5-Minute Excerpt Ideas

I have several ideas for what my five-minute excerpt could be but this is the most developed. The idea is to record a phone call I plan on having with my mum, where I describe to her in detail a dream I had of my late grandmother, who is her mum. I haven't yet told her about the dream, or spoken about it much in general since having it, therefore I feel this would be a very intimate and raw moment to capture on audio. I'm still uncertain whether or not I'll be recording any video footage of myself or my mum on the phone call, but for now I am focused on recording the sound, and using footage I plan on filming on my camcorder to accompany the recording.

The footage will be mostly things I capture in the UK, from my apartment window and other aspects of my daily life. I would like the distinct sound of the phone call to demonstrate distance from home without the need to underline it verbally, and the footage will also work to reaffirm this idea. I have a video for the footage being quite mundane, maybe even portraying myself in my flat, with extreme close-ups emphasising the vulnerability and intimacy of the situation.

I asked Callum Rice whether he thought it would be more impactful to record the phone of myself describing the dream to my mum, or rather recording myself describing it as a voice-over for the excerpt. He suggested I try both. I would also like to record the conversation as it would happen naturally, i.e., without trying to stick to any specific language but switching from Cypriot to English as I would usually speak to my mum.

I am in the process of researching the best methods to record a phone call, and will then borrow sound equipment, and maybe a video camera, once I decide on the day to record the phone call. I feel like this would be a great addition to my five-minute excerpt as it is an introduction to the idea of an experimental documentary that is deeply personal due to its subject matter, and the involvement of my own family. The dream dealt with things like loss, absence, past, present, and future, and these are all things that link to my narrative structure which I have covered in my previous blog post; thus, this could function as an allegory for the social discourse I am exploring in my final project film.