Last semester I used some of my blog entries to summarise and reflect on what I had learned from reading the book “Documentaries …and how to make them” (Glynne, 2007) by Andy Glynne. So far I have written about the pre-production of documentaries, what steps are necessary and how to take them. Now to put what I have learned to a practical use, I want to try to approach this semester’s project by going through all of the steps and stages, but on a smaller scale.
The Idea
I came across the idea for the semester project because I wanted to shine a light on one group or organisation that is unique to Graz. I then remembered having been to two of these car-free Fridays and how I enjoyed the sense of community and togetherness they created. My motivation to showcase this particular movement stems, on one hand, from the desire to learn more about the possibility of car-free city centres, and on the other hand from the wish to show this community to others.
I had realised, when talking to my colleagues about my idea, that almost none of them had actually ever heard of Auto:Frei:Tag, even though they all live in Graz, are a similar age as me, and most of them I would also describe as, at least to some extent, invested in climate action.
Thus my “Why” was developed; I wanted to raise awareness for the organisation and maybe inspire some of my peers to also take action. Due to the fact that I only want to create a short video and I don’t have a lot of time, I have decided to aim for a target group who is already to some extent interested in topics like climate change or car-free city centres, and just needs some inspiration for possible outlets and ways to show their convictions, rather than trying to convince some 60-something year old who has always taken the car everywhere to completely change their lifestyle.
The Story
When looking for the story behind my idea, there are a few ways I can see it develop.
I was thinking I could choose one of the people behind Auto:Frei:Tag and follow their journey of organising one of these events, however when talking to them I found out that it is hardly ever them who actually come up with the idea for an event, but they just provide support for others who want to make themselves heard.
So another option would be to find someone with a cause worthy of documenting and follow along with the planning and organisation of a car-free Friday, also highlighting the person and the cause behind it. During this process, it would also be possible to reach out to experts on city planning and traffic politics in Graz to get their opinion and expertise on the topic, adding facts and figures into my documentary.
My third option would be to treat the street itself as my main character, showing the stark contrast between everyday traffic, chaos and noise and the complete opposite mood when the same road is taken over by bikes, people, music and community. This version would be less about the specific cause behind one event, but would highlight the opportunities which could open up when removing cars from the equation. For this idea, possible interviews could be a bit more free and abstract, aiming at capturing feelings rather than facts.
Possible obstacles or problems to either of the stories could be issues with permits, unhappy neighbours or the inevitable people in cars coming by and complaining about the street being closed. Moreover, obstacles could be seen in the broader sense of the issue, where legislature, politics and influential citizens are the reasons why some efforts to further reduce traffic in the city might be hindered.
For questions of accessibility, I have already talked to the people behind Auto:Frei:Tag and they have agreed to be filmed and documented, and I also hope for some of the visitors of the event to be willing to be on camera. For filming on a public street I would still need to figure out whether a permit is needed and how to get one.
Conclusion
After writing all of this out, I feel the story is beginning to take shape, but there are still a few key decisions that need to be made in order to get to a more precise and well formulated plan which in the end could theoretically be pitched to potential stakeholders. Within the next few blogposts I want to try to narrow down this idea and get it to where it needs to be to move on.
Literature
