Broderick Fox suggested that the idea of documentaries is they all ‘look and sound the same’. The idea that documentaries all all informative and to some ‘boring’. Through this studio, I have come to the realisation that documentaries have different styles and film techniques involved to create their own originality.
Week 7 introduced us to the stylistic technique of materiality. Materiality is making use of archival items that could be found at home. This could include photos you’ve taken, postcards, diaries, magazines, rubbish or any material object related to your topic.
I asked myself, why should I incorporate materiality? How can I incorporate materiality into my film? And after watching the selections of films in the week 7 module, I began to actually find myself immersed in the use of materiality in the films. My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes by Charlie Tyerall, although a confronting title, showed the perfect use of materiality with use of images and desktop items. He embedded slow motion into his film to tell the story and I found myself loving the flow of the film.
Use of materiality gave the film a character and personality by creating him through personal items. It shaped the documentary very well and found that inspired my for my up and coming film due.
With inanimate objects you are capable of creating an abstract story line. I hope through using inanimate objects like coffee beans and coffee cups I will be able to achieve this technique successfully.
References:
Fox, Broderick, Documentary Media : History, Theory, Practice, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/RMIT/detail.action?docID=5103711 (Links to an external site.).
“My Dead Dads Porno Tapes” by Charlie Tyerall
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