Pictured above: A mood board I created and showed during our in-studio pitch

This week Haylee and I pitched our concept for Project Brief 4: ‘What do we want?’ documentary. Originally interested in the tampon tax, over Week 8 we decided to take a more general approach to theme; as we felt that a documentary on the tampon tax would be difficult to experiment with formally due to the necessary expository which would have to occur. Specifically, we would have to outline the legislation and potentially feature a range of vox pops in order to gather a consensus on the lived experiences of people with periods; something we felt was quite limiting in regards to potential for stylistic experimentation.

However, as we continued this discussion we arrived at the overarching theme of periods; and the ways in which they are stigmatised in public discourse as unsanitary, unpleasant, dirty, and in some cases; shameful. Readily, this sort of sentiment is central to upholding such legislation as the tampon tax; which view sanitary pads and tampons as luxury consumer products rather than necessary  for individuals’ health. Hence, by incorporating a broader subject choice of the societal conception of periods, we can engage a range of potential sources outside of Australia for our documentary. Specifically, it is our goal to deconstruct the (il)logic of the perception which views a natural process of the female body’s reproductive cycle as ‘dirty’ or unnatural.

We seek to do this through an associational form which employs natural footage such as insects, plants, and other conventionally beautiful imagery. Compounding this imagery, we hope to feature a range of voice overs from people with their periods in an anecdotal format. In drawing on the experiences from a range of demographics (age, sexuality, gender identity, socio-economic situations), our documentary attempts to provide a hollistic perspective on the fact that while some women have their periods, not all women do (such as transwomen); and further yet, not cis-gendered women do not have a monopoly over the bodily function, as transmen also may have their periods.

Subsequently, by approaching interview candidates from our own social circles and including a range of voices, our documentary will foreground a more universal and intersectional understanding of the roles and implications of being a person with a period in contemporary society.