Observational mode

In observational documentary the creator aims to include as little of themselves and their judgement and perspective as possible. This is nearly impossible to do because we all have personal and unique perspectives. I think that observing your environment—like in An attempt at exhausting a place in Paris by Georges Perec—is the most impactful way to observe. They simply observe an area in Paris as it changes through the day. The magic is in the handling from Practices as research: approaches to creative arts inquiry by Barbara Bolt encouraged us to question how and why everything created. This is a useful tool because creating intentional documentary work involves unpacking the subject of the work.

I thought the presentation from ** from Fed Square was illuminating. She made me feel that making creative media in the scope of ‘Deconstruction’ keeping brand values in mind was achievable and that there was still a lot of room to play and experiment.

I enjoyed listening to what my classmates wanted to learn by the end of semester because it makes me consider ideas and interests that are vastly different to my own. I am always shocked at what people think and how they approach their ideas. I think this mirrors the topic of ‘observational mode’ very well. For my media sketch I made sure that each clip I filmed was in movement because I like to take static shots and wanted to challenge myself with the messiness of motion. I think that moving shots allowed me to observe without passing judgement on what I was seeing. I wanted to capture a quiet public space to see who I would encounter, if anyone. I was lucky enough to see some ducks!