4/27/22
Met with Mr. Madzey this morning, and he gave me some really great advice about framing my shots and lighting exposure/contrast, but overall he thought my shots were pretty great. I think I found success with those because of my experience with drawing; in sketches, the frame and structure of the drawing matter as much as a photograph. The triangle method for example, where you place the objects in the frame in a specific way so that it creates a triangle between the objects, e.g. the interviewee, a flower pot, and a window shade.
4/19/22
2/6 recordings down! Today's was Bonnie Fallon, who was just such a blast to be with. Bonnie has been a friend of the family since a year after we moved in. She’s also been the backbone of this whole production, to be candid. Bonnie is a ball of joy and humor with some truly fascinating stories and beliefs about spirituality, and she’s led such a full life, I just knew I had to get her on this documentary. And oh boy did I. Bonnie talked for well over 1 ½ hours of footage. I forgot to charge the camera battery last night and I thought we’d be okay because the camera displayed three full battery bars, but it died halfway through the recording anyway. After the camera died, I started recording on my phone and caught around the last 8 minutes of the interview, and the footage was surprising in its visual quality. Unfortunately, I acted to hit record too late, and a good minute or so of Bonnie’s story is lost from both camera and iPhone. From an editing perspective, some of the stories at the end weren't as close to the core theme, so I may have to cut them. Bonnie gave us so many stories that I don’t know if I can just pick and choose, but she also managed to connect each one with an overarching moral of ghosts to spirits. Some people may watch it and think that she’s a bit nutty but I was left in awe. I have a feeling that the story is coming together, because even if Alice’s story doesn’t quite fit the program, Alice’s and Bonnie’s stories both have a shared theme of houses and Brookfield history.
On the way back, me and my dad popped by the Dunwoody’s house, where we asked Kevin if he has the footage that Chandler told me about. It turns out that it comes from his son Christopher, who will have to dig it up from one of his computers. Kevin gave me his number and told me to call any time so we could set up an interview.
4/18/22
We had our first interview today! Alice Kemp was a great sport; We drove down to her house at around 1:00, and she gave us an interesting story of the disappearance of Mr. Smith from across the road. I’m not sure how much of that story fits my running narrative, or really any ghost-like themes, but she says the people living in the house now - who my father actually already knows - would probably love to tell me a story, and I do wonder if they’d have some spooky stories from their time in the house. Alice also gave us the contact information of somebody who definitely has ghost stories about her house, Nancy… Dormer? I don’t remember the last name off the top of my head, but her daughter’s house is haunted. Unfortunately, Nancy is out of town until Monday, so I’ll probably call her on Tuesday. My dad is now my assistant with audio recording of participants, which I appreciate, though I do feel like I should at least try and do one interview on my own.
4/15/22
After I got back from school I immediately got a message from Connie, who I responded to yesterday (asking if she’d be available this week), and she was in quite a huff about my late reply, and told me frankly that she was out and that she was offended about how inconsiderate “everyone” was about her time. My mom told me that if I send her a sincere apology she’ll probably be happy to go on with the interview and forget all about it, but honestly I’m pretty glad that I don’t have to interview her anymore -- I’m afraid her dramatics would interfere with production. This is still not a good start, however. I won’t discuss the gory details, but some things in my personal life have been thrown into mayhem and I’m worried that I will not be at 100% during these interviews. Mr Madzey can’t meet after or during school, only before school, which I am not even sure is possible for me unless I get up before the bus? I’ll have to hash out the details with him, but I also need that mentor agreement form by this week.
4/14/22
Lissa and I put together a production schedule today for over break, which will be helpful to be sure, but I have a lot of phone calls to make tomorrow. I also emailed Mr. Madzey about a meeting to discuss the production of my film, so I hope to hear back from him soon. I tested my father’s recording microphone and it actually works really well! I took the audio and synced with the corresponding test video and it’s got me pretty excited with how clear the audio sounds.
3/22/22
I just sent out an email to the Korens, Dunwoodys, Alice Kemp, Connie, Bonnie, and that's it I think? Anyhow, I invited them all formally to an interview! I await a response from each. I am proud that, though this being a small step, I've managed to work up the initiative to actually contact these folks, and I expect that they'll be fairly responsive. Some may need a phone call instead.
2/9/22
Going to pick up milk and eggs at the Tabor farm today, my mom introduced me to Skip Tabor. Skip is like dairy farmer santa, with a harty cackle and big beard. He wears a train conductor type hat. These are the kind of qualities of characters that I really think are going to solidify the ethos of this film. He told us on the spot the stories of how his grandmother still haunts his house. He kind of rambled, and I’m concerned about how much editing I’ll have to do to make his story concrete.
1/18/22
Today was the Winter panel meeting, where we discussed the product and paper. I told the panel I had narrowed it down to a doc about characters in brookfield, and the ghost mural. In response to my feelings of wanting to make this project more personal, they suggested I focus the project into a love letter to Brookfield. I like the idea, and Mr Kelman reflected how I’m leaving for college this summer and there might be some sentimentality within the community I grew up in. I feel like this is plausible but I don't have immediate strong feelings toward my childhood when I think of Brookfield, though I could probably dig and find something.
Mr Kelman brought up NYTimes opinion docs, and I remembered how Casey Neistat made a great opinion doc about bikes.
12/8/21
In callback with Lissa, Chandler brought up that Kevin Dunwoody has claimed to have seen ghost sightings, so that's another name on the list for me to interview if I do the ghost stories doc…
11/24/21
I talked to my dad about my Senior Project, I don't know what's compelled him to take such a deep interest in it, but he really wants to help. So we sat down and discussed what I want to make. I ran some films ideas by him and he told me to just go with the documentary. I almost want to do a more personal film, like on Russian Orthodox art, or something like that. He’s compelled me to go with one of the ghost documentaries though.