After attending the screening for Hooligan Sparrow this past Monday, I left with a lot of ideas for documentary filmmaking (and honestly any filmmaking in general). I thought I would post some of the edits I noticed that might help or inspire anyone else. The film itself was great, shocking, and moving, and I really enjoyed getting to hear Nanfu discuss her own experience.

1. Using different cuts of daylight/space/landscape to show passing time
2. Her use of rewinding clips and more abstract shots to mimic disorientation/panic
3. The shots of nature/birds flying out of trees and nests — symbolic b-roll
4. Shots of Nanfu filming herself in a reflection or having someone else film her in a space – helped establish her as the main storyteller – showed the effect the events had on her personally
5. You don’t need a perfect shot to convey emotion – the scene where she’s running upstairs was barely in focus, you had no idea what was going on, but it was one of the more effective scenes – just because the emotion and the story itself was so strong (and the audio).