Representing The Real – It’s Getting Real
Representing The RealAs part of our documentary module, Representing The Real, we have been tasked to create a five minute documentary on a person of our choice. The focus must be on their individual character and personality, and we are to find and isolate the most interesting facet of them and capture that through a documentary film.
The Team
- Alex, Duncan, Euan, Jessica and Sophie.
Development Phase 1 – The Ideas
Most of our group contributed an idea (or several), so we had plenty of option and variation in potential subjects for our documentary. After discussing the viability of our ideas with Joe Li, a lecturer on the module, we narrowed it down to the following three:
Iain Smith, a Scottish lawyer who advocates for judicial reform of the treatment of working class youths by the court system.
A Buddhist monk, preferably the abbot, at the Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery in an undocumented legal battle with the local council over plans to build a shooting range next to the monastery.
An unspecified soldier that is responsible for firing the cannon to mark 1pm at Edinburgh Castle each day.
Development Phase 2 – Securing Contacts
It was recognised by everyone involved that these would not be easily accessible subjects for the documentary film. A lawyer would have strict time-constraints and a hefty workload, so may be unable to commit to filming for a documentary – there is also the issue of what could be said in the documentary affecting their legal career and reputation. A Buddhist monk may not want to discuss a strained relationship with the council or an unwanted development on-camera, and are notoriously difficult to make contact with. We haven’t identified a specific person for the cannon at Edinburgh Castle, but might come into the issue of multiple people being responsible for the role.
To better our chances at securing at least one of three contacts, we aim to try and contact all three parties.
Development Phase 3 – The Results + Next Steps
Once we have contacted all three subjects I will update the blog to reflect our progress and any obstacles that have arisen.
