Proposal:

PACKRAT: A Documentary on Extreme Hoarding Behavior

A. Label and Format:

"Pack Rat" is a twenty-minute video documentary dealing with a case study in extreme hoarding behavior, shot on DV and mini-DV tape. Family and friends, neighbors and experts will be consulted from my point of view as the daughter of a "pack rat".

B. Introduction and Topic Summary:

The documentary is a sympathetic look at the widely misunderstood condition of excessive hoarding behavior. It is considered to be a manifestation of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder, and it creates unique problems for the individual and anyone close to her/him. The intent is to create empathy and understanding toward this condition. My interest comes from being the daughter of an extreme hoarder. From anecdotal evidence I will support an assertion that most Americans have come into contact with a person who hoards to extremes at one time or another, and even for those who haven't, the subject seems to hold fascination.

C. Theoretical Statement and Research.

The pressing theoretical issue in this project is ethics in representation. In addressing this, I will examine road hazards in representation and ethics in three films and the forthcoming "Packrat" project.

Bill Nichols divides documentary styles into four categories: expository, observational, interactive, and reflexive. In considering the representational and ethical issues associated with my project it seems appropriate to first summarize these different modes of representation and the ethical issues they present. I will then explore elements of formal reflexivity in the films Sans Soleil, Kurt and Courtney and The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl. Finally I will use examples from these films to address some of the major issues in representation and ethics concerning my particular project.

Exposition is an effective way to get a point across unquestioned, although ironically it emphasizes the appearance of objectivity and balanced perspective through its conventions. Conventions that create ethical questions in the treatment of the subject include interviews that are subordinated to the main objective, and also what Bill Nichols calls the "image trick." That is, any image can be used to support an assertion in the audio text. Conventions that create representational issues in relation to the viewer include the "voice of God" narrator.

The observational mode does more to anchor the presentation in time and place through long takes and synchronous sound. The style is questionable because the filmmaker tends to take a stance of objectivity through non-interference. A number of ethical issues arise, including "informed consent". The filmmaker may not present clearly the potential effects on the participants of making the film, or how the material will be presented. Also, in making the film, the filmmaker may intrude upon and alter people's lives for the worse. Multiple issues concerning the representation of the participants arise, and these begin to be addressed in the interactive mode.

The interactive mode stresses testimony and knowledge relative to a situation and location. It also addresses the interaction of the filmmaker and participant. Eric Barnouw would characterize the observational mode as 'direct cinema' and the interactive mode as 'cinema verité'. His further characterization addresses directly one of the ethical questions of the interactive style, "The direct cinema documentarist took his camera to a situation of tension and waited hopefully for a crisis; the Rouch version of cinema verité tried to precipitate one" (254-255). Additional questions involve the limits of participation and how these are negotiated, as well as the legal rights of the interviewee. Being often mostly interview-based the power structures in these relationships may affect the work.

In all modes there are questions as to the filmmaker's responsibility for historical accuracy and objectivity. The relationship of the filmmaker-to-participant and that of the filmmaker-to-viewer pose special problems. The reflexive mode attempts to address these dilemmas.

Within the reflexive mode there is meta-commentary about the process itself. The reflexive documentary utilizes realist conventions to interrupt and expose them. The process calls attention to the film as a construct, and how the "social actors," as Bill Nichols calls them, function as a part of that construct. The filmmaker presents her/himself, not as a participant, but as the author. Nichols contends that the reflexive documentary rarely reflects on ethical issues as a primary concern. "Explorations of the difficulties or consequences of representation are more common than examinations of the right of representation" (Documentary Modes, 59).

I have discussed some of the strategies and conundrums of the expository, observational, and interactive modes. The strategies of the reflexive mode as defined by Nichols include Political Reflexivity and Formal Reflexivity. Political Reflexivity operates on raising the viewer's consciousness. Formal Reflexivity is broken down into Stylistic Reflexivity, Deconstructive Reflexivity, Interactivity, Irony and Parody/Satire.

Stylistic Reflexivity attempts to break cinematic conventions utilizing gaps, reversals, and unexpected turns that draw attention to the work of style. In Sans Soleil this is apparent in the jarring interruption of the nondiegetic sound of the narrator's rich voice by a jolt of intense diegetic sound of the neighborhood celebrations in Japan. In Kurt and Courtney the narration of each process decision of the filmmaker illustrates this. In The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl there are frame markers in various scenes that draw attention to style.

Deconstructive Reflexivity breaks documentary codes of representation, particularly through structure rather than style. Sans Soleil presents West Africa and Japan with nearly equal weight yet doesn't attempt to make any metaconnection between them. The attempt in Kurt and Courtney to portray a deceased person using the interactive style is an unconventional approach. The level of involvement and voice of Leni Reifenstahl in the film about her is also unusual in that she is a filmmaker herself and critiques Ray Müller's process.

Interactivity situates the filmmaker within the film. In Sans Soleil, attention is called to whether the subjects are aware of the camera or not. Kurt and Courtney has the highest degree of filmmaker interactivity, as the filmmaker is in every interview, if not bodily, then in voice. One of the interviewees greets the filmmaker and the camera operator by name and hugs and kisses them. The filmmaker gets up on stage at the ACLU dinner Courtney Love speaks at in order to provoke her. In Leni Riefenstahl we are shown the filmmaker when he interviews her. We are shown the camera and crew as they track her walking and talking. We are allowed to see Leni telling the filmmaker how to set up the shots.

Irony says one thing but means the opposite. It is used to undermine tradition. In Sans Soleil a connection is identified between the code name for Pearl Harbor - 'Tora Tora Tora', and a couple praying at a shrine to protect their lost cat, also named 'Tora' in case it dies unknown to them. In The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl, the irony is in the name of the film itself.

Parody and satire create a heightened awareness of existing unquestioned styles and modes of representation. Satire will point to a specific social problem. The title Kurt and Courtney points to a parody of fact-based fiction film, Sid and Nancy. The satire is of the rock star persona and its distancing effect. Part of the irony is in that Broomfield almost never talks directly to either title character. Kurt is dead and can't talk, a result due ostensibly to his rock star status. Courtney on the other hand uses this status to prevent the filmmaker from speaking to her, and even to attempt to prevent the film from being made.

Nichols says it's rare to have an ironic parody or satire as such since this would call into question the very form of parody or satire rather than accept these forms as suitable and appropriate ways of criticizing the ways of others. The ironic social satire in Kurt and Courtney does serve to call into question the film itself. I ask myself what the point of the film is and I'm conflicted about whether its existence is justified.

In representing a story about extreme hoarding I will encounter a number of representational and ethical issues. These include a deceased main character, a story that takes place in the past, and the personal connection I have with the story. These questions may be addressed via reflexive elements and should also dictate structure and style in my project. The right treatment addresses the problematic relationship between both author and subject and author and viewer. I have examined Sans Soleil, Kurt and Courtney, and The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl for reflexive elements. I will look to these same works and to Bill Nichols' essay "Embodied Knowledge and the Politics of Location" for possible solutions relevant to my project.

In addressing these concerns, Nichols suggests blurring the boundaries between self and other. "The coherent, controlling self that could make the world and others its objects of scrutiny is now fully one itself…Documentary and fiction, social actor and social other, knowledge and doubt, concept and experience share boundaries that inescapably blur" (Embodied Knowledge 1).

Nichols contrasts embodied knowledge with localized knowledge. "Embodied knowledge is situated, specific and corporeal. Localized knowledge constrains inquiry to a carefully delimited frame. Embodied knowledge exceeds such frames…The body itself is an "acute reminder of specificity and the body of the filmmaker even more so" (Embodied Knowledge, 3). These concepts address the relationship of author to subject and author to viewer.

My project originates from experiences with my father. One challenge to an adequate representation is that he is no longer living, so we cannot hear from him. Nick Broomfield contends with a main subject, Kurt, who is deceased. By virtue of being a celebrity, Kurt can in a manner speak for himself after death since there are existing interviews. This solution is not possible for me, except in the case of archival material that is not comprised of moving pictures. This material could include official documents, belongings, photos, and possibly letters.

In portraying a remembrance of my father the key will be in portraying the remembrance. Nichols points out the way Rea Tajiri uses the image of a memory of her mother in a detention camp during World War II in her film History and Memory along with narration about her own haunting ghostlike memories. "The image does not disappear but grows, with incremental, bricoleur-like accretions, into History and Memory" (Embodied Knowledge, 7). In illustrating my own memories and discussing them I could use this idea.

Tajiri's film is in collage form of "written text, disparate voiceovers, old home movies, reenactments, clips from feature films and wartime documentaries, photographs, and syncronous, interactive footage in the present…For Rea Tajiri movement and travel become the experience of dislocation and displacement, of loss and alienation, of exile and resistance. Tajiri explores and enacts strategies of remembrance and resistance practiced through an embodied, corporeal discourse of self-representation" (Embodied Knowledge, 8). A collage style makes sense in the context of my project. The collection and editing of materials can be a structural analogy to the act of hoarding and the act of recovery from hoarding: organizing and cleaning up. Creating this collage is analagous to attempting to discern as a hoarder of objects and of memories which are important and which are disposable. Travel in the sense of time and memory are also themes in my project, as are dislocation and displacement, loss and alienation, exile and resistance.

Tajiri's self-representation is embodied because she is in the film, and she goes to the camp. I can also go to the scene of the conflict, and visit my mother's house where all the ghosts of the past reside. But for Tajari movement and travel are emblematic of the issues of dislocation and displacement, loss and alienation, exile and resistance. For me, stagnation and paralysis represent these issues.

In Kurt and Courtney, the filmmaker connects with others that knew Kurt but seemingly not very well, even though they hold titles like "aunt" and "best friend". In a treatment reminiscent of Citizen Kane, a consistent superficiality creates an overall ambiguity. There are serious questions about the interviewees' motives and reliability. Some of them are obviously junkies. In the narration Broomfield raises these questions and therefore the adequacy of their representations. Broomfield does not raise any questions about interviewing the Nanny, but cajoles her until she breaks down. She is clearly afraid of repercussions for talking, and there is every reason to believe the threat is real. This situation is ethically unacceptable.

Representing past history is problematic. In Leni Riefenstahl, they have Leni herself to speak to, but acknowledge that many of the people are dead who have direct experience with the time period they want to explore. Leni tells a different story than Goebbel's diary, and the metatext asks who do we believe?

An important part of my story is the effect of the Great Depression on peoples' psyches and on their actions. I will also speak to eye-witnesses and examine archival documents. I don’t know yet if they will agree.

The filmmaker Hara Kazuo "returns, obsessively to the past, his own past…As a documentarist I want to become involved with a character and see how I myself become changed in the course of the relationship" (Embodied Knowledge, 10). Documenting his change in the course of the relationship is a way toward embodied knowledge, and I will also document my own behavior during the development of this project.

The power relationship in an interview affects representation. Nichols suggests utilizing the body and a communication style that Ursula K. Leguin calls "mother tongue" as opposed to "father tongue" which she says is essentially distancing. I will attempt to monitor language and behavior to work in a more inclusive language. My interpretation of this dictates taking a participatory role in interviews rather than shining a spotlight on subjects, as well as attempting to give more equal time and depth to all participants. The concept of equal time and depth to all participants is derived from Leguin's characterization of the mother tongue as "undifferentiated engagement." I am not sure if this can work on a structural level, and I've experimented with group interviews. Although the subjects engage in various levels of participation, I am attempting undifferentiated engagement with them.

In portraying myself, will I create false authority for my own story? Sans Soleil addresses this with its multiple layers of authorship. Is the author Chris Marker, the man who wrote the letters, or the woman who chooses which parts to read to us? In creating these layered authors, Marker attacks the construct of authorship. Nichols puts it this way, "The coherent, controlling self that could make the world and others its objects of scrutiny is now fully one itself" (Embodied Knowledge, 2). Through allowing myself to be interviewed I will attempt to be scrutinized as the other subjects are. I hope this will not hold the meaning of dominating the work, but of compromising myself in an equal way to the other participants. The body itself is an "acute reminder of specificity and the body of the filmmaker even more so" (Embodied Knowledge, 3).

I've identified the necessity of creating a reflexive work to deal with issues of ethical representation. I will assert here that my discussion of Embodied Knowledge in relation to ethics falls under the category of Political Reflexivity. I will finish my discussion of project-specific strategies by returning to the elements of the mode of Formal Reflexivity.

Stylistic Reflexivity will be used in fetishizing the objects of video making in the same way that hoarded objects will be visually fetishized. Scrutiny of a camera and tapes or other accoutrements will accompany scrutiny of particular hoarded objects. The question "Why this?" will be addressed to people who hoard about these objects and the question will be implied toward the video tools.

An example of Deconstructive Reflexivity is the group interview where people run the gamut in group dynamics almost like the group inmate scenes in Frederick Wiseman's Titicut Follies. Like the scenes in Wiseman's film, I expect the group interviews to be unconventional and complex but very comprehensible.

I've discussed Interactivity at length as the crux of addressing ethical and representational issues. My topic is ripe for Irony but I hope to avoid any ironic treatment of participants. The Irony I see is in our throw-away society and how those who are staging a kind of objection to the disposable society are themselves thrown away and alienated. This points rather to Social Satire, and a questioning of the value of objects versus beings.

Research Statement:

I have not yet found a work on the topic of hoarding that treats the subject as a personal documentary. Relevant works that address the subject of hoarding or personal documentary are listed in the annotated bibliography. In doing my research I have compiled some general information about the topic of hoarding:

pack rat

n 1: someone who collects things that have been discarded by others [syn: magpie, scavenger]

WordNet

In Doctor Fred Penzel's article entitled "Saving the World," he relates how those who compulsively hoard are "sometimes kiddingly referred to as 'pack rats,' and they are laughed at as being eccentrics. The "pack rat" reference is clear from the above definition. It may also be derived from one of Freud's case studies, The "Rat Man." This case study was about an obsessive-compulsive personality, although hoarding was not a symptom. Rather, the man had a fear of actual rats.

Like the origins of the slur "Pack Rat," hoarding itself is a little-studied behavior that is not very well understood. Most humans have an instinct to hoard things (it is the gathering part of our hunting and gathering instincts). The point at which it becomes "clinically significant" is when parts of the home become unusable due to clutter, for example the toilet or the stove.

Clinical Research

Many people who hoard to extremes suffer from OCD, an acronym for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. "Twenty to thirty percent of people diagnosed with OCD report hoarding as a major symptom. However, hoarding is associated with other disorders as well such as anorexia nervosa, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dysphoria, dementia, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), for which it is one of the diagnostic criteria" (OCF Brochure 2).

A syndrome of behaviors including hoarding was researched in the 1970s and called Diogenese Syndrome. "Diogenes syndrome is characterized by shameless neglect of the body and personal environment, hoarding, and the rejection of any help" (Treatment of Diogenese Syndrome). The syndrome, named after a 4^th century BC Athenian Cynic who rejected all domestic comforts, has been questioned as a possible misdiagnosis of OCD.

According to expert Randy Frost, researchers are currently looking at the possibility of a link to Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. As of yet, the differences between the types of hoarding are not well understood (Chat Transcript 2).

Since hoarding seems to run in families, parental modeling may be a strong influence, or there may be genetic predispositions, but neither has been studied enough to provide conclusive evidence. In studies, childhood material deprivation has been shown to be only a minor factor (Chat Transcript 1).

Symptoms

The obsessional motivations for this behavior include fear and perfectionism. Fears include fear of loss of items of monetary value, opportunity or a part of oneself. People who hoard often feel an exaggerated sense of a responsibility for being prepared, and for not wasting resources. They have an exaggerated fear of making mistakes. The fear of loss is typically concerned with the idea that something important will be discarded, with serious implicit repercussions. These potential repercussions include the possibility that one will come upon "hard times" and have a need for items, or that someone else will need the item and criticize the person for not being prepared. People who hoard also have problems making decisions. This affects the ability to distinguish relative importance of possessions, and contributes to avoidance that allows things to get out of hand and pile up (OCF Brochure 4).

The compulsive manifestation is in the acquisitions. A person who hoards might buy excessive amounts of an item they couldn't possibly use in such quantities, just because it's on sale. Many can't resist a bargain, even if they have no use themselves for an item. They may pick up quantities of free things, including other people's trash. The fears about being unprepared and projecting an unforeseen need extend to items not yet in their possession.

Actual/Factual Repercussions

People who hoard can be at risk for evictions if they rent. If they own a home, they often can not allow outsiders in to repair things, due to embarrassment. They often have trouble locating and paying bills and taxes. They are often alienated from their families and from society. They may have problems getting insurance or worse. Dr. Penzel reports on a woman who burned to death in a house filled with newspapers (Saving the World). Perhaps the most famous case to reach the news was the Collyer brothers, whose home was booby-trapped with newspapers, books, pianos, even a car, and too numerous other types of objects to list here. Presumably while crawling through the maze to bring food to his invalid brother, Langley Collyer was crushed by a tower of debris that fell on him, and his brother Homer subsequently starved to death less than ten feet away.

Treatment

D. My functions and qualifications.

I will function as producer, director, and backup crew.

My production experience includes starting a successful web site design and production business As a Producer's Assistant I have worked on a number of educational and corporate video projects for two area companies that produce digital video.

My directing experience comes from classes at Emerson College. I have had creative control from inception to completion of web sites through my own business.

In addition to shooting projects for Emerson College, I have shot video for a documentary on the making of a Roger Corman film that was produced in Boston. That documentary is distributed internationally on a DVD together with the feature film. I have shot video of professional girl skateboarders and women bike messengers for an independently produced documentary on women in unusual occupations. This documentary is still in production. These experiences show that I am competent as a camera operator.

As for editing, I first learned how to use Adobe Premiere to edit video for the Web in 1995. At that time I also learned how to use software such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, and Macromedia Director as well as Strata Studio Pro for 3-D, as part of post-baccalaureate certificate program in Computer Graphics and Desktop Publishing at the New School in New York City. I hold a certificate in multimedia development with Macromedia Flash and Director from United Digital Artists in Boston. I have seven years of experience in desktop graphics, video and animation. I have edited my projects at Emerson College. I am an editor's assistant on a documentary currently in post-production. During my summer internship this year I have been working with software programs such as Final Cut Pro and Adobe After Effects as well as Quicktime Pro and Media Cleaner. This semester I am also teaching Final Cut Pro in two lab sections of MA202. I am currently learning Avid DVXpress. I have minimal experience in analog editing including VHS tape-to-tape assembly editing, film sound editing using a flatbed editor, and audio reel to reel editing.

In the area of audio, I have studied basic audio recording techniques at Emerson College. I am taking as an elective the Graduate Audio Production course in order to learn more advanced audio recording as well as post-production tools such as Digidesign ProTools software.

E. Intended Audience.

-People who hoard and use support groups on the web or in person.

-Users of the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation web site.

-Attendees of the annual Obsessive Compulsive Foundation conference.

-Educators and students in media ethics, documentary theory, or psychology.

-Anyone who comes into contact with a person who compulsively hoards.

F. Possible Distribution Outlets.

-Screening at Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation HQ or conference, and Distribution by VHS tape via direct sales on the Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation's Web site.

-Distribution by VHS tape to the educational market through an educational distributor.

-Broadcast on local cable television stations and public television.

G. Estimated Budgets.

See attached Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet.

H. Feasibility.

Time: I will begin to schedule shoots as soon as my proposal is accepted. I will attempt to be done shooting primary footage by December. This comprises about 10 location shoots. I intend to have the months of January through April for editing and any necessary additional research and shooting.

Money: There are a lot of expenses. I will set up a home/small business editing solution that will be a donation of resources by my business, as will the use of the XL-1 camera. I have travel expenses, as subjects are located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation is in Connecticut. Travel, tape stock, and craft service are my expected largest expenses.

Equipment:

Panasonic DVC-Pro Camera

Tiffen Filters: Black Promist, Polarizer

Canon XL-1 Camera

Panasonic DVC15 Camera

Bogen Tripods

AT Shotgun microphones

Boom Poles

Wireless and/or wired Shure Lavalier microphones

PZM microphones

Shure Field mixers

Sound Blankets

Tota, Elemental and/or Arri lighting kits

Flex Fills

Beadboard and frame

XLR cables

Stingers

C-Stands

Flag/Net set

Sandbags

Spring Clamps

Apple G4/Avid DVXpress software

People:

Crew--

Producer-Kris Britt Montag

Associate Producer-Landon Zackheim

Associate Producer-Jorge Leite

Director-Kris Britt Montag

Director of Photography/Lighting Director-Jessica Jennings

Camera Operator-Dana Rouse

Camera Operator-Jorge Leite

Camera Operator-Alyer Breau

Gaffer-Landon Zackheim

Sound Producer-Brian Knoth

Sound Designer Post Production-Morgan Betz

Sound Recordist-Eric King

Sound Recordist-Doug Carney

Sound Recordist-Kris Britt Montag

Composer-Bonnie Janofsky

Editor-Alyer Breau

Assistant Editor-Jorge Leite

Assistant Editor-Bert Mains

Production Assistants--TBA

Subjects--

Carol Edwards

Carol Ann Edwards

Phyllis Thompson

Robert Thompson, Sr.

Alice Britt

Lawrence Britt

Michael Britt

Kris Britt Montag

Lee Montag

Wolfgang Gertenbach

Jack Jennings

Sharon Acampora Jennings

Katherine Jennings Buch

Jennifer Jennings

Joanne Jennings Ducati

William R. Manges

I. Narrative Description.

The front yard of a house is filled via collage animation, with myriad objects such as a washing machine, a shopping cart, a desk, some bottles and other junk. The aftermath of the death of a "packrat" and his family's burden in disposing of the hoarder's collection of belongings is described. "When my father died in 1995, the family had to rent a 30 cubic yard dumpster to get rid of his collection. My brothers sold the scrap metal while my sister and I went through every book and newspaper in every stack because my mother became convinced there was cash in them." The entire collection of objects flies out of the yard as a whole and into a dumpster.

"We didn't listen to music back then, we used to make our own fun." Photos of the family and other archival materials from the depression show the times, and once they appear come to rest in a pile. "He was accepted to King's Point." Photos of a young man in uniform are added to the pile. "He told me about delivering grain to Russia, and supplies to soldiers fighting in Vietnam." More pictures are added to the pile. "He spent long periods away from home, and at 65 he was no longer allowed to work at his profession but was forced to retire. He was faced with having to transition into full time family life, something none of us found easy, not him either." Family pictures are added to the pile. "Jimmy was very interested in environmentalism and self-education." A book is dropped onto the top of the pile of photos.

"When he had the stroke was when it got bad." "You're just like him, what's your excuse?" "She's just like him." A family argues jovially. "All you have to do is just throw it out," says a family member to the video maker. A neighbor mulls, "I think it's just a personal choice. But he did have an entire Opal in his basement, I remember that." The video maker concentrates on taping him. A man is demolishing a room in a house. "They never fixed anything."

A new collage begins with images and sound of psychiatrists talking about cause and treatment, news clippings and description of the most well known case of the Collyer brothers, and interviews with people who are afflicted. This builds to a crescendo of panic inducing overwhelm, and a still shot of a trash pile.

The narrator/daughter is interviewed about her possessions. Hoarded objects and video tools are alternately scrutinized. "I saved my father's porn collection until I started this project and I was like, why the hell would I save that? For sentimental reasons? So I threw it away and it was difficult. I was actually thinking what if one day I have a use for these 1970s porn magazines? Maybe I'll want to use the 1970s images for some art? What if they're worth something?" She goes through all the cards from her father's funeral. "I haven't looked at them since the day my mother gave them to me, but I keep them on one of my bookshelves." A yogurt lid throws her into a state of conflict. She's trying to train herself to throw things away, but if she saves this lid and sends it 'in', pennies will be donated to breast cancer research. She demonstrates tactics she uses to make herself throw things away: "I can find it on the Internet." She describes her fears for the future. "I had a boyfriend who said he could see me in a tattered old bathrobe yelling out the window, 'Hey you kids, get away from there,'" and now I see myself that way too. Fragments of the clinical descriptions, afflicted, and horror stories gradually return. The father, the daughter and the Collyer Brothers stories are linked.

J. Plans For Evaluation:

I will determine if the video has accomplished my goals through focus groups and screenings with written evaluations. Candidates for focus groups may come from the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation, from screenings at the Boston Film and Video Foundation, or from area students. I intend to screen the video for the subjects and tape their responses for evaluation and for possible inclusion in the final cut.

K. Production Schedule:

Shooting Schedule:

August 15th:

Pre-Interview Family Members

November 15-18:

Interview person who hoards and family members, Southern NJ

December 14-15:

Interview daughter of packrat, Boston, MA, Collect additional B-Roll, New England area, other interviews TBA

January 4:

Travel

January 5:

Interview wife and children of packrat, Brooklyn, NY

January 6:

Travel

January 7:

Re-Interview sisters/family of packrat, Lancaster, PA

January 8:

Travel

February 1-2:

Collect archival materials, Brooklyn, NY

Post-Production Schedule:

February 3-7:

Editing

February 8:

Additional Shooting possible

February 10-14:

Editing

February 17-21:

Editing

February 22:

Send Rough Cut on VHS to participants

February 27-30:

Respond to Objections

March 1:

Screen Rough Cut, BFVF

March 3-7:

Editing

March 10-14

Editing

March 17-22

Send Fine Cut on VHS to participants

March 24-28

Production Book and Completion Phase materials

Respond to Objections

Day 20, April 3

Screen Final Cut

L. Clearances Needed:

Releases: Subject, Location, Music, Copyright, Licensing Clearances

M. Project Stages Checklist:

-Footage

-Logs and transcripts

-Edit Plan/Script Outline

-Rough Cut

-Final Cut

-Completion Phase

Bibliography:

ABCNews.com. "Hoarding: Dr. Randy Frost Discusses This Quiet Obsession." Online Chat Transcript. 1999. Dr. Frost answers user questions about hoarding.

Baer, Lee, Ph.D. Behavior Therapy for Hoarding Rituals. 1991. Newsletter. Describes treatment methods for hoarding symptoms.

Barnouw, Eric. Documentary: A History of the Nonfiction Film. 2^nd Rev. Ed. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. 33-51. Overview of documentary styles and history.

Freud, Sigmund. Ed. Rieff, Philip. Three Case Studies: The "Wolf Man", The "Rat Man" & the Psychotic Doctor Schreber. New York. Macmillan. 1963. Case study of an obsessive compulsive.

Frost, R.O., & Steketee, G. "Hoarding: Clinical aspects and treatment strategies." M. Jenike, L. Baer, & W. Minichiello (Eds.), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders: Practical Management (Third Edition). St. Louis: Mosby Year Book Medical. 1998. 533-554. Describes treatment methods for hoarders.

Frost, R.O., & Steketee, G. "Issues in the Treatment of Compulsive Hoarding." Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. 6. 1999.397-407. Describes issues in treatment of compulsive hoarders.

Frost, R.O., & Steketee, G. "The Nature And Treatment Of Compulsive Hoarding." 1999. A two-tape presentation contends that compulsive hoarding is a common and infrequently studied symptom of OCD. Available information suggests that this symptom is more difficult to treat than many other forms of OCD. Discussed is a cognitive-behavioral model for understanding compulsive hoarding and a treatment program derived from that model.

Herrán, Andrés, Vázquez-Barquero and José Luis. "Treatment of Diogenes Syndrome with Risperidone." Aging, Neuropsychology, & Cognition 6 (Jun99).

Messina, Gabriella. "Hoarding to Excess: When the Stuff You Keep, Keeps You From Living." 1999. News Piece, 20/20 Downtown. Profile of Diane, whose hoarding is a symptom of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

National Center on Elder Abuse. "Hoarding behaviors discussed at national conference". Newsletter. Vol. 2, No. 3. 1999. Two workshops at the National Association of Adult Protective Services Administrators' conference focused on a type of APS case that workers typically find very difficult to resolve: elders who hoard items and/or animals.

Nichols, Bill. "Documentary Modes of Representation."Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Indiana University Press, 1991. 32-76. Modes of representation that stand out as the dominant organizational patterns around which most texts are structures and strategies within them.

Nichols, Bill. "Embodied Knowledge and the Politics of Location: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture." Blurred Boundaries. Indiana University Press, 1994. 1-16. The power of those contingent subjectivities affiliated with a self makes meaning in the company of others.

Obsessive Compulsive Foundation. "Obsessive Compulsive Hoarding." Information Sheet. Publication date and authorship information N/A. Overview of obsessive compulsive hoarding. When it's a problem, who does it, why they do it and how they do it, plus treatment information.

Penzel, Fred. "Saving the World." Obsessive Compulsive Foundation Newsletter. 1995. Types of compulsive hoarding and treatments.

Filmography:

Beautiful Mind, A. Dir. Ron Howard. 2001. He saw the world in a way no one could have imagined. John Nash, diagnosed as paranoid-schizophrenic, goes on to win a Nobel Prize for work on game theory.

Citizen Kane. Dir. Orson Welles. 1941. Powerful newspaper owner Charles Foster Kane was many things to many people, both in life and, as seen in retrospective here, in death.

Crumb. Dir. Terry Zwigoff. 1994. ...what makes Crumb such a great film is the way it shows the twisted nature of Crumb against the backdrop of his nearly psychotic family. Compared to the world, R. Crumb is a sexual deviant, a lunatic genius, and a perfect candidate to be taken away in a plain white van. Compared to his family, R. Crumb is completely and utterly normal.

Delirium. Dir. Mindy Faber. 1993. Mindy Faber's portrait of her mother draws connections between the nuclear family, middle class values, and madness.

Glaneurs et la Glaneuse, Les (The Gleaners and I). Dir. Agnes Varda. 2000. Varda's most recent effort-the first filmed with a digital videocamera-focuses on gleaners, those who gather the spoils left after a harvest, as well as those who mine the trash. Some completely exist on the leavings; others turn them into art, exercise their ethics, or simply have fun. The director likens gleaning to her own profession-that of collecting images, stories, fragments of sound, light, and color.

Kurt and Courtney. Dir. Nick Broomfield. 1998. After rocker Kurt Cobain's death, ruled a suicide, a film crew arrives in Seattle to make a documentary. Director Nick Broomfield talks to lots of people: Cobain's aunt who provides home movies and recordings, the estranged father of Cobain's widow Courtney Love, an L.A. private investigator who worked for Love, a nanny for Kurt and Courtney's child, friends and lovers of both, and others.

My Father The Genius. Dir. Lucia Smalls. 2002. His daughter takes on a huge task: being fair to a father who emotionally neglected his children in a film seen by the public.

Nature And Treatment Of Compulsive Hoarding, The. Randy Frost, Ph.D. & Gail Steketee, Ph.D. 1999. Available information suggests that this symptom is more difficult to treat than many other forms of OCD. Discussed is a cognitive-behavioral model for understanding compulsive hoarding and a treatment program derived from that model.

Safe. Dir. Todd Haynes. 1995. Carol becomes more and more sick, claiming that she's become sensitive to the common toxins in today's world: exhaust, fumes, aerosol spray. Her physician examines her, and can find nothing wrong.

Sans Soleil. Dir. Chris Marker. 1982. "He wrote me...." A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco.

Sid and Nancy. Dir. Alex Cox. 1986. ...a great example of integrating historical events into a story without distracting the viewer from the film's unifying themes. Sid and Nancy is a great anthology of the rise and fall of a social movement, which behind the spiked hair, and leather jackets, was a dead on assessment of the hypocrisy that existed in England and the United States circa the decadent 1970's.

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. Dir. Todd Haynes. 1987. The film is not merely about fame or anorexia (the disease of which Carpenter died), but conjures the suburban California of the 1970's, indeed the whole plastic experience of America and American pop culture (of which, of course, The Carpenters and Barbie dolls are most certainly a part).

Twitch and Shout. Dir. Laurel Chiten. 1993. They blink, they grimace, they jerk, they moan. No matter how hard they try, their bodies, minds, and voices won't do what they're told...Twitch and Shout not only sheds light on the nature of this puzzling disorder, it also examines the way society all too often heaps scorn and abuse on those who stray, however involuntarily, outside the limits of conventional behavior.

The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl. Dir. Ray Müller. 1993. This film explores the boundaries between the artistic and the political (or, when does fiction have to pay for the reality it may help to create?).