Demolition

This documentary is a mix between an expository documentary and an observational documentary.

Expository mode: Expository documentaries set up a specific point of view or argument about a subject and often feature “voice of God” style voice-over. For expository documentaries, the cinematographer is responsible for collecting footage that supports and strengthens the spoken argument of the film, including stock footage, archival footage, b-roll, or re-enactments of historical events.

Observational mode: A style of documentary embraced by the cinema verité movement, observational documentaries attempt to discover the ultimate truth of their subject by acting as a fly-on-the-wall—in other words, observing the subject’s real-life without interrupting. Cinematographers on observational documentaries will often be asked to be as unobtrusive as possible in order to capture their subjects in a raw, unguarded state.

This shot shows the observational side of the documentary with the colours and the background and how the camera is placed being able to catch the whole surroundings and stillness of the place. However, at the same time showing a big part of the story in showing the lifestyle that the contenders live and come from. We can see that the people that take part aren’t from the huge cities but are from local countryside’s.

 

 

 

 

 

During these shots there is a voice over from people who have taken part in these derby’s and explaining how much it means to them and why they do it. They go through certain stories that were the reason why they started taken part and they vairy between people being brought up through their parents doing it and some have other reasons such as a friend unfortunately dying at the wheel.

During this part of the documentary we see a real mix between the observational and expository documentary because we are being shown shots during the derby whilst a heavy metal music is going on in the background. The music really matches what is being shown because we see cars bashing int each other at a heavy rate and the music is heavy non stop noise that goes well.

References:

Yorker, T.N. (2025). Demolition. [online] Vimeo. Available at: https://vimeo.com/1014823937 [Accessed 12 Mar. 2025].

Richards, A., 2018. ‘the creative treatment of actuality’. [online] Media Factory. Available at: <http://www.mediafactory.org.au/arielle-richards/2018/03/05/18-1-the-creative-treatment-of-actuality/.> [Accessed 12 March 2025].

What went right?

The main thing that I am really happy with is the main interview and how the questions we had got the right answers that we needed. However, we didn’t just get answers from the questions but we also let the camera run after we had finished the interview and got a more personal and human like story of David Guilles personal life and a what seemed like a more relaxing setting for him to tell that story. The lighting that was created also set a perfect setting because there was a mix of natural light and then

Another part that I believe went right was the collection of shoots I took and how they came across. The main feeling we wanted this documentary to portray was the tranquillity of the life of a fisherman and gardener and how guernsey ahs changed through David Guilles life. I believe the shots that I took really showed the tranquillity and calmness of the life that David lives. On top of that I filmed many observational shots that can be used in the edit and we have enough for the final edit.

What went wrong?

One of the main problems that we came across was the tide down at Rousse and how we were going to get to the boat with all the equipment and made sure it got there and back in the same way we took it out. Rousse is a beach where when the tide is out you can walk all the ways out to the boats therefore making it easier to get the shots and be able to get the equipment over and back safely.

What specific tasks did I do as a part of my role?

I was the cinematographer so it was my call and decision to take the shots and how I wanted them to be taken. We already had a shot list and a way in which we wanted the shots to come across however it still came down to me and how I framed them in the end. Another part of my job was to focus on the lighting aspect the main thing that I wanted to do was keep it as natural as possible and that worked well. I only wanted to use unnatural lighting for the interview to get rid of the shadows. I also focused on looking at different compositions during this shoot and mainly focused on the rule of thirds and leading space. I had my camera set up so where I could see the graphs and that helped me compose the rule of thirds. I used depth of field mainly during the interview and also the shots where David Guille was walking through the shot. My favourite use f this was also when I used cinematic mode on my camera and focused on either the object in front or the object behind and captured the background and the depth behind it.

What specific tasks did I do to collaborate within the team and support others in the group?

I focused on trying to work with the editor so that we made sure that we had a variety of different shots that would go well together in the final edit. We also focused on a title shot or and establishing shot that we looked for in all of our locations and then we finally came to a conclusion and found the right shot. Throughout the shoot we all supported each other and made decisions based on how the final edit will look and how the editor and producer wanted the edit to look.

How did our preproduction work on the day?

Our preproduction really helped us on the day because it really matched up to how the weather went on the day. In the early morning we started on the interview and then after that was finished the weather got really sunny and cleared up to make our shots in the garden really stand out and clear. then later in the day the clouds came out and that went with the shots of the boat and the beach. All of the questions in the interview also went as planned and lead onto extra more personal stories.

When there was a problem how did we resolve it?

Whenever we came across a problem we all agreed to do what was best for the documentary and what would look better in the final edit. If we had different ideas of the framing in the shots I would film both and then we could decide what looked better.

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection

Here is what we have done to prepare and plan our documentary shoot. We have planned things such as location and times we also created a set of questions o ask David Guille when we are interviewing him. Here is also the risk assessment that we need to follow and stay clear of and the only extra one that we needed to add was that we would be filming by water so to look and check on the tide times and when it would be high or low. Everything has been checked and passed through the teacher and looks good.

Pitch Feedback

• Create relevant questions for the interview
• Create a shot list and storyboard of shot selection
• Create a new Title for the documentary
• Try create a natural feeling in the interview and get extra footage after he thinks the camera is off
• Choose what locations we want to film at and how we will capture the chosen shots there

 

Reflection

For this documentary we are focusing on the calmness of the life of a fisherman and gardener so that is what this pitch is trying to show and portray. Our inspirations are similar types of documentaries that we found interesting and similar to how we want our to look and come across. Something that we need to work on is a new title and something that really stands out and overshadows what the documentary is about. All we need now is a set of questions and a story board/ shot ideas that follow our intentions of this documentary. Overall this pitch is a good base to develop off and get us started.

Here is the research that me and my group did for our collaborative project. We looked mainly at three different documentaries these being, No Place To Hide, A Place Like This, and Demolition. We want to include similar filming styles and edits to these three documentaries, we also found these interesting because they are interviews that sometimes are face to face or a background sound to the video itself. We feel that our documentary will have many similarities to these documentaries and similar style of filming like observational and scenic shots.