Totally Under Control
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Alex Gibney
- Ophelia Harutyunyan
- Suzanne Hillinger
- Alex Gibney
- Ophelia Harutyunyan
- Suzanne Hillinger
| Totally Under Control | |
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 Official promotional poster | |
| Directed by |
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| Written by | Alex Gibney |
| Produced by |
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| Narrated by | Alex Gibney |
| Cinematography | Ben Bloodwell |
| Edited by |
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| Music by |
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Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Neon |
Release date |
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Running time | 123 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Totally Under Control is a 2020 American documentary film directed and produced by Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger, from a screenplay by Gibney. It follows the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, often comparing the American response to that of South Korea.[1] It was released on October 13, 2020, by Neon.
Alex Gibney initially pitched the idea of making a documentary about the COVID-19 pandemic and rushing it for release prior to the presidential election to the head of Neon, Tom Quinn, who liked the idea. Gibney knew by working on a tight deadline he could not complete the film himself bringing on co-directors Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger.[2] Gibney decided to make the film in April after a friend of his had died from COVID-19 and another friend was on a ventilator, feeling as though the United States government failed to contain and control the virus.[3]
Due to the pandemic making it difficult to film, cinematographer Ben Bloodwell came up with a kit called "COVID-cam"[4] that was sent to subjects in the film, which they would pick up and begin recording themselves.[5] The kit, consisting of a DSLR camera and microphone, once connected to the Internet, would allow Bloodwell to see the image and control and adjust the camera settings.[4] With some subjects, the crew would rent out an Airbnb and isolate a portion of the room for the crew using a plastic shower curtain, while the interviewee would sit on the other side.[4]