In any form of documentary filmmaking, the script is at best a guide to the final film that will emerge. In the way I, and I am sure a lot of other filmmakers, work is to research an idea thoroughly until the contours, the highlights of the subject start showing up. Then on its a matter of finding the 'appropriate' manner of depicting these high points, and further to linking them up in a structure that holds an audience's attention.
This highly theoretical summary of the process of scriptwriting or finding the 'form' of a documentary in no way depicts how we filmmakers actually work, the frustrations and the struggle involved.
To go back to the point where I was in the last post: I was in Pune when I heard that I had got the documentary to make. There's plenty of activity in the area of ageing in Pune, but ..
The first thing I knew was that I had to be back in Meerut.
Why?
Because in Meerut, I understand every nuance of every word that is uttered by a person. In Pune, nuances of meaning expressed by people can be appreciated in Marathi, not by a Hindi speaker like me. To add to that I have family and friends here, so I knew it would be easier to find my 'subjects'/ 'characters' here.
So I booked a ticket to Meerut and began my research into ageing and caregiving for the elderly on the internet. It soon became clear that there were far bigger problems relating to ageing that were all over the particular issue of caregiving that was my initial subject. I had to show the bigger problems to put my concerns of caregiving into a perspective.
So I landed in Meerut, had my teaching assignments at the local film school, and soon assembled a small team to help find 'characters'/'subjects' for the documentary.
I had always looked at my subject as being ageing and caregiving in the broadest sense of the word and not confined to any geographic area or culture. But to me, the nuances of being in one area and expressing its truth are what are going to make my approach universal. Its from the local that the universal will emerge.
I put all this down into the form of notes for a script and sent it off for approval, while continuing to work on how to put all of my research on-screen.
The script came back with lots of notes- I was called a narrow minded 'cow-belt wallah' by an Anglised gentleman with attitudes from the last century.
Anyway, I wrote another draft to the script, got it approved and began moving towards production.
I knew by this time that I was telling stories of families, of family based caregiving, of people living on their own and moving on to old age homes and eventually the homeless. To give the film a perspective, I was going to intercut these stories with interviews of a medical doctor and a psychiatrist talking about ageing and caregiving.
To me, this became a documentary from the age of Google and free flowing information. More on all that soon.
This highly theoretical summary of the process of scriptwriting or finding the 'form' of a documentary in no way depicts how we filmmakers actually work, the frustrations and the struggle involved.
To go back to the point where I was in the last post: I was in Pune when I heard that I had got the documentary to make. There's plenty of activity in the area of ageing in Pune, but ..
The first thing I knew was that I had to be back in Meerut.
Why?
Because in Meerut, I understand every nuance of every word that is uttered by a person. In Pune, nuances of meaning expressed by people can be appreciated in Marathi, not by a Hindi speaker like me. To add to that I have family and friends here, so I knew it would be easier to find my 'subjects'/ 'characters' here.
So I booked a ticket to Meerut and began my research into ageing and caregiving for the elderly on the internet. It soon became clear that there were far bigger problems relating to ageing that were all over the particular issue of caregiving that was my initial subject. I had to show the bigger problems to put my concerns of caregiving into a perspective.
So I landed in Meerut, had my teaching assignments at the local film school, and soon assembled a small team to help find 'characters'/'subjects' for the documentary.
I had always looked at my subject as being ageing and caregiving in the broadest sense of the word and not confined to any geographic area or culture. But to me, the nuances of being in one area and expressing its truth are what are going to make my approach universal. Its from the local that the universal will emerge.
I put all this down into the form of notes for a script and sent it off for approval, while continuing to work on how to put all of my research on-screen.
The script came back with lots of notes- I was called a narrow minded 'cow-belt wallah' by an Anglised gentleman with attitudes from the last century.
Anyway, I wrote another draft to the script, got it approved and began moving towards production.
I knew by this time that I was telling stories of families, of family based caregiving, of people living on their own and moving on to old age homes and eventually the homeless. To give the film a perspective, I was going to intercut these stories with interviews of a medical doctor and a psychiatrist talking about ageing and caregiving.
To me, this became a documentary from the age of Google and free flowing information. More on all that soon.
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