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December 1997, Week 3

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Subject:
From:
"Lisa R. Barry" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 16 Dec 1997 09:50:42 -0500
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Don Larsson writes:
>
>The point of a cinema verite documentary may be even less apparent but
>the very existence of some kind of structure makes one assume that the
>material has been shaped for a purpose, in the Maysles Brothers as well
>as in Wiseman.  These filmmakers may not "fake" or stage material, but
>I'm sure that there are at least a few feet of film left on the cutting
>room floor--and that presupposes a shape and an intention.
 
I would contend that documentaries are equally contrived as CHS and any
other narrative-driven film.  The director/editor still makes decisions
about which shots to link together, which scenes should follow each other,
etc.  I would also contend that, even in a documentary that ideally strives
for objectivity, the images are somewhat "staged."  After viewing Wiseman's
Basic Training and Welfare, I felt that, although the experiences were in
large part real, that the people were still "acting" for the camera.  I
also believe that Wiseman exhibited calculated intentionality insofar as
the scene sequences were concerned.  To be sure, many of the problems
Wiseman revealed at the Welfare office do, in fact, happen, and I have
witnessed similar stories myself.  But I couldn't help wondering if these
people weren't exaggerating their problems for the benefit of the camera.
So, too, does the discussion of the scientists in Primate seem contrived,
as if it were staged for the benefit of the camera and the audience -- to
justify why they would do such things to a living creature.  Hmmm.  Don
Larsson and I are in some agreement here.  What I disagree with is his
claim that documentary filmmakers "may not 'fake' or stage material."  Can
a camera ever really objectively catch reality?
 
Lisa :-)
 
=======================================
"Don't compromise yourself.  You are all you've got."
                                        --Janis Joplin
=======================================
Lisa R. Barry
Ph.D. Candidate
The Pennsylvania State University
234 Sparks Building
University Park, PA  16802
[log in to unmask]
http://www.personal.psu.edu/lrb7
 
----
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