Our documentary, The Righteous Gene, follows Professor Meg Elkins as she explores the effects of disinformation on the psyche, alongside a practical demonstration of these effects by means of an experiment on five random individuals. My hope is that by having an explanation, side by side with real human beings, our film engages the audience through their own identification and self-evaluation. The purpose of our documentary first and foremost is to inform, but we also wanted it to provoke the viewer to reflect on their own biases, sources, and literacy online. I believe that our film has this effect, and thus I hope this applies to our viewers.
I watched it at the opening night of the And Scene festival with my best friend, and without knowing it was my group’s film, she turned to me and said “I find this so interesting and scary; that we always think we’re right”. Clearly the film had provoked her to assess her own positioning and experiences, exactly as we wanted it to. By means of using real people to express emotion, having a professor break down concepts of disinformation and how it polarises people, and having a simplistic style, I believe our piece effectively communicates the key concern of what disinformation is, how it occurs, and how we, as humans, relate to it.
In adapting this work, I believe it would serve as an excellent foundation for creating a short film guide on “how to navigate disinformation online.” Dr. Elkins’ core message is to provide viewers with the tools to protect themselves online. However, the documentary format primarily raises questions for viewers to contemplate, rather than directly conveying this message.
As a short guide, the film could adopt a more structured approach, covering sections such as: what disinformation is, how to analyse sources, identifying clues of disinformation, using credible platforms, and having important conversations. A user-friendly guide presented by a single professional would help make this complex and evolving topic more understandable. This straightforward approach would aim to foster media literacy by explaining key concepts and providing a clear action plan for users.
Our studio Truth Be Told delved into the rise of disinformation and artificial intelligence, and its impacts on society as a whole. A big question for us as students was, and is, ‘where is this all heading?’ This helped us to navigate the studio question of “How might documentary be a useful tool to explore (and explain) disinformation?”
Fact and Fabrication by Silas Sermersheim, Tristan Buesst, and Nhat Nguyen’s, took the approach of exploring the effect disinformation has on political spheres within Australia, and more so how disinformation can distort social cohesion and trust in governments. Their film uses Professor Sushi Das to explain disinformation and its impacts, in specific relation to The Voice referendum. Using a real world example, one that is close to Australians, is an effective way of exploring disinformation in a way that feels accessible, and familiar, to viewers. Fact and Fabrication addressed the content of the Truth Be Told studio by defining what disinformation is, and exploring the ways in which it can negatively affect our society, as well as posing solutions for the future.
How to Wreck an Ice Peach By Anika Luna, Dionne Yiangoulli, Putt-Putt Quanpadung, and Luca Corrado, differed from this approach. Following Professor Mark Sanderson, their film set out to explore the ways in which AI is used online, and explains how it functions in these online spaces. The film is really successful in defining the spaces that AI has permeated, some that online users might not be aware of, and exploring how humans and AI interact to co-create content. In contrast to Fact and Fabrication, which explores the effects on collectives, their films successfully poses questions about the effects on, and role of, the individual. How to Wreck an Ice Peach identified the rising role of AI in our society and outlined the ways in which it might shape our future, causing the viewer to explore their own relationship with AI.
Visual Blueprint is a studio that immediately stuck out to me. After watching a handful of films from the studio, I understood that the key focus was on visual style and tone. The films from this studio were very artistic, and with a wide range of content, the films maintained a through line quality about them; the attention paid to stylistic detail. Although all of the films had a story driving the film forward, the narrative acted as a framework for visual pleasure to take place.
A prime example of this was the film Decadence, By Spring Li, Taylor Zenelovski, Andrew Tan, Nadia Harari, and Josephine Gaal. The film follows an Artist and her Muse, and the unravelling of their relationship. Decadence exhibited the studio’s emphasis on visual style. While there was a narrative to establish context, the film predominantly communicated themes and emotions through visual elements, rather than dialogue.
The rich, dramatic visuals, along with a compelling soundscape, convey the mood and tone of the Artist effectively. As an audience, we are aware of the Artist’s feelings and intentions without extensive dialogue or explanation, and are solely informed through style. This makes for a more interpretive viewing experience, engaging the viewer on a deeper, more emotional level. Decadence is such a successful film in displaying Visual Blueprint studios importance of visual style, creating a work that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also that resonates emotionally.