Reflection from my studio:

Juanita Ebbs and Aaron Alvarez short documentary ‘How to Dress Like Me’ was centred around a small and quirky costume shop located in Melbournes north, and the people (Dan Knight in particular) who help to make the place so special. I particularly loved this work because I think it was centred around the most basic ideas and aim of people and places, being to accurately represent an interesting physical space, as well as depict a persons genuine character. After watching the documentary, I felt that Dan’s dialogue came across as nothing but genuine and exciting, perfectly matching the colourful, and sometimes bizarre footage of Rose Chong’s costumes and decorations. I particularly liked the beginning of the documentary, where Dan explains his interactions when he tells people he works there. Being someone who previously knew nothing about the shop, it felt like I was getting an answer to a question most people would ask about the business. In effect, this sets the tone for a documentary that perfectly captures the personality of  a person, and the place in which that person connects to.

In addition to Juanita and Aarons film, I also really enjoyed ‘Intoxicated’, Made by Charlie and Jaden. This film revolved around the life and musical career of Sylvie. A main talking point throughout the semester in People and Places was the conversation surrounding the ethics of Documentary film making. A key case study surrounding this conversation was the documentary ‘The Wolfpack’, which was criticised for possibly taking advantage of the children, and ignoring many aspects of the family dynamic and possible trauma’s in which the children experienced. I think that Charlie and Jaden where able to perfectly adhere to a respectful well thought out ethics charter. One of the things that makes this documentary so engaging is the way it goes beyond the musical aspects of Sylvies story, and addresses many social (and sometimes personal) issues that young women faced in the 80’s. Sylvie’s personal stories and general knowledge is eye opening and was clearly extracted in a comfortable, and respectful environment. Additionally, Sylvie detailing her contribution towards fixing many of these issues certainly achieved the subjects aim of finding people who’s stories are reasonably unknown, but definitely worth being heard.

Reflection on Ready Camera One:

One key idea I believe must have been taught in Ready Camera One was the placing of cameras to effectively portray the events occurring in real time. I particularly noticed this in the short clips of ‘The Privilege Quiz’, where there are clearly cameras set up to display what is being completed in the gameshows activities, such as the card stacking activity. This would also translate to depicting specific contestants and the host of the shows. in ‘The Privilege Quiz’, this is evident as there are multiple cuts to a view which only shows the hosts, as well as cameras which depict solely the contestants and the activities they complete. This idea is also well presented in ‘Are You Smarter than a Dumb Infant Child?’. The camera that captures the host sitting on his desk is really well set up, perfectly capturing his movements and reactions to the show, as well as perfectly capturing all the fine details of his superbly thought out teachers desk, such as the apple, books, and submission cabinet. This show also sets up and frames their contestants really well, with the transitions between host, contestants, and the whole set looking very professional.