What iz this? I haven't seen it... Click on the picture to watch.
HOW'D YOU GET THE IDEA?
It all started with a school competition. The region I live in organized a trip to the concentration camps of Auschwitz in February 2012 for High School Freshmen. Because there were many students who wanted to go, my school organized a mini competition to pick the students who would represent our school there.
The students who wanted to go were to submit a project that would answer the question: "how would you share your experience with the school when you come back?"
I really wanted to go. I'd been making short films at home since I was 9, and this was the perfect opportunity. A week later, the trailer was made.
I needed a title for the project. I had a couple of ideas but Pitchipoï almost came immediately: at the beginning of the year, Anaïs and I had read a book of the same name, written by the Holocaust survivor Jean-Claude Moscovici. He and his sister lived in Vichy collaborative France and were discriminated against and sent to concentration camps, one of them being Dachau. What makes this book special is that it gives both a French Jewish perspective of the events but most importantly a child's one, as Moscovici was only a kid at the time. Therefore the goal of the film was to inform everyone with a focus on young people.
A trailer and interview later, the project was on!
The students who wanted to go were to submit a project that would answer the question: "how would you share your experience with the school when you come back?"
I really wanted to go. I'd been making short films at home since I was 9, and this was the perfect opportunity. A week later, the trailer was made.
I needed a title for the project. I had a couple of ideas but Pitchipoï almost came immediately: at the beginning of the year, Anaïs and I had read a book of the same name, written by the Holocaust survivor Jean-Claude Moscovici. He and his sister lived in Vichy collaborative France and were discriminated against and sent to concentration camps, one of them being Dachau. What makes this book special is that it gives both a French Jewish perspective of the events but most importantly a child's one, as Moscovici was only a kid at the time. Therefore the goal of the film was to inform everyone with a focus on young people.
A trailer and interview later, the project was on!
How was the scenario created?
Well, it was my first big field project and I had no idea of how it was going to be like there and what I would see during our visit, except what I read on the museum's website as well as the testimonies of camp survivors we read and watched. So Anaïs and I wrote an outline of the final thing, packed our equipment, put on very, very thick coats and boots, and jumped on the plane. Although I had done most of our research before leaving, I wrote down the full script once I came back.
How was the shooting organized?
I didn't really organize any steps or key scenes because I didn't know how the visit would go and the parts of the camp we were going to visit. Considering the small amount of knowledge we had, we figured we would just follow our tour guide and then transpose the visit into a film (that idea changed post-shooting, as you can see from the finalized film).
We planned who would do what: Anaïs recorded the information delivered by our tour guide and the "people" sounds (interviews...) while I was filming the environment and elements in detail.
Everything went well until all our batteries started crashing, so we had to alternate between shooting, photographing and sound recording with our smartphones.
I wish we had visited the camp before shooting and then went back to be able to plan the timing and spend more time in "key" areas. Even though we were both in "shooting-mode", we were extremely interested and shaken by the tour. Everyone should go visit once; seeing it in movies and learning about it at school is important but nothing like walking on the grounds of Auschwitz.
We planned who would do what: Anaïs recorded the information delivered by our tour guide and the "people" sounds (interviews...) while I was filming the environment and elements in detail.
Everything went well until all our batteries started crashing, so we had to alternate between shooting, photographing and sound recording with our smartphones.
I wish we had visited the camp before shooting and then went back to be able to plan the timing and spend more time in "key" areas. Even though we were both in "shooting-mode", we were extremely interested and shaken by the tour. Everyone should go visit once; seeing it in movies and learning about it at school is important but nothing like walking on the grounds of Auschwitz.
What babies* did you bring with you?
My equipment is not the most high tech but I love it.
I brought a Sony camera HDR-XR350VE + beautiful little ECM-HW2 Wireless Microphones bluetooth-linked to the camera. (that was extremely cool because Anaïs could record the the guide and interview her while I filmed the area 300 feet away)
I had a couple of problems with the equipment that I really did not expect.
Well, one problem was my fault. I had bought a big, cute 7h battery, and I charged it directly with the camera, not on a side "battery only" charger. Bad, bad idea. In fact, the camera was created and sold with a 3h battery. Therefore the system was planned to charge a 3h battery. This killed my 7h as the first charge determines the life of the battery: my battery lasted 3h30min instead of a flawless 7h.
...
The battery life (on one charge cycle) also apparently depends on temperature (which makes sense if you see the chemistry of it). I did not expect at all (I also didn't take chemistry at the time): both my 7h-now-3h30min battery and my normal 3h battery died a lot faster than when I had tried them out in standard conditions (±20°C). I think the low temperature of February windy-but-sunny-but-snowy Poland (≈ -15°C) 'froze' my babies' molecules to the core. Today I recall that I had had a similar problem with a camera when I tried taking pictures of Finnish coniferous forests in -25°C. The camera shut down after 30 min outside when I had charged the battery fully before going.
* I swear I didn't bring actual babies in a bag to make a film. It's just what I call my sweet, awesome, beautiful filming equipment. Even if it's not the most advance, it's still my sweet double chocolate caramel baby :)
I brought a Sony camera HDR-XR350VE + beautiful little ECM-HW2 Wireless Microphones bluetooth-linked to the camera. (that was extremely cool because Anaïs could record the the guide and interview her while I filmed the area 300 feet away)
I had a couple of problems with the equipment that I really did not expect.
Well, one problem was my fault. I had bought a big, cute 7h battery, and I charged it directly with the camera, not on a side "battery only" charger. Bad, bad idea. In fact, the camera was created and sold with a 3h battery. Therefore the system was planned to charge a 3h battery. This killed my 7h as the first charge determines the life of the battery: my battery lasted 3h30min instead of a flawless 7h.
...
The battery life (on one charge cycle) also apparently depends on temperature (which makes sense if you see the chemistry of it). I did not expect at all (I also didn't take chemistry at the time): both my 7h-now-3h30min battery and my normal 3h battery died a lot faster than when I had tried them out in standard conditions (±20°C). I think the low temperature of February windy-but-sunny-but-snowy Poland (≈ -15°C) 'froze' my babies' molecules to the core. Today I recall that I had had a similar problem with a camera when I tried taking pictures of Finnish coniferous forests in -25°C. The camera shut down after 30 min outside when I had charged the battery fully before going.
* I swear I didn't bring actual babies in a bag to make a film. It's just what I call my sweet, awesome, beautiful filming equipment. Even if it's not the most advance, it's still my sweet double chocolate caramel baby :)
How was the montage?
I did the montage and it was a great journey. I hadn't written the script pre shooting and as we had had the battery problems, we couldn't do something of great quality by just retracing our visit of the camps.
Because I had to take the Brevet des Collèges shortly after we came back, I had to focus on revision and school. The school year began again. I realized it would be very difficult to make a film out of what we had just by showing the footage we had recorded.
And that's how I wrote the script and decided to make a documentary about Auschwitz, not just a report. I started searching historical footages, recordings and photographs of the camps when operating, and children survivor testimonies, to try to explain why and how. Research was the most tedious and one of the most emotionally difficult parts, as some of the archives are very powerful.
After weeks of research, Anaïs (a friend how had supported my project from the start) and I met up so that she could narrate the film. Once her narrator parts and mine (I translated interviews) were recorded, I sat down and Final Cut Pro-ed. For long hours. And days. And about three weeks.
Even though I love this part of filmmaking, it was difficult because of the content and length of the film. To survive, I didn't edit the film in order: I worked on one interview and then the intro, for example. [If you want to know how I did this or that effect, comment!].
We added drawings and paintings by survivors (Jo Wajsblat for example, who lived in Auschwitz when he was 15) to reflect not only the camp discoverers' view of the camp (as most pictures and footage of the camps were taken after the Nazi departure by Allied forces) but also the one of people who had actually lived in it.
Because I had to take the Brevet des Collèges shortly after we came back, I had to focus on revision and school. The school year began again. I realized it would be very difficult to make a film out of what we had just by showing the footage we had recorded.
And that's how I wrote the script and decided to make a documentary about Auschwitz, not just a report. I started searching historical footages, recordings and photographs of the camps when operating, and children survivor testimonies, to try to explain why and how. Research was the most tedious and one of the most emotionally difficult parts, as some of the archives are very powerful.
After weeks of research, Anaïs (a friend how had supported my project from the start) and I met up so that she could narrate the film. Once her narrator parts and mine (I translated interviews) were recorded, I sat down and Final Cut Pro-ed. For long hours. And days. And about three weeks.
Even though I love this part of filmmaking, it was difficult because of the content and length of the film. To survive, I didn't edit the film in order: I worked on one interview and then the intro, for example. [If you want to know how I did this or that effect, comment!].
We added drawings and paintings by survivors (Jo Wajsblat for example, who lived in Auschwitz when he was 15) to reflect not only the camp discoverers' view of the camp (as most pictures and footage of the camps were taken after the Nazi departure by Allied forces) but also the one of people who had actually lived in it.
What about the translation?
[For those not aware, the film was originally in French, because... I'm French]
The translation was a tricky but enjoyable part of the process. When I translated the script, my English was far less good than it is today. But my homeroom teacher, who was also an English teacher, helped me to perfect the translated script, which made the process a lot easier.
I chose the narrators form the best English speakers in my grade, but also the ones who reflected our French voices the best (for the main narration especially). Natalia Kovalenko's strong but controlled voice was what we looked for: perfect for a neutral yet strong narration. Murad Cholak is a natural actor so the translation of the testimonies was perfect for him.
We recorded everything with a Yeti microphone (it's the best thing ever for recording that sort of thing).
The translation was a tricky but enjoyable part of the process. When I translated the script, my English was far less good than it is today. But my homeroom teacher, who was also an English teacher, helped me to perfect the translated script, which made the process a lot easier.
I chose the narrators form the best English speakers in my grade, but also the ones who reflected our French voices the best (for the main narration especially). Natalia Kovalenko's strong but controlled voice was what we looked for: perfect for a neutral yet strong narration. Murad Cholak is a natural actor so the translation of the testimonies was perfect for him.
We recorded everything with a Yeti microphone (it's the best thing ever for recording that sort of thing).
What about the music?
I wrote and recorded the piano theme, based on a recording of a Jewish prayer organized by the allied forces during the evacuation of the camps (the last historical footage shown in the film). This footage was the most moving I ever saw, and the prayer was beautiful.
I wanted something simple, almost basic yet moving.
I have played piano for 10 years and though I'm not at the level I should be at when playing a piece, I always loved simple composition.
I took the melody and translated it to piano with a low base note and many minors. I recorded the result with my Yeti.
I wanted something simple, almost basic yet moving.
I have played piano for 10 years and though I'm not at the level I should be at when playing a piece, I always loved simple composition.
I took the melody and translated it to piano with a low base note and many minors. I recorded the result with my Yeti.
What do you think about the final thing?
Some editing should be done in part of the film.
I like my intro except the gunshot that doesn't sound natural. One of my favorite parts in the arrival in Poland with the Polish anthem (I had a lot of fun editing it) but the sound regulation is terrible (if anyone has a method to regulate it, it's be awesome if you could comment on it). The student interviews are one of the best parts, except for sound again (as we recorded in a large, echo-lover room).
Making it:
It was a great experience. I loved all of it, even dealing with the problems as it helped me think in a broader context and creatively. There were some tough moments because of the content and not-operating disk burners but it was great.
Recently I put up a Facebook page for the film to show my work and encourage people to learn about the camps and history in general. I post an article from time to time, although I haven't posted in a while because of schoolwork. I'm really happy that so many people like the film.
If you have any questions about my experience or the film, I'm happy to answer them in the comments.
Salomé's Youtube channel here
I like my intro except the gunshot that doesn't sound natural. One of my favorite parts in the arrival in Poland with the Polish anthem (I had a lot of fun editing it) but the sound regulation is terrible (if anyone has a method to regulate it, it's be awesome if you could comment on it). The student interviews are one of the best parts, except for sound again (as we recorded in a large, echo-lover room).
Making it:
It was a great experience. I loved all of it, even dealing with the problems as it helped me think in a broader context and creatively. There were some tough moments because of the content and not-operating disk burners but it was great.
Recently I put up a Facebook page for the film to show my work and encourage people to learn about the camps and history in general. I post an article from time to time, although I haven't posted in a while because of schoolwork. I'm really happy that so many people like the film.
If you have any questions about my experience or the film, I'm happy to answer them in the comments.
Salomé's Youtube channel here