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.
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