People + Places  

Going into the People + Places studio I knew that I would be learning about documentary as a film style. However, looking back at it I don’t think I knew exactly what that entailed and what exactly documentary consisted of. People + Places taught me that there are many different modes of documentary and that the only real rule is that it tells a true story. How you tell that story is up to you.

A documentary that really caught my eye was How to Dress Like Me. The beautiful cinematography combined with a compelling storyline kept me engaged throughout the whole film. The b-roll that the film included does a great job of progressing the story. It also shows the place and explains it to people who – like myself have never been. Something taught in class that I think Juanita and Aaron did really well was, making their interviewee feel comfortable. The trans experience can be a sensitive topic to discuss so I believe that they did an excellent job at making Dan feel comfortable giving tips and explaining what worked for them. Technically everything comes together very well. The soundscape was very carefully picked out/designed, with each use of music feeling intentional and necessary. They managed to find a balance so that there the soundscape wasn’t bare but it also wasn’t repetitive and watered down. The documentary flows from act to act seamlessly, without overwhelming the viewer and not giving any breathing room. The pacing is done well enough to still tell a captivating, multiple-act story in only five minutes. After seeing the film at multiple stages in its production, I think Juanita and Aaron worked really hard to tell the story of Rose Chong as a place as well as the stories of the people who move within and through it. I believe if I ever go to Rose Chong it will feel exactly like How to Dress Like Me, depicted it.

Another documentary that was interesting to me was My Local by Angus. This film was different from all the others in the People + Places studio since it was an observational documentary. The idea of going to different bars all at different times in the day – all under the collective title of My Local – gives a raw representation of the areas of Melbourne they’re in, as well as a better understanding of Angus who says that they’re local venues. I don’t think that this observational approach would have worked as well if it were done with any other film. This is due to other films focusing more on specific people and specific circumstances, while My Local has a broader approach. I think that Angus made the right decision in choosing to do an observational piece, since if their piece was only looking at one person they would not accurately capture the essence of these pubs. Overall I think that it did a good job at showing rather than telling, what these specific places are like.

While the genre of documentary is not exactly as simple as I thought it was, it is still a medium that I am familiar with. I decided that when I was picking which other studio to see I would pick something as different to People + Places as possible. The studio I picked was Entangled Media, which depicted works of information and showcases of stories that I never really thought were suitable. 

A specific work that I enjoyed a lot was The Many Lives of The Capitol Theatre. It incorporated both physical and digital media to tell the story of one of Melbourne’s most iconic buildings. Being centred around a website, the project was accompanied by detailed and relevant tickets for viewers to take and interact with, as well as a large TV displaying immersive ambient footage of the building. The website itself was designed with the whole building in mind, mimicking its architecture as well as other common tropes of the time period it was built in. It felt both authentic and imaginative at the same time, while also containing interviews with people of significant relation to the building. Ultimately opening my eyes to how different forms of media can engage people in different ways.

Another work in the Entangled Media studio that I saw was called Confessions. I thought that this piece was especially interactive and that while it may not have taught me new information, it was an interesting way to interact with other people anonymously. It worked by being a website divided into three categories of confessions and prompting people viewing the website to submit their own confessions. Rather than just collecting the submissions and then displaying them as text on their website, they are all read out by anonymous and hidden people. I think that this is an engaging and thematic way to learn more about other people your age.