Brant Backlund
July 1st, 2008, 10:14 AM
Some thoughts on my decision making process:
Hi everyone,
I just thought I would give you a little insight into my decision making process for judging your films.
My background has no doubt influenced my decision, so let me briefly shed some light on the situation. I studied biology as an undergraduate and went on to get a degree in natural history filmmaking, where they pounded the importance of storytelling into our heads. I went on to work in various aspects of wildlife filmmaking for several series on Animal Planet. Most recently I worked as a story producer and writer on the series Orangutan Island.
Because of all this, I hold a high importance on story structure. I think that a strong story will grab the viewer and hold their attention regardless of the quality of the footage. A strong story will develop characters and then make these characters face obstacles. The film should tease the outcome without giving it away. If this is done well, the audience will be dying to see how the characters react to the obstacles. Will they overcome them with success? Or will the obstacles get the better of them in failure? Typically, as a filmmaker you want to start with something really strong…introducing an obstacle up front to grab the viewer right away. Then the film should move to the climax…the moment of truth…that will determine the fate of the character. After this, the story should resolve fairly quickly. Of course there are no strict rules about this and any number of structures can work, but this is a tried and true method to keep in mind.
All that being said, of course I appreciate stunning imagery as well. Also, as a natural history filmmaker myself, I understand the difficulty of sitting and waiting patiently for a wild creature to do what you want it to do. So I tried to pay attention to these aspects as well.
As I watched each film I tried to take into consideration these qualities to determine who executed ALL of them the best.
Hi everyone,
I just thought I would give you a little insight into my decision making process for judging your films.
My background has no doubt influenced my decision, so let me briefly shed some light on the situation. I studied biology as an undergraduate and went on to get a degree in natural history filmmaking, where they pounded the importance of storytelling into our heads. I went on to work in various aspects of wildlife filmmaking for several series on Animal Planet. Most recently I worked as a story producer and writer on the series Orangutan Island.
Because of all this, I hold a high importance on story structure. I think that a strong story will grab the viewer and hold their attention regardless of the quality of the footage. A strong story will develop characters and then make these characters face obstacles. The film should tease the outcome without giving it away. If this is done well, the audience will be dying to see how the characters react to the obstacles. Will they overcome them with success? Or will the obstacles get the better of them in failure? Typically, as a filmmaker you want to start with something really strong…introducing an obstacle up front to grab the viewer right away. Then the film should move to the climax…the moment of truth…that will determine the fate of the character. After this, the story should resolve fairly quickly. Of course there are no strict rules about this and any number of structures can work, but this is a tried and true method to keep in mind.
All that being said, of course I appreciate stunning imagery as well. Also, as a natural history filmmaker myself, I understand the difficulty of sitting and waiting patiently for a wild creature to do what you want it to do. So I tried to pay attention to these aspects as well.
As I watched each film I tried to take into consideration these qualities to determine who executed ALL of them the best.