How much pre-production involvement is too much to ask of the subjects?

IjabaFilms

IjabaFilms

Well-known member
Two identical twins I went to high school with just agreed to let me do a documentary on them and their huge family and I was about to let them know what I had in mind for the doc but stopped to ponder a question...

How much pre-production involvement is too much to ask of the subjects?

What I mean is this, I'd already started on the doc with my Albino best friend and I'm working on my interview questions and I asked her to work on some questions or topics, she'd like to cover and I'm having her put together a timeline of her life from which I can get an idea of how I want to tell her story.

I was about to engage in this with these twins and I thought... hmmm what if they don't want to do that much work. I mean it isn't that much from my perspective but it could be from theirs if they have work, kids, spouses, etc. that they have to tend to everyday. I want them to be involved in how the story is told but I don't want to scare them away by getting them to do too much to prepare for the doc to be made.

I've done a doc before but had everything planned out before interviewing the folks but it wasn't really about their personal lives either.

Any thoughts
 
Asking them to sell a kidney to help finance the project is usually considered too much... but it never hurts to ask :)
 
pre production

pre production

Personally, having your subject create a timeline seems like a lot of work for them. This should be your project. What u may want to do is have a pre filming conversation with them, so you can get an idea of where u want to go with your film. But dont go too deep, u want to save the juicy stuff for filming. Jot some notes down etc.

Once you've done this then create an outline of the things u want to discuss on film and the questions you'll ask.

maybe give them ideas of where you plan to focus, such as "childhood in a big family" and this way they may be more prepared with anecdotes and what not.

hope this helps


-B
 
I guess it depends, too, on whether you are just going to interview them a few times, or if you plan to follow them around in their daily lives for awhile. Monkiman96's suggestion of doing a preliminary conversation to kind of get an outline that you can build on is good. That would also be a good time to discuss just how much involvment / intrusion they feel comfortable with.

You might suggest one sit down interview, one "walk and talk" interview where you have them on wireless mics and walk with them through their childhood haunts, or what have you, and one cover footage session where you just hang out with them and their families, shoot daily life and interactions. You might also schedule one session when you'll bring a laptop and scanner to scan photos. This session can also double as a second sit-down interview if you set up the camera and have them talk about the photos as you're going through them.

This way they can know, going into it, that they will have just four obligations that can be scheduled at mutually convenient times, and each one is different so it will be a bit more interesting for them to participate.
 
Thanks for all of your wonderful suggestions. I'm having a conference call with them in about an hour to go over thier story and talk about the film in more detail.
 
I had a wonderful conversation with the twins last night and now I know exactly what I want to do. So this is cool. Thanks again.
 
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