BVA703 Research - S2 Week 4

03/08/2020

I got a location release form signed off for filming at Queens Park and I intend to do the same with Miharo. I emailed Mandy at Miharo with the times of the shoot there for Sunday and I couldn't visit the place for a last minute location scout today because it was closed. We'll see if it's open tomorrow.

I emailed Nathan Gill from the City Council to see if I can film the vox pops on the streets next Wednesday. I emailed him a second time with the same email message because I made a mistake with the date included. 

I was able to get the FS5 booked for then as well from SIT Pro. Nick at SIT Pro suggested a mic that they usually have better suited for vox pops, but he couldn't find it.

The weather prediction for Sunday is currently not good for shooting at Queens Park. They reckon it will be raining that day. Saturday won't matter since the shooting that day will be all indoors and oncampus.

I sent an email to Kathryn asking for access to the seminar room and Upstage for filming my documentary this weekend. I have also spent the afternoon updating my call sheets and shot list. 

I followed up with Rhys and Bradley, and they are still keen to be involved with the weekend shoot. Rhys will be the boom operator, best boy, and a grip, whereas Bradley will be the first assistant camera (helping me with organising the camera) and a grip.

I asked Gayle if the drawing room has any rectangular cardboard lying around, preferably white. She reckons it's likely there will be some lying around and will look into it.

04/08/2020

I heard back from Nathan Gill and he's fine with me shooting vox pops on Esk, Kelvin, and Don Streets, as long as I don't block the pedestrians walking past and to be aware of the CBD redevelopment.

I messaged The Southland Times through Facebook this morning to ask for a copy of the footage they took of the March 2019 climate strike in Invercargill and whether I can use it for my documentary. I'll give them a couple of days to reply before emailing the licensing contact at Stuff with the same message.

I contacted Leigh this morning to see if she's available to help out on the Sunday shoot as a runner and BTS photographer. It turns out that she left the film course, but is committed to helping out. No longer being a film student won't be an issue since she won't be using any of the film equipment and even on the Wednesday shoot, she just asking the questions to members of the public and holding a clipboard with the release forms.

Leigh replied to me saying that does have transport, which would be to transport crew and interview subject to Queens Park in the event of good weather on Sunday afternoon. She is also fine to be the BTS photographer on the Sunday shoot.

I heard back from The Southland Times and they suggested that I contact the syndication team at Stuff, which I did. They later responded back saying it will require a licensing agreement from them and likely a fee. I replied to the message asking for a quote on the fee.

I went by Miharo to do some recon for shooting on Sunday. I spent time visualising shots in my head and finding plug outlets, and thinking about what I would need in terms of dressing up the location; a couple of tables (including craft table) and a couple of chairs

I followed up with Ashleigh and she's still keen for the filming on Sunday. I also managed to get all the paperwork updated this afternoon.

05/08/2020

Gayle wasn't available to help out yesterday afternoon because of her study commitments. I didn't put everything in one basket when came to sourcing cardboard for my shoot, so I bought a big piece of recycled paper myself from the art supplies shop.

I sent out the call sheets, location maps, and other details to the cast and crew today. Tyler was fine with it, but asked for me to cover his petrol costs, which I was going to anyway. Bradley also told me that he prefers to buy his own food for the shoot.

I sent a follow up email to James Shaw's communications guy on the release form for the footage that I took of James Shaw early this year.

I heard the news yesterday that the next school climate strike is confirmed for the 4th of September, in the lead up to the general election in New Zealand. I will try and get someone else to come along shoot B-roll for me, while I also do some shooting at the protest. I hope to book the FS5 for me to shoot protest and the X200 for the other camera operator.

06/08/2020

EllenR (2020, July 24). Short documentary on COVID-19 pandemic response released. Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor. https://www.pmcsa.ac.nz/2020/07/24/short-documentary-on-covid-19-pandemic-response-released/

New Zealand filmmaker, Shirley Horrocks made a documentary on the COVID-19 response in New Zealand, which was released by the Prime Minster's scientific advisor's office. The office is based at the University of Auckland. Being distributed by a parliamentary division based at a highly regarded university does put its authenticity in a ethically compromised position and in question since it could be politically biased or a subtle form of propaganda, but its research could be of high quality at the same time. No offense to the New Zealand government, Jacinda Ardern, or the University of Auckland.

NZ On Screen. (n.d.). Shirley horrocks. Retrieved August 6, 2020, from

https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/shirley-horrocks

Horrocks is known for making documentaries on the arts on New Zealand, as well as New Zealand artists and writers.

Coughlin, B. (2020, May 13). Safe and secure guidelines for documentary filmmakers during COVID-19. Sundance Institute. https://www.sundance.org/blogs/safety-guidelines-for-documentary-filmmakers-during-covid-19

The Sundance Institute is divided on the issue since anything could happen and the situation is worse at their side of the planet. It is an intense question of ethics and public health and safety, but could something more than that. A key question for them during these times have been 'should you film at all?' With all their partnering organisations, they managed to produce a manifesto for independent documentary filmmakers to use to make films during this pandemic.

They still believe documentaries will be essential in express the heart of this issue and in fact, documentaries have been investigative in recent years than broadcast television.

In considering whether the documentary is worth making during these difficult times, think critically about whether the story serves the common good, general wellbeing, and is the subject is of public interest. This could be a guide to justify the risks involved in the shoot.

Doc Society. (2020). Independent documentary filming in the time of corona.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13t1eGGfcXAWwrgt6_PTWGr3hPzsEbVIv1SKYwLu3hPk/edit

This document is regularly updated and starts with what was summarized in the previous source. 

Examples of risk assessment levels and solutions in a COVID-19 environment are travelling to a filming location (highest risk), remote shooting (medium risk), and not filming at all (zero risk).

In shooting in a covid-19 environment also check you all up to date with the travel restriction in the area of your filming location, assess how easy or hard it would return home afterwards, double check that your information is fact checked and isn't misinformation, your team and production is insured, up to date with covid-19 and protection against it.

There is a lot more to read of the document that I will do later.

Lozano, C. (2020, April 27). The ethics of documentary production in a pandemic. International Documentary Association. https://www.documentary.org/online-feature/ethics-documentary-production-pandemic

A film and journalism at U.C Berkley have encountered ethical dilemmas and anxiety in how to produce non-fiction stories in the middle of COVID-19.

Example questions

• How do you approach a grieving spouse to confirm that his wife of 25 years was the first identified COVID death in the U.S.? 
• How do you engage with a source who you know is in significant physical pain—so much so, that it hurts to turn off a light switch? 
• How do you tell the story of medical staff whose jobs might be on the line if they go on the record about the unsafe, dire circumstances in their hospitals?
• Can independent filmmakers safely produce in the field right now? 

There have been individuals that have questioned whether it is safe t undergo documentary filmmaking and what can insurance companies covers and under what grounds or circumstances related to this pandemic. 

The film and journalism school at Berkeley documented what COVID-19 is not. It's not 9/11 or a war, and filmmakers will have take great risks in documenting a epidemic. COVID-19 not like other epidemics, there are different ways to protect yourself from the virus compared to ebola or cholera.

There is a likelihood that many news organisations will not disclose their safety procedures to independent filmmakers and journalists, in which they left to figure it out on their own.

It is mentioned that filmmakers spend more time doing field journalism than journalists.

Unclear vulnerabilities, countless variables in risks and health and safety, and there might be productions that may not bother to strictly follow health and safety guidelines. These reasons why this source cannot make recommendations or guidelines to filming documentaries during covid-19.

Harvey, M. (2020, May 12). Covid 19 coronavirus: Nelson news station mainland TV airs controversial documentary. New Zealand Herald. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12331342

The regional TV news in Nelson broadcast a controversial documentary on covid-19, called Plandemic that been widely banned on social media

Lee, C. (2020, April 30). The race to make the first coronavirus documentary has begun. Vulture. https://www.vulture.com/2020/04/the-race-to-make-the-first-coronavirus-documentary-has-begun.html

There are various COVID-19 documentaries currently in production or seeking funding in the United States from documentary filmmakers and producers like Laura Nix, Janet Tobias, Drea Cooper, Liz Garbus, David France, and Jihan Robinson. Alex Gibney and Matthew Heinnman are making a documentary on the drama of inside New York hospitals dealing with covid-19 cases. 

Details on a majority of these productions are kept confidential and undisclosed, which is what my previous research findings has had in common. It's on the lines of them using non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)

Some unnamed documentary filmmakers are having to adapt to ultiisng FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom to film interviews.

“There are all these little, tiny practical things.”

“I have camera people out in the field, shooting from a safe distance, shooting shuttered restaurants, all with a safety protocol in mind. How do you get the footage somewhere safely? I’ve been getting [hard] drives from my DP. He leaves it at my door. We let it sit for a couple of days. We sterilize it. There’s a new protocol for everything.”

- Laura Gabbert on the bizarre process of making a documentary in the middle of a pandemic.

It is believed that COVID-19 has influence the biggest mass of documentaries being made about a single subject.

Gabbert was in middle of making a documentary when covid-19 struck the world called, Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles. She used the pandemic as an opportunity to document the drama involved with the subject and the pandemic as it unfolded, as well as a way to broaden the subject. 

“There’s something very different when you do an hour and a half sit-down interview versus when we’re recording conversations daily, weekly, monthly. There is just an immediacy. A lot of people are in crisis right now. It changes week to week for people. We are able to capture the crisis as it’s happening.”

- Laura Gabbert on including covid-19 into her documentary

British journalist, Lucy Sherriff has been producing a regular vlog series on social media documenting her reactions to the US government responses to COVID-19 and interviews health experts on the subject through remote interviewing.

“It’s a mixture of ‘How is this impacting peoples’ personal lives?’ and ‘Who are the people who are stepping up to do something?’”. 

“It’s contrasting the differing reactions in how governments are dealing with [COVID-19] across the world, but also showing that people are experiencing the same things. I’m experiencing the same thing that the woman sending me a video diary in India is experiencing. ‘Oh God, I can’t find any eggs.’ ‘Oh my God, I’m going out for the first time in a week, and I’m so excited to go to the supermarket!’”

- Lucy Sherriff

There is an argument that once this pandemic is blown over, no one will care about the content made during this period in time. I for one agree with Sherriff in that it will be a treasure grove of visual history and be something people will look back on with nostalgia.

"I’m not trying to race and make the film that comes out first. I’m looking to make a film that hopefully stands the test of time. 

It’s so great that there are a lot of filmmakers and journalists and storytellers of all shapes and sizes telling this story. It’s imperative we tell this story. It’s imperative we tell this story in different ways.”

- Matthew Heinnman

Sacks, E. (2020, May 16). New Zealand is ready for its close-up as most of film industry remains sidelined by COVID-19. NBC News.

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/movies/new-zealand-ready-its-close-most-film-industry-remains-sidelined-n1207766

"New Zealand has got a couple of advantages. One is the fact that they jumped on (the coronavirus situation) much quicker than others did and managed to get it under control. And the fact that it is an island helps."

"But I think it's partially because New Zealand has an incredibly well-developed infrastructure for production that is not utilized tremendously by indigenous filmmakers. So, they are better set up to handle outside production coming into the country."

- Biased, incorrect generalization about New Zealand and its film industry during covid-19 from Columbia University film professor, Ira Deutchman

Kaufman, A. (2020, April 30). Film production is shut down but documentaries are still being made. Here’s how. Los Angeles Times.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-04-30/coronavirus-documentary-production

In making an untitled documentary on former White House photographer, Pete Souza. It was mostly completed by the time COVID-19 reached American soil, but the filmmaker, Dawn Porter decided to do one last interview, but have Souza shoot it himself with a Blackmagic camera package organized by the cinematographer. Alex already had a professional microphone and tripod of his own and he was going to film myself while having a Zoom interview with the filmmaker.

In the close completion of an untitled documentary by British filmmaker Dawn Porter and the covid-19 gone viral, Porter decided to do one last interview, but have Souza shoot it himself with a Blackmagic camera package organized by the cinematographer. Alex already had a professional microphone and tripod of his own and he was going to film myself while having a Zoom interview with the filmmaker.

Porter was lucky to be a documentary during this time with a subject that is tech savy with film and photography equipment. Her documentary is set for theatrical release later this year by Focus Features as of the publication of this article.

Erin Lee Carr created a three-part episodic docuseries on a famous criminal case all filmed through video conferencing. She has also focused on the potential of third party material for this production

“I think in a post-COVID environment, the amount of archive material that exists on a subject is going to be really significant.”

“I think documentaries become an escape hatch — ‘we’ll have this ready because it’s so much less expensive to make.’ Yes, I want to do original reporting — and I will — but I can build a lot without it.”

- Erin Lee Carr, American documentary filmmaker

Betsy West and Julie Cohen have working together virtually to complete an untitled documentary on television personality and cooking teacher, Julia Chhild. Their production team start each day with an online meeting outlining what is tasks are needed to be done that day. Later that day, the editors would upload segments of their daily work for the directors to review

“Five years ago, I don’t know how possible this would have been, but between the conference call and video platforms, it’s doable remotely.”

“Overall, documentary filmmaking is more flexible than narrative filmmaking. To get a narrative film within budget, everything has to be planned out to the minute. We’re used to changing things up, and coronavirus is probably stretching that to the limit.”

- Julie Cohen, American documentary filmmaker