Over the past week I have watched five short documentaries: A Place Like This, Pockets, Keeping Balance, Andre D. Wagner, Photographer, and Why We Create. Most of these were high quality documentaries under ten minutes. However, some are lackluster. This post will explain why.
A Place Like This Is an interview-based documentary. This documentary explores the horrifying experience of Alex Jenkins’ experience of when his warplane was shot down in World War II. However, this documentary is not morbid or depressing. In fact, it is a celebration of life. The film takes place in Jenkins’ garden that he built up over the years after the war. So, there are plentiful nature shots of blooming plants. Jenkins’ interview is interjected with explanation of the beauty of the surrounding plants. Then the color correction extenuates the colors and vibrancy of the plants. This color correction even reaches Jenkins himself. It breathes life into this surprisingly charismatic old war vet. The films aesthetics are exceptional.
The story that Jenkins tells is effective. It has vivid imagery like almost hitting the point of a church tower; falling for three minutes in silence; and his partners last words. It has a narrative build up and a conclusion that the viewer wants to hear even though ending to the story is in frame. A Place Like This is an excellent documentary.
Pockets is less a traditional documentary, more a conceptual piece. There is no clear story with a narrative or a three-act structure. In place of a narrative the film follows a concept — people are asked to show what is in their pockets and explain why they have it. Most items, as expected, are sentimental items. Now, this concept would be pretty repetitive and stale if Pockets did not handle it so masterfully: The films length is brief, so the concept stays fresh. The cinematography is excellent as it utilizes multiple types of closeups and focus racks. Then the interviews are j-cut and l-cut providing a dynamic flow to the documentary. Pockets is a beautiful execution of concept.
Keeping Balance follows a woman that uses an amusement park ride to cope with her troubled life. This documentary is interview based even though the viewer does not see the interview setup. Rather representative footage is played over the interview. An example of representative footage is when the interviewee speaks of the park’s workers as friends while a shot of a ride worker is seen through a window with the interviewee is reflected in the window. This documentary has a clear narrative build up in the story and a conclusion. Keeping Balance’s is an excellent example of a short documentary.
Andre D. Wagner, Photographer is a lackluster documentary when compared to the other four documentaries in this post. It is about a film photographer, and his day to day life with his hobby.
There is no tension, conflict, or any real narrative arc. This documentary is interview and could have been salvaged by the interview segments. However, the interviewee is dull and monotone. There is no emotion in him, so his voice just bores the viewer. To the films merit, it does have style in its cinematography — Black and white footage shot hand-held to mirror the photographer’s on-the-go lifestyle with his film camera. This style cannot fix the core errors with this documentary. It would be advised to not waste time on this documentary.
Why We Create is a short documentary that doubles as an advertisement for a family owned design service. This documentary like Pockets is brief which allows it not to become a dragged-out ad. The b-roll is good, and the interview bits create a story. It is short, and sweet. There is not much more to say.
All five documentaries, A Place Like This, Pockets, Keeping Balance, Andre D. Wagner, Photographer, and Why We Create are all distinctive from one another. Yet most of them are worth watching to study duration, narration, and how to use representative b-roll.
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