Another documentary that I watched to see how documentary techniques are used was made in 2018 and is called 'Found at the Deaf Club', and follows the journeys of three people from different backgrounds and places who are deaf and join their local Deaf Clubs. They explain how discovering their local Deaf clubs changed their lives, giving them a new identity, language, and community. How difficult was it to "take the plunge" and go along, despite not knowing anyone there. I chose to research this documentary as it is very close to the subject of my film, due to both of them focusing on a club within the community that has the aim of improving the lives of the people who go to it. It also follows the lives of more than one person, and while I a not doing that to the extent as in this documentary, I am getting opinions of the club from numerous perspectives, which I feel help emphasise the importance of the Lunch Club for people.
From the start, I really took notice of the use of background music in this documentary. It was a soft piece of guitar and piano, which was noticeable, but it did not take your attention away from the people on the screen. As the people on the screen are deaf, so communicate to the audience through sign language, there is a voice-over telling us what the person on screen is saying, and this can still be heard perfectly over the music. I think that this is a really good technique to use as it helps the film feel more light-hearted, but doesn't take attention away from what is important, which is what is being said and shown. I feel like this would be good to include in my film, as I feel that doing this will help with the overall tone.
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| Christina Allen |
This film also goes in depth with each of the main people by having them talk about how being deaf affected their lives, and how they felt by the way that they had been treated differently. One woman, Christina, said that at family parties, she could see everyone talking, laughing and having a good time, but she was the only one who was deaf, she could not join in the conversations. Her brother would tell her bits and pieces, and her mother told her that she would tell her at home. Because of this, she felt very isolated. Going in depth with the subjects of the film is a very good way to build up interest from the audience, as it created a relationship between the person and the audience, as we want to learn more about them, and how they overcame these feelings.
The audience is also shown how these people found their local Deaf Club, and their feelings and experiences going to it. It can be seen that it had a big impact on them, as they were about to finally be around people who also had hearing problems, so understood what they had been through. It is revealed to us that all three of the women the documentary focuses on did not know how to communicate using sign language, so going to the Deaf Club helped them learn sign language, and so helped them to be more included in gatherings. I want to include a similar sense of this in my documentary, as I feel that it would help improve the story of the club and the people who go to it.
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| Iris Luke |
One of the women, Iris Luke, had been in several job positions over the years that she had been going to the Deaf Club, such as Secretary and bar manager, due to the club meeting in a hall which has a bar. I liked hearing this information as it made me think of who I could have in my film to go a bit more in depth with about their life while attending the club, or even some of the jobs that they had in the past, like something involved in the Church, and that is how they found out about the club.
This Documentary follows the three main women as they attend the Deaf Clubs that are local to them, and even talk about previous clubs they have been to. Though this is a good idea, I do not want to do this to this extent. I think that it would be good to see if anyone at the Lunch Club has been part of a similar type of club before, but I want to only focus on this one club, as my film is a tribute to my nan, who volunteered at the club before she passed away.
There is plenty of footage of the action at the clubs, which is good as they are the focus of the documentary. There is also a good balance of time spent on each of the three main characters, which is good as it helps with the tone of the overall documentary, and makes it feel like they are all equally important. For my film, I need to make sure that I have a good balance of footage during the club and interviews outside of it, as having too much of one or the other will cause the quality of my film to decline. I also need to make sure that I do not spend too much time on a selected few people, as this would take away from the fact that the Lunch Club occurs because of all the people in the team, not just a select few people.
Overall, I can see a lot of techniques and styles that I would like to try and incorporate into my own documentary, and I can see a few things that I would not want to include. I feel like this has definitely helped me with my creative decisions.
If you would like to watch this documentary for yourself, here is the link:
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