This film did my head in. I hated the voiceover and couldn’t really understand a lot of what was being said.
My mind wandered a lot not because I’m simple but because the whole rhythm of it felt so nothingy. The only point where I started to get a bit interested was when the form completely changed at the end and we had a bit of an interview with the ventriloquist. I think it’s cos the puppet and old lady thing was doing my head in prior to that. It was a bit like a terrible insert from the kids show, Rosie and Jim. Anyway, that was the only time in the film where there was a gear change and where the rhythm felt a bit dynamic and sprightly.
I definitely think there’s something in the idea of using a dummy in a doc though. Personally I would have written and delivered the voiceover as if it was a real life interview – not assume a kind of kids TV storytelling patter. (Or just do an intervew with a real lady). Then I would have had played the interview over imagery of the “lady” moving around the house – but all shot in soft focus or concealed in late afternoon shadow. Then I would have revealed the dummy only towards the very end. That’s what I would have done. Anyone got any other ideas for using dummies/puppets in docs?
