Research is messy and web sites are next to worthless. Reader beware!

I have been making my outline-storyboard for my project. The rough storyline is complete-ish, and I know what I want to tell the audience about the site and its families in the project. So just what is “the project”? It is to be a short documentary outlining the overall history of the site with its various manifestations and the families that created it. Its purpose is three-fold: (1) inform the viewer about a little of Florida’s 19th century history and Florida’s connection to the greater progressive movement of the late 19th and early 20th century; (2) be a useful tool for the Tampa Bay History Center to generate interest in the site and promote visitation; (3) on a more personal point, showcase the individuals that have shared the story of Chinsegut the public through their dedication, knowledge and expertise. The main focus will be on the Robins family, partially because there is a wealth of information, mostly because they are who I am really interested in this week. It will end up being as long as it is, but I am shooting for about ten minutes. At this point I have a working framework for the story and a collection mostly sequential collection of images that will be used between interviews to highlight points being made in the story through narration.   

Speaking of a wealth of information. In starting by research, I did what you today and used the magic googler. From that I confirmed my belief that you never trust a website. Many lie or at best misinform through apparently pure laziness. What the heck. There are various sites that talk about the general history of Chinsegut. Many are very good and provide an accessible and accurate overview of the plantation/manor house and the families that have lived there with footnotes

Elizabeth Robins at her writing desk

that support their information. Then there are the others. Dates associated with events don’t lineup with the people who lived at the site at the time. Whole generations deleted. False information about residence, ownership, timeframes, relationships being presented as facts. Just because a web site looks cool does not make it true. Internet searches can be useful, and AI may be good on mediocre steak, but it can just as easily generate misinformation as it can accurate information. Rant to be continued at a later date...   

Research takes time. History can be a rabbit hole. Story telling is not as easy as it looks. All of which I knew before starting, but the points are being driving home over the last couple of weeks.  Thankfully I have people around me that are very knowledgeable not only in the subject but in the craft to rely on.  

On a final progress note for this week, I start filming this weekend. I want to do a couple of test runs with whoever is at the site on Saturday. I plan on keeping the talks pretty open-ended. I want to see where the docents take the story then rework the storyboard accordingly.