“Untrained” follows three Scottish Olympic weightlifters who found different ways to train throughout the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. It’s ultimately a commentary on passion and what training means to different people. There’s a common notion across the weightlifting community that all you need is a pair of shoes. As it turns out, that’s under the assumption that you (rather obviously) have access to a bar and a set of plates. If you really like doing something, you’ll find a way to do it regardless of the roadblocks which are in front of you – whether that’s through money, time, effort or all of the above.
Whilst the central theme of “Untrained” is passion, other co-existing themes such as perseverance and sacrifice underpin the entire video. It aims to allow outsiders to peer in to the sport and to gain an understanding of the idea of training and why people do it.
On inspiration for the documentary:
Training has always been a big part of my life. For some it’s just getting fit, but to many others in means a lot more: a place for inspiration, for comfort, for motivation, for therapy, for mental clarity; the list goes on. I wanted to shine a light on the passion and the meaning training had on various individuals and how specifically they were affected when the gyms closed down.
On shooting my first documentary:
The most challenging thing about this documentary was my inexperience. Coming from a background of short-form advertisements and promos, it was a completely different ballgame in all aspects. Documentaries require a lot more planning (pre-production for the video savvy). Most of my edits are done in post without any second thought before the footage is shot. You can’t afford to do this when making a documentary. You need to plan well in advance, or at least try to. Things such as: a rough script outline, a production schedule and interview management were all aspects of the video process which were foreign to me.
Another challenge was editing a solid storyline. All videos require a story; all, no questions asked. Documentaries are no different. What are you trying to tell your audience? This is a question that I kept asking myself throughout the edit. For short form media, you can get away with flashy edits and effects but it’s next to impossible to make a good documentary without a core, logical storyline.
On making a film about Olympic weightlifting:
The film features weightlifters for primarily two reasons: it’s a sport I’m familiar with and it is very niche. The training of an Olympic weightlifter is very particular – I think it would surprise most people how ‘specific’ and peculiar (to the informed) training actually is. Whilst the documentary does not go into the sports peculiarities, I wanted to find out more about how training was affected by people who I knew were very passionate about the sport.
Another reason is that it is very niche. There’s hardly any films or content about Olympic weightlifting. Most people just don’t understand it or just think its outright crazy throwing weights above your head. It’s not the most exciting sport to watch. Despite this, it’s a sport I grew to love. Author of ‘Steal Like An Artist’, Austin Kleon, has a top 10 list which he recommends to creatives – one of these is ‘Write the book you want to read’. To paraphrase this, I’m making the videos that I would like to see.
On things I would change & challenges:
Everything…kidding, kind of. I find it quite common amongst creatives, especially people in this field, to be hyper critical of their own work. From a young age, we are constantly exposed to the best work out there, on TV, at the cinema etc. On reflecting on the video, there are some sections of the video that are quite slow, in my opinion due to the selected shots. Unfortunately, this is because on some occasions I did not shoot enough clips or there just wasn’t enough relevant clips to the voice overs. Another gripe, is the handheld movement. Whilst I wanted a handheld look throughout the documentary, some shots are a bit too shaky for my liking. There are many elements that I would revisit if I was to remake this - a real possibility considering it is a topic of interest for me, although hopefully not due to another lockdown...