Open Call: Rough Cuts

This piece is very captivating and beautifully edited. The 16mm film footage is so different from what I’ve seen in the past. At first viewing this threw me off and I wondered if actors were brought in to reenact some of Elizabeth’s story. On a second viewing I enjoyed the playful mix between the film footage and Elizabeth today. I especially liked how the personal letter was handled with the war footage. I’m wondering what will come next and if there is more to the story, perhaps from Elizabeth’s daughter’s point of view.

I found the 16mm footage very strange in its own right. As someone else noted, this is not your typical home movie footage. It actually uses cinematic technique to express gestures. I find myself wondering why this aspect is not the main subject of the film. As it stands it is used as mere background for a story that we are never really involved in or fully given. I feel that that there are many more possibilities that open up if you use your film to analyse its own use of found footage, rather than just falling into the trap of "oh look that footage is beautiful and old looking. People really looked like sitcoms or educational films."

From the footage in the film I would be left to assume that during a time of war people no longer trusted that merely capturing a a place and time on film was sufficient. Instead people imposed a cinematic sense onto their memories, thus the camera setups and two shots. To me that seems like the subject of the film.

Ellen, I simply can't believe that this family had such PRICELESS footage! Can you imagine setting up the camera and getting into bed like that? Amazing! Like a sitcom, but real. Gorgeous footage. Priceless. And so sad.

I think you began at a good point- you have it all out there and it should be easier to edit it down.

Yes, adding Elizabeth at the beginning will be great.

I think it will be easy for you to finish this elegantly.

Ellen, thanks for inviting me to comment. The audio is rich and compelling - I like needing to work or wait a bit to make sense out of the specific relationships. The visuals become interesting when Elizabeth is in view. The visuals become compelling for me with the letter. Maybe because the letter comes when I get first get the idea Johnny did not come back from the war or maybe it is because the camera handling is distinctive and refreshing at that point.
The older footage is beautiful but not compelling for me. The way you handled old/new film/video in "Always Around" doubled what viewers could to look at. I think these clips could be "processed" in some way too. Not necessarily doubled but the information in them needs fattening...if that makes sense. Please keep me posted as this develops! bebebeard.com

Thanks for the feedback. I'm off to edit and bring an image of Elizabeth in the present to the beginning of the piece to give it more of a context. I'm going to experiment with tightening the rambling narration and see what it's like to include questions from me. This is a great process.

The 16mm footage is just so beautiful!

We found the voice-over narration a little confusing and rambling. I know that is partly because Elizabeth is confused on some points, but it does make it a little challenging for the audience. We had to watch it a couple of times to understand the there is a relationship between Elizabeth, Jim and Ellen. So, we would focus on re-working that and perhaps re-recording some additional questions to tone down the confusion. That said, it does appear that the confusion element is a central part of the story – memories fading, etc., so I would not lose it entirely.

I want to know who is talking sooner, so I would also try and bring in a contemporary image of Elizabeth earlier.

There’s an overall wistful and melancholy quality which is very compelling.

Simon Kilmurry
Executive Director
American Documentary | P.O.V.

Ellen,
Thank you for sharing Elizabeth with us. First, I think this is a really touching interview. I think audiences will find many connections in this story to modern day events that families are facing with the current war. As you continue to shape the story your telling, I think you should consider bringing Elizabeth in a little earlier visually. Can you think of a creative way for Elizabeth to share the screen with 16mm? I know this might seems to be too much, but with only 3 minutes or so to get the story out, let’s try to not make the audience work for information.

Also, I noticed you used the sandbox footage, let’s see if we can find some PD footage of the actual Ticonderoga. After a little research, I’m finding this is a well known ship from WWII. If we can’t find it, I think we need to give the footage you used some context to acknowledge this may not be footage of the Ticonderoga event. I’m going to pass this around to some editorial people inside to add some addition comments on this. Good job on both cut’s looking forward to how this will develop.
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Christopher Hastings
Supervisor WGBH Lab
Post Production Supervisor, WGBH

I'm the filmmaker and I'm looking to tighten this short, shave down a minute of time, and have the piece not end so abruptly. Thanks for your help with this editing process and enjoy the old 16 mm films.