The other week, in class, Dr. Butters brought in a friend of his. This friend was a documentary filmmaker. He talked to the class for a very short amount of time, and then he showed us a film he is in the process of making. The film is called Prison Terminal, and it follows a terminally ill prisoner that has a life sentence. The prisoner, Jack, seems like an angry old coot, but his story made me feel sympathetic. Jack is an inmate that is sentenced to life in prison for killing a drug dealer. The real reason Jack killed the drug dealer is because his son was addicted to drugs, and he ended up committing suicide.
Now more about the actual film and its style. The director used cinema verite to record the happenings at the prison's hospice. Cinema verite is the "fly on the wall" style of documentary film making. The way it works is the cameraman/director is given a portable camera. The cameraman follows his subject(s) around without any interference or side commentary. There is no voice of God narration. The only input the director had was the title screens between segments, and he also controlled what scenes the audience would be viewing.
Now more about the actual film and its style. The director used cinema verite to record the happenings at the prison's hospice. Cinema verite is the "fly on the wall" style of documentary film making. The way it works is the cameraman/director is given a portable camera. The cameraman follows his subject(s) around without any interference or side commentary. There is no voice of God narration. The only input the director had was the title screens between segments, and he also controlled what scenes the audience would be viewing.
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