Realism

In TV content class we covered the construction of the documentary and styles; Expository; most documentaries are filmed in this style. They build towards an event or such with narration over the story. Fly on the wall; The camera and crew are invisible and ethics are out the window to a point. Though it depends on whether or not the person filming wants or needs to break the unknown relationship between the subject and the camera. Poetic; a use of visuals and imagery put together to make a story. Performative; undercover style where the filmmaker creates moments challenges and situations to create a story. Participant style; the filmmaker interacts with the subject matter. Reflexive; asks most self-conscious questions. Observational (fly on the wall); non intervention, they rely on editing to enhance real time.

We also covered the intentions of the documentary film making, which is to explore, probe and reveal the subject matter which most interests the filmmaker.

We watched a documentary and followed the step outline (script) given which seemed to differ in most areas.

Documentary making seems, dangerous and would require months and months of research for it to be of value, it is a slow process and requires a lot of effort, the editing process seems to be the pinnacle of the story creation. During filming there are no clear boundaries of where it is going to go and could turn out extremely different from the original concept.

Principles of directing was on Wednesday we briefly went over reminded ourselves of directing action. We created a small action sequence and storyboarded them in groups which was testing our abilities on bringing the principles of action together. I loved this interaction as I 've said before it gives me great understanding in doing.

Later the theme of realism in film & documentary carried through from the start of the week, we looked at the properties of realism in film and documentary.

A few weeks ago each half of the class worked on recreating a scene from The Street television series. Thursday we watched the 2 original version of the episodes these scenes were from. The Street is a drama series that takes a realist look of the working class and dramatising issues that take place in this type of society. We analysed the episodes simply stating if we liked them or not and why.

Both episodes were severely depressing, the cinematography and performance excelled in both. The actors seemed almost perfectly cast and gave a performance to suit the characters which gave me a sense of real people living these situations appose to just actors. This made me believe in the stories. The way the actors appearances were, wearing normal bog standard clothes, and physically their faces looked like everyday people. You could feel the pain through their glazed eyes and expressions of their face.

The cinematography added to this realism using mostly natural lighting making it look like what the naked eye sees. There was a range of dynamic shots which had a grey toned wash that added to the dreariness and pain of the story.

Though challenging and depressive the 2 stories develop to give us a sense of relief and happiness at the end. It would be a series which I would watch a few episodes of and watch once simply because of the negative emotions fueling the stories. These episodes definitely effect and possibly challenge the audience emotionally.

I was part of the crew who recreated the 'You've got a son scene,' which was from an episode about an alcoholic man trying to bond with his 16 year old down syndrome son. The man's ex-wife informs him but battling with his alcoholism his ex-wife regrets letting her son visit his hopeless downtrodden father who knows he can't look after himself never mind his son.

The 'you've got a Son scene that we recreated was similar to the original though the lighting was different and the actors looked different the emotion was expressed similarly.