Documentary
I'm trying to do a documentary on Islamic Radicalism. I'm not getting very far...I've got no sense of story, very few characters, and the prevailing criticism is that "it's too big!"
Well, it's true, it is. And this was the same problem with my early narrative projects, trying to go too big with concepts. Hopefully, I've learned something and can quickly settle down and find something smaller scale - like a family or get involved with a mosque....ahhhhh, there's an idea.
2 comments:
If you don't have a character why do you want to do a documentary? Everything needs a central character to allow us to follow the thread. It can be a person, a building, a state, a reigeme. Start with an overview, give the big picture, then focus on one small area, i.e. an individual that is representive of this picture, and then make a summary. I know that sounds simple. I was taught to find the character first and then the story will reveal itself.
Shit, man, go easy on me. I'm in the development stage. I'm trying to FIND a character. I'm just whining because I ain't there yet....and my focus is too large. And PS - some people find characters, other filmmakers work from what Aristotle calls Action, or what we refer to as Plot - and some start with images or sounds or songs or real life happenings. There ain't a single perscription. Whose the character in Koyaanisqatsi
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