MYSTIC CAFE:

 

Crew: Katie Liell, Jillian Grip, Sophie Neidhold

 

Schedule:

1/19 - Contact Mystic about shooting with them

1/22 to 1/24ish - shoot during C block/after school

1/29 - initial editing

1/30 - go to shoot more b-roll if needed

1/31 - start final edits

1/4 - finish editing

 

Shots:

-Interview

-Conception of Restaurant

-Ingredients sourcing

-How the first few months of business has been

-Preparing food/kitchen shops 

-Tasting best items

            The documentary I chose to watch was Cartel Land, an on-the-ground look at the journeys of two modern-day vigilante groups and their shared enemy - the Mexican drug cartels. I noticed right off the bat that even though the documentary was a live-action style with very few staged interviews or overly planned shots, every shot looked very purposeful. The director and main camera-man took very cinematic shots on the fly.

            One of the vigilante groups was in Mexico, fighting the cartels, looking to put an end to the constant violence, crime, kidnappings, and exploitation. The other group was on the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico border, looking to prevent drug trafficking into the United States. It was really interesting seeing and hearing both perspectives on this problem. We even got an inside look on how some of the drugs were being made and heard why some of the cartel members were involved in the dangerous business. The range of interviews from the men on the U.S. border to the leader of the Mexican vigilante group, to Mexicans affected to the cartels provided a wide and extensive view of this serious problem. As we had discussed in class through the Artist and the Astronaut lesson and the 30 for 30 lesson, it’s best to get a lot of perspectives to piece together a good story.

            The sit down interviews always had key light in the interviewees eyes and would get closer to their face when more dramatic and emotional topics were being discussed. They had the interviewee centered in the frame and sometimes looking into the camera. This made the interviews very raw. They often would start the interview cold, not explaining what they were talking about until the middle, so the watcher could start to build a context on their own. It was a cool way of revealing certain information and created a suspenseful feeling. We followed the leader of the Mexican vigilante group throughout the film, but he didn’t have a sit down interview until the very end, a very interesting choice. It made what he had to say in his short interview all the more important.

            I realized about half way through how invested I had become in each of the individual stories. The way each person was presented allowed the watcher to gain a sense of familiarity and trust with them as the film went on. The watcher could feel like they really knew the person. I think that it’s a good tip to develop your characters so much that the watcher feels personally connected.

            The music fit so perfectly during the whole film that I didn’t even notice it until I consciously told myself to think about it. It enhanced the feelings of seriousness, suspense, and remorse. One memorable use of sound, music, b-roll, and outside sources came after the leader of the Mexican vigilante group was in a plane crash. They didn’t know if the crash was an accident or an assassination attempt. As we see b-roll of him on a stretcher, we hear news reports on what happened from a lot of different sources, all saying different, even contradictory things. The music is soft, but continues to build as the sounds continue to become more chaotic. Then, we start to hear the beeping of a heart rate monitor and it is increasing in speed, signifying that the heart connected is racing. That beeping turns into rapid machine gunfire. It was a really awesome use of sound. I think moments like that are what made this film so impressive and entertaining. I would recommend this documentary to a friend.