Capturing the Friedmans: How was it made?

PRE-PRODUCTION:

• Thorough research on the specific topic (the Friedman family) was made before anything else: the court records, the public history, the statistics and records of the news, receipts (as the one which Arnold received from buying child pornography), and any written material like the mails sent by Arnold
• Large amounts of material were gathered, especially real footage from the past, as the one filmed by the Friedmans, the real time footage at the trial, etc. Also, pictures from the local newspapers of the time, pictures of the family, footage from the media, and all the material as possible, was collected
• Arrangements with the people who are to be interviewed: the Friedmans interviewed (Elaine, David, Jesse, Arnold`s brother), the psychologist, Jesse`s lawyer, the supposed abuse victims and the parents of these

 FILM FOOTAGE

• Live shooting is made to the interviewed subjects, in specific settings for each one: Elaine in what is presumably her home, for example. 
• The general setting/place of "action" was shot. Establishing shots when the setting changes, as when Jesse`s lawyer is about to be filmed, an establishing of his office in a small town appears. The town in which the conflict is set is filmed at different times of the day
• The courtrooms are filmed empty, and the offices in where presumably or maybe interviews with lawyers and judges took place
• Shootings and scans of newspapers and written files are made
• Real footage was obtained (from the Friedmans surely?), which was extensely used throughout the film: the shootings of the family's argues and dialogues, different moments of their history (as footage from when the sons were just kids), and even more intimate footage (as David's monologue with the camera, or the fight which almost happens when Jesse arrives at the court)

POST-PRODUCTION

• Editing is done in such a way so as to show only part of the truth which is gradually being accesses to by the audience. For example, when several interviews are shown in a sequence, they deal with the same topic, showing selected parts of each interview relevant to the specific theme in discussion (for example, selected pieces from interviews to the psycologist, Arnold's brother, and Jesse are shown when the topic of Arnold's troubled past is presented)
• Overlaps of visual shots and voice-over, which is then acknowledged (in the transition from, for example, a tracking shot of the city to an interview to Jesse, what the later is saying is overlaped with the former shot). This adds dynamism and a more fluent sequence of events
• The questions which the interviewed people are asked are deleted from the final shots, adding credibility and spontaneity to the footage, and therefore, reality. 
• In practical means, footage which couldn't be used or found is replaced by other techniques, as the shooting of the empty courtrooms with the recorded audio played on top with the discussions with lawyers
• Moments of distension are created to aleviate the flow of information sent to the audience, as establishing shots of setting changes (e.g.: the countryside when Jesse's lawyer goes to visit Arnold to jail)
• Authority and authenticity are created by showing photos of real newspapers debating on the mater, and actual footage from the media recording the incidents (as Arnold's imprisonment)
• The extense amount of footage and material available to edit results in a rich visual experience to the audience and rises the authoritative level of the documentary

PORTRAYAL OF THE FAMILY

• Chaos is illustrated throughout the whole film in the family, by the showing of the progressive disintegration between its members (in the household fights, the depression of Arnold, the suffering of Elaine, portrayed not only in the past, but in the present). 
• Wider themes as the power of rumours and public opinion (are the Friedmans just victims of mass hysteria, declared guilty because people are just fakely convinced about it because of the general opinion and fear?), and the rol of appereances in society (such an apparently normal family, with a father with good reputation as Arnold, is just an external appareance of the monstruosity which reincides inside the family?)
• From beggining to end, a veil of strangeness is portrayed over the family by the director, as if it were (indeed) a different tipe of conventional family. The fact that the family films during their daily life conveys this uncomfortable ambience; the fact that although for example Jesse is about to receive a year-lasting sentence in jail, he is playing around with his brothers, being on camera, also creates this effect. This movie is about truth, abouth what truth means, and how can we know the truth. Throughout the film, absolutely every person interviewed has a different side opinion of the story. The movie shows how the truth is handled, not only by the media and the masses, but inside this family, in where, who knows? Arnold Friedman was the only one to know the truth about the story, or maybe there are so many things which the family has hid from us.