At PinePoint, there are no Sickos or Auctions, so no help will be needed

In this week’s [insert crescendo here] “Reviewing Documentaries with Joel Evangelista!” we will be featuring three different types of documentaries. A feature film, a documentary style television series, and something I am really excited for, the interactive documentary.

In my RT-203 Documentary and News Production class, we learned about a new hybrid of mass media documenting, utilizing the Internet. This is the new interactive style of documentation; our featured project is that of “The Goggles’” very own, Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge. The two geniuses are most notably known for "Adbusters", a magazine dedicated to worldly issues, introducing a culture shock of amazing visuals and writing.

Simons and Shoebridge were in the midst of writing a book about forgotten towns and cities, when they came across the story of “Pinepoint.” Pinepoint is a town that was demolished after the main industry, mining, was proven to be dead. A website was molded, to commemorate the story and life of Pinepoint, by a past resident named Richard Cloutier. Cloutier had designed the site with voice commands after he was diagnosed with MS, permanently removing the use of his limbs.  The Goggles found Pinepoint the most interesting story to document and instead of publishing it in their book, they decided to phoenix born Pinepoint into a commemorative interactive documentary website. This documentary focused on the life of Pinepoint when it wasn’t a barren land of asphalt and dust roads, the life of the people who happily lived in a town, designed to be “lived” in.

The site begins with a subtle introduction that is scored by an indie rock band called “The Besnard Band.” The site visually resembles an arts and crafts book with handrawn pictures, cut-outs from old photographs and magazines, and torn magazine clippings. Pinepoint featured on NFB is a very visually pleasing site, that surely captivates its audience and makes them feel for the loss land. As you flip through the “pages” of the online book documenting Pinepoint Revisted, you encounter videos, mainly archival footage, flash animation, interactive photographs that you can scroll through, and short readings. To be quite honest, this was my type of documentary, you can tell that love and care was put into each and every animated piece. The interview style was also featured in this piece, but in an odd but creative way. Two brothers were mentioned in one of the “pages” of the online book, and showed footage of each brother as they stare at you, over this audio of there voices are talking, but is very subtle so not to distract the viewer from reading the book. This overlay of audio from the interviewees is used throughout the whole book, audio is an important piece in this site, featuring ambient b-roll audio for each and every page: laughing children, cars driving, people talking, glasses cheering, and parties abroad.

Pinepoint is featured on the NFB website and is accessible by everyone. I am sure that this website has done it’s job in showing the ex-residents of Pinepoint to see what has become of their wonderful home and how they can still feel love for the place they grew up in. Pinepoint is an example of never forgetting a town or city or home that was once physically visible, but now is not.

PinePoint interactive doc (CHECK ME OUT!)

Michael Moore is a famous documentarian because he pokes at the wonders of American society. Moore’s “Sicko” (2007) focused on how flawed the American Healthcare system is, and how the government is supporting it for the sole purpose of making another dollar.

Michael had introduced the documentary with very powerful voiceovers that bridged together sequences on some of his main subjects, americans who are living proof that the system does not work. “Sicko” much like “Supersize Me” confronted corporations, or in this case big time “Health Care Insurers” who claim to be for the people. One of the main subjects, or interviewee, is Mr. Noe who was trying to be approved for a Cochlear Implant for his daughter Anette Noe. As soon as Moore claimed to be making a documentary on the flaws of the American Health Care system, Mr. Noe had mentioned to his Health Care insurer, who had declined the surgery for the implant for Anette, that Moore was going to making a film about their organization. Anette’s surgery was approved moments after with a message from the board of their Health Care Insurer. Moore’s vision and message had helped and he had not even released his documentary. The American Health Care system is flawed and is surely proven by Moore’s “Sicko”.

Moore’s “Sicko” is a powerful documentary because, like most of the feature length docs that I’ve watched, utilizes every tool in the tool box to make an effective and captivating doc. Because “Sicko” included all the main and essential ingredients of a documentary (interviews, art direction, voiceovers to bridge sequences, the sequences themselves, archival footage, show and tell, and a great soundtrack) all that was left was the edit. To say the least the edit was entertaining, the introduction to the piece alone was very playful yet straight to the point. Moore says “But this is not about them, this is about you, the ones who have healthcare,” which sets the tone for the rest of the film. The edit considering all of the different tools utilized, was very easy on the eyes and did not feel cluttered or jam packed at any point, overwhelming would be one of the worries, but Moore had constructed a perfectly easy to watch documentary, where he can get his message across, and still have fun. Archival footage was mainly used as comedic relief, or tone setting with different interviews (16:24 in the film is an example.)

Link to Sicko (Online Stream)

“Auction Hunters” is a conventional broadcasting television show that has documentary elements. Because I’ve reviewed “Storage Wars” already, this may sound similar, but I can’t help but show my love for the storage container auctioning series’.

“Auction Hunters”, unlike “Storage Wars”, follows one pair of bidders, Ton Jones and Allen Haff, two quirky individuals who know how to scope expensive storage units and have fun with it. The interview portions of the show are filmed in a green screen room and sadly have the same backgrounds and lighting. With the exception of the odd character they will encounter trying to find out if their finds are worth anything.

Ton and Allen in this weeks episode had travelled out to San Diego, which is a great port of storage containers from around the world, an auction hunter’s dream. The start of the day looks grim as amateur bidders are physically looking in containers, and one of the locals is buying all of the containers. The last two crates are all or nothing for Ton and Allen and prove to pay off. One contained a military footlocker with expensive assault rifles and scopes, the second containing a very expensive “fighting chair” (a one seat chair that is rigged to fight hooked fish, most commonly found on a yacht.)

The camerawork for “b-roll” or show and tell and live footage was shaky at times and not very well lit. Backgrounds were hot from the gleaming waterbeds behind our subjects, and the lighter colored wooden containers acted as a reflector in which the camera op did not account for. The show overall was decent  and should only be watched as a “Conventional Broadcasting series.”

Auction Hunter's - Reel Money Episode (SpikeTV)

Thanks for checking out this “exciting” blog, it’s time for me to play Skyrim. FUS DO RAH!!!!

Joel Evangelista

Wood in Stock in your Storage Compartment?

In this installment of REVIEWING DOCUMENTARIES WITH JOEL EVANGELISTA! We will be looking at Woodstock, the documentary that followed the events of the largest musical festival in the world. I particularly took interest to this doc, mainly because music is important in my life. The opening sequence, along with the rest of the film, felt like a music video. After doing some research prior to watching the film,  I found out that the film was edited by none other than the famous Martin Scorcese. Scorcese took a radical twist to the traditional edit of a documentary, and included split frames, sometimes up to four asymmetrical frames. Live performances from amazing bands, an eccentric edit, accompanied by outrageous interviews made this the award-winning doc that it became.

The first five minutes of the film is strictly music, and the events of the crew scoping out the location of the festival, and setting up the stage. Then it jumps into our first interview with the organizer of the event, it is very informal and right off the bat gives you the vibe of the film, marijuana inspired musical peace concert. Although marijuana and other drugs were present at the festival, and was clearly present by interviews with those watching the show, the event was still organized, and not in any way trying to be nuisance to society. What made the documentary so captivating, besides the great music, was the fact that the short interviews with the fans were intimate, they weren’t set-up locations with fixed lighting, they were on the spot quick interviews.

Overall I found Woodstock to be the most entertaining documentaries I have seen to date. The set-up to the film was an interview with an older man who lived in the county next to the farm where Woodstock was held His testimonial on how well behaved and polite these “hippies” were to the folk in his town will surely show that rock and roll is not the cause of rebellion and anarchy, but the music behind a peaceful people.

Someone was kind enough to put the full movie on the interwebs.

 Woodstock Google Stream (FULL MOVIE)

Storage Wars follows the battle between four thrift store owners, Dave, Darrell, Jarrod, his wife Brandi and Barry. These entrepreneurs constantly hunt for storage lockers that have been unattended and are being auctioned. This weeks episode featured an equal split in lockers, and really displayed each character’s personality. By the end of the episode Barry, the oldest of the bunch, came out as the most profitable with a find of antique flare guns.

Interviews were spread across the episode thinly and were only present to comment on what was happening in the story/frame. These guys can really get on each others nerves, and it shows in each and every interview. This doc style show on A&E is more of a “day in the life” / “show and tell” style of story mapping. The camera crew follows the group of thrifters from the storage sites to their respective shops, and is able to capture the intimacy that is the world of the thrift business.

Overall, Storage Wars lives up to the conventional broadcasting doc style set of series. The intimate nature of these shows really goes a long way to help captivate their viewers. 

A&E Info Page for Storage Wars

F for Faulty Deals

In this week's edition of, queue dramatic music, "Reviewing Documentaries with Joel Evangelista!" We take a look at the documentary by Orson Welles, "F for Fake." Speculated upon we find that this is far from the classic documentary, it is rather a film essay, an informative cinematic twist to the classic documentary.

I find that Orson Welles, being the jack of all trades that he is, took it upon himself to make the doc different from others, applying his film background into the mix. Many of the transitions between sequences/Orson Welles' spiels about art forgery, are disguised by clever cuts and illusionistic framing.

You can find the whole movie on Youtube, the links for all the parts will be posted at the end of the post. In this video, at 2:29, you will find a great example of the planning that was put into this doc. Everything before it, the intro piece, is also a good example of the cinematic planning Welles infused in his take on a documentary.

F for Fake : Part 1 (links to 2-10 on youtube)

The TV documentary that I took a look at this week is a Discovery Channel special entitled, “Natural Born Dealers.” This documentary takes a look professional buyers/sellers. This episode followed Jeremiah Pasternak flowing through a swap meet and looking for “steals” on expensive/aged product.

Besides the fact of doc techniques used, I was really interested on our subjects knowledge of random pieces of knowledge about all types of product ie, Furniture, carnival vendors, maps, antique gadgets etc.

“Natural Born Dealers” utilizes all the essentials of a documentary: interview, b-roll, and show and tell footage. As Jeremiah commented on furniture that he found interesting, the show, “showed” the furniture, front and center. The show was based around the “day in the life” look, the camera op following Jeremiah the swap meet and interacting with the fellow sellers. All in all, the tv doc was, well, like any other TV doc I’ve seen in my lifetime. It did the job, nothing spectacular, nothing that sticks out, beside the odd family/company they got going on.

Discovery Channel Times for "Natural Born Dealers"

Supersize my Special Op Cocker Spaniels

Throughout this experimental project, we will be looking at three different types of documentaries. Group A are those docs related to News Magazines, Group B are the feature length docs, and Group C are those that fall under the TV documentary category.

Today, as a feature length film, we will be looking at "Super Size Me" by Morgan Spurlock (2003), a documentary used to convey the message that fast foods, particularly McDonalds, is horrible for your health. Morgan Spurlock during the course of this documentary decided to indulge in a McDiet, a 30 day challenge upon which Morgan will digest McDonalds for every meal. By the end of the McDiet, Morgan can only ingest foods and drinks that are on the McDos menu, and must eat every item on the menu. And if that isn't enough, Morgan has to Supersize his combos when the cashier offers.

1 hour and 40 minutes later, Morgan has come down with some serious liver problems, and has definitely proved his point to the audience. Although he didn't just do it through the experiment, of course he needed help from a trusty group of camera ops, editors, and professionals to interview.
Morgans message would have not been as appealing and/or "unappealing, if it were not for his amazing team of editors and camera crew. Super Size Me utilizes every tool in the book for a successful doc, from the very basic interviews and b-roll, to stills superimposed on video, flash animations and narration to list a few.

First of all, I would like to comment on the camerawork. A lot of the b-roll was filmed for a cinematic experience, i mean of course that a lot of the shots were shot and planned ahead of time, using creative ways to portray the McDonalds happy meals, or the size of the fountain pop cups increasing. A lot of handheld camerawork was used to, and this aspect added a realistic "day in the life" point of view, and made me feel like I was there with him, experiencing every time he puked or passed out from McDo overdose. One particular shot bothered me though, it was an interview with David Satcher, MD / Former U.S. Surgeon General, the framing was an offset subject looking just off camera towards the interviewer, which was great, until you notice how out of focus the subject is. The depth of field just fell shallow of David Satcher and made the intricate book shelves in the background very clear and distracting, leaving David out of focus. This bothered me quite a bit because his interview was close to the beginning, and showed up near the end as well.


I also want to point out the amazing amount of intricacy that this doc had become, layers upon layers of stills and text superimposed on interviews and b-roll. An interview with a teenager named Caitlin talking about the idealistic body of a 16 year old girl was covered in stills by the end of her spiel. As she was talking about other girls' bodies, the screen started to fill with pictures of models which seemed to be cut out from magazines, and slowly covered the screen leaving Caitlin in a drowning sea of idealistic bodies. 


All in all, i would highly recommend "Super Size Me" to those who are worried about what their family is eating, but more specifically to those who want to learn something about health, and want to be entertained at the same time. Because Morgan's doc used any and all techniques for a successful doc, "Super Size Me" will captivate and hold you til the end of the doc. 


WATCH YOUR WEIGHT PEOPLE

 Next on Deck is Fight Science : Special Ops, a series of News Magazine documentaries based upon the Science behind different types of soldiers, fighting styles etc. This episode's doc was about the Special Ops of the U.S. Navy Seals, the elite of soldiers, also referred to as super soldiers. Now if you're as interested in Captain America as i am, you should check this out. Just like any National Geographic's series featured, every technique used in a successful doc is utilized. But one thing they had an upper hand on "Super Size Me" is the Scientific gadgets. They got a former U.S. navy seal to undergo tests under different conditions in a room Fight Science lined with 3D modelling cameras. This added a whole new medium to the mix where we could view the strain our Navy Seal Special Ops had to go through, physically and mentally. These 3D models were obviously put on screen for us to all drool over, what science gadgets can do is phenomenal.


National Geographic's Fight Science : Special Ops Episode

Last for this weeks doc review post is from our TV documentary section, i decided to feature none other than the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan. I have this dying love for each and every type of dog, but something that scares me, as well as everyone else is a dog that does not want to co-operate with his/her owner. Cesar Milan has trained himself to be able to interact with those misbehaving dogs, and always succeeds in calming and training the dog to respect his/her owner. 

This weeks episode dealt with a family who wanted to get a new dog to add to their pack, an elderly woman who was lonely and adopted a dangerous mix breed. The essentials were there, interviews with supportive interviews of Cesar's clients, B-Roll. But it definitely only met the bare bones of a doc, being a TV series with commercial breaks planned through the episode, you tend to see a lot of the same b-roll over and over again trying to set up a climax for after the break. This may work for the majority of viewers, but i was not impressed, i've seen it all way too much. The most memorable part of the episode was the first family who were looking for a new dog to add to their pack, the youngest boy was feeling lonely and wanted a dog to call his own, so his parents went out to do so. They settled with the cutest cocker spaniel, and to portray the emotional connection between the boy and their new found dog, the editors used a very touchy song along with interview footage of the boy with the biggest smile on his face, b-roll to accompany it showing the boy playing with the spaniel. 




Overall all these docs were effective. The TV series will be a little harder to pull off with the commercial breaks and "build-ups," but hopefully during this assignment/experiment, i will find a TV doc series that will prove me wrong.


Til then, here is a cute cocker spaniel, 
Joel Evangelista