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Throughout this course I’ll be looking to develop skills, grow as a filmmaker and put out some work that I can be proud of; maybe that work can make a little difference too. My main interest in the course lies within the ‘Action’ part of the course name. I want to know how things I learn can translate to action on important issues. Documentary itself isn’t necessarily the reason I chose the studio, and I’ve never had a passion for it but I’ve enjoyed a few here and there. It will however, be a nice change of pace from the narrative based media that I tend to immerse myself in. I’m looking forward to learning a bit more about the process of creating documentary and developing skills such as interacting with interviewees etc.
I like the idea of perhaps working with a non-for-profit during the course, or maybe branching out and going with a different idea. One matter that I may consider pursuing is climate change; after discussing this in class I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d have to tackle this on a smaller scale and narrow it down a bit. I’m not entirely sure how I’d do that, but I”ll continue some research. Another interesting topic that I’ve thought about is the prevalence of homeless youth in Melbourne. This would probably require a ‘talking heads’ approach, and I don’t know if this is the path I want to go down quite yet. Looking at some experimental documentary in class has me interested in trying something different. How could I create a film that portrays a serious issue in a fascinating and compelling way? I’ll try to keep asking myself this question as I further explore ideas for my project in the coming weeks.
Documentaries in video portrait
An Inconvenient Truth trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOrHnctozrY
The War on Kids trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kP02lxpX2E
Planet Earth still: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795176/mediaindex?ref_=tt_pv_mi_sm
Hi Matt, Good to see that you’ve reflected on the functions of documentary – you can explore multiple functions in one film too – in varying degrees. Start thinking about issues that might be close to you or have affected you personally. You have a lot of footage of kids and punishment so perhaps this is something of interest. Also use the next few weeks to explore how you can use sound and image in different ways while also exploring your topic ideas. This is a short clip from a film called Leviathan – it aims to immerse the viewer in the experience of being on an industrial fishing trawler. I think the approach they use is really interesting rather than a conventional documentary treatment: https://vimeo.com/45252172