The following docos are all good examples short documentaries to get your creative juices flowing. There is a huge mix here and something for everyone and consider how they deal with their subject matter stylistically through sound and image and also how they create their message.
The apology line is an award winning short film based on a simple premise setting up an apology line for people to ring up and confess something. What the film-maker James Lees then did was film some cityscapes and images to help try to visualise the soundtrack he cut together. The result is a gentle and beautifully shot lyrical short film.
The Apology Line - Short Film (UKFC, Screen WM) from James Lees on Vimeo.
Lift by Marc Isaacs in 2001 is perhaps the simplest idea of all. He set up his camera equipment in a lift in tower block and filmed the comings and goings of it's inhabitants. The result is a slice of real life and the interaction, stories and characters that live within the tower. Their frankness, openness and interaction with Marc is a joy to behold.
A life in a day was filmed by John Mayer on May 5, 2010, a mostly first-person chronicle of the day's events leading up to a performance in Wollongong, Australia. It is a simple idea and perhaps the hardest part of it was deciding what to leave out rather than include. The simplicity of the idea is made up with some interesting cinematography and the subtle tone leading up to what is obviously a big performance but treats all elements of the day the same.
"A Life In The Day" from John Mayer on Vimeo.
Peter and Ben made by Pinny Grylls in 2007 is not what seems like a promising premise of a reclusive bearded man in the Welsh mountains and his friendship with a nonconformist sheep. However the relationship between the two and the parallels drawn between the two central characters made it an internet hit and award winning film. Pinny says of her film "it is a gentle, lyrical film" adding "The story is really simple, but universal in a quirky way: the son not wanting to join the flock, but the eventually joining and the father not wanting him to."
Saving face is an exceptionally powerful 2012 Oscar award winning short film by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and Daniel Junge about acid attacks on pakistani women that leads to disfigurement. We follow London based pakistani plastic surgeon as he travels to Pakinstan to perform reconstructive surgery on some survivors of acid violence. It broaches the subject of under-repoting of such attacks and as such is a social campaigning film highlighting this travesty. Given it's dark topic the film manages to be what Odaid-Chinoy describes as "a positive story about Pakistan on two accounts: firstly, it portrays how a Pakistani-British doctor comes to treat them and it also discusses, in great depth, the parliament’s decision to pass a bill on acid violence." The film demonstrates the power of documentary to inform and educate and provoke discussion about change.
