Broken Hill

I feel like this documentary did for the most part succeed in outlining the lifestyle of the Broken hill area. I think one part I would have liked to see more of would have to be a bit deeper reasoning and values of some of the participants. For example with the one lady who kept talking about death you got a interesting insight into her personal reasons but for some of the other participants it was just a short generic response of something along the lines of I don’t like the city etc.

From what I remember of their treatment they initially set out looking to follow a family through their daily processes and life philosophy of broken hill this did not really come through in the doco as it ended up centering around the death  talking lady, I think the film could have benefitted if some of the other participants had been as open as the main lady. Although when considering its length perhaps it was beneficial to simply follow one participant. Although I still think this lady was a necessary and integral participant to demonstrate perhaps some underlying life philosophy of broken hill.

I also think the documentary might have benefitted if the landscape or detail shots had their own devoted sections rather than just serving as interlaced shots in between the interviewee’s responses.

Pawel Pawlikowski reading  – Imaging reality

Form is the most important point of making documentaries, form distinguishes a documentary from a simple recording. The choice of subject is one of the most important aspects when creating a documentary          . A documentary should still be appealing to the audience but it’s form is what creates intrigue and depth. The form does not simply convey objective information but to synthesis it in a way that is relevant and within the vision of the director.

Although the TV industry is creating more work for documentary makers it is also gradually destroying documentary by settling for risk adverse ideas which quickly reel in viewers and attract media attention rather than promoting more experimental ideas which could extend our perceptions of documentary through taking conceptual risks.