Moving Images, Understanding Media

Chapter 6 Recording and Presenting Reality 231

they were convinced of the potential of the subject matter.

Th ey proceeded to record dozens of hours of interviews,

events from the reunion, and visits to dancers in Los

Angeles, Dallas, Cincinnati, New York, and London. Th e

archival research for the fi lm led them to seek out sources

in Chicago, Australia, New York, and the homes of former

ballet dancers from across the world. Finally, their editing

process was so extensive it took them over two years to

fi nish it, and the fi nal release of the fi lm was in 2005.

Economic Considerations

Many independent fi lmmakers have pursued topics of

personal interest. At fi rst, they may seek funding, such as

when Robert Flaherty secured fi nancing from the French

fur company Réveillon Frères for Nanook of the North. With

the development of marketing and advertising early in the

twentieth century, it became clear to certain companies

that it could be in their interest to initiate a project.

Th us, subject matter can also be propelled by a corporate

entity or production source. Th is is seen in the career of

Flaherty, who in 1948 made the fi lm Louisiana Story fully

through the funding of Standard Oil (although not truly a

documentary, it does contain non-fi ction elements common

to Flaherty’s fi lms).

In all of these diff erent circumstances, part of the work of the fi lmmaker

is to develop outlines and proposals to pitch projects to investors, studios,

and broadcast networks. Many professionals spend a considerable amount of

their time seeking grants from arts and humanities councils, government-run

Figure 6-21 Archival image researched and

used for Ballets Russes directed by Dayna

Goldfi ne and Dan Geller. (Courtesy Geller/

Goldfi ne Productions)

Figure 6-22 An example

of contemporary digital

production techniques:

fi lmmaker Eugene Corr, a

veteran of major Hollywood

productions, shooting the

documentary From Ghost

Town to Havana with an HDV

camera and a minimal crew.

(Courtesy of Tamsin Orion)

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