This week, I took the road less traveled and met two people who were quite characters. The first person I met was David Farrier from “Dark Tourist.” David goes around the world to see exorcisms and self-proclaimed vampires. His show allows you to relive his experiences in the safety of you own home. Then I was acquainted with Alice Klieg, who, after winning the lottery, created her own television show, “Welcome to Me.” Alice doesn’t travel the world, but she does reenact her life experiences, live.
Description: From a nuclear lake to a haunted forest, New Zealand filmmaker and journalist David Farrier visits unusual tourism spots around the world.
Average duration: ~ 40 min
Reaction:
Before- I was immediately drawn to it because I’d never heard of a “dark tourist.”
After- I’ve learned a lot about the darker side of history and made some great new additions to my bucket list, like getting my very own set of fangs from The Fangsmith.
Analysis:
- Abides by the rule of third
- Shots vary accordingly
- Eye level camera angles
- Short cuts to track subject(s)
- International settings
- No costumes, hair or makeup, align with the genre
- Framed to the journey
- New and old collide for the sake of historical context
- Artistic introduction
Breakdown:
- Documentary
- TV-MA
- Netflix
- Producer of “Dark Tourist” is David Farrier (“Tickled”)
- Keywords: drugs, cult, religion, immigration, radiation, haunted, abandoned, serial killer, assassination, vampires, forbidden, mummified, voodoo, separatists
Description: Alice suffers from borderline personality disorder, but she has what she needs in life. She has an apartment, she has a best friend and she has tapes of every Oprah Winfrey show. Now, after winning the lottery, she also has 83 million dollars. What she doesn’t have is an outlet for the whole world to know who she really is. The TV station cut her off when she tried turning her lottery announcement into a frank discussion of her sexual experiences, but with her money in hand, she’s off to LA to convince two struggling TV producer brothers to produce her own TV show. Whatever it costs, she’s going to do it. From swan entrances to dog neutering, she is going to introduce the world to Alice.
Duration: 1 hr 27 min
Reaction:
Before- I wanted to pick an interesting movie for my mom and I to watch, and considering my mom is fond of Kristen Wiig, I thought this would be a good choice.
After- It was another pleasant surprise, courtesy of Netflix.
Analysis:
- Rule of thirds
- Medium to medium wide shots were commonplace
- The camera angle was either eye level or from above
- Set in Los Angeles, California
- During the late ‘90s
- In the movie, Alice used people as props in her life and television show.
- Kristen Wiig wore pastels to call attention to her childlike naiveté.
- Brighter lighting
- Somewhat desaturated
- The sole focus was on her personality so, for the most part, she remained emotionless.
Breakdown:
- Comedy
- Drama
- R
- BRON Studios
- Gary Sanchez Productions
- Alice in “Welcome to Me” is Kristen Wiig (“Bridesmaids”)
- Gina in “Welcome to Me” is Linda Cardellini (“Brokeback Mountain”)
- Rich in “Welcome to Me” is James Marsden (“X-Men”)
- Dawn in “Welcome to Me” is Joan Cusack (“The Perks of Being a Wallflower”)
- Gabe in “Welcome to Me” is Wes Bentley (“American Beauty”)
- Deb in “Welcome to Me” is Jennifer Jason Leigh (“The Hateful Eight”)
- Barb in “Welcome to Me” is Loretta Devine (“Grey’s Anatomy”)
- Keywords: borderline personality disorder, lottery, psychiatry, live broadcast
Hopefully one of these suits your fancy. As per usual, I will leave you with a few more options. If you enjoy makeovers, I suggest “Queer Eye,” and “Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope” is another great option if you are into shows like “Shameless.”
