"Intro to Documentary" Response

I’ve always enjoyed documentaries because I find them captivating and the way the information is displayed visually and auditory kept me intrigued. I found this piece interesting because it explained the why’s and how’s of my enjoyment. “The emotional intensity and subjective expressiveness” that arose in the 1980s/1990s is definitely a key aspect I plan to include in my documentary (101). It’s that intensity that engages the viewer- especially when documentaries are typically lengthy.  I found the participatory mode particularly important because it aims to grab the viewer – and teach them something! Direct, personal, involvement by the filmmaker is important in the documentary. Whether, this means responsive, reflective, and personal, or discussing ramifications, I agree that personal involvement is key to portraying an idea (117). Anyone can sit in front of a camera and talk about a topic. However, talking about something personally impacts you makes the passion infinitely higher, which makes the video better because it feels genuine.

At the link embedded, there are five documentary clips that discuss Olympic athletes (for the upcoming Olympics) giving thanks to their parents and discussing the conflicts they overcame to reach the Olympics. The mothers discuss the child and the child discusses the mother, with lots of overlapping. This enabled me to get the full story from two perspectives. The language used isn’t necessarily script, but it’s real- real emotions, thoughts, and feelings help to understand what the speaker is trying to convey. Documentaries aren’t like films because the speakers are speaking from the heart- there’s no script, it’s truly genuine and I think that’s why I like the idea of documentaries. Average people are able to learn from other average people through recording and editing.  In  addition, the background sounds create anticipation, excitement, and momentum in the video. The tempo picks up and the passion is out and about and fully conveyed.