Whiteboards and Annotations: shaping the story
"That is where we will begin - sitting down to sketch out the key elements of the narrative...It's going to be intense and, wonderful. But by the time we finish you'll know that the hardest part of your trip occurred in Dallas." Words sent to me in an email from David Leeson during his recent trip to Australia.
The process of making a documentary film on the war in Afghanistan is an integration of extremes. From a year of living amongst soldiers and their continued mission supporting Operation Enduring Freedom and the War on Terror, the setting has now shifted to the quiet rooms, long desks, computer monitors and the hum of terabyte drives in the background. Dallas, Texas has become my new home in the final leg of a fifteen month journey to bring an understanding of the culture of war to the Silver Screen.
Instead of body armor, foot patrols and a camera, the daily operations now revolve around ergonomic chairs and tens of hours of footage streaming by on high resolution monitors. Clips are grouped, annotated, and then organized as the vision of the film is mapped on a large white board on the wall to my right. It is a vision that begins at a starting point and continues to evolve as the film finds the voice that will resonate to tell the story of the soldiers and their experience in the culture of war.
The initial focus of the editing process is to sort the footage, create a working movie-trailer, and to settle on the official title of the film. Though the title "The Forgotten War" was created as the working title for the project, it has historically been used in reference to the Korean conflict. We are now in the final stages of review of the title that will encapsulate the experience of Afghanistan.
There is a great deal of work that lies ahead. Yet as the project continues, there is little doubt that before us is a pallet of images that will provide us with access into one of the most misunderstood groups and cultures in our time. the world of the soldier in a world at war. Stay tuned...
Copyright, Scott Kesterson 2007
Comments
I've followed your videos with interest this past year. It's interesting that the culture of war comprises it's full scope. That culture has come under attack recently by critics of the Afghanistan and Iraq operations. They often confuse the "culture of the military" with the "culture of war." They protest the horror's of "Bush's war" when what they're really protesting is the horrors of all war.
Military culture prizes tenacity and persistence. In this war, however, that predilection, when they see it on the battlefield, is used to accuse political leaders of blind stubbornness.
Moreover, there's the very real effect of shifting domestic political pressures and public and media opinion on morale, energy and even personal commitment among troops. The military's soldierly virtues, duty, perseverance, loyalty and strength, no doubt change under conditions of war.
Best of luck. I'll look forward to your final product.
Posted by: mrj | September 10, 2007 11:33 AM
Hi Scott,
Your footage got my blood pumping...good work and as we say in Canada "keep your helmet on and your stick on the ice!"
Cheers,
Christian McEachern, CD
Posted by: Christian McEachern | September 12, 2007 6:26 PM