After filming and interviewing for three full days, we finally sat down to discuss which direction we want the film to take. Our original plan was to document three teens as they prepare for their military service. However, we’ve found that the teens will be leaving in late August and March, and so we would not be able to document their entry into the army. We felt that the documentary would seem inconclusive without filming their departure. They are also doing little to prepare, mostly spending their remaining time hanging around, working and traveling. There is little to no preparatory training and their departure does not appear to be a climatic event.
It may seem strange that we are suddenly changing our idea after months of preparing to film these teens. We never wanted the film to solely focus on the teens preparing for the army. We wanted the film to illustrate the kibbutz life and what it would mean to leave — so three teens leaving for the army seemed like a natural fit. Our film is still going to focus on kibbutz life, the way it has changed over the years, and what it means to either stay or leave the community.
Now we will be focusing the film on a variety of characters, both young and old. The teens will still hopefully make an appearance in the film, to display the type of life that a young adult experiences in a kibbutz. After three days of living here, we have also come to the observed that the older generation has much more meat in their character. All of the truly unique and interesting people we have met so far have been living here for a long time and have experienced the changes firsthand, and more profoundly. Not to say that teens can’t be interesting, but they don’t have the same connection with the kibbutz as the older generation and can’t wait to leave to start their new exciting lives outside the kibbutz.
Tonight we are filming parts of a wedding of the son of a kibbutz member, and tomorrow we will be following around a 70 year old man (who doesn’t look a day over 55), who still decides to work full-time even though he is on pension and the kibbutz has told him they don’t even need his services anymore.
Sounds like a good decision to me. I think old people are much more interesting than kids if they’re still full of life, and the kids can be an interesting side story. Just make sure there aren’t any proofing errors. By the way, Allison’s really turned annoying since you left.