Month: February 2022

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.

When Lambs Become Lions’ theme is about survival by any means necessary. Illegally hunting elephants is the characters way of earning a livable income for themselves and families. The camera does well by moving with the characters and provide shots brings the audience into scenes. The dramatic arc of the film followed the path of poaching elephants in Kenya. The main character “X” operated similarly to a drug lord by how he ran his business of illegally hunting. “X” is comfortable with referring to his actions being, “like a king,” at the start of the documentary.

One scene that helped the audience understand “X’s” drive was when he was on the phone with his son and mother of his child to make sure they had the necessities. The documentary’s exposition was the wild life training gun place for hunting out in nature with intentions to sell for profit. The rising action happened after Asan and Lukas observed before shortly leaving a march against killing animals; the documentary then reveals the poisoned arrow they deceptively use to hunt. The turning point of the film was first the moment when they didn’t get the ivory around the 26 minutes mark. Capturing intimate family moments, like the Asan’s wife while she’s in pain before giving birth, is another turning point for him in the documentary.

The climax of the documentary was when the characters were approaching the elephants at the 01:51:48 mark. The director captures one of the characters aiming their poisoned arrow at an elephant off camera for an unsuccessful catch. The falling point of the film was when the characters returned to the shooting range training area without the ivory. Thing changed in the film for Asan while his wife was dealing with the challenges of afterbirth and doesn’t approve of how he disciplined their older son. The denouement of the film was finding Lukas to finish the ivory hunting and gun shooting training at work. 

The editing of the documentary was excellent and enhanced the story, especially how instead of the director showing the defeat of poaching, X’s side of a conversation elsewhere revealed it. Structuring shots to tell this heart wrenching story kept When Lambs Become Lions interesting until the very end. 

When Lambs Become Lions is an engrossing documentary that adheres to Don Harmon’s storytelling framework. The circumstances depicted in the documentary, in my opinion, fully parallel the second framework as opposed to the first. The primary protagonist, ‘X,’ is initially introduced. X is a poacher who is used to getting his hands dirty in order to achieve his task. X is used to how he gets around and has no problem with it. This fits the you component in Harmon’s storytelling framework because X is in the zone of comfort. The documentary enters the need phase when X’s boss orders him, along with Lukas and others to poach. X  needs to get the job done in order to get paid to support his family. The poachers enter an unfamiliar situation when some Kenyan citizens stage a protest against poaching. X and Lukas adapt to the strike by laying low for a while, resisting the urge to poach. The hunters get what they want when they aim an arrow laced with poison at an elephant. However, the Kenyan government is onto the poaching activity since the elephant fell in the lake. When the Kenyan government burns over a dozen ivories on live television, the poachers pay a price. X, Lukas, and the other poachers return to their familiar lifestyles, looking for new ways to make a living. Finally, The change occurs at the end when X becomes a certified wildlife ranger. 

 

Documentary Screening: When Lambs Become Lions

https://www.docplus.com/details/when-lambs-become-lions/RpYz4UCD/

While you’re watching, please note down how the components of this film fit into the basic elements of storytelling we talked about last class. Which of the two frameworks we looked at fit the story told here? (Does one fit better than the other, or do they both/neither work?)

• THEME
• MOTIVATION
• DRAMATIC ARC
  • • EXPOSITION
    • RISING ACTION
    • TURNING POINT
    • FALLING ACTION
    • DENOUEMENT

1. You — A character is in a zone of comfort,
2. Need — But they want something.
3. Go — They enter an unfamiliar situation,
4. Search — Adapt to it,
5. Find — Get what they wanted,
6. Take — Pay a heavy price for it,
7. Return — Then return to their familiar situation,
8. Change — Having changed.

Please write a brief (200-300 words) blog post analyzing the scenes, editing, and structure of this film and how it aligns with one or both of these two frameworks.

Hi all. First we’ll workshop any remaining pitches we didn’t get to last class. Then we’re going to talk about…

Assignments and Upcoming Dates

Assignment: Write a 1 or 2-page documentary treatment (longer if you are doing the 10-15 minute documentary this semester, shorter if you are doing a visual poem). A treatment is basically a much more thorough, fleshed-out pitch. In a treatment, you have moved past the initial ideas stage and have already secured access to your main characters/locations. It contains a shooting plan, timeline, narrative outline, and relevant logistics.

When discussing your plan for a story arc, please think in terms of the storytelling basics we’re going to touch on today.

Sample Treatment

VISUAL POEM DUE DATES

Treatments will be due Tuesday, March 1 if you’re doing the visual poem.

The rough cut for visual poems will be due Tuesday, March 15. Final cuts will be due Tuesday, March 22.

10-15 MINUTE DOCUMENTARY DUE DATES

Treatments will be due Thursday, March 3 if you’re doing the 10-15 minute documentary.

An initial five-minute cut of your docs will be due on Tuesday, March 22.

Onto the lecture…

The Basics of Storytelling

Sample visual poem:

https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2021/11/10/gone-viral/

 

 

 

 

For my documentary, I have two ideas but I’m struggling to figure out which one fits best with the timeframe given and which one I feel like I would enjoy more.

My first idea is to document an event in NYC I did some research and saw a bunch of events that interest me a lot. Most of them are going to happen over the next few months. My favorite one is the NYC street fairs that happen all over my neighborhood starting in April. I live in Astoria and they have always been the highlight of my summer. But I have always been curious as to how long the vendors have been doing this and what does the rest of the year looks like for them. I want to reach out to the coordinators of the fair and possibly interview them, as well as some of the vendors at the fair.

My second idea is about my father. For a while, we weren’t living together because he was here in America working while my mom, sister, brother, and I were living in Egypt. But about 12 years ago we came here and started living together, which felt weird for a while but now when I look back I can’t imagine how I would have turned out If I didn’t have my father in my everyday life. When I was trying to think of a good topic for a short documentary I could only think of him and how much this would mean for both him and me.

I feel like has been through many challenges in his life starting with how he moved here in 1993 and had to start a brand new life in a place he had never been to before.  I want to get to know him on a deeper level and how moving out and changing his life completely was like. I grew very close to my father over the past year and I think this is something that both he and I will enjoy a lot especially because I am moving out in July.  My father’s whole life has always revolved around us and his work but he’s retiring this year as well so his life is coming to change a lot from what it has been like for more than 25 years.

Visual poem: love/happiness

I want to show love, or love languages and happiness. Through the many forms of love.  Acts of service, giving or receiving gifts, touch etc.

Some shots I have in mind are capturing someone doing something they love or that makes them happy. How you look watching your favorite movie or new movie, playing your favorite sport, creating art, seeing someone you love etc

I don’t know what exactly I want to film for the visual poem yet but I have many ideas.

1) I can video tape the nightlife scene following bartenders, business owners, bouncers, security guards and waitresses to see how it’s like working in a industry that relies on communication and how much harder it is to follow guidelines while still having the time of your life.

2) I can do a visual poem on a day in a life as a teacher for autistic kids. I can follow one of the teachers and see how they deal with children while still keeping them safe in person.

3) I can pick an event to go to and just film people having a fun time and their responses etc.

Also, the link to my practice assignment.

I’m not really sure what to film for the visual poem assignment, but I have a few ideas. Today, I saw the mailman in my neighborhood and thought maybe I should follow and film him while he travels my neighborhood and delivers mail. My other idea is to film different parts of new york, specifically queens, to show what it’s like there. I had another idea in mind but I don’t think it would work well.