Documentary
I have been focusing on the documentary aspect of the film to begin with as this is the section which I will need to complete before I can properly plan out how much/what kind of animation is to be done.
Before I began my questioning I wrote up a release form so that I was covered legally to use their voices. Below is the one I have been using.
Before I began my questioning I wrote up a release form so that I was covered legally to use their voices. Below is the one I have been using.
I have a list of people who I would like to interview as I think their answers would be insightful. These include friends/family members who I know have interesting stories I would like to capture. I would also like to have skype interviews with some of the local people I met in Hong Kong as I know that they have interesting ideas about border control/immigration/nationality due in part to the handover from British to the Chinese rule in 1997. I would like to interview people I have previously met in airports and kept in touch with to see how they perceived the experience.
By testing my interview technique out on my friends I was able to create some good questions to try to tease out the kinds of answers I want from my interviewees. I think the questions are very important as they have the ability to sway the kind of answers you get and how in depth they are. I was very aware that I wanted to avoid putting words in people’s mouths which I found is what my initial questioning of my friends was doing. I altered the questions accordingly so that I get truthful, sometimes surprising answers. I have no agenda and so in order for the film to have the exploratory feel I want to achieve I think this transparency is important.
Below are some of the questions I came up with. They work together in sets so that the interviewee will answer a seemingly easy question to begin with so that they understand the context of the next question. The final order of these questions will probably change but I think it’s a good start. I’m aware that right now they seem quite focused on the idea of transportation and I don’t want people to think that this is a film about airports which I’ve heard a few people refer to it as. I think this suggests that I need to revise some of these questions so that I can help people to put across a more meaningful response about feelings of transience and liminality.
By testing my interview technique out on my friends I was able to create some good questions to try to tease out the kinds of answers I want from my interviewees. I think the questions are very important as they have the ability to sway the kind of answers you get and how in depth they are. I was very aware that I wanted to avoid putting words in people’s mouths which I found is what my initial questioning of my friends was doing. I altered the questions accordingly so that I get truthful, sometimes surprising answers. I have no agenda and so in order for the film to have the exploratory feel I want to achieve I think this transparency is important.
Below are some of the questions I came up with. They work together in sets so that the interviewee will answer a seemingly easy question to begin with so that they understand the context of the next question. The final order of these questions will probably change but I think it’s a good start. I’m aware that right now they seem quite focused on the idea of transportation and I don’t want people to think that this is a film about airports which I’ve heard a few people refer to it as. I think this suggests that I need to revise some of these questions so that I can help people to put across a more meaningful response about feelings of transience and liminality.
Questions
· What is your name and where do you come from? (to be used at end of film)
· How do you feel about border control?
· When do you feel like you’ve truly entered a country? (Just off the plane?)
· Have you ever crossed a land border? If so can you tell us about your experiences?
______________________________________________________________________
· Can you explain to me where you are from?
· Where do you live? Have you always lived there?
· Where do you consider home?
______________________________________________________________________
· How do you feel about the idea of a fixed nationality?
· What do you consider your nationality to be?
______________________________________________________________________
· How do you feel about immigration to your home country?
· Would you ever want to live away from your home country?
· Do you feel there is a difference between the words ‘expatriate’ and ‘immigrant’? How do they differ?
· How do you feel about these words?
______________________________________________________________________
· What marks someone out as being different from you?
· How do you feel nationality affects people’s presence in an airport? (need to re-word)
· How do you feel about the statement ‘People are more approachable in airports’?
_______________________________________________________________________
· How does being in an airport/train/bus station/ border/ motorway on your own make you feel?
· If you’re waiting for a plane/train/bus by yourself, what do you normally do?
· Do you feel more comfortable sitting next to a stranger on a bus/train than at a bar/café?
· Why do you think this is?
________________________________________________________________________
· When you are on your own in a non-space do you feel liberated or constrained? Explain.
· Do you have any memories of a non-space? Watching something happening? Speaking with a stranger?
· What was the outcome of this experience and how did it make you feel?
· Do you have a favourite place which you go to often on your own? Where/what is it? Why do you go there? How does it make you feel?
· What is your name and where do you come from? (to be used at end of film)
· How do you feel about border control?
· When do you feel like you’ve truly entered a country? (Just off the plane?)
· Have you ever crossed a land border? If so can you tell us about your experiences?
______________________________________________________________________
· Can you explain to me where you are from?
· Where do you live? Have you always lived there?
· Where do you consider home?
______________________________________________________________________
· How do you feel about the idea of a fixed nationality?
· What do you consider your nationality to be?
______________________________________________________________________
· How do you feel about immigration to your home country?
· Would you ever want to live away from your home country?
· Do you feel there is a difference between the words ‘expatriate’ and ‘immigrant’? How do they differ?
· How do you feel about these words?
______________________________________________________________________
· What marks someone out as being different from you?
· How do you feel nationality affects people’s presence in an airport? (need to re-word)
· How do you feel about the statement ‘People are more approachable in airports’?
_______________________________________________________________________
· How does being in an airport/train/bus station/ border/ motorway on your own make you feel?
· If you’re waiting for a plane/train/bus by yourself, what do you normally do?
· Do you feel more comfortable sitting next to a stranger on a bus/train than at a bar/café?
· Why do you think this is?
________________________________________________________________________
· When you are on your own in a non-space do you feel liberated or constrained? Explain.
· Do you have any memories of a non-space? Watching something happening? Speaking with a stranger?
· What was the outcome of this experience and how did it make you feel?
· Do you have a favourite place which you go to often on your own? Where/what is it? Why do you go there? How does it make you feel?
I did some initial interviews online to see how people responded to these questions and based on their answers I decided to make some changes to them. I found that people were being put off the the questions about immigration and border control and it put them slightly on guard which made the subsequent interview a bit tense. I cut these questions and a few others based on the fact I was gathering far too much content per person, about 20 minutes each on average, and also to try to narrow down the scope of the film as by this point it was just branching out in all directions. I then settled on the questions below.
Revised questions
· What is your name and where do you come from?
· Can you explain to me where you are from?
· Where do you live? Have you always lived there?
· Where do you consider home? Why?
· If you’re away from home, what makes you feel like home?/reminds you of home?
· Would you ever want to live away from your home? Why?
· What do you consider your nationality to be?
· How do you feel about the idea of a fixed nationality? Can it change?
· We all now live in a global society, how do you think this affects people’s ideas about home and their nationality?
· Do you think travel changes how people think? How? Why?
· How does being in an airport/train/bus station on your own make you feel?
· If you’re waiting for a plane/train/bus by yourself, what do you normally do?
· Why do you travel?
· What does travelling make you feel?
· Do you have any memories of being in an airport/train/bus station? Watching something happening? Speaking with a stranger?
· Have you ever crossed a land border? What happened?
· What do you think is the purpose of a border?
· Do you have a favourite place which you go to often on your own? Where/what is it? Why do you go there? How does it make you feel?
· What are your greatest fears in life?
· What are your greatest hopes in life?
· What makes you happy?
· What makes you unique?
· What is your name and where do you come from?
· Can you explain to me where you are from?
· Where do you live? Have you always lived there?
· Where do you consider home? Why?
· If you’re away from home, what makes you feel like home?/reminds you of home?
· Would you ever want to live away from your home? Why?
· What do you consider your nationality to be?
· How do you feel about the idea of a fixed nationality? Can it change?
· We all now live in a global society, how do you think this affects people’s ideas about home and their nationality?
· Do you think travel changes how people think? How? Why?
· How does being in an airport/train/bus station on your own make you feel?
· If you’re waiting for a plane/train/bus by yourself, what do you normally do?
· Why do you travel?
· What does travelling make you feel?
· Do you have any memories of being in an airport/train/bus station? Watching something happening? Speaking with a stranger?
· Have you ever crossed a land border? What happened?
· What do you think is the purpose of a border?
· Do you have a favourite place which you go to often on your own? Where/what is it? Why do you go there? How does it make you feel?
· What are your greatest fears in life?
· What are your greatest hopes in life?
· What makes you happy?
· What makes you unique?
I have now done nearly all of my interviews, about 15 in total, and if anything am left with an excess of material. I have done a preliminary cut picking out nice snippets which I think I will be able to weave into a narrative when joined with other peoples interviews. The problem is this currently totals about 45 minutes so I am going to have to be brutal and pick out exactly what I want put across.