On Campus News

Kyra Willans discusses �Carbon Copy�, her documentary on musician Joe Cerisano

By Naomi Laeuchli
posted Feb 6, 2013, 19:02

Kyra Willans discusses �Carbon Copy�, her documentary on musician Joe Cerisano Kyra Willans, a student at Rutgers University in New Jersey, filmed Carbon Copy, a documentary about singer/songwriter Joe Cerisano, for a digital film-making course. The 18 minute documentary discusses many ups and downs in his life and career and sheds light on a singer who began his career at the age of fourteen. Willans talks about working on the documentary and what she learned from the experience of working with Cerisano.


What was it about Joe Cerisano's life that caused you to want to make 'Carbon Copy'?
I knew Joe in my personal life before I started the documentary project. He's a very humble guy, and you wouldn't know about all of the amazing things he's done unless you really knew him. There have been so many projects that feature his voice, but he doesn't get the proper credit for it-no one knows his name. I wanted to put a face to that voice.

What was your favorite part of making the film? And what was the most challenging?
I had a positive experience working with my subject, and that's always a plus for the documentary filmmaker. Joe was always a pleasure to work with and I loved the fact that he gave me so much information to work with. There is a lot of his life that I obviously had to leave out for time's sake.
I wouldn't say that this experience was challenging, per se, but cooperating on this project with Joe was a learning experience. Before I started, I had a certain idea of how I wanted to depict this story. When I started working with Joe, I realized that my idea didn't coincide with his 100%. If you're making a documentary on someone's life, you can't just shape it whatever way you want. You have a responsibility to represent them in a way they're comfortable with. For every decision I made, I had to confirm with Joe first. And that was an exercise in teamwork for me.

During the film, Cerisano talks about a wide range of subjects, from his musical career to the loss of his son. How did you develop an atmosphere where you could both feel comfortable discussing his life?
As I said before, I knew Joe personally before I started the project. I met him through his son, Mike. So we were already comfortable discussing a wide range of topics with each other. When I'd interview him, I'd do it in his studio, the place where he spends most of his time. So it was just the two of us in his studio, and each time I interviewed him we'd spend over 3 hours, to give him enough time in the beginning to warm up. Ironically, at times he was too comfortable. He'd squirm in his chair and ramble on and on. But by the end of the 3 hours, I was always left with a surplus of emotion and information to work with, and I'm grateful for that. I know how hard it is to get some people to talk when a camera's pointed at their head.

What did you learn from the experience that you feel will help you in your work on future projects?
I learned a lot about interviewing people, like how to frame a question correctly, how to make them comfortable, etc. When I reviewed my footage I noticed some technical elements that I wish I had done a little differently. I realized that when you work alone, there's a lot of technical things that you can overlook. That's why it�s nice to have another filmmaker with you, to help set-up and double check everything.

Resources:

'Carbon Copy'

Sign up for the StudentFilmmakers E-Newsletter today!

Enjoy the StudentFilmmakers Enewsletters on your computer, mobile phone, or iPad! Click here to get the latest News and Updates.