About
"Everybody asks: what are the rules of cinema verite? There were no rules. We just filmed.... A journalist is supposed to shine a light on something that people are overlooking; that they're not paying attention to and make them pay attention to it. You're holding a mirror up to society. That's what happened with An American Family."
In the eleven-minute solo portion of her interview, Susan Raymond discusses her childhood and early influences. She talks about her memories of early television and her career path from social work and social issues to documentary filmmaking. She also recalls her first impression of her spouse, Alan Raymond.
In the three-and-a-half-hour joint portion of their interview, Alan and Susan Raymond talk about their groundbreaking "cinema verite" work. They discuss such television documentaries as An American Family and The Police Tapes. Ron Simon conducted the interviews on June 16, 2010 in New York, NY.
Full Interview
Chapter 1
Solo interview with Susan Raymond; on her childhood and early influences; memories of early television
Chapter 2
START OF JOINT INTERVIEW WITH ALAN AND SUSAN RAYMOND:
Chapter 3
Solo interview with Alan Raymond; on his early childhood in Russia and influences; START OF JOINT INTERVIEW WITH ALAN AND SUSAN RAYMOND
Chapter 4
On the similarities and distinctions between cinema verite and ethnographic filmmaking; on famous scenes from American Family: a walk in the park, on why they choose the Loud family; why they wanted to be filmed
Chapter 5
On the public reaction to American Family; the aftermath and fame, and controversy that followed; their distance from the series after it came out; on video verite; the Police Tapes; their style of documentary filmmaking; On HBO first coming on the scene and being a home for documentary filmmakers
Chapter 6
On their HBO film Doing Time; on their creative process; on changes in documentary filmmaking; on their goals as filmmakers and what makes them different from other documentarians
On the death of Lance Loud and their relationship to him; he asked them to film him again
Shows
American Family, An
On the similarities and distinctions between cinema verite (in American Family) and ethnographic filmmaking
On the silent scenei n American Family between the estranged couple; the tracking shot in Central Park
On why they felt the Loud family wanted to be filmed for American Family;
Alan and Susan Raymond on the public reaction and aftermath of American Family
Alan and Susan Raymond on the aftermath of American Family; their being ostracized; and video verite on Police Tapes; their next project
Alan and Susan Raymond on the aftermath of American Family; their being ostracized; and video verite on Police Tapes; their next project
On the death of Lance Loud and their relationship to him; he asked them to film him again
Topics
TV's Golden Age (1940s & '50s)
Susan Raymond on memories of early, live television
Genres
News and Documentary
Alan and Susan Raymond (producer of An American Family) on their purpose with documentary filmmaking; their view of public reaction to their films
