How to Mix Styles and Keep Viewers Hooked
Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy
Have you ever thought about what happens to things you buy after you throw them away? Buy Now! from Netflix and director Nic Stacey looks at the United States’ (and the world’s) obsession with buying more, and the repercussions of what happens when billions of items are thrown away each year.
Netflix has developed a pattern of creating great visuals for their documentaries, and Buy Now! is no exception.
The film has well-shot interviews with key subjects, but a bulk of the visuals use several different styles.
Just to name a few, there are 3D CGI piles of products, archival news footage, social media clips, and 2D animation sequences in multiple styles. The film also uses a framing device of a personified AI teaching the viewer how to get customers to buy more (which is another style).
Not being afraid to mix styles allows Buy Now! to constantly shift the visual landscape, keeping the viewer always wondering what will happen next.
Of course, budget drives a lot of those decisions. Maybe you don’t have money for one style, let alone a dozen. Maybe you can’t do custom animation.
That’s the beauty of documentary filmmaking. It can be one person with a low quality camera, or it can be a high-budget production with dozens of people involved. As long as you have a compelling story and character, you can make a compelling documentary.
Tips for your Film
1. Think outside of the box for how you can visualize your story.
Without worrying about budget, get a piece of paper and brainstorm as many ways to show what your film is about. “Paper mache! Finger puppets! CG recreations!” Once you have a dozen ideas down, circle your favorites. Then look at your budget. Can you do these? If not, what is a creative way you could get that same feel or visual at a level you can afford?
2. Don’t be afraid to mix styles.
What your film looks like is guided as much by your personal style and preference as it is budget. Pick the visuals you like that will make it your film. Audiences will follow if the story pulls them in.
Do you need editing visualizing your documentary? Let’s chat.