Use of Audio
By far the biggest issue this film had was with its audio. It managed to get some very clean audio from a Sony microphone for the interviews, but the audio went nuts during most of the recordings of the actual Jatra performances. Because of how many people come to Jatra performances, Jatra actors project their voices even more than American stage actors, causing camera-based audio equipment to red-line almost immediately. The pops, snaps and squeals that occur due to these problems range in intensity from mildly annoying to sonically painful.
As such, it would be advisable to see if recordings of the nights’ performances are available that utilized the sound system that the troupe had set up. If not, then actually putting in the full narration I mentioned earlier and potting down the actual dialogue is recommended to cover this issue up. If neither of these is an acceptable alternative, then it will be necessary to film another troupe or two and, this time, purchase , rent, or borrow a decent shotgun mic (like the Sennheiser ME66 or ME67) and arrange it outside the pavilion to actually record the dialogue without redlining your gear.
The other issue with the audio has to do with the second subtitle problem I alluded to in the content section. A lot of times when the director will cut to a new interviewee, they will be in the midst of saying something. They will often talk for as long as 15-30 seconds with no translation before the subtitled translation begins. This leaves a viewer feeling like either they’ve missed out on a bunch of important info or Indian is the longest-winded language on the planet if all that talking only amounts to a sentence or two of translation. There are two ways to handle this problem: 1) cut to the interview subject precisely when they begin to say what you want them to say or 2) mute the audio of the interview subject until they get to the information you want to translate.
Use of Budget
Considering all the traveling that would have to be done to talk to all the different people from the different troupes in the different locations, the $5900 is a very reasonable budget. However, with the number of audio problems created due to insufficient audio gear for the actual performances, it would have been recommended that they save a little while longer so as to get a decent shotgun mic, especially since documentaries are much harder to do ADR on.
Lasting Appeal
This is a picture that is very interesting to watch, because it deals with a topic that is fascinating to anyone who likes to learn about other cultures and other forms of entertainment. I wouldn’t mind watching it again as is or showing it to others. If the little touch-ups I mentioned were brought in, it would be even more rewatchable.
Overall Comment
Despite its technical issues, Jatra Jeevan Jeevan Yatra has a lot of heart and a very interesting tale to tell. The subject of Jatra is a fascinating one and I’m glad Kapilas Bhuyan decided to delve into it in this documentary. I look forward to his future work as he continues to refine his art!
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Content |
8.5 |
|
Visual
Look |
7.0 |
|
Use
of Audio |
5.0 |
|
Use
of Budget |
8.0 |
|
Lasting
Appeal |
7.5 |
|
Overall
Score |
7.2
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
