by valerie.schwarz -

What I learned

Here I want to give a quick recap of what I could take away from filming for my semester project that could also help me for my Master Thesis. Considering the interview I shot was rather short-notice and I wasn’t able to plan much, I am very positively surprised at how little went horribly wrong. Even though I didn’t have any lighting equipment, no bouncer and no gimbal, the shots turned out fairly usable. However, there are still some things I learned from the experience that I might do differently next time.

Working Solo

For the initial shoot I had asked a colleague of mine with plenty of filming experience if she could assist me and help me out. As the replacement shoot was in Vienna and fairly short notice, I couldn’t find anyone to help me and just did it alone. As there were no really complicated shots or setups, it was completely manageable and a second person might have been too much anyway for most of the shoot, but during one situation I would have preferred not to be alone. It was during the actual interview, where I wanted my interview partner not to directly into the camera, so I sat a few metres away from the camera to talk to her. This, however meant that I had no control whatsoever over the camera and sound settings during the whole interview and I couldn’t check if everything was going to plan. This time everything went smoothly luckily but I was pretty stressed out the whole time, worrying that the lighting has changed and the whole image was going to be horrible or that the wind had picked up and would make the sound unusable. I didn’t check either of these things once during the whole 20 minute interview, highly unprofessional and also very stupid/risky of me, but I also didn’t want to interrupt her while she was talking and derail her train of thought. So the next time I do an interview I would ask a second person to ask the questions and stay with the camera or have a second camera set up where I am sitting.
I also believe that I got relatively lucky with the lighting at the location, where I didn’t need any lights or someone to shade the person, otherwise I also wouldn’t have managed by myself.

Better Interview Technique

Another learning I made from the experience was to focus on a more structured interview style. While the interviewee was talking I was really happy and excited about how well she spoke and how long she was talking for and every time I wanted to ask a follow up question she just kept talking and answered the exact question within the next couple of sentences. This made the flow of the interview feel really natural and like she was just talking to me about what she wanted to say, which was the actual case. However, during the editing process I realised that what seemed like a blessing at first actually created a lot of work for me. The interview ended up being 20 minutes long with her story winding along in quite a pleasant and understandable way, but that also made it really difficult to shorten the video and reduce it to the essential information. As her sentences blended into each other, I didn’t know when and how to cut and have the whole interview still be cohesive. So I think next time I will try not to shy away from interrupting interview partners if I have to, in order to steer the interview in the planned direction and retain some control over the situation. It might also be helpful to ask interviewees to briefly summarise their statements if I feel like the statement as a whole would be too long and winding.

Overall though, I’m quite positively surprised at the outcome and how well everything worked out, even without much preparation or a huge team. Of course the video is no piece of art, but it conveys information about the topic and, at least I hope so, gives viewers an idea of who the interviewee is and what she stands for. I also got her feedback on the finished video, saying “Well, telegenic looks different, but at least I find myself likeable.” And l wholeheartedly agree with the likeable part.

by valerie.schwarz -

Paradoxes of Authenticity

In search of literature about the influence of film tourism on current travel trends and developments, I came across the book “Film and Tourism : Case Studies on Tourist Behavior” by Marco Valeri (Valeri, 2025) where the topic is analysed through various studies in 6 different chapters, written by 16 different authors and set in 9 different countries. In one of the chapters, which particularly caught my attention, Diórgenes Mamédio et al talked about different, often paradoxical, types of authenticity in films, analysed through different movies shot in Morocco (Mamédio et al, 2025).

The Dimensions of Cinematic Consumption

Mamédio et al talk about three different contexts of consuming cinema; there is the real context, the fake context and the scenographic context. In a real context a movie is set in a real place, so a film set in Morocco which was also shot in Morocco, like “Prince of the Streets” (2000). In a fake context, the real place is conjured up by the filmmakers, so a movie set in Morocco but shot in Hollywood, like “Casablanca” (1942). A scenographic context means that a movie was shot in a real place that represents someplace else, like “Gladiator” (2000) which was filmed in Morocco, but plays somewhere else (Mamédio et al, 2025).

Ourzazate – Morrocco’s very own Hollywood

Ourzazate, in the local Berber language meaning “noiseless” is set between the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara dessert of Morocco, where it is eerily quiet to a European ear, no birdsong, no leaves rustling in the wind and no river running. Ourzazate and its surrounding regions is popularly used by film directors for scenes and movies set in the dessert as well as the Middle East. Not only does the landscape offer great backdrops for various movies, there is also Aït-Ben-Haddou, a small village built from clay, where many movies were filmed. Not only scenery and ancient structures make it a good location for filming, but also the weather conditions are ideal with bright sun on at least 300 days a year (Mamédio et al, 2025).

Analysis Results

Mamédio and his colleagues used virtual ethnography, where they analysed data taken from openly accessible websites, such as consumer’s summaries and ratings of movies, comments, videos, texts on travel websites, and many more sources (Mamédio et al, 2025). These texts were then analysed and categorised. In the following I just want to very quickly summarise what I took away from the results, this summary is by far not conclusive.

I found particularly interesting how, a lot of the time, fakery in movies is being done so well that many viewers won’t ever question whether what they see is real or not. Even though the movie “Casablanca” was not filmed in Morocco at all, many tourists will visit Casablanca, looking for the famous café featured in the movie. This has gone on for so long that someone has now actually built this café and visitors come there none the wiser, thinking they are at the original set of the movie. This shows that for the viewers it does not really matter, whether what they are observing is actual reality or just pure fakery, as long as it feels real to them. It showcases how fake and authentic can coexist and how sometimes movies can create reality from fakery, conjuring into real life what used to only live on movie screens (Mamédio et al, 2025).

To the film tourist it does not matter whether the movie “Casablanca” was actually filmed in the city Casablanca. Watching it can still create the desire to travel there and see it with your own eyes. The same is true the other way around; tourists might still prefer to travel to Morocco to see where “Gladiator” was filmed, even though the scenes filmed there are actually set in the Colosseum in Rome. Thus the tension between the different dimensions in cinema continues on within the viewers.

Mamédio talks about how cinematic tourists travel between worlds. They exist within the tension between fake and authentic created by the cinema, and with their influence imagined worlds can blur together with or even become the real world (Mamédio et al, 2025).

Literature:

by valerie.schwarz -

Autofreie Mustersiedlung Floridsdorf

Nachdem ich leider meinen ursprünglichen Plan, ein Event von Auto:Frei:Tag in Graz zu dokumentieren, im Endeffekt doch nicht durchführen konnte, habe ich nach möglichen Alternativen gesucht. Um beim ungefähren Thema zu bleiben, habe ich schlussendlich bei meiner Tante angefragt, ob sie bereit wäre ein Interview zu geben über die autofreie Siedlung in Wien, in der sie inzwischen seit fast 25 Jahren wohnt.

Vor dem Interview habe ich ein wenig Recherche betrieben um die richtigen Fragen stellen zu können und zu wissen, worauf ich meinen Fokus beim Filmen legen will. Leider ist es durch den nun recht knappen Zeitplan nicht mehr möglich gewesen, eine detaillierte Shotlist zu erstellen, stattdessen habe ich einfach vor Ort abgewartet, was beim Interview erwähnt wird und anschließend eine Runde durch das Areal gedreht und darauf geachtet, genügend passendes b-roll Material zu sammeln.

Im Folgenden möchte ich, als Einleitung in die neue Thematik, die Ergebnisse meiner Recherche zur autofreien Mustersiedlung kurz zusammenfassen.

Die 1999 erstmals bezogene Siedlung in Wien Floridsdorf war damals einzigartig und ist das heute immer noch. Es handelt sich hierbei um den einzigen Wiener Wohnkomplex, bei dem die Verpflichtung zum Verzicht auf ein eigenes Auto im Mietvertrag als Klausel zum Einzug steht. Um das Projekt zu ermöglichen wurde sogar 1996 eine Anpassung des Wiener Garagengesetzes vorgenommen, damit nicht mehr ein Autostellplatz pro Haushalt errichtet werden musste, sondern die Zahl auf bis zu 10% reduziert werden konnte (Ziegler, 2023).

Trotz der eigentlichen Verpflichtung zum autofreien Leben bei Einzug in die Siedlung, besitzen circa 10 bis 15 Prozent der Bewohner:Innen ein eigenes Auto und unter bestimmten Umständen ist das auch in der Vertragsklausel vorgesehen. Dass ein Großteil trotzdem konsequent auf ein eigenes Auto verzichtet liegt, laut Karl Wurm – ehemaliger Geschäftsführer der Gewog – auch an sozialem Druck und einem Gefühl der Gruppenzugehörigkeit innerhalb der Siedlung. Außerdem wir das autofreie Leben dadurch belohnt, dass die Kosten, welche gespart wurden weil weniger Stellplätze benötigt wurden, direkt in Gemeinschaftsangebote investiert wurden (Zoidl, 2021).

In der Autofreien Mustersiedlung gibt es vielseitige Angebote, von diversen Gemeinschaftsräumen wie zum Beispiel ein Partyraum, ein Fitnessbereich und eine hauseigene Saune, über Hochbeete auf dem Dach, ein Biotop im Innenhof und unterschiedliche Werkstätten bis hin zu einem Biolager für Lebensmittel reichen. Diese Angebote können von den Bewohner:Innen niederschwellig genutzt werden und sorgen so für eine starke Hausgemeinschaft in der man sich gegenseitig kennt und unterstützt. Ein weiterer Pluspunkt für das Wohnen in der Siedlung sind die vergleichsweise niedrigen Betriebskosten, welche nur etwa 60% derer von vergleichbaren Wohnprojekten betragen. Das kann mitunter darauf zurückgeführt werden, dass die Bewohner:Innenschaft einen Beirat stellt, welcher der Hausverwaltung hilft beziehungsweise diese auch überprüft (Ziegler, 2023).

Neben den zahlreichen Gemeinschaftsräumen bietet die Siedlung auch diverse Initiativen für ihre Bewohner:Innen an, beziehungsweise werden diese von Bewohner:Innen selbst ins Leben gerufen. Zum Beispiel gibt es ein jährliches Siedlungsfest mit Essen, Trinken und Live-Musik, einen monatlichen AbHof Markt, einen jährlichen Flohmarkt, gemeinsames Handarbeiten, einen Silvesterpfad, Jazzbrunch, Adventmarkt, diverse Workshops, und vieles mehr. Außerdem gibt es eine hauseigene Siedlungsband sowie einen Chor (autofreie Mustersiedlung Floridsdorf, 2025).

Zusammengefasst muss ich zugeben, dass ich zu Beginn meiner Recherche schlicht und einfach dachte, es handelt sich um eine Siedlung in der keine Autos fahren oder parken dürfen. Obwohl meine eigene Tante dort seit fast 25 Jahren wohnt, war mir nicht bewusst dass es sich bei der “Autofreiheit” um eine verpflichtende Vereinbarung aller Bewohner:Innen handelt. Ich wusste außerdem nicht, dass hinter “autofrei” noch so viel mehr steckt, dass es sich auch um eine Gemeinschaft mit gleichen Werten und Weltansichten handelt, und dass so viele Initiativen und Angebote existieren, die weit darüber hinausgehen, dass schlichtweg keine Autos fahren. Ob nun die Gemeinschaft und das offenbar blühende Sozialleben der Siedlung einzig und allein auf den Verzicht auf ein Auto zurückzuführen sind, oder ob vielleicht Personen die gewillt sind auf ein eigenes Auto zu verzichten, gleichzeitig auch auf der Suche nach gleichgesinnten und Gemeinschaft sind, sei dahingestellt.

Ich habe versucht, in meiner Recherche möglichst viele Informationen einzuholen und mir ein umfassendes Bild der Lage zu machen, ohne mir dabei aber eine eigene Meinung zu bilden. Ich denke, dass diese Vorbereitungen recht hilfreich und zielführend für mein Interview waren.

Literatur:

by valerie.schwarz -

Adapt, Improvise, Overcome my people pleasing tendencies

Well, this project has turned out to be much more of a lesson in setting boundaries for myself and being honest about my intentions than I thought.

As is often the case in the creative industry, plans have changed, things have come up and let‘s just say luck also hasn‘t been on my side. The event I wanted to film has been moved a few times and unfortunately all of the dates which worked for the organizers were ones that didn‘t work for me. Also throw in some miscommunication and you can see how I ended up here, almost at the end of the semester with nothing filmed for my project yet and no possibility in sight to do so.

However, here comes the adapt and improvise part; I found a person to interview instead who has lived in a car-free settlement in Vienna for 20 years now. It‘s going to be a shorter and less extensive video than initially planned, but hopefully I‘ll still be able to hand something in I‘m somewhat satisfied with. I feel like my own expectations for the project were slightly different, but I have also adapted them fairly quickly to the new circumstances.

So far, so good. I‘m not doing to bad with the adapting and improvising. 

However, one thing I have realised throughout this process is that often times my adapting comes in the form of bending over backwards and harming myself in the fear of disappointing others. While my own expectations are quite flexible and readjusting constantly, what I really struggle with are the expectations of others.
In this case for example, I feel horrible for not managing to film at any of the planned events, even though I told the organisers I would. My head keeps telling me that I let these people down and that they are surely mad at me, even though, when looking at it rationally, I don‘t really owe them anything. I would have just collaborated with them, leading to a semester project for me and a nice video for them, talking about their cause. They have not had to go to great lengths to accommodate me, they are not losing any money because of me, I do not have a binding contract with them. So why do I feel like I disappointed them? I also feel like I let everyone down who I ever told about the project and that they‘re all going to be disappointed in me too.

Don‘t get me wrong, rationally I know that none of these things make sense, I know that people probably don‘t care as much about my shortcomings as I think they do.
Nonetheless I have this underlying desire to live up to everyone‘s expectations, to give everyone the version of myself they want to see and throughout the process I lose the version of myself who knows what I even want. 

One thing I have realized with this project is that I should listen to what my gut tells me. I have turned down opportunities to still film one of the events, simply because it felt too stressful for me and would have been a logistic nightmare. It wouldn‘t have been impossible, though. And I have realized that this is the point where I really struggle; as long as something would be somehow physically possible and would probably not kill me, I feel horrible for not doing it if it means letting somebody else down. I then come up with excuses I can tell myself and others for why it would in fact not be possible at all. 

But the whole time I know they are just excuses and that I could somehow manage to do it if I really wanted to, and I think everyone else knows that, too. So in the end I just feel ten times worse than if I had just been honest with myself from the beginning about my reasons for not doing something. 

Maybe being stressed out and overwhelmed by something sometimes is a valid reason. Maybe setting boundaries is okay. Maybe putting my own well-being first is completely valid. And maybe, just maybe, others would also appreciate it if I was just upfront about my reasons without hiding behind excuses. 

So, in a nutshell; I worry too much about letting others down and too little about what I need, I get myself into uncomfortable situations through my inability to say no, and I have to learn that constantly pleasing everyone is just not an option. 

by valerie.schwarz -

Preparing for the Interviews

Being that I also want to include interviews in my documentary, but have never conducted a proper interview before, I knew that I needed to do some research on the topic as to not end up with dull and uninteresting questions leading to answers of the same kind. That is why for this blog post I read through the chapter “Conducting an Interview” in the book “Making Documentary Films and Videos” by Barry Hampe (Hampe, 2007) and I will try to sum up what I took from it and what could prove to be helpful for my own project.

As with every aspect of shooting a documentary, preparation is key for conducting interviews which drive your story forward and intrigue your viewers. You should find out as much as you can on the subject beforehand, also try to find out what you don’t know or what can’t be found that easily by just doing research. Those will be the questions you want to ask the experts on the topic.
Nonetheless, when actually conducting the interview, don’t forget who you are recording the answers for. The viewers of your film will most likely be much less informed on the topic than you will be after months of research. So ask the questions in a way that the answers will be understandable to listeners of any knowledge level. Also don’t shy away from saying things like “I don’t know about that” or “I don’t understand” even if it’s not true. It will help your viewers understand the full picture and follow the story more easily.
You can also ask the interviewees beforehand if they have any suggestions for questions you should ask, but always make it clear that you will also be asking other questions.

For filming the actual interview make sure you choose a location which is interesting and helps the story along, but also one where the interviewee will feel comfortable. Always make sure to arrive earlier than your interviewee in order to set up everything for the interview without them there. Hampe also suggests to shoot interviews first before getting any other footage of your interview partners where you might have to direct them to act in a certain way, as that might also bias them for the answers they give you during the interview. Moreover, shooting the interview first will give you an idea of what footage you will need to support what is being said.

Also always keep the edit in mind when shooting an interview. You only want to change your settings or camera whilst asking questions (if they’re going to be left out of the final film) in order to be able to use the answers cohesively. There is nothing worse than getting the perfect statement on audio but not having the visual to go with it.

Concerning the questions you want to ask, always make sure to avoid “yes or no” questions, instead aim for more open ended questions which prompt your interviewee to tell a full story from beginning to end. But maybe even more important than what questions to ask is to actually listen to the answers. Show the speaker that you are interested in what they have to say and don’t limit yourself to just your list of questions, they are more like a checklist of things you want to ask and suggestions for when the interview slows down. Questions that come up naturally in the flow of the conversation can lead to much more authentic and interesting answers in the end. Also don’t be afraid of silence, let them breathe for a bit after their answer to see if there might be something else they want to add. Often times silence will prompt more answers than more questions.

In the end, Hampe states that after every interview there are still two more questions to ask “Is there anything I should have asked you that I just didn’t know enough to ask?” and “Is there anything you’d like to say that you haven’t had the chance to?”. These two questions give the interviewee the opportunity to give answers they might have prepared but that they didn’t think fit any of the questions and might lead to some very interesting content.

With all of that said, conducting great interviews takes practice, and lots of it. Hempe suggests including that practice into your daily life by not just having conversations with the people you meet but to actually interview them.

Literature

  • Making Documentary Films and Videos – Barry Hampe
by valerie.schwarz -

Shotlist

Der erste Instinkt beim Dokumentieren eines einmaligen Events oder realer Ereignisse wäre vermutlich, das Ganze einfach auf sich zukommen zu lassen und darauf zu vertrauen, dass man die “richtigen” Shots schon erkennen und einfangen wird. Dass man ja nicht planen kann was passieren wird und dass die Authentizität des Filmes leiden würde wenn man schon im Vorhinein planen würde, was passieren wird. Denn wie sollte man denn wissen, was passiert, was die Personen sagen oder tun werden?

Natürlich kann man beim Filmen von Dokumentationen nie genau vorhersagen, wie sich die Szenen und die Geschichte entwickeln werden, jedoch ist es deshalb umso wichtiger, gute Vorarbeit zu leisten und sich entsprechend vorzubereiten. Gerade weil man nicht wissen kann was genau passieren wird, sollte man auf viele unterschiedliche Situationen vorbereitet sein. Also ist das erstellen einer umfangreichen Shotlist unumgänglich. Hier können alle Shots gesammelt werden, auf die beim Filmen besonders geachtet werden soll und die essentiell sind um die Geschichte voran zu treiben. Damit erleichtert man sich auch die Arbeit im Schnittprozess erheblich und schafft eine klare, konzise Geschichte zu erzählen (studiobinder, 2025).

Im Folgenden werde ich deshalb eine erste Version meiner Shotlist erstellen mit den wichtigsten Schlüsselszenen die ich für meine Kurzdokumentation brauchen werde. Im weiteren Verlauf wird diese Shotlist vermutlich noch erweitert, angepasst und verändert werden, nichtsdestotrotz ist es immer gut ein gewisses Grundgerüst zu haben anhand dessen man weiter arbeiten kann.

Shotlist Auto:Frei:Tag

Shot 1: wide shot von übervollen, dreckigen Straßen, vielleicht Uhrturm im Hintergrund
Shot 2: close up eines rauchenden Auspuffes oder von toten Pflanzen
Shot 3: schnelle Zwischenschnitte von einer Straße ohne Autos, mit vielen Menschen, gute Stimmung
Shot 4: wide shot vom Auto:Frei:Tag, etwas entfernt
Shot 5: top down shot vom Geschehen (vielleicht aus einer Wohnung?)
Shot 6: Einblendungen von Grafiken über Shot 5, eventuell zoom out zu Karte von Graz
Shot 7: top down shot vom Auto:Frei:Tag
Shot 8: medium/close shot eines bestimmten Aspekts (Banner, Stand, Straßenkreide…) von oben
Shot 9: close up desselben Aspektes aber dieses mal von der Straße aus
Shot 10: medium shot von Menschen am Event
Shot 11: close ups von interessanten Szenen
Shot 12: wide shot des Events
Shot 13: medium shot interview mit Personen am Event, mitten im Geschehen
Shot 14: zweite Kamera Interview, medium
Shot 15: andere Person in der gleichen? Location
Shot 16: medium shot von Person aus der Organisation die am Auto:Frei:Tag arbeitet
Shot 17: Interview mit derselben Person, etwas abseits, man sieht das Event noch im Hintergrund
Shot 18: zweite Interview Kamera, close up
Shot 19: B-Roll vom Event aber auch von negativen Szenen über die sie vielleicht sprechen werden
Shot 20: eventuell noch andere Interview Partner
Shot 21: positiv enden mit Frage zu optimistischen Zukunftsvisionen
Shot 22: wide shot des Auto:Frei:Tages

weitere Shot Ideen als B-Roll / Füller

  • close up beim Straßenkreiden malen
  • Timelapse von oben
  • Hyperlapse beim hineingehen in die Straße
  • slow shutter shot von einem Auto:Frei:Tag Schild/Banner an dem Personen vorbeigehen
  • shot von unten, eine Person die von hinten über die Kamera steigt
  • direkter Übergang von Straße mit Autos zu leerer Straße
  • am Ende nochmal die leere Straße, ohne Autos, ohne Menschen (wide)

Wie bereits zuvor erwähnt ist diese Shotlist eine erste Version, die noch verändert und überarbeitet werden wird und auch während des Drehs wird sich sicher noch einiges ändern weil sich neue, unerwartete Situationen ergeben und einige der erwähnten Shots sich vielleicht als unmöglich zu realisieren herausstellen werden. Jedoch bietet es sich trotzdem an eine große Sammlung an möglichen Shots vorab zu erstellen, um sichergehen zu können dass im Nachhinein nichts Wichtiges fehlt.

Für die finale Shotlist fehlen hier natürlich noch einige wichtige Angaben so wie das zu verwendende Equipment, die genaue und detaillierte Beschreibung des Shots und der Perspektive sowie die genaue Location und andere essentielle Details. Das alles kann zum Beispiel mit Software wie der von Studiobinder (studiobinder, 2025) für die Erstellung von Shotlists genauestens dokumentiert und geordnet werden um den Überblick zu behalten und Änderungen einfach und schnell durchführen zu können.

Literatur:

by valerie.schwarz -

Das Grundgerüst

As a quick introduction I have to mention that from here on out I will most likely write the blog posts that are directly connected to my semester project in German, given the fact that the video will be in German and thus writing out all of the planning and story ideas in English would just mean twice the work. Therefore I must sincerely apologise to my many English speaking readers who have followed my posts with great interest and enthralment thus far.

Für eine erste Idee, wie ich die Kurzdoku zum Thema Auto:Frei:Tag aufbauen könnte, habe ich – gemeinsam mit ChatGPT – eine erste Struktur ausgearbeitet, die ich im Folgenden kurz zusammenfassen und beschreiben werde.
Vorab noch zum Stil und zur Stimmung des Filmes; der dokumentarische Charakter soll zwar nicht verloren gehen, ich will mich aber trotzdem eher darauf fokussieren, die Stimmungen und Meinungen der teilnehmenden Personen zu dokumentieren, anstatt rein harte Fakten zu präsentieren. Ich hoffe, dass es mir gelingen wird eine gute Mischung zu finden.

Der grundsätzliche Aufbau

  1. Der Einstieg (ca 1min):
    Das Problem wird aufgezeigt, volle Straßen, lärmende Autos und dazwischen kein Platz zum leben. Im VoiceOver wird hier auch direkt angesprochen, wo das Problem liegt und es wird angedeutet bzw in Aussicht gestellt, wie es wohl anders gehen könnte. Hier kann sehr deutlich der Kontrast aufgezeigt werden zwischen der Stadt voller Autos und der Idylle am Auto:Frei:Tag mit schnellen Schnitten zwischen den beiden Szenarien.
  2. Einführung ins Thema (ca 1,5min):
    Es wird erklärt und präsentiert, was Auto:Frei:Tag überhaupt ist, entweder mit Hilfe des VoiceOvers oder mittels O-Tönen aus Interviews mit Organisator:Innen des Auto:Frei:Tags. Hier kann außerdem mit Grafiken und Diagrammen gearbeitet werden, die helfen können einige Fakten zu visualisieren. Beispielsweise kann hier anhand einer Karte gezeigt werden, wo und wann bisher überall Auto:Frei:Tage stattgefunden haben. In diesem Abschnitt geht es zwar darum, zu erläutern worum es bei der Aktion geht, trotzdem sollten aber die Emotionen und Überzeugungen der Organisator:Innen im Vordergrund stehen und nicht die Fakten.
  3. Das Event an sich (3min):
    In diesem Hauptteil des Videos wird ein Auto:Frei:Tag begleitet und dokumentiert. Hier soll die Stimmung der Veranstaltung eingefangen werden, sowie die Emotionen und Meinungen der Besucher zu der Organisation und zu autofreien Zonen im Allgemeinen. Diese Szenen können einen starken Kontrast zu der Straße voller Autos zu Beginn des Videos darstellen.
  4. Stimmen aus der Organisation (ca 2,5min):
    Hier kann mittels der zuvor verwendeten O-Töne eine Verbindung zum Anfang des Videos hergestellt werden. Mitglieder der Organisation werden interviewt und dazu befragt, warum sie sich so für die Sache einsetzen und welche Probleme ihrer Meinung nach behoben werden müssen. Hier kann auch der Bogen zur möglichen Zukunftsvision gespannt werden, indem die Personen nach ihrer Vorstellung der Zukunft gefragt werden.
  5. Zukunftsvisionen (ca 2,5min):
    Für einen positiven Abschluss der Kurzdokumentation kann ein Bild einer besseren Zukunft gemalt werden. Zum Einen indem man Besucher:Innen sowie Organisator:Innen des Auto:Frei:Tages zu ihren Wünschen für die Zukunft befragt und zum Anderen könnte man auch zeigen, wo das Prinzip “autofrei” schon heute erfolgreich gelebt wird, wie zum Beispiel in der autofreien Siedlung in Wien.

Ton und Stil

Wie bereits zu Beginn erwähnt soll diese Kurzdokumentation zwar informieren und den Zuseher:Innen erklären, was der Auto:Frei:Tag ist und welche Probleme er zu lösen versucht, aber gleichzeitig soll sie auch nicht zu Fakten-lastig oder belehrend werden, sondern stattdessen an die Emotionen der Zuseher:Innen appellieren. Ziel des Videos soll es sein, ein Bewusstsein dafür zu schaffen, welche Probleme die vollen Straßen in unseren Städten auslösen und wie eine Stadt der Zukunft möglicherweise aussehen könnte. Außerdem soll gezeigt werden, dass es Aktionen wie den Auto:Frei:Tag gibt und auch wie man daran teilnehmen oder selbst aktiv werden kann indem man selbst Events organisiert beziehungsweise anfragt oder einfach indem man an ihnen teilnimmt und Bekannten und Freund:Innen davon erzählt, um das Bewusstsein in der Bevölkerung zu steigern.

AI Disclaimer: Für die Erarbeitung der Struktur für das Video wurde ChatGPT genutzt.

by valerie.schwarz -

Finding The Story of my Semester Project

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

by valerie.schwarz -

Semester Project – Doc Auto:Frei:Tag

The Idea

For this semester’s practical part of the course I decided to plan, film and edit a first, very short documentary-like video in preparation for my documentary project at the end of the Master’s. I want to analyse which steps have to be taken beforehand, how filming something like this might look like and what to keep in mind during the editing. Moreover, I wanted to streamline and optimise my filming setup as much as possible during this first “trial run”, given that I don’t know, how big of a crew I will have to support me for my final project. This means, seeing how much of the work I can do by myself and how to organise help for parts where I need it.
When trying to come up with a topic for the short documentary, I knew I wanted to focus on a group or organisation in Graz that inspires and interests me. This was when I remembered having been to 2 events in the past where people could come together, enjoy drinks and music, generally have a good time, and raise awareness of an important issue at the same time while listening to interesting speeches.

The Topic

Both of these events were held under the name “Auto:Frei:Tag”, which is exactly what the name suggests; an event on a Friday where one or multiple roads get blocked for car traffic and taken over by a small street-celebration. The organisation behind it supports individuals, shops or clubs wanting to organise their own car-free Fridays by providing posters, music, tables, chairs and much more. The idea of it all is to raise awareness to what our inner cities could potentially look like if they were not designed with mainly cars in mind. There is so much space in Graz’s inner city which could be used differently and organising events where this space is taken back, if just for one afternoon, shows how big the problem currently is and what a greener future might look like.

The First Steps

What I have done so far is reach out to the organisation, seeing if they would even be willing to collaborate with me for this project. I have also had a first meeting with some of the members, asking and answering questions about my plans and creating a rough framework as to what the final product might look like. I decided to keep the length of the video under 10min and to focus mostly on presenting what “Auto:Frei:Tag” even is and what they do, without going into too much detail on the issues behind it or trying to convince anyone to completely change their ways, as that would take up too much time in the video. This means that for my target group I have decided to focus mostly on young adults which already have a certain interest and awareness of sustainability topics and are open and willing to learn about new ways they can support certain causes and focus their energy and motivation.

Next Steps

During our meeting, I also got a lot of helpful input on possible sources for information on the topic and experts who might be interested in participating in my documentary. So for my next steps, I want to do some research on the topic of traffic politics in Graz as well as on some of the mentioned experts, as well as reach out to a few of them, asking whether they would be willing to give interviews on the topic.
I want to include interviews with one expert as well as one member of the organisation as well as interviews with visitors and participants of the Auto:Frei:Tag. Moreover, I want to film at one of the car-free Fridays. Due to the very loose organisational structure, these events are sometimes planned quite spontaneously and there is not one planned yet for this year. This means that for filming at an actual event I will still have to wait until I hear from them, but I can plan my shots beforehand as well as do research on the topic and plan and film interviews beforehand.
For my next blogposts I want to focus on researching the actual production process of a documentary film as well as do some research into the topic of my video in order to be able to ask the right questions.

by valerie.schwarz -

Weltanschauen

When I was in the process of finding my research topic and narrowing down what I wanted to write about, I was talking to my mom at some point about the idea of covering sustainable travel and wanting to document the issue. During this call I mentioned how I would love to help showcase a solution to overtourism, but that I did not see myself as capable enough to be the one to actually come up with a solution by myself. That was when my mom said “Why don’t you ask Christoph?”. Now, you have to know, Christoph is the dad of one of my former classmates. Their family lives in the same small and quiet Upper Austrian town I am from, where everyone knows everyone. So, naturally my mom also knows Christoph and what he does for a living. But what is it that he does? Well, he happens to be the founder and leader of a travel agency called “Weltanschauen”.
“Weltanschauen” is focused on sustainable as well as socially and culturally responsible travel, so actually the perfect fit for the topic I was exploring. I’ll be honest, when my mom mentioned Christoph I was kind of embarrassed that I didn’t immediately think of his company myself.
But I guess that, even at 24, moms do still save the day from time to time.

The Setting

But let’s go back to the beginning. What exactly does “Weltanschauen” do and how did it come to be that among all places in Austria, “Gallneukirchen” was the one to start a movement towards a more responsible tourism. I first have to brag just a little bit and mention that unlike other small, rural Austrian towns, my hometown has been quite open minded, inclusive and environmentally conscious ever since I can remember. This also means that there is quite a substantial target group for sustainable tourism in the travel agency’s immediate vicinity.

The Founder

Christoph Mülleder was working at Caritas when they started offering group travels to areas which they support in the form of different social projects. During these travels the main focus was on visiting projects and getting to know the people they helped, but there was of course also always time for a bit of sightseeing an being tourists in the classical sense. These journeys were organized by Christoph, who with his acquired knowledge and his background in economics as well as humanitarian aid, took the leap in 2012 of founding his own company, “Weltanschauen”.

The Company’s Spirit

“Weltanschauen” aims to create opportunities for interaction and exchange with people in social and economical hotspots. This provides insights reaching the core of a society and culture which go beyond the usually highly polished tourist experiences. Challenges and struggles of the respective society provide visitors with a better understanding of the country they are traveling to. Additionally, journeys planned by “Weltanschauen” also include visits to social aid projects and a heavy focus on sustainability and environmental issues in the host country. The agency aims to show visitors the clear connection between environmental and socio-economical justice.
Every journey organized by “Weltanschauen” is joined by one Austrian guide with extensive knowledge on the host country and one local guide, leading the tour.
The company states its is to show travelers a multi-facetted version of the country they travel to, showcasing all of its beauty without having to hide the unpolished, imperfect parts or looking away from social hardships. It aims to educate travelers by showing them, raw and unfiltered, how others live their lives and also how our actions and choices can influence social as well as ecological issues. The hope is that through raising awareness while traveling, people also start to see their responsibility to live sustainably in their daily lives.

The Team

“Weltanschauen” works with multiple Austrian as well as international travel guides and tourism experts as well as various different agencies and NGOs focused on sustainable travel. The travel agency also still works together with Caritas, organizing journeys to their partners and social aid projects once or twice a year.

The Outlook for my Project

I have already talked to Christoph about a possible cooperation for my master project and he seemed almost as enthusiastic as myself. We talked about the possibility to create a short documentary movie about sustainable and responsible travel, visualized on the example of one of his travel agency’s journeys. As the execution of the master project is still in the far future, there is still a lot that can change or come up, but in general I would be really excited about the idea of getting to document the process of planning and executing a sustainable journey to places one might not get to see as a standard tourist. I am hoping that documenting and sharing this with a larger audience can lead to some of the documentary’s viewers to reflect on their travel behavior and maybe implement some of the learnings I might have into their future holiday planning.
(Weltanschauen, 2025)

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