Documentaries For The Future

Now that we've nearly finished our Social Media Documentary, or whatever its focus now is, I'm now thinking about other potential documentaries I'd like to make in the future.

To be honest I've not really enjoyed the making of our film, being producer has been the least creative role I've ever had and the film hasn't really developed in the way we would have liked so I'm not rattling with anticipation to start my next documentary project. Having said that however, I think to make a really good documentary you need to have some passion or curiosity about the subject, it's what will drive you to keep going and keep searching for information and contributors. I think plucking an idea out of thin air and having to develop it is a dangerous method, especially when your coming from a background of fiction where your in control of everything going into the film/story.

A lot of other documentary groups seem to be having the same problem as ours, the idea is very concept driven, there is no actual physical substance to the film, whereas the documentary groups who are out filming real people, with real stories seem to have put together well made, well rounded films. I don't think any of the films that will be submitted will be a true reflection of the filmmakers who made them, I think at the end of the day whoever managed to uncover the most interesting subjects will ultimately make the best films.

A lot of what I've learned this year seems to be related to how not to make a film, I think the don'ts far out weigh the do's. I don't mind that because I feel like I'm much more in control of the production, I'm not just aimlessly shooting things, my decision making is based from a well of ever growing experience.

So whats in store for future projects...

I'm not sure, I'd love to do a documentary regarding the state of my football club, we seem to have gone from being one of the best run clubs in the country to a national laughing stock in the space of 3 years. The club has been the media's whipping boy for a majority of that time and only now have they began to take pity on the fans (we don't want or need any!). But, to my surprise a documentary has already been made and is going to be screen on national television this month I think, someone has already beaten me to it! I guess that's just the nature of documentary film-making, getting out there and starting something early and you never know what might happen.

Other than that I'm not really in a position to try anything else, I'd like to do something interesting, something that I can get excited about but it will take a bloody good idea to sway me to make a documentary rather than a fiction film. Its strange really because I am interested in the real world, I read biographies, watch documentaries yet I have very little passion to make my own, I guess the reality helps me inform my fiction and I don't think that process will change any time soon.