"The Source" a short documentary, have a look!

So this is the first documentary I have tried filming with a DSLR. Nearly all the shots in this were filmed with a Canon T3i with a vintage 50mm Nikkor lens. Mostly the shots were locked off, but a few were done on a basic rig (made from an old photo safari stock). Other shots were done with a Canon XLH1 (mainly used for wider establishing shots when I needed extra resolution that the DSLR was unable to provide – however none of these shots actually were included in the final edit). A GoPro HD Hero was used for the more ‘extreme’ moments. Audio was recorded on a Zoom external recorder and synched in post.

This was filmed over the course of 3 days, in fairly remote areas along the Nile river. It was a fairly tough shoot, and the weather was against us the whole time (constant wind made it hard to record location interviews, given that there was already a lot of noise from the river, and the villages – damn you goats!!!). We were also subject to constant tropical storms, and harsh sunshine. This was the only time I can remember being badly sunburned while drenched wet and cold. Weird.

FCPX was flawless for me. This was a very quick edit (I did it in 1 day). The Synchronize feature saved my bacon (for synching the video clips from the dslr & the audio clips from the zoom). It worked fast and 100% every time; I was really surprised how well it worked. However, before the start of each take I would clap my hand, and I'm sure this helped the program match everything.

This was a simple edit; straight cuts and not one transition. Graded with Magic Bullet Looks.

This was filmed for a competition, and the theme was “A force of nature”. Probably best to watch this in HD (I don't like the way vimeo is scaling this down) and with earphones. Here goes:

Very cool! And a tip on syncing, create a marker on both, then when you sync FCPX will see the markers and immediately sync audio around them, rather than scanning the full clips.

Thank you for sharing your fine work with us, Simon. Technically I found the piece admirable. While reading your intro, I wondered why you'd not used any transitions, even simple crossfades, but once the viewing began I understood your method more. Loved the opening titling with the expansion & fade on "the source."

Do you mind sharing how you did that? I'm figuring keyframing & spacing the final letters with reduced opacity, but wondering if there's a preset.

Knowing the subject of the competition from your description, I wondered at the Kierkegaard quote, thinking it to be more internally philosophically oriented than nature-force focussed. The quote, in conjunction with knowing what the competition was about, set me in a slightly conflicted frame before we'd got into the video. In hindsight, the quote fits perfectly with your hero & his endeavor.

Perhaps "endeavor" is not the best choice of words, but I'm reluctant to diminish such a challenging or even life threatening activity by calling it a hobby or pass-time. However, we're broaching on why I assume you didn't win the competition. We'll come back to this...

In the opening shots, it quickly became apparent, your transitionless editing fit perfectly with the music, though a couple bars in I felt a tinge of predictability. Your soundtrack was excellent & worked wonderfully. Visually, the location was stunning & fascinating, not to mention that shot I'm sure everyone is curious about; the "Avoid Morning Sex" sign. What a curious message. I'm certain a poll of all your viewers would show the sign's backstory as high on their level of inquiry.

Your combination of the various camera formats seems relatively seamless, of course we all knew when we switched to the GoPro. Loved the GoPro's underwater kayak roll footage.

From the "force of nature" standpoint, I think you captured the churning ferocity of the river viscerally. This is starkly emphasized when you shoot from the darkness, silhouetting him against the seething cauldron rushing by. The audio recording of your talent was outstanding, the opening scenes where he's sitting & talking while looking out over the river, were exemplary. Not seeing a mic on him, knowing you'd used the portable Zoom recorder, I was wondering how you mic'd him for that wider shot. Lovely imagery in his description that the river flows into the Nile & then to the pyramid. It's been my experience with Western viewers, there is a modicum of irritation when having to listen to foreign accents over any extended time. Even typing now, I have to chuckle at this subtle form of racism, or at least xenophobia. Alas, that has been our experience in test marketing projects with focus groups, though they are slightly more tolerant when the piece is comedy or drama. Yours could be countered with the juxtaposition of another voice, announcer or narrator, perhaps a British female or American male, for instance. However, on this piece, that probably would have broken the intimacy.

On initial viewing, your finishing appears flawless, Magic Bullet Looks 2 really gave you some gorgeous tones with the lush foliage. You did the exotic location justice with your color treatment. May we ask what Magic Bullet settings you used? (not sure if those are exportable...)

So, from a nuts & bolts standpoint, fantastic job. Seeing the polished result & knowing the arduous trek, difficult conditions & taxing shoot, it's evident you must have a rapturous level of passion. After all you poured into this project, I'm sure you hoped to win... would you like to know why you didn't?

We're going to move from the exoteric into the esoteric now, & some get a little offended when this sort of light of scrutiny is shone on their work. Of course I'm fully aware of the emotional commitment one puts into a piece of art like this, it's very difficult to hear a completely detached perspective, but that's what I'm paid for as a consultant. (Chuckling again here, knowing that any advice or recommendations that are offered without charge are usually viewed as worthless.) In my business we say the perspective of your target demographic must be lived. You're aiming at video competition judges...

The subject of the competition aligns with the current global trend, of environmentalism, which has taken on almost religious tones. By this I mean it's taught to children as a moral absolute, stresses the need for repentance & or a coming judgement, etc. Western ideology has assimilated these themes into modern cultural acceptance & promotion of this enviro concept, especially over the past 20 years. The theme is multifaceted & ubiquitous. Appearing everywhere; women's fashion magazines, children's cartoons, car adverts & movies, it's no surprise that it manifests as a video competition subject. Sorry if I'm being presumptive in assuming you didn't win, I just thought you would most likely have told us if you had. Perhaps it hasn't been finalized yet? Searches didn't bring up much, other than things that reiterate what I'm saying here - a David Suzuki film on Forces of Nature, an Eco-Comedy video competition, etc. Could you provide a link where we could see the winning video?

You committed the cardinal sin of Westernizing the subject. Let me explain...

Even if your cinematography & post production were perfect, the judges would be left with a twinge of dissatisfaction. Some of them might not even be able to put their finger on what exactly didn't wow them. On a subconscious level the film didn't connect to the ethos. But why not? Because 20 years of religious programming of sorts, ingrains a foundational substructure of thought forming the world view, & your film goes against it. Here's how...

Your African man is indigenous, still in his mysterious native land - so far, so good - we're firing on all cylinders. His English is pretty good (this could be a slight cause for beginning of the disconnect), he's wearing bright colors (accepted as African cultural norm, but the T-shirt does seem a bit Western style - disconnect continues). His talk of the river, draws us back, the fishing, his life, his heritage, his father & grandfather did it (we're completely brought back). But then, speaking of bright colors, the electric pink plastic kayak (wow, it's confusing at first, the disconnect amplifies, what is this?). Then we see, he's riding the river for his own thrills, it's a hobby or pastime, in that this aspect of his relationship with the river, is not for the survival of his family, but rather for his personal enjoyment. Yes, it's a zen thing for him, & we get that & the connection with the Kierkegaard quote. However, in the context of Eastern & Western ideologies & especially in the light of our new "religion," his whitewater river rafting is a very Western style joyride.

Some might try to suggest that this view is "racist" or some other politically correct form of labeling, but it's actually the reverse. Since we in the West, have abandoned our traditional religions, we really need natives to reinforce our new one. We seek aboriginals that encourage us in some sort of pseudo-spiritual connection to the rivers & trees, bolstering our confidence in our current cultural religious shift.

Some might argue that natives have always enjoyed playing in nature while respecting it & not desecrating it. Fine. But to the Western minded judges of this competition he's too Western, in that he's got too much time on his hands to pursue such a, granted zen empowering, but none the less frivolous activity.

Concededly, the judges probably won't articulate this position, as previously outlined, most of these introspective undercurrents are subliminal in their world view. However, if the judges were unWesternized Africans, you would have won, with him being their hero.

Here's how you could have won the current contest. The exact same video techniques, music, location, river, even the same guy but with a major thematic alteration. He's less Western, more African. Instead of a boogie-boarding displaced South-Cali wannabee, he's all mystical with deep dark African wisdom. We meet his family in a hut by firelight, dressed in textured earth tones, darling little children, supportive smiling wife. He speaks of the reverence for the river, handed down from his father, & grandfather before him. We see him in a dugout canoe bringing home the fish that keeps the family alive, bartering fish with others. The relationship of the children with the river is shown. The family lives BY the river, in every sense, they depend on the river, it represents life, God, all. He risks his life on the river, for his people, to continue the legacy. He has no time or mind for hobbies, but all is for the love of his family, culture & of course the blessed awesome river.

Final scene, he's on the porch of the hut, overlooking the river at sunset, little one sleeping on his lap, wife preparing fish by the fire, he's looking out over the water, eyes glaze over as he recounts someone dying in the rapids (perhaps his brother)... "The river gives us life... but sometimes takes away..." (baby cries in the distance)

Fade to black.

==

Is it no longer a documentary, has it moved into docu-"drama" now?
Well... do you want to win or not?

I have to strongly disagree with one point. The "westernization" of anything. As someone of American aboriginal parent, if you go hang out on the Rez you won't find the false stereotypical headdress, beads, broken English, etc. That is the fact of the world today. I have an aunt who spent almost 20 years working in Africa with indigenous peoples. In my many conversations with her this subject also came up. It is misguided to think "indigenous" means wearing something specific, looking a specific way, speaking a specific way. That is a falsehood that many of us are actively trying to break.

What the film shows is "reality", and changing anything would be "window dressing".

That an indigenous person must only rafts a river for survival and not enjoyment is the most gross of falsehoods. Indigenous peoples traditionally have had more free time than modern industrialized society. Yes, we do stuff for "fun" all the time! Why not show it? Are we supposed to teach all of white western culture how to be indigenous? Do all of us posses the secret to being one with the universe? That's just absurd! If you need us Indians to tell you how to fix your life, you're very, very far beyond our help. We're just people like everyone else.

Trying to force aboriginals anywhere into some mythological stereotype like you're doing is really off the mark of reality.


Nothing in that film IMHO was off the mark or westernized. It is the truth of how people live. If you are thrown off because they're not praying to some Sun Goddess all the time, then you need to watch this and other films like it, and learn what we are really like.

I'm just saying...

Thanks for taking the time to respond, Ben. If you re-read what I wrote, I think you'll find you're merely reiterating my points. I'm not saying aboriginals should behave in one way or another, my comments are on the cultural quasi-religious shift of the West & how it views primitive or pagan nature worship as superior. Thus to win the contest in the eyes of Westernized or "modern" judges who predominantly hold this world view, the more traditional nature aligned tribesman fits the bill.

The same media that has conditioned us to absorb these cultural views, has also programmed us for knee-jerk reactions vilifying any analysis as "racist, intolerant or stereotyping."

And bending to those myths doesn't help anyone. Never sell your soul to win a contest.

I'm judging this video as an individual, not as a contest judge. If you want to do work so you will win contests, you're not doing art, or truth, and should find another line of work.

I think the piece as is rocks, period.

No one is talking about selling one's soul. Jumping to conclusions isn't "truth." Nor is arguing for the sake of arguing, reason. All art is subjective, & some people want to "market" their material for the purpose of dissemination, which results in financial rewards & eventually greater artistic freedom. Money can provide this. You could call it winning. The starving artist syndrome produces grumbling complainers that are angry at the system.

Winning may also be subjective (judges, buyers, clients, target demographic, etc), but it's also quantifiable, thus polarizing. My writing wasn't polarizing, merely a perspective analysis, one which I'm paid for.

The world is what it is, love it or not. Why not make things that are true but also marketable?
Even documentary film makers aren't entirely 100% objective, they tint things the way they want the picture to look, to portray the story they're selling. Is this dishonest? NO, it's art, & art for sale isn't a sellout, it's distribution for appreciation. Why can't that "rock" too?

Once again, if you re-read what I wrote without your bias, or PC axe to grind, you'll find I loved Simon's work. Judging from all the effort he put into it, one can deduce he would have liked to win. Sure, we can all say, winning isn't important, but it's nice when it happens. Especially for true appreciation.

BenB: thanks for your comments; I appreciate your input always! Your avatar image makes sense to me now knowing part of your heritage!

TrixTrax: Thanks for your big review; I appreciate you taking so much time to write your insights.

One thing to note: this is best viewed in HD, as the vimeo compressed SD version has introduced some noise distortion (and become unacceptably soft).

The competition is still ongoing. Its actually a very small competition run by people over on dvinfo.net. Its kind of an excuse for people to get out in nature and films something. Its more like a club, but anyone is free to join! UWOL stands for underwater, overland. Everyone who enters gets to judge, so we judge each others videos, the one with the highest votes wins. There is no prize, other than taking part.

Info can be found here:

www.dvinfo.net/forum/uwol-challenge-our-newest-contest/

I appreciate you dissecting the video from a technical point of view, and glad you liked it. Its interesting to see that you spotted a number of tricks I used here (like cutting to the beat of the music).

Some other tricks; I tried to use the 'golden ratio' a good deal in most shots, found either naturally or found in man made structures. Some of these shots are blatantly obvious (the paint on the building, the sticks in the 'interview' shack, others like the reflection of the dam less obvious). Every shot (bar one) also features water (or something to do with water like the fish and kettle), and nearly all the shots move in a journey from left to right. I wanted to kind of have a number of common threads running through this, to highlight the journey of the man (and the river), and to tie everything together subconsciously.

I don't know what the 'Morning Sex' sign means. It was painted on the side of a building in his village, and when I asked him about it he was not sure either. Its been there for years and no one really sees it. I just threw it in there to get people wondering about it the way I did when I saw it.

I did not make it obvious in the documentary, but kayaking was his actual job (not so much a hobby); he was a safety kayaker with a rafting company. So when tourists fell out of the rafts he was one of the guys who went to pick them up. The section of river his family lived beside had many huge Grade 5 rapids, and became a tourist activity. However, at the end of last year a new dam was finished on the river, which submerged the rapids. So he, and others lost their livelihoods.

The connection between him and his father was that his father used to make a living as a fisherman (using a traditional canoe) on the river, while he made his living as a kayaker (using a modern canoe) on the river. I wanted to show this difference between the past and the present because that is the reality. Progress is here, and nothing can stop it. The clothes he is wearing are quick dry clothes as worn by many kayakers all over the world (both the 1st world and the 3rd world).

With the loss of his livelihood he was searching for the next way to go on, and to keep making a living. We went down to a lower set of rapids, Itanda falls, and filmed there. So this movie was about his journey onwards, looking for new rapids as it were.

So while the kayaking is a Western pastime, for him it was actually a 'source' of income. Thats not to say he doesn't enjoy kayaking (he does), but he's also terrified of it.

I didn't want to go into the backstory, as I wanted the journey to be a little enigmatic, but there were quotes in there about the dam and so on that work on some level even without knowing the full story. I wanted people to get a sense of the idea, without going into too much detail.

But the fact is that in documentary work you can of course shape the story in the edit; and by leaving stuff out I turned the story towards the zen-ish direction that it went. Yeah, that was on purpose, because people like it, and you have to give your audience what they want! But at the same time I have to believe in the story as well; otherwise there would be no point going out there and doing projects like this (no monetary return, nothing to gain in reality). I only do these private projects for my own enjoyment. Naturally I want to win, and I thought this story worked on a number of levels both in terms of the forces of nature at work, and the sources of power on display.

I'll have to look into what settings I used with Magic Bullet, I believe it was a preset (Blockbuster I think) that was tweaked a bit and only used at 50-60% opacity. However the vintage 50mm Nikkor lens used for most shots also had a lot to do with the look.

With regards to audio we used a shotgun microphone in a blimp, running to the Zoom recorder. You can see there was a lot of wind in some of the interview shots, so nothing would have worked in those circumstances other than a blimp with a deadcat).

Hope that answers some of your questions? I'll let you know how it goes with the competition!

Have to say, I love the backstory, Simon, thanks for taking the time to share that with us. The shot with the dam in the BG kind of also broke my spell of tribal Africa, though at the time I wasn't quite sure what it was. Perhaps not as compelling as the loss of a brother to the river, there's still something for the emotion junkie in the loss of livelihood. Not to mention I've learned something new about active wear clothing. When I was searching for Force of Nature video contests, I came across something to do with Heinz ketchup on YouTube, which might be perfect for your piece. Sorry I don't know any of the details, but upon second look your man's kayak isn't electric pink, it's tomato red! Your theme fits perfectly with the whole extreme sports youthful marketing image Americans are going for these days. You might want to pitch them...

For the text at the beginning I just used 2 separate layers; the first one with the bulk of the quote, and the second one with just “the source”. They both start at the same time, but “the source” one ends a few seconds later. Both fade in at the same time, and then the main one just fades out. “The Source” is set to spread left a few seconds later, and fades out as it spreads. So there was no keyframing or anything like that; it was a really simple effect once I got the timings the way I liked them. All done with the basic text property panel in FCPX.

The idea was just to have the title of the movie emerge from the quote, so originally I just had the ‘the source’ fade out a few seconds later than the rest, but it lacked impact, hence why I decided to spread it. As the text was on the right side of the frame, the center spread did not work well, so that’s why I went with a left spread.

Incidentally TrixTrax, I do understand your thinking here with regards to designing a project specifically for your audience (in terms of going all in on the traditional culture theme). While it is possible to make a documentary lean one way or the other, to actually push it that far off track from reality would have made it completely fictional (you would actually have to get the kayaker to act a role he is not accustomed to). I doubt I would be able to push things this far personally, and I think it would be difficult to convince people to act in a way they are not used to.

BenB is right; you can’t sell your soul for these things. Well, unless you do it with a sense of humor, that is:

I have always been fascinated by the Italian Mondo movement (documentaries made in the 1960;s like Mondo Cane), which were a type of pseudo documentary featuring blatantly made up scenes, mixed with real documentary footage, and a gray area of film that might or might not be real, or somehow creatively massaged. The gray area was always the most interesting part of a Mondo movie. Unfortunately the movement degenerated into the lowest common denominator (sex and death), and devolved into the the genre inhabited by the Faces of Death series, and influenced film with the likes of Cannibal Holocaust. As a result the original Mondo movies lost their credibility.

I did a small tribute to this genre with a pseudo-documentary called Mondo Safari, which you might get a kick out of. This one did win a competition. I pushed this out all the way, but everyone was in the know, so no harm done. What’s real, and fake, I leave to the viewer to decide. Suffice to say we really did do most of what you see here, and had great fun doing it:



Off track here for a moment (and another shameless plug), this is another short doc I did (which also won a competition). This was a jolly upbeat little project that everyone loved because it was so innocent and irrelevant. The theme was to make a doc about four animal classes (Amphibians, Birds, Reptiles and Fish) in 3 minutes. The reason I include this here is because I also did this short using straight cuts (not a single transition), mainly for driving the story forward in as short a time as possible. I cut this in Premiere, but interesting from an editing perspective I think (because I crammed 4 self contained stories into the 3 minute allotted):

More great work, thanks Simon. You seem to be very at home in Africa.

Greatly enjoyed the Safari episode, highly entertaining. Nice writing & witty delivery too.

As for Ben & supposed kerfuffle over "forcing" natives to perform; that was never the point, it was merely an analytical comment on global trends tracking. Helpful for the clients we deal with, people that utilize art for their livelihood. Again, when people don't pay for something analytical it's usually viewed with some level of contempt.

You seem to be able to handle creative criticism without becoming defensive, which is the mark of a mature individual. With that in mind, there is one shot in the Safari vid, that breaks the spell for me, when I see the shadow of the GoPro camera on the top of his helmet while riding. Reminding the viewer how it was made, is kind of like famous feature film flubs when we see the camera crew reflected in the middle of a love scene.

For that shot I would have preferred the sun in front of him, so I'm caught up in the trek, not the tech.

The bird was fascinating, indeed the beak almost does look prehistoric. Your focus pulls in that section thru the foliage were most effective. The African people seem lovely, their smiles light up the screen with warmth.

Did you write & narrate that comedy as well? Sorry, I didn't read the credits.

The 4 species in 4 minutes one was also engaging, loved the shot of the man running across the grass scooping up frogs. Perhaps that contest's requirements made it a bit of a gymnastic exercise to cram all the components into the constrictions. For me it became a bit disjointed, or not as flowing as the Safari one.

You're obviously very talented. Do you make your living from this now?

The Source title sequence... (still learning all the technical tweakings - used to having others do these things). Watching it again, I would have loved for "the source," to have pulsed with a tiny glow the moment it became isolated from the rest of the text, before it spread, just a little luminary throb to add a finishing touch.

thanks again

"kerfuffle"? Really? You're the expert, I guess. Whatever.

Yes, the GoPro shadow has been mentioned to me a few times, so I guess it drew attention to itself in a negative way. I actually included those shots of the shadow of the rider as I liked the look of it (there is even one in the opening title scene). I guess I was not bothered by the camera shadow as I was making a 'documentary', and wanted to reinforce the idea by showing the cameras (as opposed to fiction where cameras are a definite no). However, the fact that a number of people raised the issue meant that it was attracting attention in the wrong way. Live & learn.

The narration was actually done by my dad; he is very good at impressions and accents. He was in a different country, so I sent him the script and asked him to put on a Pathe News reader voice, with a tinge of old-world arrogance and droll humor thrown in for good measure. He read the script in a number of different tones, and emailed them to me. So he never actually saw the footage that he was narrating to. He nailed the dry tone I wanted first time though.

With regards to the short called 'unloved', yes I agree that it does not flow as well as I would have liked. The collection of the 4 animals was also very random to anyone that didn't know the specific theme of the competition. So that short only works in the context of the theme, and it does not really work too well as a standalone movie due to the arbitrary selection of animals that have no real world linkage.

I don't make a full time living from this Im afraid to say, though I do get paid jobs from time to time (I have a 'real' job unrelated to video). I used to work in TV back in the days though, and learned to edit originally on tape-to-tape machines for news production. Those were the days!

Great stuff, Simon. You certainly have what it takes to turn your hobby into an industry. Sounds like talent runs in your family.

The final update on this movie; in the end it did win the competition, so I was happy about that.

TrixTrax; do you mind if I copy some of your review and post it in another forum? I reckon it would spark some healthy debate there? Thanks.