Koyaanisqatsi

                                                              

                   Today in class myself and my class watched a documentary called 'Koyannisqatsi'

Here are a few facts about it:
-'Koyaanisqatsi' means life out of balance
-This was made in 1983 by Francus Coppla
-This is a poetic documentary
-Purpose of this documentary is to make the audience think about how nature and the world is constantly changing

Documentary Mode Theory (Bill Nichols)

Expository Mode (voice of God/narrator)

-Use of a narrator to address the audience directly to present an exposition or explanation and interpret what the audience is seen on screen

-E.g nature documentaries like 'Blue Planet' and 'March of Penguins'

-This uses preferred meaning so that what the media producer wants the audience to receive is received e.g feeling sympathetic for a character

Observational Mode (window of the world/fly on the wall)

-The filmmaker remains hidden behind the camera and is ignored by the surrounding environment so that they will not influence on the actions/events 

- There is rough/shaky camera movement because nothing is staged so the camera rushes to keep with the actions

-E.g 'Lifers', 'Big Brother', 'Skint'

Participatory Mode (present filmmaker)

-The filmmaker is present and there is a direct engagement between the filmmaker and the subject

-The filmmaker's impact on the events is recorded and acknowledged

-E.g 'Sicko', 'Human Swarm', 'Food Unwrapped'

Reflexive Mode (awareness of process)

-This acknowledges the construction of a documentary 

-This is fabricated as it conveys not necessarily the truth but a reconstruction of the truth

-E.g 'Catfish'

Performative Mode (filmmaker as participant)

-This emphasizes the subjective nature of the filmmaker

-The filmaker is a participant as they most probably want to prove something 

-This has an emotional and social impact on the audience

-E.g 'Man vs Food'

Poetic Mode (subjective, artistic,expression)

-Not the typical narrative structure 

-This moves from the objective reality and more towards subjective

- There's no continuity or sequence of events

-A particular mood/tone is created through the music 

-Perceived as avant garde as it pushes boundaries 

Other A2 Documentaries Examples I've Watched

Gender Stereotypes and Toys

I would have given this documentary a level of 3c
Pros:
-Range of cutaways to keep audience's interest
-Range of Interviews

Cons:
-Insufficient lighting in some scenes
-Lack of volume control in some scenes

Life Online

I would have given this documentary a level of 2c
Pros:
-Interesting choice in topic

Cons:
-Presenter sounds scripted and needs to be more natural
-More appropriate score music is needed

Slanguage


I would have given this documentary a level of 2a

Pros:
-Interesting topic choice

Cons:
-Hardly a range of camera shots
-There are volume control problems throughout the documentary 

Assignment 4: Assessment Record

Self Assessment	WWW: -Choose 3 different topics -My presentation was clear and easy to understand -Used pictures to support my points EBI: -Do more research into my topics -Add useful youtube links that can support my topic -Research the topic first before choosing it
Peer Assessment	In my lesson I asked my peers which one they preferred and this is what they preferred Nicole preferred 'youth in the media' as she feels that the youth is misrepresented in TV shows like skins Monae preferred 'youth in the media' as she thinks as a youth she'll be able to relate to the topic Jhanae preferred 'is beauty now more important than brains' because she thinks there are many documentaries that have done my other tow topics and thinks this 'beauty and brains' topic can be interesting if its further develpoped
Teacher Assessment
Grade	The grade I received for this task was D1 This is below my target grade of a B
Targets to Improve	To improve this work I need to: - Choose topics that aren't cliche/always done - Site my information and give links to where I got my information from - Think about the debate side to the documentary

Assignment 4: My 3 Topics For A Documentary

Assignment 4 from abigailmenzies

Documentary Terms

social actors - people as themselves in documentaries

back story - information that helps flesh out the skeleton story of a screenplay.  i.e. an accident in a character's past to inform the person's actions in the present.

re-enactments - production that re-creates an actual event

voice of authority - someone whom we hear whose narrative voice represents the film

commentary - narrative voice in documentary which articulates an explicit argument

demonstrative proof - emphasis on making evidence persuasive, although not necessarily accurate 

masked interview - an interview in which the filmmaker is both off camera and unheard

perspective - in documentary filmmaking, the selection and arrangements of sounds and images tacitly convey or imply the filmmakers point of view about a subject

Inter title - text which periodically appears on screen to provide info such as the date, time and location of an event or identify the person on screen  (previously known as ‘titles’ or ‘credits’)

compilation film - a documentary that consists exclusively of archival footage, photographs, and sound

direct cinema - a movement in documentary film that privileges the capturing of reality as it happens and with minimal interference from the filmmakers

dubbing - process of recording dialogue and other sounds after production and adding them to the soundtrack

evidentiary editing:  type of editing that uses evidence in order to support an argument

fly on the wall - phrase by Richard Leacock that refers to filmmakers role in documentary as unobtrusive observer

freeze frame - a single image repeated over and over to create effect of a still shot

Lighting Terms:

flat lighting - lighting that has no shadows  (high key)

frontal lighting - lighting that originates near where the camera is positioned 

practical lighting - a lighting style that closely resembles how the lighting in a scene would appear in real life

three point lighting - system of lighting that uses 3 sources (bright = key.....behind = backlight......fill)

Riot From Wrong VLOG

Here'a a Vlog about my thoughts and feelings on the documentary 'Riot From Wrong' and the Q&A session myself and my class had with the makers of the 'Riot From Wrong.

Informal Peers Assessment Of Topics For Documentaries

1.Have they fully explored a range of topics?

Yes, she explored a range of topics from teenage pregnacies to health issues and food

2.Are the topics orginal and unique?
Yes, in a sense that she ecplores topics that have been done before e.g health issues but is more specific about it e.g obsessive behaviour and kids with cancer

3.The topics my peer choose interesting topics that are not only current topics in society but also relateable to many people e.g one topic she explored was teen and older women pregnancies

4.Most of her topics have the potential to be debated but topics such as kids with cancer I don't think can be fully debated

Riot From Wrong (Pre Questions)

Today in class we each had to individually think of 5 questions for the film makers and director about making a documentary, here are mine:

1. How long did it take to edit?

2. Did u have to get up early to film the documentary?

3. Did you have to travel to areas you've never been before?

4. Did you have to make a shot list, storyboard or script?

5. What type of software did you use to edit?

Exploring Topics

Today in class, I explored different possible topics that I could discuss and debate in a documentary.