Fishpeople.
Fishpeople is an example of a formal documentary that tells the story of people who have a deeper relationship with the ocean.
This documentary is a light-hearted and easy-to-watch as it follows a relaxing subject with no particular sense of challenge.
I chose to research this documentary as it follows a group of people who are particularly interested in a subject, which is what we are trying to achieve with Purebred, however it's carried out in a different format to how we plan to shoot.
Fishpeople uses formal interviews cut with GVs to tell the story of each person involved in the film. They're represented in blocks, and not cut together like a lot of documentary formats that are telling the viewer about multiple people. Usually this would seem a slow and dragging way to edit a documentary but I think because this is an easy watch, it fits, as you're not having to remember the story from the person that they're changing onto.
Not using a presenter also makes it easier to watch as it's less facts-based and more about just telling the people's stories and presenting their emotions. This is done with the help of the music and kinds of shots that are used to match their stories, for example, the dramatic waves are shown during the story of the young surfer, as he talks about the dangers of surfing. But slow, beautiful underwater shots are shown when watching the story of the diving spear hunter.
Almost all of the interviews are actuality-based, such as the characters on boats going out to dive, or preparing a meal of fish for families. Although the shots are most likely scripted or storyboarded in a way, none of it seems acted, and it all seems very natural, which suits the topic also.
As well as talking to the characters, they also spoke to doctors to get their opinions on what the people were doing. For example, the lady who is able to stand very low water temperatures and swim for long distances has a doctor speak about how she is very unique, and how her body is able to handle it. Although a lot of the documentary isn't facts-based, this helps the viewer understand how the characters do what they do, and helps them be able to empathise with the characters more as they know how it's done, and also how it feels. As well as speaking to doctors and the characters, they also speak to family members and members of the local community who know of the character to get an idea of other people's opinions on what they do. This also helps the viewer understand why the person does it. If the viewer either feels the same way as the character or at least understands, then the documentary has achieved its goal.
Because of the topic, it deserves great cinematography. The beautiful underwater scenery and the slow-motion crashing waves are captured in very high quality, and this does it justice, and helps the viewer understand why the characters want to be in the water and just to see what it's really like to be them.
To understand the history of the stories and how they all started, they've used archive footage from the characters themselves to be able to show how they may have been affected in their childhood, such as the spear hunter who was brought up around the ocean, which made her feel more comfortable around the sea and the sea creatures, and also to develop her skill of holding her breath for so long.
I think what I take from this documentary is how much research must have gone into the subject, as they have been able to speak to people that you might not have even known existed before they were in the film. The lady who could swim in cold water had had media attention beforehand and this experience likely helped them to get access as she would have known what to expect. They also could use the media coverage as research. They also had spoken to the surfing club for children to find the man who was teaching the children how to surf, and to find him they likely would have found the club or spoken to similar clubs to find the person who had that 'deeper story' that connected all the characters. This also meant that they were able to talk to the children who were part of the club for other opinions on the guy's work.
This networking would have taken a long time and a lot of phone calls to find the right people to talk to. This is inspiring me to ensure that I'm contacting plenty of people, even if we don't want them to star in it they might be able to help us to find someone who would fit the part. With enough contacts we'll be able to create a more professional documentary with more relevant people.
This documentary is a light-hearted and easy-to-watch as it follows a relaxing subject with no particular sense of challenge.
I chose to research this documentary as it follows a group of people who are particularly interested in a subject, which is what we are trying to achieve with Purebred, however it's carried out in a different format to how we plan to shoot.
Fishpeople uses formal interviews cut with GVs to tell the story of each person involved in the film. They're represented in blocks, and not cut together like a lot of documentary formats that are telling the viewer about multiple people. Usually this would seem a slow and dragging way to edit a documentary but I think because this is an easy watch, it fits, as you're not having to remember the story from the person that they're changing onto.
Not using a presenter also makes it easier to watch as it's less facts-based and more about just telling the people's stories and presenting their emotions. This is done with the help of the music and kinds of shots that are used to match their stories, for example, the dramatic waves are shown during the story of the young surfer, as he talks about the dangers of surfing. But slow, beautiful underwater shots are shown when watching the story of the diving spear hunter.
Almost all of the interviews are actuality-based, such as the characters on boats going out to dive, or preparing a meal of fish for families. Although the shots are most likely scripted or storyboarded in a way, none of it seems acted, and it all seems very natural, which suits the topic also.
As well as talking to the characters, they also spoke to doctors to get their opinions on what the people were doing. For example, the lady who is able to stand very low water temperatures and swim for long distances has a doctor speak about how she is very unique, and how her body is able to handle it. Although a lot of the documentary isn't facts-based, this helps the viewer understand how the characters do what they do, and helps them be able to empathise with the characters more as they know how it's done, and also how it feels. As well as speaking to doctors and the characters, they also speak to family members and members of the local community who know of the character to get an idea of other people's opinions on what they do. This also helps the viewer understand why the person does it. If the viewer either feels the same way as the character or at least understands, then the documentary has achieved its goal.
Because of the topic, it deserves great cinematography. The beautiful underwater scenery and the slow-motion crashing waves are captured in very high quality, and this does it justice, and helps the viewer understand why the characters want to be in the water and just to see what it's really like to be them.
To understand the history of the stories and how they all started, they've used archive footage from the characters themselves to be able to show how they may have been affected in their childhood, such as the spear hunter who was brought up around the ocean, which made her feel more comfortable around the sea and the sea creatures, and also to develop her skill of holding her breath for so long.
I think what I take from this documentary is how much research must have gone into the subject, as they have been able to speak to people that you might not have even known existed before they were in the film. The lady who could swim in cold water had had media attention beforehand and this experience likely helped them to get access as she would have known what to expect. They also could use the media coverage as research. They also had spoken to the surfing club for children to find the man who was teaching the children how to surf, and to find him they likely would have found the club or spoken to similar clubs to find the person who had that 'deeper story' that connected all the characters. This also meant that they were able to talk to the children who were part of the club for other opinions on the guy's work.
This networking would have taken a long time and a lot of phone calls to find the right people to talk to. This is inspiring me to ensure that I'm contacting plenty of people, even if we don't want them to star in it they might be able to help us to find someone who would fit the part. With enough contacts we'll be able to create a more professional documentary with more relevant people.
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