How do we make documentary that is both political and poetic?

In order to produce documentary content, the reaches audiences in both a political and poetic manner, one must break the conventions of traditional cinema. After all, poetic experimentation within cinema has arisen largely from the “cross-fertilization between cinema and the various modernist avant-gardes of the twentieth century”. (Nichols, 2011)

Producing poetic cinema could potentially mean developing content that is represented in an experimental manner, stripping away literal meaning and allowing for interpretation. This will create a piece that forces the audience into thinking about a broader picture- allowing for a more in-depth analysis of the issue or content at hand.

Modern documentary is already political to a certain degree, many documentaries already have a bias and agenda aligned to sway their audiences into a particular direction. Within modern cinema documentary has become destabilized from the “fact-based, convention-bound and putatively objective social or scientific practice” (Everson, 2015) it once was. Combining cinema with poetic content creates a new wave of influential material, content that is aimed towards people’s character rather than a straightforward academic mindset.

During this studio I created my own experimental documentary piece. As a growing media practitioner I took into account many aspects during production (including, but not limited to lighting, mood, tone, mise-en-scene and audio). My short piece can be considered both political and poetic as it includes various references to current topical issues but is presented in a light that forces the audience to make their own solidifying interpretation. My piece focuses on the current issue of anxiety within our modern society. How many of us are set up to fail- to feel trapped in jobs we don’t love and to feel consistently stressed by persistent workloads.

When researching my subject matter, I found that 1 in 14 young Australians (ages 4-17) had already experienced an anxiety disorder (according to the 2015 statistic at Beyond Blue), that’s approximately 278,000 children and adolescents. In fact, it is sad to note that suicide is the biggest killer of young Australians, almost 4% more than car accidents. Yet, this is still a topic that holds a lot of resentment and stigma around it; thus by creating a piece that draws away from these facts I felt I was more able to focus more on the emotional side of documentary film-making; making sure I created empathy for my audience to take in.

My piece includes anger towards the way mental health is currently treated in our society, this can be seen by my choice in using red hued undertones and violent clips to represent inner anger and frustration. If I were to make a straight forward piece talking about such an issue it would not gain as much interest, modern audiences want film that creates empathy- footage and stories that they can both connect and relate too. By presenting anxiety in an abstract state, audiences are allow to reflect on their own experiences with it rather than factual based statistic that we hear in many television news reports.

During this project I have taken inspiration from various performance artists, as contemporary art is also a platform which can blend politics and the poetic form together. Marina Abramovic’s ‘The Artists is Present’ is a documentary I believe blends both poetic and political. Marina discusses the issues relating the the human connection and the lack of- entering the digital age, but presents her argument by using performance; staring into another humans eyes. This is all it takes for many audience members to feel a connection to her piece. This changes the perception of many individuals- all by a simple gaze, no facts or statistics or even verbal/diegetic audio just a documentary piece covering the effects of people learning the power of the human connection.

I have also taken inspiration from this short documentary piece below, depicting what it would feel like as an individual with schizophrenia (another mental illness prevalent in society but still stigmatized). I feel this piece brings a lot of heavy emotional tones through it’s visual imagery.

It reminds me that I am not only a media practitioner but also as a consumer and that using camera angles, audio, mise-en-scene, are all elements that if put together in a creative manner can create a piece that evokes a heavy emotional response. I really enjoy having these topical issues (like mental health) presented this way as there are many people in society who have never experience mental illness and possibly wont ever- thus they are still able to experience what it would feel like through film. A normally documentary would not be able to create such an emotional response that a poetic documentary is able to as it really makes the viewer question the material they are presented with.

Overall, the way documentary is produced, it’s intent and it’s content are all key factors on weather the piece will be  political or poetic or in this studios case, both. The main aspect to take into account is the audience and the way they perceive the media presented. Media that is poetic generally creates an emotional response which in many cases can be empathy for the issue on screen. But allowing the audience to interpret the issue without forcing the facts onto them gives them space to breathe, it ultimately allows them to consume the media with an active mind and rather than giving them content to memorize- thus it helps expand their emotional responses to future documentary films.

What’s Wrong With Simply Observing The World?
Natasha Khan, The Art of Persuasion, Liam Ward
Word Count: 970

An individual within modern society cannot simply observe the world; we all become consumers. Media can catch us off guard- whether it be an advertisement through a billboard, food packaging, or an audio announcement; consuming media has become a part of our moral.

Despite various conflict towards our current media usage, many individuals are passive consumers. They watch and observe but do not act on, or question, the media they are presented with. A passive consumer is not ideal in creating debate or bringing current issues onto the world stage. Without questioning the intake of your media, you become accustomed to media bias. Simply observing and not questioning deters you from learning, debating and creating a differential opinion.

In many ways we can link our relationship with observing media back to the Dependency theory (Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur 1976). “This theory predicts that you depend on media information to meet certain needs and achieve certain goals, but you do not depend on all media equally”2. From this theory, we can recognize that the way we depend on media can be determined by the social system we live within and the cultural expectations that society has. “Debates and contestation surround the basic social institutions and practices of our society.”1

As an Australian media practitioner (who is consistently questioning bias, ethics and consumerism); I have to take into account the social normalities that happen within Australia as a country. It is also important to understand that my access to technology and online communication is vastly different than to that of an individual within the developing world. Access to new-found technology means I have more of an availability to communicate my thoughts towards larger masses and benefit from a more elaborate network of online knowledge. In many cases, a passive consumer may not necessarily be educated on the media’s influence and thus would observe the world differently and potentially less actively.

This is why platforms like documentary film-making are essential in creating an active audience. “Documentary films mount an effort to convince, persuade, or predispose us to a particular view of the world we have in common.”1 Quite frequently, documentary film can be an exposé that leads to a call for action. In many ways documentaries with a rhetoric message and political stance aim to show a mismanagement in power between an organisation or governing body and the civilian from the public eye.

An example of this can be seen in Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn’s 2017 documentary ‘What the Health’, an in-depth look into the acceptance culture surrounding the meat and dairy industry. This film focuses on the issues inside multinational pharmaceutical organizations which are containing and covering vital information surrounding our health and wellbeing. The primary message throughout ‘What the Health’ is to advocate a plant-based diet. “[It aims to] reach and move large numbers of people and introduce [it’s] political concepts into mainstream culture.”3 Although all audience members may not agree with its content, it is important to have platforms that encourages individuals to question rather than blindly consume. We cannot simply observe an issue when change needs to be enforced, and “persuasion requires communication”1. 

A documentary does not always have to have a political agenda or message, but in many cases will. Nature documentaries like David Attenborough’s ‘Planet Earth’ (2006) focus primarily on animal behaviour and activity, originally created as a tool for educational purposes, teaching its audiences about the worlds wildlife; but in recent years this has vastly changed.

Attenborough’s sequel ‘Planet Earth II’ (2016) has included a stark warning against climate change and pollution. “For years we thought the oceans were so vast and the inhabitants so infinitely numerous that nothing we could do could have an effect upon them. But now we know that was wrong. It is now clear our actions are having a significant impact on the world’s oceans. [They] are under threat now as never before in human history.”4 Attenborough writes passionately in a press release to the Independent.

His words simmered the beginning of a political wave triggering the BBC to become nervous. The BBC voiced that “certain viewers would see the series as too politicised by taking a stand”4. But if a renowned figure like Attenborough sits back and observes without action, there is no hope for change. Who will help in preventing one of the worlds most disastrous man-made problems if audiences aren’t aware of the impact?

Documentaries on a whole, are reaching a brand new level in addressing audience behavior (and how they view the media presented to them). Recently, due to evolving technology- experimental platforms have come out that showcase in-depth, 360° virtual reality experiences. Some of the most renowned and controversial VR experiences, show their audience the human rights issues of what it’s like to be a refugee. These VR ‘tours’ step into a detention camp and bluntly let their audiences discover the experience for themselves. Stepping into this new territory means covering ethical issues that haven’t been addressed before.
What will the progression of documentary film become if its’ technology does evolve with augmented reality?

These are questions that we should be addressing currently yet may not have hit mainstream audiences. As an active media consumer and practitioner, it is vital to keep addressing issues that swerve boundaries and provoke new emotions whilst reaching audiences in a whole new way. Although we cannot simply observe the world, we can become active consumers, challenging the biases and fake news that consistently flows through computers, tablets, mobile devices and todays media as a whole. It might be harder to learn, taking time in creating an opinion (that in some cases challenges the mainstream media), but when informed you have a stronger voice. Learning, questioning and understanding our world will ultimately give you more of an identity.

1) Nichols, Bill, 2010, “How Have Documentaries Addressed Social and Political Issues”, Introduction to Documentary, Second Edition, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, pp.103
2) Ball-Rokeach, S.J., & DeFleur, M.L. (1976). A dependency model or mass-media effects. Communication Research, 3, 3-21.
3) Waugh, Thomas, 2011, “Why Documentary Filmmakers Keep Trying to Change the World, or Why People Changing the World Keep Making Documentaries”, The Right to Play Oneself: Looking Back on Documentary Film [Visible Evidence Series, Volume 23], University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp. 24–41
4) Shepherd, J, “David Attenborough Offers Stark Warning About Climate Change During Blue Planet II Finale”, The Independent, 10 December 2017, [Online] https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/blue-planet-2-david-attenborough-climate-change-pollution-finale-a8102206.html

The Art of Persuasion

Pictured left: Stills from Ai Wei Wei’s ‘The Human Flow’ 2018

What is it that makes us human? The defining quality that sets us apart from all other species on earth. Is it consciousness? Intelligence? Or both; that of an innovative mind. Why bother to change the world, our lives on earth are short lived and the world has many problems and issues that arise on a day to day basis- but then that brings the question why bother to do anything at all.
Documentary film brings a platform for conversation, in many cases informs those uneducated on topics that have been brought to the forefront of today’s media.

Ai Wei Wei is a Chinese contemporary artist, sculpture, photographer and filmmaker. His new film incorporates a contemporary cinematographic art style that follows the journey of a global human displacement. There are many motifs that connect the film as a whole, the film is a statement on the fact that “Over 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes. to escape famine, climate change and war in the greatest human displacement since World War II.” In conservative media these issues are dismissed, ignored or resented.

“Artist film-makers are not manufacturers of the escapist dreams of conventional cinema; indeed they have almost wholly rejected narrative and concentrated on film’s formal qualities.” – Richter H, Film as Film: Formal Experiment in Film, 1910-1975, The Arts Council of Great Britain (1979)

Formal experimentation within film allows an audience to question material beyond that of what we see in standard cinema. The way we present an issue is extremely important to how the audience will understand that particular topic. In many cases experiential film allows the individual to have a varied interpretation that makes them question the source material and create a contrasting view and argument. Having to interpret media allows for an active audience, and an active audience means they are more likely to be educated.

Below I have included documentaries that have affected me as a consumer of today’s media. Most topical issues center upon climate change, human rights, beauty standards, female equality and our obsession being materialist within a capitalistic society.
What I enjoy about these pieces is not only the way the content is delivered but also the amazing cinematography that makes the shots involved visually encapsulating.

• An Inconvenient Truth (2006) Al Gore
• Before the Flood (2016) Leonardo DiCaprio
• The Human Flow (2018) Ai Wei Wei
• i-D Beyond Beauty (2016) Grace Neutral 
• i-D Exploring Girl Power (2016)  Adwoa Aboah

i-D is a channel that is consistently producing content on uncovered issues that does necessarily make to the mainstream media. Some of the content focuses on the stigmas associated with Tattoos in different countries as well as beauty standards as well as female equality in underdeveloped countries.
If I were too take inspiration from these media makers- it would influence me to produce a piece of media that talks about an issue that personality or emotionally affects me (just as the refugee crisis touches Ai Wei Wei and many other individuals).
I have always had an interest in Victorian drug laws and issues with sustainability. After reading information on China’s recycling ban I questioned why Victoria has not put it’s own recycling plant into action and why we are still exporting most of our waste overseas. This makes no sense, it’s not sustainable but the most frustrating thing is not many people know about this issue. This again is where documentary can do it’s magic. It can change people- inform them and start a conversation as to why these important issues aren’t being addressed.