look at after a while.
The documentary had a range of shots including some beautiful wide angle, close up and time lapse. There was an aerial time lapse shot of John Maloof bringing in Vivian’s possessions into his attic. This really showed the viewer the amount of belongings Maloof had to sort through.
There was a really interesting over the shoulder shot of John Maloof while he reviewed the developed photographs on his computer screen. It was really beautiful to see all the black and white images appear on the monitor.

Joshua Ralph is an American composer and producer, who has worked with record labels such as Atlantic and universal. In 1999, he found his own company, The Rumor Mill. The Hollywood Reporter has dubbed him as the ‘Go to producer of documentary film scores’.
‘Finding Vivian Maier’ is one of many notable films which Joshua Ralph has worked on. The composer was nominated for the Academy Award for ‘Best Original Song’ in the documentary ‘Chasing Ice’, Ralph has also composed for the films; ‘The Cove’ and ‘Man on Wire’ which both won the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Some of the children who Vivian Maier had looked after were interviewed in the documentary about the times they had spent with her. They would be telling a story of a time when she had taken them into the city and stopped to take photographs, as they would be describing from memory the subject that she was shooting, the actual developed photograph was being shown on screen.
The full documentary is comprised of interviews with people who had hired Miss Maier and people who had been in her care, intercut with her large range of still and moving images. So in a manner the film editor, Aaron Wickenden, was using Vivian’s photographs to tell her story.

I really enjoyed this documentary; it was so interesting and exciting to go on the adventure to find Vivian Maier with John Maloof. Because of the way it is editing you really do feel as if they are finding out all this information about Vivian Maier right before your eyes.
I thought that the light easy soundtrack really worked as it didn’t distract you from what was happening on screen. I wish this documentary had blasted longer as they left so many stones unturned. I think this was one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen.