-D1 - "to make a documentary that will inform and persuade people to rethink marriage" I know it's not what you mean, but this makes it seem like you're trying to keep people from getting married instead of telling them to really think about it first.
-D1 -I say don't go into world views on divorce - it's a short doc - this is a really cool thing to go into but with the time constraints you're going to have you won't be able to fully explore it and that's sort of another documentary in itself
-D1 - "as much as I want to present how divorce is negatively affecting society" It'd be interesting to see if you can think of any ways divorce is helping society
-D1 - Kelly - It's awesome that you're able to find someone who's been married so many times, but it seems that her marriages happened more so because she's unstable and unable to take care of herself - it's a really specific instance then, and maybe that's what you're going for - to get her specific view that marriage is more of a business deal than a love thing
-D2 - "What would you like to see change about how we conduct marriage?" - Who is we? The people getting married? The government?
I think both of the women you have right now will make good interviewees. Have you considered interviewing someone who works for the city or the courts - the person who handles all of the marriage licenses?
Hey Dom, Divorce is so popular here in the states I believe a short doc is necessary to do.
Your two subjects that you have so far are great candidates because they have gone through some horrible traumatic events.
I believe it is smart to interview divorce lawyers in the valley to get their take on the situation, although I'm not entirely sure how much they will be able to say (legally). But I feel that it will make your doc stronger along with the other three professionals you plan on interviewing.
Your B roll page has a ton of issues you could cover and I agree with Erica when needing to focus on just one area because the doc will end up being longing than you want it.
Use this as an advertising piece to get some buzz. If you already haven't take a look at the D9 short film on youtube to get a feel for what I'm talking about. Of course the story and material don't relate but the structure may help you focus on a smaller topic within divorce.
Good job so far Dominic. I think it's gonna be tough to make this a short film because there's soooooo much to cover. So ya, like the others are saying, trying to narrow it down a bit is probably a very good idea.
Your interviews are really good. You've got some good stories to work with. It's great you got people to open up to you so much.
In D2 you have the question "Do you think anyone should be allowed to marry?" This opens up a whole can of worms. This question could take the story off on a huge tangent about gay rights. And since it's a short film I just don't know if that's something you would have time for.
But you've got some great stuff going here. Good job so far!
So I like you’re idea sounds kind of familiar though….. I think you’re idea as everyone else says is a bit broad maybe focus on one part of why people get divorced whether its because of infidelity, money issues or start to not be able to stand each other. I think it would work much better to focus more. I like Kelly a lot she is an interesting subject. Have you thought about finding the other side maybe from one of her seven husbands? That could make for some interesting intercutting. Also Alex seems good but I think you need more variety with maybe another side of the story or someone who has been in a relationship for 30 to 40 years could be interesting to add to that
The dialogue in your sound montage seems a little low, and when you ask the questions I can tell that you are further away from the mic. I would suggest mastering the recording on the final project. If you need this done, I can probably get my friend to do it for you.
This is a good subject with a lot of possible interviewees. I like Lauren's idea of getting both sides of the marriage. Doesn't have to necessarily be one of Kelly's husbands, but if getting the two viewpoints on the same marriage might reveal some good information. It might be better to not have it be one of Kelly's husbands because then it might take away from Alex's story (since then the majority would be Kelly's marriage).
Depending how long you want this to ultimately be, I agree with the comments about finding some specific focus. Divorce is a large enough topic that throwing in what marriage should mean along with the honeymoon phase, kid's perspective and gay rights will make it a daunting task.
D1- You said Kelly's third child was taken away from her. Did CPS take him or was it the abusive father?
D2 Vimeo- these pre-interviews are very emotional. I like that. Kelly seems to really be entranced in the story and it really helped me connect to her. It is so unfortunate that one person had to go through so many fears that I know a lot of men and women have with relationships.
What sort of feeling do you want your audience to feel when then stop watching your film? Do you want them to be depressed? Hopeful?
I am curious to see who you will be interviewing in the UK and if their view is similar or different then the Americans.
Definitely agree about being a bit more specific. I think you have some great material and with Kelly and Alex you should be able to narrow it down to maybe the effects of divorce on the family or divorce across the generations.
Vimeo- I can really here the pain and experience in Kelly's voice. She was a great interview choice. She even sounds a bit like Catherine Keener. Also, her life story with eight marriages is very interesting. My mom has been married 4 times and I thought that was a lot. I think you really have something with Kelly. Nice work finding her. Alex, I think is a good addition to your doc because she represents the Gen X and Y kids who have grown up with divorce and who are now reaching an age where marriage is a possible reality.
You have some good stuff here Dominic. I think it was a good idea to have switched your capstone to a doc. You can really tell this is your passion.
Dom, I'm really excited to see how you handle this project. I can sense your passion when reading your stuff. That said, I agree with many that really finding a focus can make or break this doc... It could run the risk of being too broad, and not really coming to any conclusions on any specific questions, but the fact that you are exploring a broad variety of interviewees from different backgrounds and cultural upbringing could also work to your advantage, depending on what you want to examine with this piece.
I like your two current interviewees, but agree with Erica's comment that Kelly's MO could make her an extremely specific case study. The reasons she got divorced in the first place are obvious, but why then does she continue to pursue marriage? Something that so far she's proven she's not very good at, "so to speak." What is it about marriage that keeps her pursuing it after being burned so many times? Is it culture? Is it religion? Or something else, that really has nothing to do with Marriage in the first place? Why didn't she "stick with it" as some choose to do even in a "bad" situation, and live the "till death do us part" line in the first place?
You posit that we need to rethink marriage, I agree. Being a deconstructionist, I wonder if marriage is even really a necessary part of human society any more? Have we potentially evolved past this ceremony that is now antiquated and flawed in its makeup? Why do we need to make this announcement of commitment to one another in this way? And what real value or weight does marriage have anymore in (insert appropriate field of study here, i.e. American culture, British culture, ________) and why is it dissimilar from other places in the world? What has changed?
I could go on and on with my silly ranting because I really enjoy discussing and learning about topics like this. I would simply reiterate: Focus it! Otherwise there are too many questions to be asked, and not enough time to answer them all.
Good luck my friend! An interesting journey awaits you.
is this a feature or short, you could definately cover enough with the information and people you want to interveiw and follow for a feature, but if that is not your plan, just like all of the other docs in class i think you should narrow down what you cover, i agree with some of our class mates that i do not think with a short doc you would be able to get people to "re-think' the idea of marriage. I you are going to do a short i would just focus on divorce and how it effects people, the couple who was married and their children. Most of the stories will be negative and anti-divorce but im sure you could find some stories where divorce was actually benneficial, possibly ending a volatile situation. My parents go divorced when i was 5 and i am HAPPY they did, both are SO much happier and i now have four great parents instead of just two.
-D1 - "to make a documentary that will inform and persuade people to rethink marriage" I know it's not what you mean, but this makes it seem like you're trying to keep people from getting married instead of telling them to really think about it first.
ReplyDelete-D1 -I say don't go into world views on divorce - it's a short doc - this is a really cool thing to go into but with the time constraints you're going to have you won't be able to fully explore it and that's sort of another documentary in itself
-D1 - "as much as I want to present how divorce is negatively affecting society" It'd be interesting to see if you can think of any ways divorce is helping society
-D1 - Kelly - It's awesome that you're able to find someone who's been married so many times, but it seems that her marriages happened more so because she's unstable and unable to take care of herself - it's a really specific instance then, and maybe that's what you're going for - to get her specific view that marriage is more of a business deal than a love thing
-D2 - "What would you like to see change about how we conduct marriage?" - Who is we? The people getting married? The government?
I think both of the women you have right now will make good interviewees. Have you considered interviewing someone who works for the city or the courts - the person who handles all of the marriage licenses?
Hey Dom!
ReplyDeleteI tried to open your pages, but couldn't. Can you make a pdf? Thanks.
Looking forward to reading your stuff!
-Dom
Hey Dom, Divorce is so popular here in the states I believe a short doc is necessary to do.
ReplyDeleteYour two subjects that you have so far are great candidates because they have gone through some horrible traumatic events.
I believe it is smart to interview divorce lawyers in the valley to get their take on the situation, although I'm not entirely sure how much they will be able to say (legally). But I feel that it will make your doc stronger along with the other three professionals you plan on interviewing.
Your B roll page has a ton of issues you could cover and I agree with Erica when needing to focus on just one area because the doc will end up being longing than you want it.
Use this as an advertising piece to get some buzz. If you already haven't take a look at the D9 short film on youtube to get a feel for what I'm talking about. Of course the story and material don't relate but the structure may help you focus on a smaller topic within divorce.
Overall, good things bud!
Good job so far Dominic. I think it's gonna be tough to make this a short film because there's soooooo much to cover. So ya, like the others are saying, trying to narrow it down a bit is probably a very good idea.
ReplyDeleteYour interviews are really good. You've got some good stories to work with. It's great you got people to open up to you so much.
In D2 you have the question "Do you think anyone should be allowed to marry?" This opens up a whole can of worms. This question could take the story off on a huge tangent about gay rights. And since it's a short film I just don't know if that's something you would have time for.
But you've got some great stuff going here. Good job so far!
So I like you’re idea sounds kind of familiar though….. I think you’re idea as everyone else says is a bit broad maybe focus on one part of why people get divorced whether its because of infidelity, money issues or start to not be able to stand each other. I think it would work much better to focus more. I like Kelly a lot she is an interesting subject. Have you thought about finding the other side maybe from one of her seven husbands? That could make for some interesting intercutting. Also Alex seems good but I think you need more variety with maybe another side of the story or someone who has been in a relationship for 30 to 40 years could be interesting to add to that
ReplyDeletehey dom,
ReplyDeletei also could not open the documents. i would love to see it in PDF that way i can give you some feedback!
This is a really good topic.
ReplyDeleteJust a comment on a more technical note.
The dialogue in your sound montage seems a little low, and when you ask the questions I can tell that you are further away from the mic. I would suggest mastering the recording on the final project. If you need this done, I can probably get my friend to do it for you.
Haven't listened to this myself, but you might want to give this episode of This American Life a listen if you want a (radio) documentary on marraige:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/261/The-Sanctity-of-Marriage
This is a good subject with a lot of possible interviewees. I like Lauren's idea of getting both sides of the marriage. Doesn't have to necessarily be one of Kelly's husbands, but if getting the two viewpoints on the same marriage might reveal some good information. It might be better to not have it be one of Kelly's husbands because then it might take away from Alex's story (since then the majority would be Kelly's marriage).
Depending how long you want this to ultimately be, I agree with the comments about finding some specific focus. Divorce is a large enough topic that throwing in what marriage should mean along with the honeymoon phase, kid's perspective and gay rights will make it a daunting task.
D1- You said Kelly's third child was taken away from her. Did CPS take him or was it the abusive father?
ReplyDeleteD2 Vimeo- these pre-interviews are very emotional. I like that. Kelly seems to really be entranced in the story and it really helped me connect to her. It is so unfortunate that one person had to go through so many fears that I know a lot of men and women have with relationships.
What sort of feeling do you want your audience to feel when then stop watching your film? Do you want them to be depressed? Hopeful?
I am curious to see who you will be interviewing in the UK and if their view is similar or different then the Americans.
Definitely agree about being a bit more specific. I think you have some great material and with Kelly and Alex you should be able to narrow it down to maybe the effects of divorce on the family or divorce across the generations.
Vimeo- I can really here the pain and experience in Kelly's voice. She was a great interview choice. She even sounds a bit like Catherine Keener. Also, her life story with eight marriages is very interesting. My mom has been married 4 times and I thought that was a lot. I think you really have something with Kelly. Nice work finding her. Alex, I think is a good addition to your doc because she represents the Gen X and Y kids who have grown up with divorce and who are now reaching an age where marriage is a possible reality.
You have some good stuff here Dominic. I think it was a good idea to have switched your capstone to a doc. You can really tell this is your passion.
Dom! Hey buddy... I can't open your .docs. I got one open but it looked corrupted and not what it was supposed to look like. Sorry pal!
ReplyDeleteDom, I'm really excited to see how you handle this project. I can sense your passion when reading your stuff. That said, I agree with many that really finding a focus can make or break this doc... It could run the risk of being too broad, and not really coming to any conclusions on any specific questions, but the fact that you are exploring a broad variety of interviewees from different backgrounds and cultural upbringing could also work to your advantage, depending on what you want to examine with this piece.
ReplyDeleteI like your two current interviewees, but agree with Erica's comment that Kelly's MO could make her an extremely specific case study. The reasons she got divorced in the first place are obvious, but why then does she continue to pursue marriage? Something that so far she's proven she's not very good at, "so to speak." What is it about marriage that keeps her pursuing it after being burned so many times? Is it culture? Is it religion? Or something else, that really has nothing to do with Marriage in the first place? Why didn't she "stick with it" as some choose to do even in a "bad" situation, and live the "till death do us part" line in the first place?
You posit that we need to rethink marriage, I agree. Being a deconstructionist, I wonder if marriage is even really a necessary part of human society any more? Have we potentially evolved past this ceremony that is now antiquated and flawed in its makeup? Why do we need to make this announcement of commitment to one another in this way? And what real value or weight does marriage have anymore in (insert appropriate field of study here, i.e. American culture, British culture, ________) and why is it dissimilar from other places in the world? What has changed?
I could go on and on with my silly ranting because I really enjoy discussing and learning about topics like this. I would simply reiterate: Focus it! Otherwise there are too many questions to be asked, and not enough time to answer them all.
Good luck my friend! An interesting journey awaits you.
is this a feature or short, you could definately cover enough with the information and people you want to interveiw and follow for a feature, but if that is not your plan, just like all of the other docs in class i think you should narrow down what you cover, i agree with some of our class mates that i do not think with a short doc you would be able to get people to "re-think' the idea of marriage. I you are going to do a short i would just focus on divorce and how it effects people, the couple who was married and their children. Most of the stories will be negative and anti-divorce but im sure you could find some stories where divorce was actually benneficial, possibly ending a volatile situation. My parents go divorced when i was 5 and i am HAPPY they did, both are SO much happier and i now have four great parents instead of just two.
ReplyDelete