Short film 'Not Fade Away'

About the short film 'Not Fade Away'

Not Fade Away

Not Fade Away features someone who is selling a used Stars and Stripes American national flag at a British car boot sale, or flea market, and who says that the Stars and Stripes will never fade away. 

The intriguing question is, is he saying that this particular Stars and Stripes flag will never fade away, or is he saying that the Stars and Stripes as a symbol, as a symbol of America, and  maybe America itself, will never fade away?

Rightly or wrongly I've taken the view that he is saying that the Stars and Stripes as a symbol will never fade away, which by implication means that I've taken the view that he's saying that America will never fade away.

So really,  this is my interpretation of what I think he meant. I have the impression that if I had asked him the question 'will the Stars and Stripes as a symbol fade away?' or 'will America fade away?' he would have answered 'no.' 

Apart from all this, the question of whether a used Stars and Stripes flag will physically fade away or whether it will never fade away isn't very interesting - it doesn't provide any scope for creative film making. 

Not unless we shoot a short film featuring the Stars and Stripes going through a washing machine cycle a few thousand times, and examine it for signs of fading after each cycle. 

'Not Fade Away' was filmed covertly at a car boot sale aka a flea market at Skegness, England, in July 2011.

Advantages of covert film making

Probably the main advantage of covert film making is, the people in the film tend to speak frankly and unreservedly, whereas they might not be willing to do this if they were aware that they were being filmed.

Even so, covert film making also has certain disadvantages, apart from any ethical issues. Overall, it's probably preferable to shoot a more conventional short film which features people who are aware that they are being filmed.

This way, there is no unwanted background noise, for example. Microphones can be openly displayed rather than concealed. This means that it's possible to display a professional or semi professional microphone such as my Sennheiser 300 or a similar brand of microphone which has shielding against unwanted background noise.

Also, it's surely preferable to have a script rather than have the kind of unscripted dialogue which is the result of covert film making.