Final Doc Project

The performative mode of documentary has become a preference of mine for a variety of reasons.  One if focuses on the actions being performed by the film subjects.  The second reason was thanks to our discussions in class that the performance is more than just for entertainment or amusement, but it also serves to illustrate a message about the individual subjects that are actually performing.  It was through this understanding about the performative mode that I came to realize that documentary films can serve for more than just simply informing the audience.  They can portray a deeper meaning behind the story or subjects being documented.  In this film I made about two styles of tumbling (featuring my friend Tim and I) will give the audience not only a fast paced and entertaining sport, but also portray how our two forms of tumbling reflect our personalities and perspective on life.

               I can recall a film we watched when discussing the performative mode known as A Study in Chorography for the Cinema.  For some reason this film caught my attention more than some of the others and I became intrigued as to how this film represented the performative mode.  It was brought to my knowledge that this mode although focused on the dance performance by the subject, what mattered more was what knowledge and understanding to we gain from the demonstration.  There is a manner of uniqueness to the performances found in this mode of documentary.  This is because the subject of the documentary brings their own individuality, personality and style to the performance.

               My documentary mode project I feel represents “The Documentary Idea” as discussed in class.  I also feel that it reflects my understanding of the performative mode as well as what knowledge I have gained through the course material presented throughout the semester.  The story I am portraying in this documentary is that of two friends (myself and Tim) who love the sport of tumbling, but have two different styles performing.  I not only wanted to have lot of action shots portraying our two forms of tumbling I wanted to do short interviews with each one of us, asking questions about our two styles of tumbling and why we enjoy one version over another.  By having such an interview I would be able to illustrate what Nichols talked about in relation to the questions he asks about the knowledge given in a performative mode documentary; one example would be “what besides factual information goes into our understanding of the world?” (Nichols 199).  With the knowledge we receive from the interviews we will have a better understanding of the subject’s personalities as well as their perspective on life.  Nichols also said that the performative mode delivers knowledge that can be evoked or displayed however, they perform their actions with such distinctiveness that it is not easily duplicated by another.  (Nichols 200-201).  The purpose of performative documentary is indeed to focuses on the performance of the subjects, but only to give the audience information about their perspective on life reflected by their participation in a given activity.

               In the case of Tim Lishemen, he explains to the audience that he enjoys tumbling in a more organized fashion that is focused on form and technique of an individual trick.  We can see this very clearly when he is on the trampoline doing several flips, tucks, and back hand springs.  One could say that his style of tumbling is a form of art, much like the dancing man in the film we watched in class A Study in Chorography for the Cinema.  Through an intense analysis we can come to certain knowledge that Tim’s style of tumbling reflects that he is a driven, organized, and directional individual.  Tim explained that by having organization and control in one’s acrobatic tricks he can conserve energy to do even more.  This information tells us that Tim’s perspective on life is about accomplishing as much as you can in the most effective manner possible.  In the case of tumbling he demonstrates his perspective by making a goal (ex: a back hand spring) focuses on the form so he can then control his energy to perform the trick for as long as he can.  It is this style of tumbling we can see Tim’s personality and identity reflecting characteristics of a man who enjoys life, but enjoys it because he can accomplish more due to his focus, organization, and determination to reach his goals in life.

               As far as myself is concerned I think that my style of tumbling portrays that I am a little careless, and focused on pushing the limits in life.  In the interview I tell the audience that I enjoy disorganized tricks because it is more for the thrill of adrenaline that I get when jumping high in the air and falling.  We see in the film that when I jump off the trampoline into the foam pit, I spin myself out of control knowing I’ll be ok.  This illustrates that to me life is about living it to its fullest without fear of taking risks.  I do explain however that I do also enjoy doing a few organized tricks much like Tim.  This in turn shows another part of my perspective in that despite my habit of being a little careless, I do know that there are some limits that I should be aware of.  Basically it means that although I like to live life to its fullest, I’m not stupid enough to risk my own life for the sake of an adrenaline rush.

This performative documentary I believe to portray my understanding not only of this particular mode, but also of the documentary purpose itself.  Before this class I believed documentaries to be primarily informative, but now I can see that there is a greater meaning to the information we receive, and that can be analyzed in a variety of ways.  It is not what you learn that is the most important, it is what you comprehend and do with that knowledge that helps us to see the identity and individual purposes of each documentary that you watch; this is what I believe to be “The Documentary Idea”.

              Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMQPA_zXBII 
Music of video by

Good Time - Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen 

Extra Credit Post: Guest Speaker

I found it really fascinating and beneficial to the class having the two guest speakers (whose names I can't recall) come and speak to us about working with documentary films.  It was interesting because after watching the clips from their Egypt film, and hearing about their documentary reserve to fight I began to remember several discussions, readings, and learning material about certain documentaries we have discussed and also knew what mode these two fell under; at least according to my own opinion that is.
The first documentary film they spoke about took five years to produce which I find would be very exhausting, and patience stretching.  However, I remembered back when we talked participatory mode of documentary I recalled the movies we watched and how long they took to make and their involvement with the subjects of the film.  I haven't seen "Reserver to Fight" but based on what they said as they explained the story and subjects fo the film, I found reason to believe that it could fall under the mode of participatory mode.
The identification of their Egypt film is a little more ambiguous  since it is not finished.  But, with what information they gave us in class I came to the conclusion that it could fall under one of two modes.  The first one being participatory, just like the first one.  The other is reflexive because they could do a lot of interviews and really connect well with he audience to show what is happening in Egypt and the struggles the citizens are facing.
I found this guest speaker to be very helpful because I learned a lot from them and what it takes to become a documentary filmmaker.  I will admit I do not believe that I will go down the bath of a documentarian and I know that the purpose of this guest speaker was not to do so.  However, I will also admit that my appreciation for documentary films has been humbled and enhanced.  Largely because I can see that there can be more sacrifice, effort, dedication, determination, and inner reward found in documentary films.  They are reality, and we can be influenced more by them I think because what we see is real, not fiction.

Doc Mode Project 3 Autobiography

In this autobiographical documentary I tell the tale of an experience that occurred in my life that emulates a journey which expands throughout my high school career.  Much like an autobiographical documentary I watched on youtube about Paul McCartney this film takes a certain time period in an individual’s life (me) and uses voice over audio as well as images to portray what I am speaking about.   

I decided to make a film that was a lot like the radio documentary we watched in class about the boy who spoke slowly.  But, I also wanted to give the audience an image to focus their eyes on as well; therefore playing with the audio, I decided to place pictures of myself playing volleyball and at the hospital.  I feel that these two elements of image and audio would help the audience feel more connected with my story and who I am as a person.  Much like the autobiographical documentaries we watched in class this film tells a story based on my own perspective.  As we know autobiography comes from the root word biography which is the narrative describing and individual’s experiences in life.  This film is the biography of my high school years playing volleyball and what I learned from them.

               We must also take into account that autobiographical documentaries have a message illustrated to the audience that is tells them more than just realistic info about the subject.  In this particular autobiography, I explain to the audience that despite the bumps in the road, one can still achieve his/her ultimate goal; but we must keep an open mind and understand that we may have to take a different path to get there.  Another message behind the image is that we need to find the good in life, and when life gives us something bitter we must find a way to make it sweet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fsowOPCG3U

Autobiographical Mode

From my understanding autobiographical documentary is documented footage of an individual’s experiences in their own life through their own eyes.  The name autobiographical seems to reflect the word biography which is a detailed description of someone’s life in terms of what they went through, how they faced challenges, personal experiences etc.  A lot of times there is a narrator who tells the story with the images reflecting moments in their life.  This element helps in clarifying the message behind the image; therefore delivering more factual information about the subject of the film.  Basically this type of documentary is a history film about the history of an individual. 

In the Nichols reading it talks about how sometimes with documentarians they become fascinated with random things in the environment like dirt that don’t have much to do with the actual content but can still compliment the overall message.  I find this to sometimes be a distracting factor like in the series of films we watched about a teenage girl.  However, with careful analysis we can conclude with a hidden idea portrayed in the mind of the filmmaker that would help us better understand the mindset of the subject.  This in turn would help the audience connect better with the filmmaker and understand their history; which is one of the purposes I believe to be behind autobiographical documentaries.

I thought it was interesting our class discussion on this documentary mode.  I really enjoyed the variety of opinions concerning the content of these types of documentaries and how not everyone connected with some of the films.  However, let me explain this somewhat pessimistic appearing comment.  I always like it when we can hear both sides of an argument/opinion about a certain subject.  For example, the group of films we watched that were made by the teenage girl brought out different views as far as if it was really a film that should be noted.  I will admit I did find it hard to connect with these documentaries, but later I came to an interesting conclusion that maybe that is not the point.  As discussed in class autobiographical documentaries portray the life of another and how they see the world they have lived in.  It is genuine, personal, and factual according to the filmmaker.  Now, perhaps the reason behind my difficulty in connecting with her films was because I see the world differently and have not experienced the same challenges as her.  Despite this observation I have found that autobiographical documentaries have a purpose to inform the audience facts about an individual portrayed in a way that the filmmaker best understands.

I watched a short autobiographical documentary about Paul McCartney and his life starting out as a simple song writer then eventually becoming part of the biggest rock group in the history of music.  It was narrated by Paul McCartney and he goes off to explain his history in the music industry while images are portrayed of himself playing at concerts and hanging out with his fellow band members.  This is a perfect example of autobiographical documentary because it is the life history of Paul McCartney in his own perspective.  Whether others agree with him or not is up to the audience, but the point is to show the world, this is what Paul McCartney thought about his life and the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5vegY_M5zM

Doc Mode Project; Performative Mode

The performative mode of documentary I have found to be one of my favorites due to the focus being directed towards the performance of the subjects and the meaning behind it.  As discussed in class and with my teacher performative mode like the poetic mode portrays different messages, themes and symbols that are seen through the actions of individuals being documented. 

I always wanted to make a long board documentary that shows my friends and I having a good time cruising down a trail enjoying the adrenaline rush as well as peacefulness of Provo Canyon.  However, in order for this documentary to fit the performative mode I knew I had to find a way to illustrate a message through their different styles of long boarding.  Nichols said in his book how documentary enhances our understanding of one’s experience, emotions, values and personalities.  In the performative mode these characteristics are portrayed through the actual performance being documented.  Therefore, I decided to focus on documenting two different personalities portrayed within the actions enforced on two kinds of long boards. 

Mac had a long board that could be taken as one with a more rounded personality because it was built for taking sharp turns and carve on the road.  The reason behind his choice is explained at the end when talks about how much fun he has with the constant carving and swerving along the trails.  In turn this style of long boarding reflects Mac’s rounded personality and that he is a unique person; this is also confirmed when we hear him compare his long board to a sports car, carries a ukulele while long boarding and at the beginning when he goes off on a random yet humorous tangent about him getting attacked by wasps. 

Nate’s personality is reflected as more of a laid back kind of guy who likes to just cruise and enjoy the ride.  This is clearly portrayed as we see him going down the hill with little effort on his part.  We also see his chill personality reflected when he sits/crouches down on the long board.  He does this to put himself in a more comfortable position to be relaxed as the board does most of the work in carrying him down the trail. 

This documentary I feel to be a good representation of the performative more because of its focus on the performance of the subjects as well as the meaning behind their actions in reference to their different personalities and style of long boarding.

Blog 8 reflexive mode

Reflexive mode documentaries have similar traits to that of the participatory mode in terms of realistic subject matter.  However, there is an important and distinguishable difference that Bill Nicholas brings to our attention; which is that instead of there being a negotiation between the filmmaker and the subjects there is in a negotiation with the filmmaker and the actual audience. 

In the documentary we watched about the Republican campaign we could see that it reflected a sense of realism especially when they tried to interview several people at a committee party.  Some would express their opinions; others would not even talk to them.  This documentary addressed several facts, opinions, and details about the campaign that helped the audience to better understand the issues that were happening at the time.  This helps to categorize it in a reflexive mode because Nicholas says that “reflexive documentary sets out to readjust the assumptions and expectations of its audience”.  It seemed that this documentary was made for this exact purpose; to portray to the audience what really was going on during the campaign in hopes to persuade the viewers to side with their opinions. 

I remember in class we spoke about the film “Cane Toads” in that it was interesting how that the film was about the cane toads and what they have brought to Australia.  However, we also discussed that the filmmaker seemed to be focused on the conditions that Australia in because of the cane toad.  This ties in with the characteristics of reflexive mode documentary because they try to persuade the viewer to understand what’s really happening in Australia.  They push their opinions to change from believing that the cane toad has helped Australia with their worm problem to the fact that instead the cane toad has actually replaced the worms and have now become the pest.

I watched part of a film on youtube called “Driving me Crazy” by a well known reflexive documentarian known as Nick Broomfield.  In this film he documents his journey in making a movie about a dance studio.  He does several interviews with people he works with and makes a good connection with the audience.  It was interesting because after watching part of the film I thought that the filmmakers were not just making a documentary, but trying to persuade the viewer (whoever it may be) to donate money so they could make the original documentary.  It is possible that they did this to show sponsors or other people that their idea was a good one which would then persuade them to give donations.  This in turn helps the documentary to fall under the category of reflexive mode in that the filmmakers connect with the audience to show that they need money.  This in turn reflects they true purpose for making this film in that they are trying to influence whoever watches this film to help donate to their original cause.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8CrLsa5Zf8

The participatory mode of documentary is much like the observational mode in the idea of filming real people, real situations, in the exact reality they live in.  However, the major difference between the two is that in participatory mode the filmmaker actually interacts with their subjects instead of only sitting by to observe. The reason behind this, as explained in the reading, is that this form of documentary is meant to portray the world as it is represented by someone who is actively engaged with what is being recorded.  Personally I think it helps illustrate a stronger sense of reality because it appears more organic when there is involvement between the filmmaker and the subjects.

I think that by allowing the filmmaker to actively participate in certain situations of the documentary it delivers details and less analysis.  This is because the filmmaker can document an event and involve her/himself by asking the people in the shot questions that explain what is happening.  Therefore, the audience is left with facts rather than their own analysis to predict what is really going on.

As discussed in class, the filmmaker can involve themselves in a variety of different ways; which can help the audience better understand the current conditions that are being recorded.  For example, in the film we watched about the miners going on strike the filmmaker would ask questions about the current conditions they were facing.  Sometimes the filmmaker can even appear in the shot itself and speak to the audience as they are asking questions or describing the situation they are in.  

In this youtube video there is a woman who started what’s called vlogs (video blogs) and she documents her life with a simple camera talking to people about her upcoming concert in the area.  I don't think that to some this would be considered your average participatory mode documentary.  However, it does meet the criteria in documenting real people, in real situations, that involve the filmmaker participating in some way. 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYcIUJGNaME&list=UUWTD3EHR2SWV4D8WplDWFVg&index=4&feature=plpp_video

Participatory mode I find to be a little more fascinating than other modes of documentary.  This is so mainly because I think we can obtain more factual information about the story and that can sometimes make the film more entertaining in my opinion.