What's Annoying? The Model Citizens Documentary Project

In the summer of 2014, Dr Sara Kelly, a professor at National University in San Diego, initiated a Kickstarter campaign to raise $30,000 to produce Model Citizens, a projected documentary about model railroading. According to the Kickstarter site, the project is to be a "feature-length documentary" that she plans on entering "into the film festival circuit". (Are you kidding me? Cannes?)

Examples of Dr Kelly's documentary skills can be found on the Kickstarter page. In the video "A Futurist Talks Model Railroading", Stuart Forsyth, a futurist, explains what's to come. He describes himself as

a dynamic presenter, facilitator and independent consultant to the legal profession-including bar associations, bar executives and officers, law firms, lawyers, courts, court administrators and judges. A founding member of the Association of Professional Futurists, he offers a broad range of services, with a unique combination of training and experience as a futurist, a lawyer and a bar association executive.

I'd never heard of him before, as either a model railroader or a futurist, although he repeats in the video clip that he's a founding member of the Association of Professional Futurists. His video is an example of what I've found in looking more closely at this project: Mr Forsyth, if the video is a sample of his presentation skills, is anything but "dynamic". "Pompous" and "condescending" are words that come more quickly to mind. But beyond that, despite his claim, his name does not appear on the list of founding members on the Association of Professional Futurists web site.

His biggest insight is that model trains are going to have "more technology". Whew! Er -- Dr Kelly's going to submit this, 90 minutes or more of it, to Sundance and Venice? Mr Forsyth's clip is not unique. The video effort is pure amateur: the camera is wobbly and hand-held, sometimes unstable enough to make you woozy. Although she says the film festival showings will bring younger people to the hobby, she "interviews" a bunch of old codgers, none of them especially well-spoken, and their remarks are desultory, sprinkled with ums and ahs. No one appears to be following a script. The model work, where shown, is average, although there's far more footage of the codgers.

On her Kickstarter page, Dr Kelly estimates that $15,000 is "about a quarter of the total estimated production and post-production cost." Interestingly, her hardware wishlist does not include a tripod. The Kickstarter page indicates that her 2014 campaign received $30,001 in pledges, including 55 backers who pledged $100 or more, one backer who pledged $500 or more, one backer who pledged $1000 or more, one backer who pledged $2000 or more, and one backer who pledged $5000 or more. However, the Kickstarter page says the project will probably require another pledge campaign in 2015.

I e-mailed Dr Kelly with several concerns. I asked her if she's looked at any professionally produced model railroad videos, such as those on the Model Railroader web site. I asked if she'd looked at their production values (as basic as using a tripod and a script) and evaluated whether her own efforts fell short. I asked why someone should pledge significant amounts to such an effort, especially when tax-deductible alternatives are available. She didn't answer these questions, but did suggest I "sit for an interview", presumably like the other old codgers, so I could ramble on.

Why on earth, if Dr Kelly knows so little about the hobby, is she making this documentary and doing such a poor job of it? I'll have more to say.