In the exterior scenes, there was a camera move that walked all the way around the artist as he was standing back looking at his canvas. It was a nice move, and quite steady. However, the harsh sunlight did create a couple problems: First, at one point the sunlight hit the lens in such a way that one could see splotches of dirt on it, and when the camera crossed between the subject and the sunlight, it cast a very dark shadow on the artist’s face. While it was a nice move, it might be a good idea to cut the shot before the shadow appears.
Use of Audio
Some nice piano music played occasionally throughout the film. It did a lot to help set the mood, but was not overpowering and used sparingly, which was appropriate since the majority of audio involved the artist’s voice. There was also a lot of great ambient noise used in the outdoor scenes, such as birds and traffic going by. This was a very good choice, as there is little to no dialogue in these scenes, apart from the occasional voice-over, which was another very good choice.
The only problem with his voice-overs is that in several scenes Mr. Tale’s voice is muffled and his rather thick accent made it difficult to understand what he was saying sometimes. I could not tell what caused the muffling problem, a lavaliere microphone hidden in his scarf, or him being too far from the boom. The scenes outside were easier to hear, as well as the one when he was showing the interviewer a binder of his early work.
In the outdoor scenes, where Mr. Tale is painting outside, he appears to be wearing a lavaliere microphone. This may be easier than having to find a second person to hold a boom pole, but it is not such a good idea when your subject is going to be doing a lot of moving around. His shirt kept brushing against the microphone, creating an odd sound. A better solution would be a boom pole or to set up a unidirectional microphone, on a stand just off camera, to capture the extra sound.
Along the same lines, there was a woman in the role of a sort of interviewer and she cannot be heard very well, as she is not wearing a microphone. However, she responds to Mr. Tale and listens to him, more than asking questions of him. Therefore, it might be nice to hear some of her insights as well. An important part of art is the reaction of an audience, and even though Mr. Tale is the focus of this documentary, many artists still do want to hear feedback from the people who view their work.
Use of Budget
The filmmaker was quite resourceful in avoiding high costs, as his only expense went into 17 hours of mini DV tape. (As the DV tape cartridges cost anywhere from $10-20 per cartridge, the most he spent would still be under $300.) I assume they will make good use of this documentary as a promotional video, as it has some great elements and is already being shown on Mr. Tale’s website.
