Having not had much experience watching or making documentaries apart from the occasional one in school, the world of documentary is not something I was extremely interested in. However, after Kyla’s introduction this afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised at the appeal of telling human stories and taking risks.
One of the recurring ideas that Kyla talked about was being open and going into the unknown. Because much of documentary making involves spontaneity since you never know what’s going to happen or what people are going to say, a lot of the time you may be thrust into unknown or uncomfortable situations. However, the notions of exploring something you don’t know and just letting the stories and subjects evolve ultimately leads to rewarding and life changing experiences. This inspired me to look at tackling difficulties in a more optimistic way and be more appreciative of the documentary genre.
Also, being a fellow introvert, I was all too familiar with how Kyla felt when talking about being afraid to take initiative and directly contact people in the beginning. Being in large crowds for extended periods of time seems exhausting to me and I would much rather stay in and watch a movie with a couple of friends than go out to a party. So, whilst I like talking to people and learning about their stories, like Kyla it’s also easy for me to send someone and email and say I’ve done my job instead of picking up a phone and actually speaking to them. I know that this is something I’ll eventually have to learn to do well being an essential skill of a communications degree, but hopefully with time and practice I’ll learn to be selectively extroverted.
