Treatment

Documentary Treatment

Working Title: Steel Bells

Length: 5-10 Minutes (Approx.)

Hook/Tag Line: An untraditional look at tradition

Short Synopsis: Focusing on several of the Morris sides in Sheffield, our purpose is to highlight who the dancers are and through this learn more about Morris dancing as a whole.

Outline of Documentary: Our two-piece documentary will focus on the cultures and personal lives of those involved within the Morris Dance community. For an introduction piece will aim to show its audience the process of a troupe's progression from rehearsal to the Morris Tour. We hope to use interview and vox pop within this piece to show the different views on the subject and the amount of people who actually understand what the Morris Dance entails. The main piece however, will focus on developing an emotional connection with those involved, by the use of interviews and archive to tell their individual stories as to why the take part in this society. The different stories will come together to allow the audience to have a broader understanding of the subject as a whole as well as hopefully change the stereotypical view of the culture and people involved. With this film, we intend to show the audience a world that they may not have seen before. Through showing them the strong sense of community, the strange yet loveable mix of characters that are involved, we intend to educate people on not only the dancing itself but the wider context of how important the traditions in our country are. By bringing to the forefront the excitement that is encompassed with in a performance, the audience will be able to engage with why people feel so strongly and enjoy the dancing so much. The visual spectacle and sound that come from a performance will be edited together to create a sense that the audience are part of this performance therefore drawing them into the film and it's issues even more.

Analysis: The film will be shot over a series of practices and a weekend of dance that is taking place in the Heart of Sheffield. We also plan to use a range of information, such as interviews, vox pops, archive and event footage, to offer variety throughout the piece, using shots and sound creatively. In regard to sound, we will use a mixture of the music from the events, the interview recordings, mirroring the rhythm and the power of the dance. We aim for the documentary to follow and rely on the interviews we record to create the narrative and emotion. During this, the shots will correspond with the interview information. The interview will talk about the process of rehearsal, where we will react with using shots that correspond with this, i.e. the film work taken within the training hall, if the interviewer talks about their past, we could use archive footage. We want the piece to flow so the audience understand and follow the information being presented to them. For inspiration, we looked at previous documentary Way of the Morris by Tim Plester & Rob Curry, and also used Alice's knowledge, as she herself is part of this group. Way of the Morris has been a major influence mainly due to its subject matter. The way in which it approaches the dancing through the human experiences of the people who are involved is something we have taken into consideration. However rather than tell the story of one team as Way of the Morris does we aim to tell the story Morris as a whole and how it has effected its members and why they have felt drawn to participate. The mood of the piece is light hearted, reflecting the jovial nature of the tradition. It would seem wrong to look at a hobby in a way that was serious or pessimistic. Some may want to document the decline of the tradition, whereas we want to celebrate it and it's people. In the film we aim to reflect the fun that people have, the brilliant mix of people and the passion they have for this form of dance. Steel Bells will be heavily driven by interview which will have a major part in the narrative. A documentary where I saw this technique was Saving Face. Although the subject matter of out film is not serious like that of saving face, the use of interview in the film is something that is very important. Through interviews the stories are gently unravelled. This idea is very appealing and effective. By using interview as a narrative tool it will be possible to subtly reveal the dancers stories and therefore revealing the broader story of Morris Dancing as a whole. By asking about why people do Morris it will be defined in a deeper manner than simply asking what it is. This will reveal a more human side to the tradition and involve the audience more, engaging their feelings rather than bombarding them with historical facts.

Alice Hathaway: Producer/Sound Design

Lewis Hague: Editor

Natalie Obank: Cinematography

We decided to all take on the Director Role throughout the project.

As producer Alice is able to use her contacts in the Sheffield Morris scene to arrange contributors and locations for the documentary. As cinematographer, Natalie can use her module skills and equipment to capture the footage throughout the work, arranging different shots and set ups. Lewis, the editor, will look through the footage, and depending on the tempo of the visuals, he can accordingly create an edit that compliments the visuals on-screen.

Session 5

Interviewing.

During this session we hit a few snags. We couldn't record sound because the XLR lead we had was broken meaning any sound would be crackly.

Therefore we sed the time to practice interview set ups. We did the simple talking head idea and also tried something different in doing a set up that involved movement. This was an interesting idea that I had not tried before as any interviws I had previously shot. I think htis may be a good techniques to use in our film especially if we are interviewing multiple people and maybe have people demostrating sricking or stepping.

Production so far

So just an update at where we are at.

I have contacted several teams and thay are all happy for us to film.

We are filming with Pecseaten, Five Rivers and Boggarts Breakfast.

I also have permission to film at th eIntervarsity fols dance festical (IVFDF) that is taking place in Sheffield this will be an opputunity to film these teams and several others. Also I think it will be great as the footage should help to create the atmosphere and illustrate what morris is. Also it will be a goo doppurtunity to get interviews with some other teams from furthur afield. I have contacted Earlson Morris and Fools Gambit who are two teams who are both very good as dancers and fall out with the stereo type.

Overall I think it's going very well.

Pecseaten Shoot

Session 4: The pitch

Today we did out actual pitch presentation.

Over all I feel it went quite well. I think that people are intrigued as to what the world of Morris Dancing is and what lies beneath the surface.

This session also helped in terms of waht akes a good peessntaion. I think the ideas of peer review and a more professional opinion gives one an idea of both appealing to the target audience and a pannel of perspective funders. I think that this helps to prepare for future when we may be in these situations professionally.

Our Pitch Power Point

What exactly is Morris?

Morris dancing, an ancient form of English dance, and no-one is quite sure where it came from. However it is still going fairly strong to this day. Although it does have a some what out dated image I feel that it is something very important to English culture and should not be lost. This is in a way what I wanted to do when I came up with the idea for this Documentary.
The child of Morris dancers and a Morris dancer myself I have a strong heritege int eh tradition and others like myself are keen to dispel the image that morris has gained its self.
Th eworld of Morris is a broad spectrum with many different forms so I have decided to cencentrate this post ont eh styles we will feature in the film; Border and Cotswald.

Forst Border is a style that is thought to originate from the area aroung the England/Wales Border. Generally Dancer have blacked faces. A tradition that originates from needing to be disguised as dancing out in centuries past could be considered to be begging and therefore illegal. many of these teams are still founf in England. Thrir style tends to be quite boysterous. The three teams that revived Border in the 70 were The Paradise Islanders, Silurian and the Shropshire Bedlams. From here the style has grown in popularity and there are now many Border teams throughout the country and beyond. They are distinguish able by their kit. It consists of a rag Jacket, Bells and a painted face. There are variants on this but you's be hard pushed to find a team that doesn't have these characteristics. They also dance with sticks and tend to make a lot of noise.

In our film we are focusing onw the Border team Boggart's Breakfast,  They are somewhat against the grain. Although many mebers do have beards there are such a mix of people that one migh twonder where the morris stereotype could have arisen. By working with this team on the film I think we will have a strong counter to the stereotype we are trying to break down. Also by filming them dancing we will gain a lot of energy to the piece. Their dancing is fast and furious and their music and costume complete the spectacle and will add a real flare to the visuals or our film. here is a short example of them in action.

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The other style we will be foccusing on is Cotswald, This is the style that people will usually imagine when you mention Morris dancing. It also brings with it a negatice stereotyp eof old bearded men with pot bellies swishing hankies around. This is a side to the tradition granted and we do love them all but there is so much more to the cotswald tradition. The two sides we'll be speaking to are, Pecseaten and Five rivers, both young, highly regarded teams from Sheffield. Again as with Boggarts the aim is to appose teh stereo type and tell the story of Modern Morris. Cotswald is probablt the most well known of the traditions. It often involves complicates stepping and intricacy of figures. Also the tradition had been heavily male dominated but now there are more female sides coming into the light. This is a trend that Pecseaten will help us represent, therefore representing the changing face of Morris that has taken place over the last few years. A highly regarded team, talking to them will I feel give us a great insight into the Morris World.

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Also we are working woth 5 rivers Morris another highly regarded team in Sheffield. Again many of their members go against the stereo type.

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This is a very brief summary of what morris dancing is about in order to give what's in my blog some context before the final films are finished.

Short Documenataries and our approach

For the presentation week we have to include a clip from  short documentary that reflects our approach. Having been through I have found several that I think have elements of what we are aiming for.


Iranian, Gay & seeking Asylum.

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I'm looking at these documentaries in terms of their narrative structure and technical elements rather than their content so some of them are a lot more serious than anything we are doing. However apart from the emotional element of this film being very strong and a very serious subject matter, it's structure is something that I can see in our goal. We want to use people's personal stories to represent a wider story. Here it is these Men's struggle for asylum and the hardships they have gone through, telling a wider story of the persecution Homosexuals face daily in Iran. For us it is peoples personal stories telling a wider story of the English Folk Dance community.

Pockets.
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The stylised nature of this short is something that really stood out to me. In terms of cinematography I think this is a nice idea to go for. Also being able to get outside  think will add a lot to our film as it does to this one will open out the screen space more. Make it more natural. I think this especially important given our subject matter has a lot to do with movement and space.

Hip hop Grannies

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This is the film we are going to use to illustrate our approach. Like ours it is about something a little unusual or unexpected, I also really like this film it is inspiring and heart warming. In terms of it's structure it is along the lines that we are going for, it used the women's personal stories, explaining where they come from and why the enjoy hip hop dancing to explain the wider story of the phenomenon and the cultural issues that surround it. The way it is driven by the interviews is also something that I have taken from this. Also the way this is constructed with splices of interview and action is something we will go for I think. The film we intend to make will very much be driven by what people have to say because Morris dancing is folk dance and folk means of the people. We want this to be their story.

Group Meeting no.3

In this meeting we discussed how we were going to approach the Pitch and the treatment.

As a group we worked on both. For the pitch we decided that we should bring a visula element into it so have created a presentation. This is primarily to introduce the image of Morris Dancing. This I think will help people understand better what our aims are. I also think it will make people more interested especially if they've never seen it before. Fort this reason we have also included a short video to show the energy and exitment of the dances.

We also talked about what we would say in the pitch. We will talk about what Morris is to set our film in context, helped ny the images. We will also talk about our aims and how we will achive them.

Also we will talk about how our poetic will lead into the ten minute. The poetic is prominentley about presenting this 'other' side of Morris dancing that people 'outside the circle' as it were are not so aware of. Then the ten minute will focus more on the dancers themselves. This will add something more personal I feel. It will also I think through this inform an audience who were otherwose unaware of this little sunculture feel more involved.

Session 3

Pitching and Pitching Practice.

I found this session very informative and also be ing able to practice the pitch and get some sort of idea of an audience reaction  found very helpful.

I was able to take note more about what people wanted to know about the roject and I also need to think of a way in which  can get past peoples perceptions of Morris dancing with the pitch. This is why I intend to use a power point because  think that it is imperative that images are used to really portray what this documentary is about, the coulour and the vibrance. I also feel that seeing the dancing will make people feel more onvolved in the presentation as people can become alienated whan you're talking about something they don't know and I thik Morris is something a lot of people don't really know about, especially as we are talking about specific teams.

group meeting No.2

In the second meeting we discussed in greater detail what we were going to do for the 2 minute poetic documentary. We are going to go down the route of showing through image and sound the spectacle of the performance. We will show the contrast of a practicing team and the final dance out, this juxtapostion I feel will crete a sense of the journey that a team goes through to get t the performance. It will also show what Morris is. Through these images and sound the ideas of friendship, fun and the energy of the dance will comethrough which will show the audience what it means to be a morris dancer. we also discussed the orgonisational side. Working out when peple couls shoot. as for each team there is only one day a week we can film them there is a limited amount of time to get what we need therefore I think that the orgonisation of the piece will be intergeral to it's sucess. From here the film is beggining to come to life in our minds and the creative vision we have for it is becoming clearer.

Way of the Morris

Way of the Morris (Plester/Curry 2011) is a documentary that I have been heavily influenced by. It is a film that is in some parts falls into the poetic mode. I feel that this is instrumental in how it portrays what Morris means to the people who do it, what it means to the English culture and what Morris actually is. The opening I think is very clever. The animation and poem are beautiful and i think set the tone well for the film. The idea that the world was 'danced into being' I think sets the president for how important the dancing is to the people in the film. Also I think that it sets the tone of slight mysticism which surrounds the idea of Morris in the film. It is pointed out that no one knows where it came from and the filmic qualities reflect something that is steeped in mysticism. The shots of the country side with which the dancing is associated. The foggy morning landscapes give the film a magical, almost spiritual quality which I think is a metaphor for what Morris is. It is a deep rooted tradition that means so much to the people that do it. I think that it is magical and spiritual and the film portrays that in a way that makes the audience realize how special this custom is. Another thing the film does well is present those dancers in light which is not mocking. So many times has the tradition been ridiculed and here it is presented in a serious manner by someone who knows and understands the tradition. This is important to the film as it could have so easily turned into a comedy about silly old men dancing with hankies. Instead it a serous piece of cinema. One sequence that always sticks with me in terms of the poetic is where a shot of a stick clashing dance is overplayed with the sound of the New Zealand Hakka. To me as a viewer this shows what Morris really is. By using the commonly understood mouri custom and attaching it to Morris it shows that the dance is an important part of English tradition and it is in fact an ancient custom that should be upheld. I think it describes what Morris is better than words ever could. The film is more however more about an individual team and I think although it is telling a strong and compelling story it is not a fair representation of Morris in the modern world. There is no representation of other styles and it is a 'ring side' that is portrayed in the film. The Morris ring is a group who although do a lot of work to maintain the tradition are not keen on women in certain Morris traditions such as Cotswold which is what the film represents. This is something I want the film we make to show, how Morris has needed to change and how it has done in order to survive. However want it to have a positive feel, showing that Morris is alive and well. I want to break away from the stereotypes which still seem so prevalent in society. Morris I feel needs to be represented as an inclusive and thriving community that is varied and exciting. Above all I want to represent the broader spectrum of English traditional dance which although I love Way of the Morris is something it does fall down in. Saying this however I believe it's mission statement was not to show the whole Morris world but to tell the story of a team. It succeeds in this and is a heartfelt and well informed piece but it does fall into the old stereotypes of Morris Dancing in places.

'Saving Face'

Saving Face (Obaid-Chinoy/ Judge, 2012) a documentary about the acid attacks on woman that plagues modern Pakistan is one that I found very effective. The Documentary which explores the lives of two women living with the disfigurement caused by acid attacks is moving. It explores many of the issues that surround the issues in modern day Pakistan that lead to the high frequency of these attacks. It also does this in a way that I feel is not patronizing towards Pakistan or the victims, which is a trap that so easily have been fallen into. The way the documentary is put together subtly reveals some of the issues underlying that is causing the rise in attacks. Whereas it also states some of them clearly. One example is the issue of lacking education and illiteracy. Although in interviews stated this plainly, in a more subtle manner it is shown how this leads to ignorance and the sustaining of old, dangerous attitudes towards women. Something that I found particularly effective is the exposure of how prevalent Misogyny still is in some parts of Pakistan. This being one of the major problems that needs to be tackled in order to overcome this problem. The way they do this is to expose the attitudes to the victims from the outside world. Many are ridiculed for their disfigurement. There seems to be a general attitude that it is the Woman's fault, she is the one to be punished. Again this is made prevalent in interviews with the perpetrators and their families. There seems to be that there is never any admittance to the crime, but also that it is always something the woman has done to deserve this. It is made clear through the film that these women are innocent victims. It is this constant lying and contradiction which is a clever device used by the film makers in order to show why these attacks are continuing in the modern era. What is also a great strength of this film is its broad view point. It looks at many of the people that are involved with acid attacks and helping the victims. It is not solely about just the victims but the people who are helping them and also about how the law is changing in order to help these women get justice. I think that is why this documentary is so successful as it doesn't just look at the problem and tell the victims stories, it is showing the wider picture and what is changing and what still needs to change. They way in which the victims are portrayed is something I feel is a breath of fresh air. These Women are portrayed as strong individuals who are fighting for justice in a world that is against them. They are over coming what has happened to them and are able to get the justice they deserve. Although it is clear these women are victims, they are shown to not be weak but to come out of this fighting. The film shows how brutal the attacks on these women were and how they are victims. However it is a positive outcome, showing how women continue to fight for justice, how the law had changed to help then get it. It also shows how despite the disfigurement there are organisations and surgeons willing to give them the help they need in order to lead a more normal life after their traumatic experience.

Session 2 5/2/12 Poetic Documentary

Documentary modes: • reassembling fragments of the world • a transformation of historical material into a more abstract lyrical form • usually associated with 1920s and modernist ideas How poetry is defined • Rhythm • Metaphor • emotion Definitions of the poetic mode Subjective interpretation of the material Forsakes traditional narrative content Tone and mood more important than story and character Editing style continuity is not a concern In my view Poetic documentary is the merging of the traditional modes of the genre, such as the portrayal of the real, with a more artistic form of expression. Rain Joris Iverns (1929)is a cinematic poem showing how his city chances in the rain. Rather than following the conventional documentary mode of say asking the public, he films what is happening and puts together a cinematic poem to describe what the city is like in the rain. A poetic documentary is a way of experiencing something, an evocation. Using movement Rhythm and feeling and capturing the moment-the now. Night Mail, basil Wright/ Harry Watt (1936). Part of the British Documentary movement and the GPO film unit, Night mail begins by following the conventions of a public information film. Portraying something but not in my opinion capturing the now. however the last three minutes, set to a poem by WH Auden and a score by Benjamin Britten really captures something about the movement, power and speed of the mail train as it thunders through the Towns, Cities and Countryside of early 20th century Scotland. Night and Fog, Alain Resnais (1955) One of the first films to show the horrific images from the holocaust there is something even more disturbing about it because of the calm, unsinister voice over which seems to be at odds with the images. It is even more hitting because of this I feel. The lack of Interviews of survivors and historians I think actually adds to the power of this film. There is something almost lyrical about the way the voiceover describes the camps and the environment 20 years later, transformed. Koyaanisqatsi (life out of balance) Godfrey Reggio (1983) I feel that the images in this film are allowed to speak for themselves which is where I feel the beauty in this piece lies. The lack of voice over lets the view draw their own conclusions about the story portrayed through the images of countryside and city. One encroaching on the other. This is a powerful notion and I think that the seeming simplicity of the film is something that makes it so powerful. From this session I have learned a lot about poetic documentary, a topic that was somewhat of a mystery to me. I didn’t have any strong ideas of how to create one before but after the information in this session I have been able to form stronger ideas.

Group Meeting No.1

At the first group meeting, Natelie, Lewis and myself decided on a Idea.

Having been involved in the Morris scene from an early age, I have a passion for it and have wanted to make a Documentary on the subject for a long time. Having put forward the Idea to the group they seemed to like it.

In terms of roles, I have taken producer as I already have contacts in the Morris world and Producing is an area I am keen on. I have also taken the role of sound. Natelie is Cinematographer and Lewis is the Editor. Between us we will share a directorial role, working together to decide what shots will look best. 
Having decided upon this idea I have now undertaken contacting teams and the orgonisers of IVFDF, a weekend festival of Dance whick is taking place in Sheffield on the 2nd and 3rd of March. This will be a brilliant poourtunity to catch several great teams iut dancing in full glory.