Creating a documentary was a lot more simple, and a lot more challenging, than I initially thought. It was simple finding a subject to film, and thinking of questions to ask. Patrick Marley is one of the most interesting people I have ever met, so I knew he would be the perfect subject for a documentary. And on top of that, because he won gold in the Grand Prix he has done a lot of interviews, so he was comfortable in front of the cameras and even told me what he thought would be an interesting story.
The story was one of the more challenging aspects. Even though Patrick told us he wanted to tell his and Honey’s story after the Grand Prix, specifically how Honey still influences his riding today, he focused a little too much on the dates and a little too little on the story. This became a problem in the editing suites. Because my group and I had to cut down on a lot of the audio there were a lot of jump cuts that needed to be covered up by interview. Editing in general was a challenge because the editing room is where the final script is written. It is for that reason that I believe making a fiction piece is easier than making a documentary. On a documentary set, everything is basically a free for all. Sure you have questions written down and a basic idea of what you want the final product to turn out like, but that’s all you have: an idea. Whereas, in a fiction piece you have everything laid out before you, nothing can be questioned.
Though making this documentary was fun, and a great learning experience, I think I will stick to fiction pieces. Having everything up in the air on set was a little too nerve racking for me.
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