[Audio] Interview with Deborah Scranton of The War Tapes
Deborah Scranton
Click the blue play button above to play the audio
What can I say besides I really dig this lady’s etiquette. Thanks for the interview and you are a hell of a director and humanitarian.
About Deborah.
From The War Tapes Website
Director Deborah Scranton made her feature film directorial debut with the award winning THE WAR TAPES, which premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival and won Best Documentary Feature. THE WAR TAPES grew out of her locally acclaimed World War II television documentary, STORIES FROM SILENCE, WITNESS TO WAR ? and her own commitment to using new technologies to give people power in creating their own media, and tell their own stories. Declining an offer in 2004 from the New Hampshire National Guard to embed herself as a filmmaker in Iraq, Scranton instead gave the soldiers cameras and trained them as cinematographers. Scranton directed THE WAR TAPES using email and near-perpetual instant messaging with the Soldiers with Cameras to answer questions, share techniques, and explore stories with the soldiers as they filmed their very personal experiences.
Scranton started her career in journalism freelancing for [...]
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7 comments ↓
She came across as ‘real’ you know? …not like ms-director-snot. I really valued her comment on how truth isn’t derived from just one narrative. It was well-round (with clear enough audio; –didn’t seem like your apology at the end was warranted). Congrats on this Andy!
She is absolutely fabulous. I hope I can do more.
To be clear: Deborah Scranton did not direct any of the soldiers in any way. It is simply impossible to direct soldiers in a combat zone who are constantly on patrol, from a NH farm house 3,000 miles away. The only direction we soldiers took was from our chain of command, as is the norm. Deborah would speak on IM and Email with some of the soldiers and she would make requests of us. Some soldiers would communicate with her more than others. Ultimately, involvement with the project was voluntary and optional and it was us soldier who decided what to film, how to film, when to film and why to film. I think it is this very lack of direction that makes this project so powerful. As far as I know the crafting and the editing of the story took place in Chicago by Steve James and his team.
For my part, I was not in constant and ?perpetual? email and IM contact with Deborah. We had occasional conversations during which we rarely discussed filming and ?telling the story.? I was not in the habit of chatting with her ?on IM and in emails about what happened.? We did not discuss combat events such as ambushes and firefights as soon as they occurred and then ?conducted interviews 24 hours later.? It would not have been proper military protocol to discuss such events with outside media so soon after they happened. Never did I think of myself as a filmmaker, journalist or someone who was directed by others. I deployed to Iraq as a soldier and soldier only. The only direction this soldier ever took was from his exceptional chain of command-and proudly.
Sergeant Zack Bazzi, I appreciate you clearing that up. I hate to put words in her mouth and I hope you didn’t take it that way. She is aware of the part she played in this film and she gives all credit to the men that stuck their necks out to make this film happen. You guys did a remarkable job doing what you were trained to do as well as wield the camera with you. Watching the film it seemed that you grabbed your weapon and camera at the same instance. What did it feel like carrying the camera around and shooting footage?
I have the utmost respect for your dedication of service to your country. And I need to let you know that you helped every person understand the daily anxiety of war. The dedication and bond that you share with your fellow troops. The frustrations of being ill equipped and not knowing where the next attack will come from. Not to mention the life that you leave behind when you were in Iraq. That was a story many of us felt first hand and I thank you, Sergeant Stephen Pink, and Specialist Mike Moriarty, for opening up your personal life to share it with us. I’m glad that this film was about the troops and not the political beliefs of the production company. I don’t know maybe you can comment on that. I believe that Steve James and Deborah caught the vibe of the atmosphere.
Thanks for joining the conversation.
My involvement in filming footage for The War Tapes was done in a very limited, tightly controlled manner set by me. As a sergeant in a tough combat environment I had much more important things to worry about than what and how to film. Throughout the year I filmed about 50 tapes, a good deal of which were shot inside my home base and not during tactical operations. When outside the base, during tactical missions, I filmed using a very strict protocol: the tripod was secured with screws to the dashboard of the Humvee; I would then mount the camera to the tripod prior to leaving the base, then press record. After that, I would forget about it, mind it no attention whatsoever, and upon return to base I would turn over the tapes to my commander. Very rarely did I deviate from this routine and that was only on a handful of occasions, when the tactical situations clearly allowed doing so, such as while working with the Iraqi police inside their police station. Not once did I mount the camera to my helmet or weapon, or carry it while fighting. Not once did I ?upload? footage to the director over the internet (doing so would have been against rules set forth by my commander, and as far as I know, no one uploaded footage).
Filming for me was always secondary and optional. And by optional I mean it was me and only me who decided when to film, what to film, how to film and why to film. Deborah Scranton would every so often make requests of me and the other soldiers who were participating. Sometimes, if the situation permitted, and I had the time, I would perform some of them. Her job as I understood it was to talk with soldiers if they felt like talking to her, and provide guidance for their praticipation. In otherwords, it would be fair to say that she facilitated voluntary particpation in the project but certainly NOT direct. The only directions we soldiers took was from our military leaders.
That is part of the confussion as being a viewer of The War Tapes, sometimes we get caught up in the moment and we lose ourselves and don’t pay attention to who is behind the camera. My statement, “Watching the film it seemed that you grabbed your weapon and camera at the same instance.” should not have been directed towards you since I had no idea who was behind that camera. I thank you for clearing that up .
[...] Scranton to talk with me about her experience directing, “The War Tapes.” Click on this link to go to the [...]
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