The Art of Documentary Storytelling
The Art of Documentary Storytelling
Ep #4 - Suffering Fatigue: Hard Hitting “Below The Belt”
Some misguided directors think the message of “see how awful it is” will spur audiences into actionable awareness. But viewers can get paralyzed by bad news.
Thankfully, when co-producers Shannon and Patricio Cohn asked me for a story consultation, they already had a name for this problem: “suffering fatigue”.
Below the Belt (2022) is a well-directed, verite-style documentary. It follows four women seeking treatment for endometriosis, a painful chronic condition.
In Act Three of their film, there’s a glimmer of hope when one protagonist goes to Washington to meet Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R), whose granddaughter suffers from endometriosis. It’s an inspiring scene: the senators work in a bi-partisan way to help to fund medical research.
But how could we keep viewers watching through the first two acts when the characters were suffering so relentlessly?
Shannon had also identified another problem: test audiences complained of “information overload”. And she had lost perspective about which parts were essential. How could we simplify the exposition without cutting the important stuff?
Listen in as we solve these wicked problems!
EPISODE 4 TAKEAWAYS
- Three ways to mitigate “suffering fatigue”
- Cull information overload
- Overestimating viewer comprehension
- Bring clarity to confusing sections
- Use title cards to set the stakes – What’s to win? What’s to lose?
- Importance of solution-oriented endings
QUOTABLES
“Ideally the film’s intro gives viewers a birds-eye glimpse of the journey they’re about to take.”
- Karen Everett, Story Consultant
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
A Quick Intro to Integral Theory
PERMISSIONS
Permission to use the content of this podcast is provided by Shannon Cohn, Producer/Director of Below the Belt.
Music provided by award-winning composers Gunnard Doboze and William Ryan Fritch.
BIO
Karen Everett is one of the world’s leading documentary story consultants. Her business New Doc Editing helps filmmakers structure and edit compelling films. Karen taught editing for 18 years at the #1-ranked U.S. documentary program, at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.