In light of some recent conversations Jared and I have had, we thought it might be interesting to share with you some of our “realizations” we have had as we approach our second month of filming.

In every proposal or verbal description we’ve given friends, family, and industry contacts of Life’s Waltz, we have almost always included the clause that this film would be about “active seniors” and their lifestyles as they take place in a retirement community. In reviewing our footage, Jared and I noticed that even when our seniors have apparently “active” schedules, it’s difficult to consider the majority of these activities as “active.” That is, at least, in the sense in which we originally thought of it when we embarked upon the making of this film. After some initial panic and much discussion that followed, though, we’ve come to understand that it all simply depends on what it really means to be an active senior, and we may have to re-evaluate our own definition. Ah, unforeseen challenges that arise! But we believe that good things will come from challenges like these, so let me explain our revelations.

For example, if Sally Jones has a bridge game, happy hour, and bingo all in one day, it is technically a busy day, but all of those activities have have her seated and without very much physical movement. Or, if Bob has poker, a luncheon, and a movie night, he is still sitting there–stationary, immobilized, and without physical activity.

Admittedly, I have become a bit disappointed and even frustrated by this realization. I know there are 90 year olds skydiving! I just know it!

This realization doesn’t reflect on the characters themselves and whether their lives are interesting or not–in fact we find out through our initial conversations and interviews whether or not these these people are fascinating, diverse, wise, hilarious, dramatic, etc. But no matter how much they tell us, we probably won’t be able to make Life’s Waltz a compelling documentary unless we can show their lifestyles (which refers to the longstanding struggle in filmmaking of showing vs. telling). Nobody wants to watch a bunch of talking heads for 90 minutes! Film being a visual medium, meaning is best expressed through the visual, the kinetic, the dynamic.

We were quite conflicted over this–how do we continue production about a group of active seniors if they are not really all that active?

So, we asked our seniors for their definition of what exactly an “active senior” is…

Their answers, consistent with each other, weren’t necessarily surprising in the end–I guess we just hadn’t considered their response. We just had other expectations about what it means to be active. Most responded something along these lines: At the ripe old age of 89 you can expect that your knees may deteriorate or your back will hurt or you won’t be able to walk as fast or jump as high as you once did. The loss of mobility or physical ability is something that can only be expected, and ultimately, accepted (wow I love rhyming). But nonetheless they consider themselves active, and that’s because they’re active in a way we hadn’t considered much: mentally active.

Those who still are “with it,” or “sharp as a tack” consider themselves to be “active seniors.” They know each day’s schedule, they know what they want, and aside from the chronic or acute ailments that come with being 8 or 9 decades old, they can pretty much run their own lives. In fact, the same reason why so many of the seniors we’re working with feel just as young as they always have–like a “25-year-old stuck in the body of a 77-year old”, to quote a man in the previous, short version of Life’s Waltz–is the same reason why mental acuity is so important and there are activities at TVN like “Brain Aerobics”: staying healthy and active in the golden years is primarily about staying mentally healthy and mentally active. That’s where the feeling of youth lies.

As Dorothy would say, “How ’bout that?”

How ’bout this: since I’ve come to understand that mental ability is a priority for a lot of our characters, Jared and I have discussed this renewed definition of “active seniors” and how it might affect our approach to shooting and editing.

If anything, our footage has been conservatively shot keeping in accordance with the standard way of covering the action (a.k.a. “coverage“) so we can cut a scene in the editing room. When this whole issue of “active seniors” came about, we suddenly posed the questions, “If the subjects–the content, everything in front of the camera–are static, will the footage, and ultimately, the film feel static too?” and therefore “Should we be compensating for the physical stagnation of the content by shooting the film in a way (manipulating the style of cinematography) that would introduce a sense of movement and energy?” In other words, should we be doing quick zooms (punches in), tracking shots (tracing the movement or form of something), using Dutch angles (tilted angles), or anything else to give the footage more “energy”?

Here’s our debate:

The Pro of ramping up more stylized camera work: the footage would probably have more energy and would give the film a more distinct tone that stems from the technique, but not necessarily the content.

The Con of ramping up more stylized camera work: viewers would probably be more aware that there is a force behind the making of the story, or that the film is self-reflexive which might interfere with their connection to the characters and their suspension of disbelief.

Normally, a director would discuss with their cinematographer what kind of lighting, angles, and movement they want to shoot that sets the tone of the film. But since Jared and I trade off on camera operating and sound, we had a tacit understanding instead to just pick up the camera and shoot conservative/traditional coverage, in sync with our technique and style from the Life’s Waltz short. Traditional coverage comprises the master shot (whole scene to give the context), wide shot (WS=full bodies of characters), medium shot (MS=waists and up), and the close-up shot (CU=shoulders and up, or just faces), all typically on-level with whatever is being framed, and maybe throw in a couple of “cutaways” like CUs on hands.

So, we finally had that conversation…and…

After further discussion, we’ve decided on a couple of things: if the situation calls for it and if traditional coverage has already been shot, the camera operator has the liberty to stylize the shots with a little experimentation. Secondly, if the situation doesn’t call for this, we’ll stick to more conservative coverage. An important realization was that we can always heighten the energy of any given scene or part of the film with a faster-paced editing. Traditional coverage can be edited slow or fast, and everywhere in between on the spectrum. Stylized coverage, on the other hand, would introduce a potential constraint in the editing room so as to only allow for fast-paced cutting. For our purposes, therefore, we’re going to generally stick to traditional coverage, because we’ll only know in the editing room which parts of the film will require a faster or slower pace, depending on what part of this or that character’s emotional arc we’re in, the context of the scene at hand, and the narrative arcs of the film on the whole.

So there you have it–the definition of what active seniors are and the effect on our camerawork and editing. And to be honest, we’re pretty relieved. The thing is, our film is about what it’s like to grow old and to live in a retirement community, all for the typical person who’s going to be a typical senior. Bungee-jumping 90-year-olds, though quite physically active, are the exception, and while we are very interested in jumping out of a plane in order to film a senior doing such an extraordinary activity, our film is not about that… at least not right now! And in practical terms, this translates for us to: conservative coverage doesn’t mean it’s bad, in fact it’s perfect for the subject matter and therefore it’s the right choice for the film.

Ahhhh, such are the revelations of documentary filmmakers!

characters, production