crashes and his dream turns into a terrible nightmare for him and his family. The film takes us for a walk through the memory lane as the hero struggles for life in the hospital. He survives with a strong will to live and help from the family but he is now going to be a different person. And the admission of that fact is not easy. The brain injury has changed his life and now he wants to change the life of other people.
Producer Martha Mitchell, who was in attendance, informed the audience that making of a documentary is enormous amount of hard work. ‘Crash Reel’, far way from fiction genre, deals with real people and true events and it has kept the journalism standards intact. Nothing has been made up for the film.
The film workshop titled ‘Transmedia Storytelling: Art Direction & Production’ went on for three days at Hunderkada and a hotel. It dealt with just about every discipline of filmmaking from scriptwriting to pre-production and then from filming and post-production to marketing. In the recent years with digital films taking over the scene from 35-mm and the latter taking a backseat (about to be buried in our memories, archives and film museums). The filmmakers on digital cameras are shooting too much and getting confused (along with editor) on what to choose and what to delete. It was pointed out by Andy and Martha that 35 mm came with limitations on ample use of precious raw stock. Digital filmmaking has removed that limitation.
To be creative, limitations should remain intact in some form. The workshop then moved on to the concept of actual filmmaking by the enthusiastic students with the help, techniques and methods revealed and discussed over the three days by Andy and Martha.
Looking back, American Film Showcase this year was a good experience. While technique and mechanics in the age of transmedia are essential, we should never ever move away from the human experience. Computer-generated-effects known in the trade as CGE, are now part of almost every film but human conflict and crisis (Crash Reel) still remain at the heart of every premise and its final resolution.
The author can be reached at aijazzgulgmail.com