Getting Lear: How To Show And Not Tell

"All documentaries must invoke, as best they can, the spirit rather than the letter of the truth - and they are exciting because of this. A documentary's authenticity ultimately lies in its organizing vision rather than any mechanical fidelity to life." - Michael Rabiger



Monday, November 24, 2008

Chinese Democracy


Something to think about:

The phrase "representation of reality" is utterly mistaken as a definition of documentary, because the idea of film as mirroring is a false one and a very misleading ideal. - Henrik Juel

And now this:

The whole idea of my doc, as formulated by Stu Omans and Maurice O’Sullivan, was to explore issues of aging through the lens of King Lear.

A noble idea that was battered and bloodied by the machinations of documentary production.

Scratch that -- it was battered and bloodied -- by MY machinations.

And now, like Axl’s Chinese Democracy, I am the one holed up in my Smith Street fortress of solitude, with the shades pulled tight and a mini Berlin Wall of pizza boxes protecting me from … Chinese Democracy.

Sure, my doc is about Lear and aging in a general sense, but it’s really about aging and the actors who are performing King Lear. I used Stu and O’Sullivan’s idea as a jumping off point to get to where I wanted to go with Lear.

My point being and it’s a point that I make at my own risk, is that a documentary cannot be made by a committee. If a doc is anything – if it hopes to be anything – it must be unique in its vision and execution.

Easy, right?

Ha!

1 comment:

ucfmills said...

Don't forget you're allowed to "construct" while you explore.