I have been obsessed with documentaries, and what I now call legacy stories, for as long as I can remember. They say you never forget your first. Mine was Alexandra Deford. Alex: The Life of a Child was a book written by Alex’s father that shared his daughter’s legacy, her struggle with cystic fibrosis and the heartbreak of her death. I had a small (think mini iPad) black and white television in my bedroom. I think I watched the based-on-a-true-story, made for TV movie on that thing at least three times.
Then I discovered “And that’s the rest of the story”. If we got in the car to go on some random family trip and Paul Harvey was telling a story I swear you’d think I won the lottery. I always wished they were longer.
Once I moved to the big city I fell in love with the A&E channel. Mostly I watch documentaries, but I worked nights, so I could spend all afternoon watching all the old detective shows.
Then I was introduced to Ken Burns and all the goodness of digging deep and really fleshing out the legacy stories of a topic. His style seemed so unique at the time and I could’t get enough.
Documenting Legacy Stories
The beauty of legacy stories is that we all have one. We also lived so many memories that it can feel overwhelming to break it all down. To say this one word, or this one story represents me or a loved one when we are all so much more is a difficult task.
The trick that documentary filmmakers use is to get really specific on what they want to say. Share history in a way that creates a foundation for what comes next. It means that choices need to be made on what to leave out. Scary I know. I recently read that Ezra Eldman had over 400 hours of footage to sort through when making the OJ documentary. 400 hours plus new interviews edited down into 8 hours.
Start With What You Know
When documenting legacy stories I love to start with tales most often shared. Sometimes you’ll find they have been embellished over the years. Sometimes important information has been left out or forgotten. Always start with what you know. My grandfather’s go to story was always about the time he accidentally locked himself in freezer portion of his ice cream truck and a young man happened by and let him out.
The story of his near death experience led to a few but important changes on how he would live the rest of his life. But it also led me down the path of learning that my grandfather delivered ice cream on his route for many many years. That most of the people in the area knew him. In fact that called him the ice cream man and new him to be a jovial and a fun man who always enjoyed a good prank.
Armed with new information I was able to ask better questions. The number of pranks my grandfather played on his classmates was unreal. I love having got to know this side of him, especially since it all started with a completely unrelated story.
Start with what you know and let it lead you!
Blueskies,
Tami