Select from one of the readings and briefly describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.

the reading i have chosen is the chapter “approach” from Bernard Curran’s “Documentary storytelling for film and video makers”.

the most interesting point i took from the reading was the overall contention of the chapter, that any approach to documentary is different to any other approach. Curran discusses how drastically approach can differ between filmmakers, even those who may potentially be working with the same concept, equipment or even footage. this is such an important notion because it makes you realise that it’s not as important what you film but how you film it and how you then put it together to create the film itself. this was evident with the first lenny excerise last semester where the entire course was given the same footage to cut. you can garuntee that no two lennys looked exactly the same. approach is the all important element to creating your film and getting across the meaning or story that you want to communicate to the audience.

the second point i liked was when he discussed the different methods of approach. Curran discussed all the little choices and decisions the filmmaker must make when constructing the film that will make the film unique to them. going into making films, i always kinda assumed that they just ‘happened’. reading this article has made me realise that ever step along the way has been a decision, a choice between two or more options with a specific intent in mind. whether to make the film observational or interview based. whether to have narration or not, whether or not the interviewer will be in frame or if their questions will be heard by the audience. all are conscious decisions to be made by the filmmaker which will influence the outcome of the film itself and are things we must consider in the preparation of making our film.

Select from one of the readings and briefly describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.

the reading i chose is “Imagining reality” by Pawel Pawlikowski.

my favourite point from this reading was the following quote: “for me the point of making films is not to convey objective information about the world, but to show it as i see it and to find a form that is relevant”. i think this is extremely important when considering making a documentary. the filmmaker is making their own film which is a representation of reality and so it must be relevant to the filmmaker themselves. the authro talks about his most meaningful films as being thsoe where the subjects strucka  chord with him, those which took time to make because his heart was invested in it. this is something i really hope to take into account when making our documentaries this semester, to make something which is important to us or means something to us, it will give it so muhc more heart and be more interesting and hopefully better quality than anything that we may make but are not fully invested in.

the second point i got was rather new to me where that author discusses the impact which television has had on documentaries. it was interesting to read how the commercialisation of tv, the need to just make money and sell merchandise has even bled into documentary making where filmmakers can no longer experiment or take risks with what they are making because the productions studios are breathing down their necks. he also discussed about the rise of voyeurism in tv docos where people are content to simply set up a camera in an intersting location and film the people there. but there is little thought or heart put into these and thus, while they may sell money immediatly, are worth nothing in the long run and are diminishing the overall standard and expecations aroudn documentaries.

In the lecture we screened a short film called ‘End of the Line’ – the film shot in Broken Hill.

Please describe in 300 words or less if you think they achieved what they set out to do. You may not remember much detail, if so, it could be helpful to talk about your first impressions, after all this is what most of us are left with after one viewing. The treatment which we showed in the lecture is avalaible here. Feel free to write to any categories you wish. eg. story, choice of participants, sound, camera, editing etc.

although i don’t remember all too much from the first viewing of “end of the line”, i remember enjoying it, even though i was a bit disturbed/surprised by it. the main visual concepts adn stimuli that i took away from the film was the incredible landscape shots and i think these worked really well in serving the group’s treatment of demonstrating the emptiness and vastness of towns like this in the outback. contrasting these shots with the lives of Kevin and Beth told throughout the film does really make the audience wonder how people can live out in places like that. again i feel like the treatment worked because the audience is left wondering whether or not they could actually live out there in such seclusion. the visuals of the vast land gives a disturbing feeling of being all alone in the empty outback of Australia, almost like being stuck in a horror film, yet can also present the idea of serenity and peace in living so far away frmo the bustle of the inner cities.