A Tip For Jon

After reading Jon's blog (http://wctitansoccer.blogspot.com/) on his documentary about the Westminster Titan soccer program I immediately saw the potential in the project. In summary, Jon will be documenting two freshmen soccer player, one from the boys team and one from the girls, and how they develop as players under Coach Girish Thakar.   

I feel pretty confident Jon will capture the hard work and training that goes on at a soccer practice since he played soccer at Westminster under Coach Thakar. Jon will probably have multiple interviews throughout the season with coaches and players leaving him an abundance of good material to work with. The drama of wins/loss and relationships of the teammates will provide a natural story structure to follow. Developing that story is when things can get hard.  

Picking and choosing sequences during long editing sessions can keep Jon distracted from the focus of his story. At the same time, if he focuses on just the surface levels (interviews and dialogue) Jon would miss out on potentially great compelling audio/video elements. To me, a great sports documentary has outstanding editing between highlights of the athletes alongside interesting dialogue. It is when these lines become too defined rather than meshed together that a sports documentary can lose the touch. For example, a sportscaster rambles off stats throughout the entire segment; And the only thing worse than watching the talking head ramble through the numbers is having a graphic up displaying the very same facts you are hearing. I hope this doesn’t show up in anyone’s documentary.    

For Jon, I would recommend watching Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets. I followed this year's HBO training camp special on the New York Jets not just as a fan of football but of the great production values within the program. In no point in the show does someone have to stop and wonder "What's going on?" More importantly, it is masterfully edited; making excellent use out of interviews, fast paced training sessions, coaches' conference, sideline banter, etc. Yes, the show is shot with state of the art HD cameras and audio equipment, but shows the audience an inside look on one of America's favorite professional sports. From the development of quarterback Mark Sanchez to the pep talks given by foul mouthed head coach Rex Ryan, the show gets rid of the overdone analyses of the game as various sports shows provide. Simply put, Hard Knocks gives the viewer everything they want- drama.   

When Jon hits the slump in his post-production phase (like to the rest of 602), I hope he can catch a couple episodes of Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets to get motivated and focused again on making a great sports documentary.