Building a Relationship with Your Subject
Welcome to this week’s Sunday Evening edition of The Backlot. These newsletters will include stories from my recent experiences working in indie filmmaking, helpful resources for emerging filmmakers, and other posts covering topics in the film industry.
NOTE—This Sunday's Edition of the Newsletter is Free. The Backlot is providing mid-week newsletters that will be for paid subscribers only.
Maintenance Update—As you may have noticed, in the last few weeks, we’ve been less consistent with the Wednesday editions of the newsletter. I appreciate your patience and understanding as I work to define the purpose and future of this newsletter. Let me say just one thing, though: This newsletter isn’t going anywhere—just some retooling happening.
Okay, with that out of the way, let's move into this week’s episode of The Backlot, where we are talking about getting close to the subject of your film…
🎞️ Getting Close to the Subject of Your Film
🎬 The Power of Blue Mind
Getting Close to A Subject - When & Why It Matters
One of my favorite documentaries in recent years is All The Beauty and the Bloodshed. The film provides a powerful and insightful look into the life of Nan Goldin, the renowned photographer who played a major role in the fight against the Sackler family.
It’s a moving story, but one of the reasons it has stood out to me is the comfortability and honesty of the subject. The film, which is directed by Laura Poitras, the incredible filmmaker behind the Academy Award-winning Citizenfour about Edward Snowden, highlights her ability to portray the most authentic and powerful version of her subjects.
That is because she is known for taking the time to get to know her subjects, immerse herself in the story, and earn the trust of the individual.
I’ve been thinking a lot about her ability to connect with her subjects while I’ve been working on a few feature-length documentaries. These documentaries center around people and tell the story of their lives, their work, and their future. And for that reason, I’ve been thinking a lot about the relationship between the filmmaker, the subjects, and the audience.
The Relationship Shows in the Film
During the last Greenlight Guild meeting for Camp Five Films, we discussed what makes bad filmmaking and storytelling. Everyone agreed that one element of bad storytelling in documentary films is when subjects appear reserved or guarded on camera.
We discussed how the best documentaries are the ones where you can feel the trust between the filmmaker and the main subject. There is an unspoken understanding that the filmmakers are accurately and carefully representing the subject and their story.
Now, this doesn’t mean they are making the individual look perfect and removing all their flaws; instead, it’s quite the opposite. It’s an acknowledgment between the filmmaker and the individual that their story will be shared fairly and accurately and that there will be no bias or malicious intent against the subject.
This understanding means the subject of the film, or the one on camera, is more likely to express their true selves. They feel safe and supported and are willing to divulge more of their life story for the sake of the film.
This goes for any film. Whether you are telling the life story of a surfer or sharing the story of a political refugee, trust in the filmmaker's shows - and can be the difference between a good story and a great one.
Choosing A Subject Carefully
I’m a strong believer in the idea that passion lies at the heart of true artistic expression. Powerful and meaningful storytelling cannot be told without the artist loving the topic, the person, or the issue at the heart of the film.
In documentary filmmaking, especially if you are in the earlier stages of your career, you are likely to spend years thinking about your subjects. You will dedicate countless hours of your life to learning every single thing about the topic, following every aspect of the issue, and working within the community.
When your film is centered around people, it’s even more important to consider how and why you choose your subject. You will form relationships with these people and communities at the center of your film. You will hear about their past, learn of their struggles, and become intertwined in their lives.
For these reasons, you need to really love your subject. You need to be ready to work with them for long periods of time and have deep conversations with them. You also need to gain their trust and ensure they feel supported, comfortable, and heard throughout the filmmaking process.
This requires dedication and the willingness to enter into a relationship with this individual or community. You are no longer just pointing a camera at someone; you are committing to discovering their truest self and taking care of the story they are willing to share with you.
This doesn’t mean that you always have to like your subject, but in a way, you still have to love them. Whether you are investigating a political crime or the story of an athlete, you need to love learning about them and be interested in telling the truest version of their story.
Building This Relationship
There are a lot of ways to cultivate this relationship with your subjects and create an environment that makes them feel comfortable and supported.
In my experience, the best way to do this is simply time.
It’s taking the time to connect with your subject, listen to them, and hear about their story. These are people, multifaceted and complicated people. They have emotions, feelings, and concerns. We have to understand that and not treat them just like characters in a story.
In order to understand them, you have to learn about them—their wants, passions, fears, and flaws. Taking this time also allows you to build trust between yourself and the subject, developing a professional relationship where you begin to understand each other.
That’s why, as a filmmaker myself, I’ve always tried to remind myself to check in with my subjects and sources, check on how they are doing, and treat them like more than just plot elements to my story.
Like any other relationship, building trust and confidence takes time and effort. The more time you can spend with your subjects, the more likely they are to trust you with their stories.
And in the end, this relationship matters because you want to tell the best story you can - these individuals and communities deserve that from you.
A Learned Experience
Over the last two years, I’ve been working on the feature documentary Beneath the Surface, which follows a team of blind outrigger paddlers in Southern California who are working to bring the sport to the Paralympic Games.
During this time, I’ve spent a lot of time with these paddlers, hearing about their lives and building a connection with them. I’ve spent time on the water documenting their efforts, sharing lunches filled with stories and jokes (the best jokes), and even trained with them.
Throughout these experiences, I’ve cultivated a relationship with several individuals on the team, whom I’ve come to deeply respect and care for. They’ve become more than just the subjects of this documentary, but friends whom I’m very proud of their accomplishments and wish to see celebrated in the world.
At first, I was very wary of this growing personal relationship with these individuals. I was a young documentarian (and still am for the most part), and I was worried that my fondness would lead to some sort of ethical malpractice.
In reality, I learned that my relationship with these individuals was not only more ethical in practice but also better for the story itself. I showed up and showed them that I wasn’t there to take their life story and run. I wanted to give their story the respect and love it deserves. I wanted to earn their trust.
Now, obviously, it wasn’t as calculated as this—I didn’t befriend these people just to tell their stories. But, in the end, my relationship with them has given me a newfound passion to do their story justice and ensure that their lives and the inspirations they have become are shared with the world in a powerful way.
A Note on Understanding the Line Between
Now, my wariness was not unwarranted because there is obviously a very important line to recognize in documentary filmmaking.
This is the line between friendship and a professional filmmaking relationship. One that we have to keep in mind when telling a story, especially if it's centered around an issue or controversial topic.
As filmmakers, we have to recognize this line between ourselves and the individual at the heart of our story. When the camera is recording, we have a power and positionality that changes the dynamic of the relationship. You also have the power to dictate the way their story is shared with the world.
The information gathered in these sessions is sensitive and can affect this person’s future, regardless of the stakes. You have to understand that walking across this line can have negative consequences on the film, your relationship with the subject, and the validity of the story.
This means we have to have the ability to separate our personal relationships and our filmmaking relationships. Sometimes, this can be harder said than done, especially when you are fond of a subject. But the reality is that we have a job to do.
Our job is to objectively inform audiences and allow them to see the truth, and therefore, we cannot let our personal or emotional connection to the subjects stop us from sharing the true story.
This isn’t to say you can’t be friends, family, or even partners, with the people in your story. But we have to understand that we are documentarians, first and foremost.
The Power of Blue Mind
Over the weekend, I learned of the tragic passing of Wallace J. Nichols, the esteemed neuroscientist, marine biologist, and author of Blue Mind.
I won’t pretend I knew Dr. Nichols personally, but we spoke several times over the years, and his work had a profound effect on me. On several occasions, Wallace took the time to meet with me when I needed his guidance, despite the things he was dealing with in his own life. His compassion and willingness to listen in those moments are something I will forever be grateful for because they helped me when I needed it most.
Dr. Nichols was the pioneer of the Blue Mind movement, which sought to help people learn about the powerful benefits of living close to water. His novel talks about this connection and “shows how proximity to water can improve performance, increase calm, diminish anxiety, and increase professional success.”
The book is truly revelational and highlights the need for humans to coexist in close proximity to water. His work sought to inspire others to develop this connection to water and the blue world, thereby helping us move forward in our own lives.
I’d like to suggest that everyone take the opportunity to read this book and learn about the Blue Mind movement. It’s truly a powerful and transformational concept, and Dr. Nichols was a compassionate human on a mission to share it with the world - for the betterment of people, society, and the planet.
I’ve provided the link and the Blue Mind website below.
“I wish you water” - Dr. Wallace J Nichols
Wallace J Nichols Memorial Fund