Reference: StudentFilmmakers Magazine, January 2007. Christine Knowlton Discusses Documentary Short, Going Blank. Pages 26 – 28.
Artist Interweaves a Personal Story with Factual Strokes and Imagery
Documentary short Going Blank wins third place in the StudentFilmmakers.com Summer Shorts 2006 competition. Directed and edited by Christine Knowlton, Going Blank, is a poetic vignette of one man’s journey from his passionate world of falconry into the debilitating grip of Alzheimer’s. Knowlton, an artist with over 20 years of professional experience as a textile designer/stylist, is currently a part-time student at SUNY/WCC (State University of New York/Westchester Community College) completing a Digital Arts Certificate. She shares her thoughts on the making of Going Blank, her first short video, which interweaves a personal story with broad factual strokes and varied imagery.
What inspired your project, Going Blank?
Going Blank began as a simple Flash animation project that took on a deeper symbolic meaning correlated to recent personal experiences with my father-in-law’s affliction with Alzheimer’s.
Strangely, I would wake up at night with words and images in my head that I finally began to write down in a sleepy stupor. I realized that I needed to learn video to develop this emerging vision.
Last spring, I took a Digital Video class in which I developed the piece as a final class project. It was not formally scripted or tightly storyboarded, though I did write note cards, narration, lists of images to collect, permissions to seek, and shots and sequences I hoped to create. When I presented my final project, even though it was a lyrical and moving video, it was confusing to many. I had failed to step outside my brain that already knew how to connect the dots to get to the story. With valuable criticism, I forged ahead and working over the summer, totally restructured the video. I shot additional footage and swapped a better recorded and more complete narrative voiceover. And ironically, I eliminated the animated Flash opening that had inspired the project because it no longer fit stylistically.
What was your goal for Going Blank?
Some people make short films as a calling card to seek larger projects. Going Blank was a call for me to create it. This project became a turning point in my career. The goal was to make a coherent moving and informative piece that honored my father-in-law, Perry, and brought a face to this dreadful disease that robs minds and personalities.
Through the process of developing Going Blank, the pieces of the software puzzle began to connect for a purpose. Pixels became my paint, the screen my paper. Besides gaining a critical lesson in scripting a story, Going Blank became a vehicle to immerse myself in video, to become more experienced with shooting with my Sony Hi8 camera and editing with Final Cut Pro.
Could you share some of your thoughts in regards to the making of Going Blank?
It was difficult making a piece that was so personal and full of so much family material, not knowing what the reaction would be when it was completed and shown. I was very nervous how it would be perceived and if I would be allowed to use some of the material. Fortunately, the response has been very positive from close family and friends.
What was the most interesting thing for you about this project?
Having such an extended and dedicated focus on a project with no apparent commercial venue is unique for me. Its emotional component and the empathy it draws from others is rewarding enough. It has been a spiritual journey and a wild technical ride.
What were some technical challenges?
Creating the animated table sequence was especially difficult technically to achieve the vision I had. To be true to our family history, I wanted to use the same setting and table that my father-in-law had in his country house but the house, table and chairs were no longer available. Luckily, I found a photo of his table and chairs taken before the final auction, and in Photoshop composited a series of stop motion photographs I shot on a different table in my own home to illustrate the process of disorganization and loss of normalcy that occurs with the onset of Alzheimer’s. That was a personal and technical challenge.
Another challenge was the animated sequence of brain and neuron images that I layered to create a time lapse effect from original still illustrations.
What were some other challenges in making Going Blank?
It was very challenging to output to a small enough size. The first QuickTime file was over 600 MB. Fortunately, I had lots of tech staff help at WCC and just barely managed to make the deadline for uploading the video file.
Because of working intuitively and without tight scrip I shot as needed to fill out sequences in order to round out the documentary. Some of the footage used was archival family video and certain bird shots were lent from a professional falconry promotional tape that I transferred from VHS. To bridge the varied source material I used devices such as ramping saturation and adding sepia tones with transitions between seemingly incompatible image qualities.
How long did it take to edit Going Blank?
It would be impossible and embarrassing to tally the hours of editing. Cutting two minutes to get under the 5 minute limit for the Summer Shorts contest was tough. As I was learning Final Cut, I was also experimenting with how best to animate the medial illustrations.
How many chapters of Going Blank are completed so far?
Only one has been completed but I plan to make two more chapters that will each focus on a unique personal aspect of a person suffering from Alzheimer’s while expanding the medical information.
Since the [Summer Shorts] competition deadline, I tweaked some transitions and animations of Going Blank and added back in a section I had to take out.
I also extended some parts that had been compressed in order to meet the Summer Shorts contest’s 5 minute maximum length. Once a more professionally designed and composed music track is added, the first chapter will be complete for my purposes.
How did you come across the Summer Shorts contest?
Over the summer I saw the posting on a school bulletin board and decided to use the contest as a challenge and deadline. It was a great way to learn how to work under pressure, within a prescribed format – editing to time constrictions and outputting within the parameters of file size.
What are your thoughts about placing in this year’s contest?
I was thrilled and surprised especially since this was my first video, and I was in an international pool that was surprisingly not limited to student filmmakers.