documentary short Archives - postPerspective

Though poignant and beautiful, this wasn’t the documentary the filmmakers originally set out to make. Here we talk with one of the directors, Mia Grimes, about how the film unfolded and the process of making it.

L-R: Chris Multop, Joe Litzinger and Mia Grimes

How did you come up with the idea for the short?
My co-director Joe Litzinger discovered a viral YouTube video of Marc Ornstein performing a canoe dancing routine to “Lady in Red” as well as a video of Stephen Colbert poking fun at it. Intrigued by the sport and the individual in the video, we did some research and reached out to Elaine Mravetz, a pivotal figure within the community. We were immediately struck by her warm and inviting demeanor.

Tragically, just days after our initial conversation, Elaine was killed in a car accident. With the blessing of both the freestyle community and Elaine’s family, we pivoted the documentary to follow her husband, Bob (also a canoeist), on his journey of recovery and grief.

The original concept was to take a Best in Show approach to a unique sport, but it evolved into a heartfelt emotional story about a community rallying around a member facing a tragic and unimaginable life change.

Did you guys fund it on your own?
My co-director funded the short through his production company, Interesting Human Media, using personal funds. While we attempted to raise additional money, the unexpected nature of the life event we were documenting meant we had to adapt and tell the story with the resources available to us while it was happening.

And we received a great many contributions of time, resources and work at reduced rates from friends and co-workers, embodying the essence of this project as a true labor of love and a community coming together for a common purpose.

What was the process of just getting it off the ground?
In early February 2022, cinematographer Jeff Smee and I made our way to film at Bob’s house in Cleveland. This initial three-day filming session with Bob was just the first of many. Over the course of the following year, we were invited to document a series of significant events marking Bob’s journey of recovery. These events offered a lens into his resilience and his gradual return to the activities that once brought him joy.

It was during a trip to Florida in February 2023 that we witnessed Bob return back to the water in his canoe for the first time since his accident — a symbolic act of reclaiming his passion and a step forward in his healing process. This experience provided a natural and powerful conclusion to our film, capturing the essence of human perseverance and the support of a community rallying around one of its own.

Can you talk script?
Because we were following an event, we did not have a script or outline of any kind, as we were not sure how Bob’s recovery would progress. We truly had no idea how the documentary would end pretty much the entire time we were filming.

Was this your first time directing? How did you work with your co-director, Joe?
I started out in logistics and scheduling, but my role quickly expanded as I found myself involved in all aspects of the production process. This transition marked the beginning of a learning experience that extended far beyond my initial responsibilities. Joe, who served not only as my boss but also as my co-director, played a pivotal role in this evolution. In an industry where the hierarchical structure is often rigid, Joe’s decision to trust me with the direction of early scenes was indicative of his inclusive leadership style.

This opportunity allowed me to learn directly from Joe and the cinematographer, Chris Multop, about not only the technical aspects of filmmaking and camera operation but the storytelling.

As the project progressed, our partnership evolved into a collaborative co-directing effort. This collaboration was not limited to just Joe and me; Chris, our co-producer, was integral as well. Together, the three of us functioned as a cohesive unit, with each of us bringing our own perspectives, expertise and visions to the table.

How did you decide on the cameras you used?
To capture the sport’s beauty, we needed high-quality, versatile cameras that were also light, portable and affordable. Most of the documentary was shot using Z cameras in 4K, with a mix of ultrawide, stylistic lenses for interviews and 800mm lenses for paddling and cinematic shots. Other cameras we used during production were Sony FX3, multiple drones and a Blackmagic camera.

Was it shot with natural lighting?
While the canoeing scenes benefited from natural lighting, we used artificial lighting for the indoor interviews to enhance the visual quality.

You had multiple DPs?
Chris Multop, our co-producer, served as the director of photography, but it was a collaborative effort, with Joe, Jeff Smee, me and others on-set contributing to the cinematography alongside archival footage from the canoeists.

You edited on Adobe Premiere. What was that process like?
We have edited a variety of projects on a variety of platforms. We decided on Premiere because we liked the ease and capability of sending the project to multiple editors to play around with.

One of the things we did early on was hire an experienced AE, Ken Ren, who organized the drive and synced the footage, so our projects started in a way that gave us a leg up throughout the editing process. With about 8TB of footage, we relied on proxies to keep the editing process smooth.

Who did the actual editing? And what about the audio and color grading?
Editing was a collective effort led by Joe and me, with contributions from Emmy award-winning editors Matt Mercer and Eric Schrader and assistant editing by Jenny Hochberg. We set out to film a feature, so we were managing a large amount of footage, which presented a significant challenge in crafting a short, concise documentary.

You can watch the doc here:

By James Hughes

In Los Angeles on a Saturday morning, a crew of 10 students from Hollywood High School — helmed by 17-year-old director Celine Gimpirea — were transforming a corner of the Calgary Cemetery into a movie set. In The Box, a boy slips inside a cardboard box and finds himself transported to other realms. On this well-manicured lawn, among rows of flat, black granite grave markers, are rows of flat, black camera cases holding Red cameras, DIT stations, iPads and MacBook Pros.

Gimpirea’s is one of three teams of filmmakers involved in a month-long filmmaking workshop connecting creative pros with emerging talent. The teams worked with tools from Apple, including the MacBook Pro, iMac and Final Cut Pro X, as well as the Red Raven camera for shooting. LA-based independent filmmaking collective We Make Movies provided post supervision. They used a workflow very similar to that of the feature film Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, which was shot on Red and edited in FCP X.

In the documentary La Buena Muerte produced by instructors from the Mobile Film Classroom, a non-profit that provides digital media workshops to youth in under-resourced communities, the filmmakers examine mortality and family bonds surrounding the Day of the Dead, the Mexican holiday honoring lost loved ones. And in The Dancer, director Krista Amigone channels her background in theater to tell a personal story about a dancer confronting the afterlife.

Krista Amigone

During a two-week post period, teams received feedback from a rotating cast of surprise guests and mentors from across the industry, each a professional working in the field of film and television production.

Among the first mentors to view The Dancer was Sean Baker, director of 2017’s critically acclaimed The Florida Project and the 2015 feature Tangerine, shot entirely on iPhone 5S. Baker, who edits his own films, surveyed clips from Amigone’s shoot. Each take had been marked with the Movie Slate app on an iPad, which automatically stores and logs the timecode data. Together, they discussed Amigone’s backstory as well. A stay-at-home mother of a three-year-old daughter, she is no stranger to maximizing time and resources. She not only served as writer and director, but also star and choreographer.

Meanwhile, the La Buena Muerte crew, headed by executive producer Manon Banta, were editing their piece. Reviewing the volume of interviews and B-roll, all captured by cinematographer Elle Schneider on the 4.5K Red Raven camera, initially felt like a daunting task. Fortunately, their metadata was automatically organized after being imported straight into Final Cut Pro X from Shot Notes X and Lumberjack, along with the secondary source audio via Sync-N-Link X, which spared days of hand syncing.

Perhaps the most constructive feedback about story structure came from TJ Martin, director of LA92 and Undefeated, the Oscar-winner for Best Documentary Feature in 2012, which director Jean Balest has used as teaching material in the Mobile Film Classroom. Midway through the cut, Martin was struck by a plot point he felt required precision placement up front: A daughter is introduced while presiding over a conceptual art altar alongside her mother, who reveals she’s coping with her own pending death after a stage four cancer diagnosis.

Reshoots were vital to The Box. The dream world Gimpirea created — she cites Christopher Nolan’s Inception as an influence — required some clarification. During a visit from Valerie Faris, the Oscar-nominated co-director of Little Miss Sunshine and Battle of the Sexes, Gimpirea listened intently as she offered advice for pickup shots. Faris urged Gimpirea to keep the story focused on the point of view of her young lead during his travels. “There’s a lot told in his body and seeing him from behind,” Faris said. “In some ways, I’m more with him when I’m traveling behind him and seeing what he’s seeing.”

Celine Gimpirea

Gimpirea’s collaborative nature was evident throughout post. She was helped out by Antonio Manriquez, a video production teacher at Hollywood High, as well as her crew. Kais Karram was the film’s assistant director, and twin brother Zane was cinematographer. The brothers’ athleticism was an asset on-set, particularly during a day-long shoot in Griffith Park where they executed numerous tracking shots behind the film’s fleet-footed star as he navigated a walkway they had cleared of park visitors.

The selection of music was crucial, particularly for Amigone. For her main theme, she wanted a sound reminiscent of John Coltrane’s “After The Rain” and Claude Debussy’s “Clair De Lune.” She chose an original nocturne by John Mickevich, a composer and fellow member of the collective We Make Movies, whose founder/CEO Sam Mestman is also the CEO of LumaForge, developer of the Jellyfish Mobile — a “portable cloud,” as he put it — which, along with two MacBook Pros, were storing and syncing Amigone’s footage on location. Mestman believes “post should live on set.” As proof, a half-day of work for the editing team was done before the dance studio shoot had even wrapped.

During his mentor visit, Aaron Kaufman, director and longtime producing partner of filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, encouraged the teams to not be precious about losing shots in service of story. The documentary team certainly heeded this advice, as did Gimpirea, who cut a whole scene from Calvary Cemetery from her film.

As the project was winding down, Gimpirea reflected on her experience. “Knowing all the possibilities that I have in post now, it allows me to look completely differently at production and pre-production, and to pick out, more precisely, what I want,” she said.

Main Image: Shooting with the Red Raven at the Calvary Cemetery.

James Hughes is a writer and editor based in Chicago.