Filmmaker, McElwee and Papa John Murphy, President of 'The Saints' motorcycle gang and feautured in the film
I
can’t stop thinking about Space Coast. I checked out the film last Monday night
(1/23/12) at the Brattle Theatre’s Doc Yard. The 1979 film is a documentary,
which revealed and provided insight to the lives of three individuals living in
Cape Canaveral a few years after the launching of the Apollo moon missions
there. The directors, Ross McElwee and Michael Negroponte got their “in” with
the community through the connection with Mary Bubb, the official news reporter
for the rocket launches on the Cape who had physically appeared at 1,600
launches. In becoming acquainted with the area the filmmakers were introduced
to Papa John Murphy, President of ‘The Saints’ motorcycle gang and his family
who are weathered by the conditions of their lower middle class lifestyle in
this very typical American society they inhabit. The third person of interest
in the film is Willy Womack who owns a small construction company and also
appears as a clown-host on a local children’s television show. I felt very
fortunate to be able to hear McElwee and Negroponte speak and respond to
questions in the Q&A session post-viewing. Through this I learned that the
two had initially made their trip to the area to make a documentary during
their time as grad-students and filmmakers at MIT spotlighting Mary Bubb, the
rocket launch reporter. They showed up to the area completely open minded and
invested in becoming a part of the community and genuinely became friends with
the subjects they were interested in involving in the film. Despite shooting 4
magazines of film per day, this was only a small percentage of the amount of
time the filmmakers spent with the people featured in the documentary,
developing meaningful and personal relationships with their subjects.
The
natural way in which the film was shot and the ease of the subjects in their
movements, manner and demeanor made it apparent that their relationship with
the filmmakers was very comfortable and that they felt safe to carry on as they
would in their daily lives despite the cameras rolling. There are only several
instances in the film where the person addresses the camera rather than the
person filming by first name and several times you can hear correspondence
between the two (this is not edited out). This style of shooting provided for a
very intimate portrait of the people and the area and kept my attention in
almost a hypnotic way to their every movement, quirk and word. A technical
quality I really enjoyed was that the entire film appeared to be shot handheld
(albeit with a steady and graceful hand). This style reminds the viewer of the
presence of the filmmaker, which for me made the entire experience more
impacting and touching.
The
framing of the photograph and overall cinematography was tremendously
beautiful. There was one shot in particular, a close up of Papa Johns
expressive face and his soft blue eyes which seemed incredibly honest, raw, and
“charged” and has stuck in my mind all week. Negroponte actually briefly spoke
about this quality of the film, which he finds successful to this day. He
explained how people tend to only
document what is going on in front of the camera rather than photograph it, which really added to the
piece as not only a documentary but also a visual experience, a work of art,
and is something I want to consider and emulate in my endeavors of documentary
filmmaking.
I
was interested in Ross McElwee’s reaction to having viewed the film now and
that he felt film was somewhat condescending and unkind, to the point where he
said that he would not be interested in making a film like this today and that
he felt guilty – although he was “not apologizing”. Ross told that with life
experience he had a better understanding and consideration for the hardships of
raising a family and these people’s lives. He was speaking particularly in
reference to his depiction of Papa John’s family life, which consists of his
wife and daughter who is young and has a child but cannot find a job. Some
moments captured on film did make me feel sorry for their situation and maybe
embarrassed for their conditions financially and otherwise but I never felt
they were being taken advantage of by the maker’s. Conversely, Negroponte feels that including these “nasty,
degrading moments is part of the commitment to telling a story” and explained to
the audience that he is a bit more “hardcore on the matter”.
To
explain in words what “happens” in the film is difficult, as the film seems to
capture what is unfolding in this experience around the filmmakers rather than
shot with the intention of revealing something specific. I would like to share
some valuable insight provided by the directors of the film.
1.) The qualities of a good
documentary filmmaker, outlined simply in the words of Negroponte: Non-judgmental,
Willingness to “get to know” people, easy to approach, good listener,
empathetic.
2.) Ross explained that as a
documentary filmmaker you have the power, because you have the camera, and you
have power again in the editing room. This power is also a burden when you are
making documentaries. Be aware of the power of the camera and that the way one
films reveals qualities of the subjects in a particular manner and implies a
connotation, which will permeate the fabric of the film.
3.) It is not as easy to make
films in this style today because people are hyper aware and suspicious of the
fact that their footage could be used in a serendipitous way so gaining access
to the true essence of a personality is more challenging because people are
more guarded today than at the time Space Coast was shot.
4.) Ross sees that the beauty in
a very good documentary is to celebrate and capture the magic in the mundane
moments in every day, ordinary interactions. This is the part of the film which
really worked for me and set the documentary apart from the many others I have
viewed in it’s unique style and poetic qualities.
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