During the Monday tutorial this past week we explored the four functions of documentary, which got me thinking about which of these functions would best suit my project and filmmaking style. I feel as if I don’t want to ‘persuade and promote’ in a way that comes across as untruthful, however this is the function I’ve chosen the studio for. I hope to produce something that can shed some light on an issue in an unbiased way.  The look at experimental film and documentary on Monday also sprouted some thoughts over the course of the week. I’m interested in the different ways I can go about creating my final project, and how I can communicate with my audience visually and stylistically rather than simply with talking heads. As I continue to think about ideas for my film I will also think about how I can pursue them in a more creative way.

On Friday we were given the opportunity to play around with the Sony XDCAM cameras, shooting anything interesting for fifty seconds or so. Getting into the practice of walking around and filming was nice preparation for the coming weeks, as I felt I needed to warm into it all again after the break. We learnt the most basic functions of the camera, but nothing more due to time constraints. The aim of the exercise was to record only what we thought was worth filming, not unlike what filmmakers would have to do during the infancy of cinema due to the high cost of film tape. What I took away from this was that we shouldn’t necessarily restrict what we film, but rather try to continue to stay vigilant by looking out for things that are worth recording.