WARNING by Jenny Joseph When I am an old woman I shall purple With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. I shall sit on the pavement when I'm tired And gobble up samples in shops and press bells And run my stick the public railings And make up for the sobriety of my youth. I shall go in my slippers in the rain And flowers in other people's gardens And learn to spit. You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat And eat three pounds of sausages at a go Or only bread and pickle for a week And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes. But now we must have clothes that keep us dry And our rent and not swear in the street And set a good for the children. We must have friends to dinner and read the papers. But maybe I ought .... practice a little now? So people who know me are not too and surprised When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
Integrated Skills II Social issues, Helping Elderly People Lesson 2
Handout 3, Activity 3 Interview with Mark Harris, USC professor, filmmaker Q: What do you think a documentary filmmaker should bear in mind when choosing their subject matter? M: It should be something that you feel strongly about. It should be meaningful to you, a subject worth spending the time on that it takes to make a film.
Q: Once they have chosen the subject, how should filmmakers start on the path? M: A lot of preliminary research. You need to know who are going to be the main characters. I think casting a documentary is one of the most crucial decisions you make as a director. Whom are you going to be focusing on? Through whose eyes is this story unfolding? Casting is as essential for documentary filmmaking as it is for narrative filmmaking. And then the next thing you need to figure out is what the question you are examining. What am I trying to say? What’s your point of view on this? That can change as you go through the film, but always have some attitude toward my subjects when I start.
Q: How do you make your subjects feel comfortable during interviews? M: I spend a lot of time with them beforehand. I always try to establish a relationship with them. That might mean going out to breakfast with them beforehand or a pre-interview phone call. I always spend at least an hour beforehand somehow. Q: Are there any tips on getting interviews? M: Besides spending time with them, I think it has to do with how you respond to them. I really listen to the music as much as the words. I’m always trying to listen to the underlying emotions of my subjects. And my interventions are not so much questions of facts as they are questions of emotion. Instead of asking, "What happened next?” I might say "That must have made you really feel sad”, or something comparable.
Q: What are the common mistakes that you see documentary filmmakers make? M: One thing is that they haven’t thought clearly through what the audience needs to know to understand this film. They’re so immersed in it, they make assumptions that the audience knows what they know. People are afraid of narration. It’s sometimes the easiest way to get from point A to point B and to provide the exposition that you need. People are fans of observational film and they don’t think you need to set things up.
Q: What advice would you give a new documentary filmmaker?
M: You have to really love the process of filmmaking. I’ve been making documentaries for over 40 years. It’s not only my vocation; it’s my way of experiencing the world. It’s a way for me to discover things about myself. Every film that I’ve made, successful or not, it has been a great learning process for me. And I love the process.
