What inspired me to focus on the topic of hair was a documentary that Chris Rock did in 2009. The documentary was a comedy && was sparked primarily by Chris Rock;s 5-year old daughter. She asked him "Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?" && from there, he visited barbershops, hair salons, hair styling conventions, all with the hopes of learning the science behind chemical relaxers and straight, "good" hair.The statement that I want to make with this documentary is that as human beings of all different races and backgrounds, there is one common ground between us all, our hair. Yes, our hairs come in different colors, textures, lengths, thicknesses etc. But when it comes down to the base, we all have it. Whether it's very little, a ton of it, too much to manage or the desire for more.
My video project will most likely end up being very similar to a documentary due to the fact that each person I film, follow or interview will be discussing with the audience and in a way, educating them, about their specific day-to-day hair routine. I've done my own research on my own texture of hair, but I want to use my friends as resources for information on other cultures and how they care for their hair.
I already have in mind the people that I want to interview. Most likely many of them will be close friends of mine. Some may be just women that I've met at the hair salon over the years. I've been going to the same one since I was in middle school. I made sure to consider their age, their race and the kind of hair they have. (ie. texture, color, length, style, thickness, shape) I kind of want to give a little background of who each character is before we actually get into talking about their hair, but at the same time, I'm not entirely sure if that's necessary.
So far I don't have a set set-up of where or how I want to shoot the material. I want each setting to be kind of neutral && relaxing. Like my friends && I chatting about hair in a coffee shop, on our walk to class, at work or hanging out at someone's apartment. I want it to seem as though we're having regular conversation, in this case, about each other's hair. That tends to happen a lot, depending on the situation && I think that will help with the relaxed, conversational nature of this piece. I do, however, want there to be certain breaks where I am just filming the character answering certain questions about their hair, each of them, that I can piece together at different points relative to the topic later on in the movie.
