Friday, 18 October 2013
History of Documentaries - Jamie Ellis, Candidate Number 9150
Pre-1900’s - Very first documentaries/films were called
“actuality films” because they captured short snippets or real-life actual
events.
1920’s Russia – The first real documentaries start with the
Russian poet and film editor called Dziga Vertov. His group created a series of
educational newsreel called “the Kino-Eye” translated as “cinema truth” during
the Russian revolution and was the first to follow the traditional documentary formula.
1922 – “Nanook of the North” by American film maker, Robert
Flaherty. Considered the first “original” documentary, as this film profiles
the lives of a real Eskimo family. This was his second attempt at the documentary. his first attempt went up in smoke, quite literally, as he dropped a cigarette onto his original footage and lost 30,000 feet of film.
1926 – The first recorded mention of the word “documentary”
to describe a non-fiction film by John Grierson
1930’s and 1940’s – Documentaries become a very good
propaganda tool during WWII for Nazi Germany, America and Britain. This was due to leaders being able to film the travesties of war that the opposing side has done to their troops, gaining sympathy with their own forces as well as reporting victories to their side, gaining morale.
1950’s and 1970’s – Cinema Verite and Direct Cinema – With
new technology and lighter camera equipment, new film-making styles emerged to
capture more “spontaneous” events.
The late 60’s and 70’s and later decades see changes in the narrative approach
of documentaries. Although cinéma vérité is still practiced, first-person video storytelling, powered by
the rush of camcorders into the marketplace in the 1970’s onwards, begins to
emerge as something of a unique genre. With the availability of portable camcorders
to the public, this was an important event as it allowed more and more people
to film events as they happened, they could become more spontaneous they could hold interviews on the go and this
is what we plan on doing, filming tattoos and holding interviews on the go in
the street by asking people about their views on tattoos and tattoo related
topics.
Still need to add in pictures, also looking into new, more artistic ways of presenting this information. This post is to show I have the work done.
Influences and Intentions - Jamie Ellis, Candidate number 9150
Through researching the “Marked” documentary series, some of
their camera and editing techniques really struck me as a great way to really
show off the tattoos. Their intricate details, the bright colours it’s a great
way to show them off. They use an editing technique whereby they take the image
of the tattoo, delete the rest of the image leaving only the tattoo remaining
against a background. Unfortunately I’m un-sure whether or not we can do
something like this, but we can perform a camera trick to perform a similar
effect. If I zoom in whilst moving the camera backwards, the tattoo will become
the centre of focus and attention and will really show off the beauty of the
tattoo.
Another influence for me is that I come from a sub-culture and I can sympathize and empathize with people who are criticised for looking a different way. So, I’m really looking forward to making this documentary and shedding some light on the world of tattoo’s and revealing them to be more than just ink and tearing down the stereotypes and negative views upon them.
Another influence for me is that I come from a sub-culture and I can sympathize and empathize with people who are criticised for looking a different way. So, I’m really looking forward to making this documentary and shedding some light on the world of tattoo’s and revealing them to be more than just ink and tearing down the stereotypes and negative views upon them.
Monday, 7 October 2013
Friday, 4 October 2013
Similar Product Research, Jamie Ellis, Candidate Number 9150
Worlds Most Daring Crime Robberies
Expositionary modes
Theorist, Dyer, applies here greatly. We’re given a voice
over of the action taking place, and the robbers are being placed in the wrong,
by both the commentary and the expert opinions. They are being represented as
the bad guys. Theorist Rayner applies here too, because through this media, the real world is being represented as a crime polluted area that is not safe for anyone.
Perkins doesn’t apply here, because the stereotypes are
simple. The robbers aren’t very smart; they are mostly brutal and quite angry
and violent.
O’sullivan works here, because we are given a selected view
of reality. There is a probability that the robberies take place because of a
desperate need for money. Todorov applies here, but only in the equilibrium, dis-equlibrium and then equilibrium again.
Strauss has a strong hold here, due to the fine being
between the good of the store managers and employee’s against the villains of
the robbers.
This documentary did have a persuading view to the audience, in the sense that it showed the criminals in a negative light, so the documentary is biased.
Our documentary could be considered biased based in the sense that we could be considered to be on the side of the people with tattoos, given that we're trying to help put them in a better light in society's eye, trying to help show people the truth behind tattoos, that not everyone who has them is a ruffian.
This documentary did have a persuading view to the audience, in the sense that it showed the criminals in a negative light, so the documentary is biased.
Our documentary could be considered biased based in the sense that we could be considered to be on the side of the people with tattoos, given that we're trying to help put them in a better light in society's eye, trying to help show people the truth behind tattoos, that not everyone who has them is a ruffian.
Similar Product Research, Jamie Ellis, Candidate number 9150
Documentary, “Knuckle” Irish Bare Fist Fighting
This documentary was chosen to be reviewed before we specialized our documentary subject to Tattoos.
Observational model, follows conventions very strongly,
hiding behind camera, merely watching. Looks amateurish footage and no
influence on proceeding actions.
Camera angles, not too far behind.
Theorists, Rayner applies to this documentary greatly, given
its type which is a reflexive. So, through this media we are seeing the real
world for what it is, there is no embellishment at all or anything altered.
Perkins, applies too. The “stereotypes are not simple”
applies because these people are not a stereotype. They have parts in a number
of them, but aren’t solely one. For example, they have parts in the irish
citizen stereotype, of having strong accents and being up for fights. They also
have stakes in the “gypsy traveller” stereotype, being that they have numerous
family members and have a strong clan/family pride.
O’Sullivan doesn’t apply here, because this isn’t a selected
view of reality. The director ecompases the backstory to this documentary as
well as the surrounding culture of the two families: the sport of bare fist
fighting and why the two families have this feud. So, this director has no
selected view of this reality.
Strauss doesn’t apply, because there is no good or evil in
this documentary. There is only the world and the events in this documentary
that take place. No binary opposition whatsoever. There is perhaps a perception of good and
evil, given that the documentary takes place from the point-of-view of one of
the feuding clans, and not the other. This could be portraying the second
family, the un-followed one as “evil”.
Thursday, 3 October 2013
Similar product research by Kim Potter. Candidate number 8180
Colour Outside the Lines
Mode-Reflexive? Looks
at the history of black tattoo artists and how things have changed
for them, and how they are now more accepted.
Mise en scene-People in
tattoo shops, their art in the background on the walls. Visible
tattoos when talking to the camera. People tattooing people. Tattoo
guns, latex gloves, tattoo ink, tattoo drawings on walls.
Camera work-Medium/
Medium long shots when talking to the camera. Fade from a long shot
of the woman to a close up of her tattoo. Lots of close ups of
tattoos on different people and of tattoo equipment such as ink and
tattoo guns.
Editing- Voice over of
a woman tattoo artist talking about her career as a tattoo artist.
People talking about their work in an interview over them tattooing.Shot reverse shots of people being interviewed then to their tattoos or tattoo equipment in the shop they're sat in, and then back to them being interviewed.
How this documentary
could help us-The main focus of this documentary is the background of
black tattoo artists in America and how they started off in the
tattooing career, and also how hard it was for them to get into the
business when they did. The use of close ups of tattoos and the
equipment they use could be useful to get ideas for our own
documentary as I believe using close ups of tattoos may be effective
within our documentary. Also as it focuses on black people and their
struggle when first starting off in tattooing around 20 years ago,
which I personally never knew was an issue, this helps to show that
there are/have been stories and struggles for people, not only for
people with tattoos and getting careers because of this, but also for
people and their careers within the tattooing industry.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)