Note: While Michael Moore's films remain problematic for me, his work has been successful.
With the change in the rules for the documentary Oscar far too many films are pushed into a theatrical release which on one hand has created a golden age of theatrical docs and on the other a glut. Filmmakers and distributors are releasing more docs theatrically than ever before. As Moore suggests too many are television-like shows. In any case, these tips are helpful and too often forgotten. 2014 is one of the great years of the documentary feature. Amazing work.
Mitchell Block
Michael Moore (pictured) may be a
lot of things, but one thing he – quite adamantly – is not, is a documentarian,
he told delegates during his keynote at the Toronto International Film
Festival’s sixth annual Doc Conference.
“We are not documentarians, we are
filmmakers,” said the Roger & Me director, dressed casually in
a black T-shirt and shorts and sporting his signature baseball cap. “This word,
‘documentarian’? I am here today to declare that word dead. That word is never
to be used again.
“People love going to the movies.
The audience doesn’t want to be lectured, they want to be entertained. And
that’s the big dirty word of documentary filmmaking,” he said.
In the hour-long keynote, Moore said
that more documentaries need to be made for theaters, rather than television,
and that these films need to do more to entertain audiences rather than lecture
them.
Moore, citing a conversation with
Sony Pictures Classics head Michael Barker, says documentary makers are having
more difficulty securing theatrical distribution for films nowadays
because audiences have stopped going to theaters to see documentaries they
believe they can just as easily watch at home.
The director said he considered
himself part of the problem, since the commercial success of his documentaries
such as Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11
convinced distributors to put more documentaries in theaters, and ultimately
opened the floodgates for a number of television-oriented docs being shown on
the big screen.
“The audience that got used to
seeing the theatrical documentaries from [Morgan] Spurlock and even Al Gore,
they came out of the theater going, ‘Well that was a good documentary, but I
could have seen that at home on television. Why did I pay $12 for that?’”
explained Moore.
“The public is not going to go a
theater to see a documentary that you can see on television for free. So
basically a glut was created and turned these audiences off and people stopped
going to see these films in theaters.”
Moore said that in order to get
people to revisit theaters for docs, filmmakers need to make more
theater-oriented, accessible work.
The director spent the latter half
of his keynote outlining a 13-point manifesto for filmmakers:
1) Don’t make a doc, make a movie.
“The art is more important than the politics,” said Moore. “Because if I make a [crappy] movie, my politics won’t get through to anybody. The art has to come first.”
“The art is more important than the politics,” said Moore. “Because if I make a [crappy] movie, my politics won’t get through to anybody. The art has to come first.”
2) Don’t tell me anything I already
know.
“Give people something new they haven’t seen before,” said Moore. “With Roger & Me I said there shouldn’t be one shot of an unemployment line. People are numb to those images.”
“Give people something new they haven’t seen before,” said Moore. “With Roger & Me I said there shouldn’t be one shot of an unemployment line. People are numb to those images.”
3) Don’t let your documentary
resemble a college lecture.
“We have to invent a different kind of model than the college lecture model,” said Moore.
“We have to invent a different kind of model than the college lecture model,” said Moore.
4) Too many of your documentaries
feel like medicine.
“Don’t show a doc that’s going to kill [an audience's] evening,” said Moore.
“Don’t show a doc that’s going to kill [an audience's] evening,” said Moore.
5) The Left is boring.
“It’s why we have a hard time convincing people to think about some of the things we’re concerned about,” said Moore. “The Left has lost its sense of humor and we need to be less worried.”
“It’s why we have a hard time convincing people to think about some of the things we’re concerned about,” said Moore. “The Left has lost its sense of humor and we need to be less worried.”
6) Why don’t we name names?
“Why don’t we go after the corporations and name them by name?” asked Moore. “You will be sued. People will be mad at you. But so what?”
“Why don’t we go after the corporations and name them by name?” asked Moore. “You will be sued. People will be mad at you. But so what?”
7) Make your films personal.
“People want to hear your voice,” said Moore. “It’s what most docs stay away from, and most don’t like narration. But who’s saying this film?”
“People want to hear your voice,” said Moore. “It’s what most docs stay away from, and most don’t like narration. But who’s saying this film?”
8) Point your camera at the cameras.
Moore advised doc makers to challenge the mainstream media and film its coverage of various events.
Moore advised doc makers to challenge the mainstream media and film its coverage of various events.
9) Follow the examples of
non-fiction books and television.
“People love to watch [Jon] Stewart and [Stephen] Colbert,” he said. “Why don’t you try to make films that come from the same spirit? People just want the truth and they want to be entertained.”
“People love to watch [Jon] Stewart and [Stephen] Colbert,” he said. “Why don’t you try to make films that come from the same spirit? People just want the truth and they want to be entertained.”
10) Film only the people who
disagree with you.
The director said that while filming Roger & Me he tried to stay away from interviewing union workers to tell the story, since they were basically friends. Interviews with those who held contradictory opinions are harder to secure, but more interesting to audiences, said Moore.
The director said that while filming Roger & Me he tried to stay away from interviewing union workers to tell the story, since they were basically friends. Interviews with those who held contradictory opinions are harder to secure, but more interesting to audiences, said Moore.
11) Make sure you’re getting
emotional when filming.
“Are you getting mad when filming a scene? Are you crying?” asked Moore. “That’s evidence that the audience will respond that way, too… [You] are a stand-in for the audience.”
“Are you getting mad when filming a scene? Are you crying?” asked Moore. “That’s evidence that the audience will respond that way, too… [You] are a stand-in for the audience.”
12) Less is more.
“Edit, and make it shorter,” Moore advised, saying it’s okay to let audiences fill in the gaps. “People love that you trust they have a brain.”
“Edit, and make it shorter,” Moore advised, saying it’s okay to let audiences fill in the gaps. “People love that you trust they have a brain.”
13) Sound is more important than
picture.
“Sound carries the story,” said Moore. “Don’t cheat on the sound, and don’t be cheap with the sound.”
“Sound carries the story,” said Moore. “Don’t cheat on the sound, and don’t be cheap with the sound.”
Moore closed his session by saying
he wanted more non-fiction films to be seen by millions of people and that
“it’s a crime that they are aren’t.”
“For a long time I blamed the
distributors, the studios and the financiers, and really, we should just take a
few moments to blame ourselves as filmmakers,” he said.
Tags: Bowling for Columbine, Capitalism,
Fahrenheit
9/11, Michael Moore, Roger &
Me, Sicko, TIFF, TIFF 2014,
TIFF Doc Conference
