Imagine
a world without writing. It wouldn’t have had Martin Luther King Jr.’s
speeches, it wouldn’t have had the Arab Spring, nor would it have had the elected
leaders around the world. Writing is regarded by many as a tranquil activity,
something that calm people do, but what many seem to forget is that writing is
the key element behind most of the major changes in both ancient and modern
society. Writing is a powerful weapon many overlook in today’s struggle for
justice, even though it is right under their noses. The force of it tends to be
forgotten and the idea that writing creates the base for rhetoric - the
persuasive element that is the foundation for change - does not generally come
across as apparent. Writing is there, however,
and it really does make a change when used properly within the right
framework. Documentary filmmaking is one of these forums where writing truly
shows its form as a carving tool used to shape the ideas that will bring
changes in the world.
Thea
Mercouffer was born and raised in Romania but escaped to the United States with
her family from the communist dictatorship in 1987 (Thea, n.d.). Mercouffer
moved to Los Angeles and there continued pursuing her great passion in life:
Acting and Directing. Meanwhile, she was on the board of a big organization and
when they asked her if she could write and direct a series of films about
sexual assault she states in an interview with me that she “fell into”
documentary filmmaking. Mercouffer took on the challenge to direct the film,
going straight from only having directed theater in the past. She then
continued on making a film about human trafficking, and Mercouffer found that
she “really enjoyed making documentary films so [she] stuck with it”. That was
13 years ago. Today, Thea Mercouffer is a renowned documentary filmmaker with a
kind heart and a warm spirit.
Mercouffer
is one of those who use writing to change the world she lives in, and she does
so through her documentary films. Her latest project clearly shows how using
words to one’s advantage truly can make a difference. It all started when she
realized that the Los Angeles River going through her home city was not deemed
navigable, and therefore not under the protection of the Clean Water Act.
Mercouffer’s husband George Wolfe decided to travel fifty-one miles and show
the EPA (the United States Environmental Protection Agency) that the river was,
truly, navigable (Press release, n.d.). Mercouffer decided to document this act
of civil disobedience, and that created the foundation for her award-winning
documentary Rock the Boat. The issue
with documentaries however, is that in order to be able to make them one needs
money, and money has to be asked for. This is where the building blocks of
writing used to support world-changing ideas come into play. Mercouffer had to
convince sponsors that her documentary was worth their time and effort through
a documentary treatment, a short document which describes the intention of the
film as well as sets the tone for the production. Mercouffer, being an artist,
found this extremely challenging since often times the primary idea of the
project does not necessarily mirror the finalized product. Not only did she
have to try to accomplish that task, but she also had to be able to write in a
way that would make the reader understand the importance of the completion of
her project, and as stated by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein “…writers who
fail to show that others should care or already do care about their claims will
ultimately lose their audiences’ interest” (2010, p. 93). Mercouffer’s whole
film depended on her being able to write in the right way for her audience.
Mercouffer
had to apply for sponsorships, and she tells the story of how one has to be
endearing when needed, as well as strict and formal in other settings
(interview, 2015). In a the opening sentence of a sponsorship letter sent by
Mercouffer’s producer for Rock the Boat,
one can understand the fine line that needs to be balanced in order to
successfully receive support:
“Dear
Rob,
Our mutual friend, John McLaughlin, suggested I write to you
directly about Rock the Boat
– the documentary about the Los Angeles River, which I’m producing. We’re
raising the final finishing funds, a bit less than $30,000. John and Susan have
contributed and think that, given your interest in the river and environmental
activism, you might like to participate, too” (Sponsorship, n.d.).
What Randi Johnson, producer of Rock
the Boat, shows here is that an application for funding does not need to be
extremely formal, even though he does not directly know the person he is asking
for financial support. Mercouffer does explain, however, that it is when one applies
for grants it is extremely important to follow the guidelines given, and that
it can sometimes be an very tiring thing to write the applications, since they
are quite intricate and often fruitless attempts (interview, 2015).
Just
as it was important for Mercouffer to write to her audience, she also had to
make sure that people would care about the issue she was trying to shed some
light upon. Mercouffer had Kairos on her side - the idea that within what
timeframe one delivers a message is as equally important as the content of that
message (Losh & Alexander, 2013) - and in a time where the public was
becoming more and more concerned about water it couldn’t have been better.
Another important factor was exigence, and as stated by Laura Carroll: “Understanding
the exigence is important because it helps you begin to discover the purpose of
the rhetoric. It helps you understand what the discourse is trying to
accomplish” (2010, p. 49). Exigence, which goes hand in hand with Kairos, means
the surrounding events that forces someone to speak up. Mercouffer was affected
by the exigence since that she lived in drought-stricken California.
Another crucial part of making a
documentary film is the legal documents that need to be in order. When
conducting an interview one needs their consent to use the footage captured
during the interview, and forgetting to get their signature on those papers can
make or break a documentary before it has even started to come together. One
also needs to get proper paper work filled out in order to receive the
permission to film in certain areas, and in that can sometimes cause issues
when they have not been meticulously filled out in the correct way. An example
of this kind of writing is a Crowd Release, which is a legal disclaimer for a
location where people may show up in the frame
“By
entering and by your presence here, you consent to be photographed, filmed
and/or otherwise recorded. Your entry constitutes your consent to such
photography, filming and/or recording and to any use, in any and all media
throughout the universe in perpetuity, of your appearance, voice and name for
any purpose whatsoever in connection with the production presently entitled:
_______________________.
You
understand that all photography, filming and/or recording will be done in
reliance on this consent given by you by entering this area.
If you
do not agree to the foregoing, please do not enter this area” (Bennet, 2009).
The
same goes for the use of music and other copyrighted material such as logos or
brand names. When making a documentary film it is crucial to be able to
understand and write in legal terms in order to not get confused in a world
filled with jargon. Janet Boyd explains that “Jargon
is the terminology used by those in a particular profession or group to
facilitate clear and precise communication” (2011, p. 89), which could be quite
counterintuitive since jargon has in many instances increased confusion rather
than decreased it.
Even
though a massive part of the creation of a documentary revolves around
disclaimers and asking for money, the creative process is also highly dependent
on writing. Documentaries may not seem dramatic in the same way as a play or a
regular movie, but the creator still has to make sure that the storytelling is
unique, and that the film has an arch that it follows. Mercouffer states that
since she had written many manuscripts for theater before she got involved in
documentary filmmaking she knew what she was doing, but that the factual and
educational foundation had to be more extensive (Interview, 2015). While
writing the script the writer creates a storyline and the film begins to form a
skeleton, one could say. It is around this skeleton the rest of the documentary
will come together, even though the main storyline may change during the
creative process. When the base for the documentary has been filmed, the
skeleton will work so that one can easily see what pieces are missing for it to
become a whole body.
Understanding
the importance of writing in documentary may not seem to be a priority to many,
but maybe it should be. Even though documentary filmmaking is a narrow niche
the construction of the end product can be applied to most anything. In order
to make a change in this world, one needs to understand the power of writing.
Not only inspirational writing but also what is considered dull writing at
times. The legal documents, the press releases, the grant requests. They all
play a major roll in order to create something that will move people into a
direction where they will help change the world and make it a better place. It
seems strange that a futile legal disclaimer could ever make a difference, but
when all these components, be it disclaimers, sponsorship letters, or a draft
for a script, come together they will create a mighty river of what was once
mere streams.
References
Bennet, T. (2009, April 17). Crowd
Release | JD Supra. Retrieved from
http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/crowd-release-44788/
Boyd, J. (2011). Murder!
(Rhetorically Speaking). In Writing spaces: Readings on
writing.
(Vol. 1, p. 89). Anderson, South Carolina.: Parlor Press.
Carrol, L. (2010). Backpacks vs.
Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis. In
Writing
spaces: Readings on writing (Vol. 1, p. 49).
Graff, G., & Birkenstein, C.
(2010). "So What? Who Cares? In They say / I say: The
moves
that matter in academic writing (2nd ed., p. 93). New York: W.W.
Norton &.
Interview
with Thea Mercouffer, November 4, 2015
Johnson,
R., Sponsorship Proposal Rock The Boat (n.d.)
Losh, E., & Alexander, J.
(2013). Why Rhetoric? In Understanding rhetoric: A graphic
guide
to writing (1st ed., p. 46).
Rock
The Boat Press Release (n.d.)
Thea Mercouffer - director and
producer of Rock the Boat. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.theamercouffer.com/
