True Life: Brian Bergman

The Making of True Life: Brian Bergman

Over the span of the past 7 years I have been learning on a consistent basis more and more about filmmaking. My interest in cameras and film started in 6^th grade when I had the opportunity to join GNPS TV/75 in the middle school. I have worked with top of the line equipment as well as with top of the line student filmmakers. This final project was by far the most difficult, stressful and overall the worst production I have ever worked on.

My roles in this group were director, cameraman, and assistant editor. Granted, we only had a crew of 3 people, everyone had to pull their own weight and do things they did not want to do. Unfortunately (without naming names) not everyone was able to do that. It was as if our group was fighting fire with gasoline most of the time. If I had to choose an MVP for this project, I would choose Derek Barocas. His skills in both production and post production were utilized to the fullest and he was the only one able to maintain a clear head at all times. Unfortunately our group chemistry was sub-par. I guess personalities have a lot to do with how well a group can function together. You would expect that because all three of us are friends, we have similar work ethics. Much to my dismay this was not the case. During the pre-production process, it was hard to communicate with my other group members because they simply are procrastinators. There were no personal problems involved, simply the fact that they were lazy. I had a feeling from the start most of the work would be done by me, so I wasn’t surprised when that ended up being the case. As the due date got closer, the group effort improved a little bit and the production phase went relatively smoothly. As for post-production, this phase was by far our highlight. We came together and were able to incorporate all of our ideas into an excellent documentary.

The inspiration for our film came during a discussion between me and Mr. Daszenski. During the pre-production phases we were having trouble getting our project off the ground. I took it upon myself to meet with Mr. Daszenski and utilize his creative mind. Finally we came up with the idea of doing some type of documentary or story of Brian Bergman’s life. Brian’s life is full of stories both happy and sad. Although we didn’t have the materials necessary to make a Sundance Film Festival, I am happy with he way we conveyed Brian as a person and as a student. If I could, I would revisit this project and perfect it for the sole purpose of showing the world e exactly how Brian affects himself and the people he interacts with.

Overall the success of the film can only truly be measured by the audience reactions. Having a personal involvement with the film I would like to think of its success level as high but yet again I have a biased opinion. My favorite scene(s) in the film are the montage of different adjectives that Brian’s fellow peers use to describe him with. I think this aspect uses good cinematic and editing techniques. I think it adds to the comic relief of the film while at the same time portraying the true Brian.

Like I said earlier, the film is in no way perfect. I had high hopes for this film, on the other hand I’m a visionary not a realist. One thing I hoped for this film was that its quality would end up somewhat professional. Unfortunately, there were many factors that were out of my control. For example, because we shot in an environment that was not staged or full of extras, real people had no idea what we were doing. Therefore the continuity and flow of the documentary was interrupted with bystanders staring, laughing, or interrupting our production. Overcoming that challenge in addition to using low grade equipment and two days to film, led this film to a standard lower then what I had hoped for. I always like to think to myself “there will be a next time”. Being a senior in high school, there aren’t many occasions when you can say that. I am overjoyed to know that when it comes to making a film, there will always be a next time. When I engage in my next production there are a few things that I will for sure do differently. For starters, I will take a lot more time to plan the story and shot selection for the film. Planning is always the most important process yet most of time the one most overlooked.
In this film we were able to incorporate a wide variety of cinematic techniques. Five distinct techniques that I found most prevalent were the long shot, medium shot, close up shot, tracking shot and intertitles. The long shot was used to show isolation of Brian in a classroom full of student; him doing his own thing (texting). The medium shot was used during an interview of two of Brian’s peers, due to the fact that there were two people. The close up shot was used to show the true expression of a person being interviewed and how they reacted to the question(s) about Brian. The tracking shot was used for the purpose of audience enjoyment. An audience likes excitement and movement, if we kept the camera in a stationary position the entire time, we would lose the audience’s attention. Finally, we incorporated intertieles. We decided to use this technique because we saw it effectively used in Gus Van Zant’s Elephant. Being a documentarian myself, I like to use other director’s ideas especially when they are successful. I would like to say that although there were many low points during the making of this project, there were also many learning experiences. N a totally non0cheesy way, I like to think that everything u do teaches you something new, no matter how boring or how basic the task may be. This project may have ended up a total disaster, at least I learned for next time what not to do.