I’ve never been interested in documentary film-making. I enjoy watching them, certainly. And there are many docs out there that are better than narrative features. But it never interested me as a creative endeavor.

I would listen to doc filmmaker friends tell their experiences and I thought I would never want to do anything like that. I couldn’t imagine walking to the set, with no clue if you’re going to get any good material that day. Let alone the editing process where there is no clear direction.

A few weeks ago I saw something that made me “get it.” We were shooting a corporate gig, interviewing “testimonials” and in the interview process found so many random, fun quotes. Each person we interviewed was in essence, a “character.” It was fun seeing these magic moments come to life. I turned to my friend, who is a doc filmmaker and said, “I get it.”

In that moment I get the allure. I get the thrill of going out and discovering new people, new stories, new worlds, of using reality to paint a a picture on film, rather than trying to create reality out of nothing. He even said it was easier, because it’s “already real.”

It doesn’t change my love for narrative, for the “ah-ha” moment of getting story ideas, having actors become characters, or the thrill of turning fiction into film. I don’t want to make a documentary anytime soon.

But now, finally, I get the appeal.

One of my favorite aspects of film making is using location as a character. This stuck me when I recently visited Bruges, Belgium. I had just seen “In Bruges” and, as the title suggests, the town is an integral part of the film. When walking the tiny, ancient streets, I already felt as if I had known the town. The location was necessary for the story, and was a fine combination.

Of course this is done frequently, but not as much as one would think. Woody Allen does this, most notably with “Manhattan” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” It’s something that I tried to do myself in “The Wayfarers” in the shots of a seaside fishing community – using the ocean, fishing boats, and small harbors to support the story of a family of lobster fishermen.

With new inexpensive and small equipment, I think it could be a tremendous opportunity for filmmakers to travel the globe and make stories about cities most people have never heard of, with visuals few have seen. However,  I also wonder if the increasing use of green screen and studio shooting is going to take away some of these location based films.

To me, the wide shot establishing the local flavor is as important as the close up of one of the faces of the leads…