Documentary in the Digital Age looks into documantary film pioneers that have in some way influenced the genre aesthetics and content coverage. Here are two of the filmmakers whose works may be of inspiration to our own film, “The West”;
Sean Langan started out as a print journalist, whom until now hardly recognises himself as a documentarist, rather a “Journalist with a camera”. His films are inspired by the idea of not having to be commercially dependent, but rather to imply the truth through the use of lightweight camera and a “behind enemy lines-like” appeal. Often filmed in volatile and dangerous environments, the story would be told in a diary form as the filmmaker is submerged in the story he is telling himself. In the case of The West, the group would attempt to implement many still wide shots that captures a scene through observation and unobtrusion, instead of forcing a story by following social actors.
Paul Watson is titled the “Father of Reality Television” to the genre that is known as “docusoap”. Although this particular genre is what would be classified as light entertainment, Watson recognises his work as “chat shows” that relies on characters’ interaction with each other as well as their behaviour to events that unfold around them. The story of our film, The West, is reliant on the audial content we garner from various interviews with different individuals; those who are oblivious to the West and those who represent reality. This glorious audio will be dubbed over footage of key areas in the western suburbs, hence must possess material that provides a humane contradiction to pre-conceptions.