https://www.miraciganek.com/

Pitch

Throughout her life, Anna Tripolitis has overcome an eating disorder, dealt with sobriety issues, and fled a cult. She is now an activist and has accrued a considerable following on social media and several blogs. She will be the central character of this short documentary. The piece will focus on body neutrality and eating disorder recovery as a whole.

As a character driven piece, this film will look closely at Tripolitis’ experiences with body image and how that plays into her relationship with food and exercise. I want to get a good idea of the growth she has made. 

There will be some establishing shots and a talking head shot of Anna towards the beginning of the short doc. Then I will follow with b-roll of her around the city, with her wife, and possibly eating a meal. I don’t want the film to be too on the nose when it comes to food and exercise shots. I want to focus on the positives of life after recovering from disordered eating patterns and thus the focus shouldn’t entirely be on food/exercise/body image.

I would love to include Lexie Kite in the film as an expert source, as well, but I have a feeling it may be a stretch to get her. I also have two backup sources to include in the piece for b-roll and interviews. Ideally I’d like to get a few perspectives on the subject.

Overall, I want the piece to be timely and punchy. I don’t want it to be an entirely serious tone and I want Anna to have fun with it. It should evoke emotions of hope and happiness, not the typical emotions that go along with coverage of eating disorders. I want to emulate the Vice short doc we saw on trans kids in Texas. I liked how lighthearted, yet important that piece was.

Main Characters

Primary: Anna Tripolitis

Expert Source: Lexie Kite

Backup: Lauren O’Leary and Jackie Rafferty

Timeline

Set-up: April 4 – April 11

Filming: April 11 – April 25

Editing: April 25 – May 3

Filming Locations

New York City

New Jersey

 

Body Neutrality/ED Recovery Pitch

News Peg: Eating disorders increased dramatically during the pandemic. Now, as concerns over Covid continue to dwindle, Americans have more capacity to focus on the other aspects of health. 

Angle: This short doc will focus on one to two central characters who have experience with eating disorders and the concept of body neutrality. It will cover a little bit of their backstories, how they recovered from disordered eating, how the pandemic affected them, and their experience and views on diet, exercise, and body image. I think video is a great medium for this as the topic is inherently visual and it’s a great way to feature an inclusive cast.

Possible Interviews:

Anna Trip, ED recovery and sobriety activist

NEDA New York

Lexie Kite, author and expert on body neutrality

Lauren O’Leary, recovering from ED 

Narrative Outline

Themes

Change, transition, hope, winter and spring, changing of seasons, cool and monochromatic at the beginning, bright and warm in the end.

Motivation

This isn’t as applicable to my visual poem as it would be to a full fledge documentary. I would say if anything, my video is plot driven over character driven. Although it deosn’t have a specific plot, it will have a narrative structure – the transition from winter to spring – that can translate to a plot.

Dramatic Arc

Exposition – The visual poem will begin with vague shots of New York City streets and people in the winter. It won’t immediately be obvious that the focus is on the winter season. It will simply be monochromatic colors, cold weather clothes, overcast days, and so on. Upon grabbing the attention of viewers, the video will gradually reveal the apparent theme of winter. Slow shots of ice skating, twinkling lights, snow if we get any, masked commuters, that uninterested look everyone gets on the train in the morning, and the lack of greenery. I have a shot of the “EXIT” sign on the ice skating rink decorated with snowflakes that I think would make a nice literal indication of “exiting” the cold weather.

Rising Action – At this point, I will begin to introduce hints of spring through a variety of shots. This will continue building intrigue with viewers through a subtle change of visual content. I will include some shots of rainy days, bright clothing/umbrellas in contrast with primarily dark colors, the first flowerbuds emerging from the ground, rising music and speed of shots. It will still be predominantly overcast and gloomy, with glimpses of warmth.

Turning Point – To demonstrate the turning point, I will begin to dramatically shift the shots I include in the visual poem. I will include brighter colors, more contrast, sunny days, greenery, people shedding their winter layers, taking off their masks, smiling, outdoor dining, quick pacing, chorus of song, close up shots. I will get a lot of the natural shots indoors at the Brooklyn Botannical Garden.

Falling Action and Denouncement – To create a feeling of resolution at the end of my visual poem, I will transition slightly from contrasting, bright colors to lighter, pastel colors. Softer embraces between friends, slower pacing, broad, sweeping shots, and a more content feeling to end on. I may include a few literal shots at the end, similar to the “EXIT” sign mentioned before.

Timeline and Shooting Plan

Week of February 20th – February 26th

During the past week, I filmed a few preliminary winter scenes. I got a shot at the Bryant Park Ice Rink to capture some winter scenes. By writing the treatment for my visual poem, I was also able to plan out the locations, narrative, and timeline for filming and editing.

Week of February 27th – March 5th

This week I plan to get a good portion of my filming in. I want to get as much B Roll as possible so I am able to devote the following week to editing. On Wednesday, I am going to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden to get late spring footage. On Friday and Saturday, I am filming at various locations across the city. On Sunday, it will be rainy so I plan to get some late winter/early spring shots. That way, I will hopefully only need to obtain any shots I feel I am missing once I have begun the editing process.

Week of March 6th – March 12th

This week will be devoted almost entirely to editing, selecting music, and getting any missing footage I feel could add to the visual poem. As I won’t have to schedule specific days to go out and film, it will be a lot easier to complete the editing. I can work on it throughout the week. I plan to be almost entirely done with the poem this week.

Week of March 13th – March 15th

Though this is not a full week, I will use these two days to make any final touches to my visual poem.

Logistics and Locations

As I decided to expand my filming locations from Brooklyn to all of New York City, I now have a lot more to work with.

Brooklyn – Prospect Park, Brooklyn Promenade, Brooklyn piers, Park Slope, Williamsburg waterfront, Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

Manhattan – Bryant Park’s ice skating rink, the subway, SoHo, Central Park.

 

Jon Kasbe’s film When Lambs Become Lions tells a unique story of desperation and survival. The documentary covers the illegal poaching industry in an undisclosed region of Kenya. Kasbe follows a group of ivory poachers, including their leader “X” and his assistant Lukas. He also follows their counterparts, the rangers set to capture and kill poachers. The rangers are led by Asan, a former poacher himself and the cousin of X.

The film itself could fit into either of the two frameworks we learned about in class. That being said, “Dan Harmon’s Story Circle” seems a little more applicable to the story line. In the beginning of When Lambs Become Lions, X is heard saying, “I know everyone here: the dealers, police, prostitutes and the Devil himself. I am like the king.” This immediately reminded me of the first step in the story circle: “You — A character is in a zone of comfort.” Despite the hardships in his life, X is in a relatively comfortable position.

As the perspective switches between X and Asan, we arrive at the second step: “Need — But they want something.” The lack of financial and personal stability in both of their lives becomes apparent. Asan and the rest of the rangers haven’t received pay in over two months. The constant threat of going unpaid, even in a reliable field, begins to explain X’s reasoning for going in a more controversial direction.

The rest of the film continues to unravel these moral quandaries through the steps portrayed in the story circle. X and his group continue to hunt and kill elephants. Asan and his group continue to hunt and kill the poachers. They grapple with these morally “unfamiliar” situations and how to “adapt” to them. In the end, X quite literally “pays a heavy price” for his involvement in the illegal ivory trade. $150 million dollars of ivory goes up in smoke as a protest demonstration by the Kenyan government. This eventually prompts X to change his ways and become a wildlife park ranger. 

When Lambs Become Lions is courageously unbiased. It allows viewers to simply observe and form their own conclusions based on the perspectives provided throughout. Dan Harmon’s Story Circle demonstrates the uniquely intimate narrative arc presented in this film.

I have two potential ideas, but there may be some crossover/potential to combine them.

A. Visual poem of the first signs of spring in Brooklyn. I plan to go out on a few sunny days and get footage of parks, the East River, people dining outside, warm weather outfits, flowers/plants emerging, and so on. I want to convey a hopeful, upbeat feeling. This concept wouldn’t require much permission from individuals so access would be pretty straightforward. I plan to make this somewhat slower paced with gradual, sweeping shots and longer clips in editing. I would also put it to happy, romantic music.

B. What people are wearing across the city. This would be more eclectic, with shots of different people’s outfits on the streets of New York City. I would love to get a mix of body types, styles, ages, and so on. I’d also mix in some practical clothes, like uniforms (scrubs, construction). I think it’s a cool way to show the different types of people in NY. This would be bolder and feature bright colors (hopefully). I would film in places like Bushwick, Williamsburg, SoHo, the Village, on the subway, etc. Access for this idea is a bit more challenging, however, as for any close up/personal shot I’d have to approach people and get permission.