Week 12 Screening 1

Upside Down: The Creation Records Story. 2010. Danny O’Connor.

Upside Down opens with the seemingly obligatory montage that presents a snapshot what is to come. Although in this case it is accompanied by some ear splitting feedback that takes you out of the film instead of drawing you in. It then segues into individual interviews with the participants of the documentary in order to fill in the backstory of the film. This portion of the film slumps into a protracted recounting of how they all met each other. The section loses its pace and seems overly long perhaps because there are no interesting stories about how or when they met. The section should have given way sooner to the content that follows when something actually happens. Due to the subject of the film there is a wealth of interviewees but in this case the polyphony has the effect of making all the developments in the film indistinct and monotonous, there was no effort to make them distinct. The film is sound-tracked by the music that is being discussed, this might give the film fidelity but the use of early music from the bands is not conducive to easy viewing. But when this film takes off and gets interesting is when the story takes off and coincidentally the music improves. The interviews are used to give the footage that follows a specific context (the footage itself would be useless without the context from the interviews) the interviews in this case are entertaining and insightful as they are firsthand. This film illustrates the complexities of a talking heads interview.

Week 11 Screening 1

Bobby Fischer Against the World. 2011. Dir Liz Garbus.

The films opening introduction is by way of a cacophony of voiceovers underscored with music, the theme of the montage being the exploration of the life of Bobby Fischer. This technique is an excellent means to set the scene for the film that follows as it directs the mind towards wondering who is Bobby Fischer. It is a technique that could easily have gone wrong and been a needless distraction but in this instance it is done with skill. this film is primarily a talking heads documentary. The people that are interviewed for the film are from the center of the world of chess or are close to the subject of the film, this gives the films content an authenticity and fidelity.

Much like in the documentary Pulling John the film points out that the Russians are given state support while the Americans are given no such support. The observation is out of context and sticks out because of this. This attempt to slant the film is the one subjective pitch in an otherwise objective analysis of an individuals wasted potential and is noticeable because the rest of the film maintains its objective integrity. Charting the arc of Fischer's career from childhood until his death the documentary moves fast enough through the stages to not get stuck or bogged down at any one stage. Because this is a retrospective biography most of the footage is archival but it is brought to life with interviews. The interviews are responsible for the content but how they are edited and orchestrated in postproduction is what determines the ebb and flow of the film.  In this sense documentaries are an orchestration of content, and in the case of Bobby Fischer Against the world it is a well-orchestrated film that maintains viewer interest when it could have been immensely boring. It is after all a film about chess.

Week 10 Screening 2

PressPausePlay. 2011. David Dworsky, Victor Köhler.

This documentary covers the effect that the digital revolution has had on peoples ability to create and disseminate their art. Using primarily talking head interviews the film observes the creative process from different perspectives. Importantly it is mainly individuals who have already had some measure of success who are interviewed; people who already make a living from their art. For example there is some talk of the ‘noise’ and ‘garbage’ that all this creative output has generated, but this is always viewed from the outside looking in. The people interviewed already have a voice and an audience; they have escaped the noise of the masses.

“The creation of art is an elitist business”, this quote from the film sums up the dichotomy between those that are creating and those that are creating and managing to broadcast to a mass audience. Despite the freedom to create using new and improved tools there are still only relatively few people who can actually manage to make a living from creating. Although art is more available than ever and communication is enhanced the status quo has not changed. The documentary manages to skillfully stitch together the interviews with a variety of experts, and in doing so make it seem as if they are finishing each other’s sentences. The different participants could have been edited together into their own sections but instead they are sorted by subject matter. This variety of interviewees and stimulating subject matter make for an entertaining watch. Without tackling it head on the subject matter turns to the relative value of education and the creation of art. This deft handling of the subject matter (possibly due to interview techniques) stimulates rather than stagnates ideas on the topic and the film flows without meandering.

Week 10 Screening 1

The Devil And Daniel Johnston. 2005. Dir Jeff Feuerzeig.

The Devil And Daniel Johnston is a biographical documentary chronicling the life of artist and musician Daniel Johnston. The film uses first person interviews and authoritative materials such as home videos and tape recordings to narrate the story of his life. Perhaps due to his fame and the amount of people who came to know Johnston this film has many voices mixed into the commentary, they all stick closely to the narrative in what must have been a laborious editing process. The films narrative never becomes pointless and nearly every narrative point has corresponding authentic source material. This source material adds both to the polyphony of the narrative and the legitimacy of the story itself.

The many interviews are used as a ‘voice of god’, their authenticity is not questioned as they are placed over the footage they are narrating, but this gives the footage a particular slant. When interviews are placed over footage in this manner it appears that the interviewer is displaying the footage, as if they have ownership of what the footage itself means. The film is gravitates around the iconic infamy that Johnston acquired, due partially to his mental illness and partially to his substantial talent as a musician and artist. Johnston himself is never directly interviewed for the film; his extensive recordings are instead used and are snapshots of Johnston through time. Due to the amount of material that Johnston contributed to the film it takes on a nearly autobiographical tone, but the witness interviews give the footage another context than the one presented by Johnston himself. 

Journal Entry Week 11

Tuesday the 19^th March

Today I had arranged with the sports office to film a women’s soccer cup final at the Drom. The Drom is located on the top of a hill in Rahoon (it was freezing). I had learnt from the rugby that when I am at the same level of the pitch there is only a certain amount I can capture and so I situated myself at the goal of the opposition so that I would at least capture Galway’s goals. I had also learnt from the basketball that I had to pay attention all the time and keep the camera on the action, because of this I managed to capture every goal (there were six in total). The women’s soccer coach had asked me several times if I was able to make it to the game to film, as had the head of the sports department. This for me brought up the issue of representation. Even if covering the game was not specific to the documentary I am making it is still the case that individuals or teams feel the need for representation. The scope of filming and then broadcasting (even if it is only to the web) goes beyond mere promotion, giving the people represented a voice and their activities a wider audience.

Wednesday the 20^th of March

This evening I arranged to film the athletics club partially because the elite coach, who works in the sports office is the coach but mainly because aesthetically it would look very different to the rest of the footage I had shot thus far. I didn’t stay long at all to film but I got what I needed. I think this is due to having developed an idea of what I require not only because I know what footage I have already but also because I have become more adept at framing and filming. Even though I spent the least amount of time filming athletics it was some of the best footage in the assemblage in terms of color, framing and focus. It helped that the obstacles that the athletes were doing drills over were angular and were easily framed, but I have experienced enough of both the filming and the viewing to know better what works and what doesn’t. In short I have become more efficient in my work that will help me in the run into the end of the semester.

Week 11

I spent a lot of this week editing the sports documentary while in the sports office, this gave me a taste of what working there would be like. It was in effect like a week of work experience as for the week I was the sports office Media Officer. It was a very busy week at the sports office because of the sports award ceremony and the sports ball. The assemblage of footage I had created was broadcast onto the wall at the reception for the sports awards and then onto two giant screens during the sports ball in the Galway Bay Hotel. I had some representation for nearly all the clubs present and since the film was on a loop (and it looped several times) people would have seen almost all of the film. The seating arrangement at the sports ball had different sports clubs at different tables, so when a section came up in the film that contained each table’s sport they began cheering and banging on the tables. We decided after about half an hour of it looping that we should pause it (it was getting out of hand) and once we did people returned to conversing with each other. It felt strange to have so many people viewing my work but it was nice to watch people watching it, even if I did feel bad for the clubs that I missed. Representing some clubs but not others created an imbalance. Allowing the sports unit to use the footage in this way has had several benefits not least access (for me). For example I have confirmed an interview with Gerry Hussy who is the sports psychologist for the Irish boxing team. Depending on what kind on interview I get from him it may be the only one I use but this may be a little optimistic. The final edited format of the sports documentary will be determined by the content of the interview(s) that I record.