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.