Wyatt in the World

Last night I went over to a friend’s house to see some folks who were visiting from out of town. When I arrived, I was told we’d be watching a documentary film entitled, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. It’s about these rival Donkey Kong players. Yep. Not a movie I would have picked up off the shelf myself, but I do have a lot of techie friends, so it’s not absurd that I would find myself watching this type of movie.  I was OK with watching it, since I need to watch a lot of documentaries over the next couple of months and analyze them.

I was not expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be pretty good! There weren’t many fancy tricks or shots, however there was drama, conflict, and a bunch of interesting characters, including a “villain” and an “underdog”. It had an an appealing beginning, an unexpected middle and a satisfying end, which I read somewhere is a good thing for a movie.  Even if you don’t like anything to do with video games (which is me), it’s worth a watch, simply because it is a fairly well told story.

I have started the quest of making my first feature length film.  It will be a documentary about the Caribbean island nation of Dominica where my mother is originally from and where she currently resides.

I think I’m a very process-oriented person. I believe in the old saying “Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan”, so I started this quest with making a  plan which is (very cursorily) outlined here:

1. Development - Research and identify all things related to the making of this film.

2. Pre-Production - Get ready to shoot the film.

3. Production - Shoot the film.

4. Post-Production - Edit the film.

5. Martketing/Distribution - Get the film out for the world to see.

Someone recently asked me why I wanted to do a film about Dominica. In the midst of all this planning, I didn’t have an answer. I wasn’t even entirely sure what this film was going to be about. Should it be a general essay on Dominica and its people?  Dominica on the geopolitical stage? Eco-tourism and Dominica? Dominica and China relations? What????

I think a lot of people making documentaries maybe start out with a bit of ambiguity, but I must say it was driving me bonkers. I’m a planner. I have to have at least some semblance of a plan for what the movie is about and why I’m making it, even if the plan is going to change. I have to start with something. Some direction.

So this weekend I’ve thought a lot about the “why”, and I finally have an answer. I love to tell stories. I’ve been fascinated with the art of story telling for a long time, and I admire people that can tell great stories.  I want to tell a story through film about something that I’m passionate about, somewhere that I have roots, somewhere that is a part of me - Dominica. I want to introduce everyone to this little known place and it’s unique people. I want my story to be something that people will remember and reflect upon and think about. I want my story to be great. I want to be a great storyteller.

I also spent some time brainstorming with my family and friends on the theme of my documentary and the bones or exposition - the who, what, where, when and why of the film itself. I need to noodle over the output some more, but I feel that I am at a point where I now have an idea of what this film will be about. It may change, but I’m OK with that. As long as I have some idea of where I’m going, that’s a good start.