I love documentaries so when I found out we were doing a whole lesson and project on them I was ecstatic. It feels like I've watched every documentary on the face of the planet, so being introduced to new ones that I might not have watched otherwise was quite exciting. Getting a different perspective on a genre I love so much would help me gain a deeper understanding of the choices put into creating a documentary. We watched three documentaries in class and all of them were different but shared the same purpose of telling a story. We watched American Promise, Exit through the Gift Shop, an episode of Abstract, and some New York Times Op-Docs. They each introduced me to a different style of documentary and it made me think about how I would create a documentary if I was given the chance.
American Promise was my favorite from the list and introduced me to a type of documentary I'd never seen before. Normally, documentaries that follow a years-long story use the main subject in the present and ask them questions about their past, but in American Promise they interviewed the subjects as the years progressed, giving their real opinion rather than their memory. This style of documentary obviously takes a lot of planning and organization which wouldn't be possible for me to execute in the present, but it is a serious consideration for future plans. So much of the documentary was well thought out and it showed me how much hard work and dedication was put into the project. My favorite part of the documentary was the shift from direct interviews to indirect interviews. Not only did it show the boys growing up and their understanding expanding with that, but it helped the viewer connect with them better. As they grew older they didn't need direct interviews which symbolized a large part of the documentary's purpose, which was to show them growing up.
Exit through the Gift Shop was the second documentary we watched and funnily enough my second favorite. While its topic didn't really interest me I grew to love it as we continued watching. Since half of the documentary was filmed without any real intention of creating a film it was interesting to see an organic perspective that wasn't really trying to get much out of the subjects. It was for pure enjoyment and in the end, it created a story that many would become intrigued by. This documentary differed from the first one as it wasn't planned, so the years of following street artists didn't come from a well-planned idea, but rather a man on a mission to climb the ranks of street art. While many of my friends hated the documentary I think it showed an important message which is that it doesn't take a grand idea to create something special. The creator had an interest and essentially ran with it. I'm not sure if I would ever create a documentary in this format or ever end up in a situation where I have the resources too, but it shows a contrast from the normal of intricate planning.
Abstract was probably my least favorite and I wish it wasn't. I've grown up a creative person, so when I heard we were covering abstract I was excited because it covered fields I'm interested in going into, but something in its execution didn't intrigue me as much as the others. I watched two episodes and felt like they lacked depth and became repetitive. I think the major problem I had with it was its use of present-day filming. I didn't watch the whole series, but in the episode I did watch they used the subject in her present form to represent in her in different stages of her life. This made it confusing and I think could've been better represented by hiring an actor or using high school photos. Abstract showed me what I didn't enjoy in documentaries and while I love the genre a documentary focusing on a specific job's ins and outs may not be for me.
Lastly, we watched two New York Times Op-Docs. I love these. I loved them before we watched them in class and I actually chose two I had previously watched to analyze. Storytelling is my favorite aspect of documentaries and I love that Op-Docs focus on that in short periods. They tell a story in mostly under 10 minutes but get their purpose across so clearly. This doesn't diminish my love for long-form documentaries, but it served as a great help when we had to create our own documentary. Since we were meant to stay under ten minutes having a large portfolio of inspiration was crucial as we had to find a story that could fit in a short amount of time and get its point across. The Op-Doc I took the most inspiration from was I Changed Astronomy Forever. He Won the Nobel Prize for It. | 'Almost Famous'. They told an intricate story from a while back but were still able to have a good amount of B-roll tell and story in 16 minutes.
Overall, I loved researching documentaries and I continued out of class which we'll talk about in the next blog. See you there!
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