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Presentation David MacDougall, Manchester July 2007
All forms of representation are interpretative:
Choices of: What to film
Framing
Movements
Culture
Cinematography
These are all different modes of interpretation
We can therefore make different separations of approaches:
We can distinguish different modes of camera-use for different
purposes.We draw upon them according to our :
Responsive
Interactive and
Constructive modes.
Responsive Mode
The term observational, implies detachment, which is often not
the case.
Observational is personal, participatory responses to
events.
Responsive means that it is observing + must also respond +
interprete.
It may mean though: non intervention, non-interference.
Interactive Mode
Does involve intervention. Many events would not have occured
without the
filmmaking
Here we have to explore issues of :
Intersubjctivity
The contact between filmmaker and subjects
These issues are often discussed in discourses comparing direct
cinema and cinema
verite. Where the camera is regarded as a catalyst for events to
happen.
Constructive mode
The constructive mode of interpretation reassembles observed
events. Can be seen as
a non-realist mode of filmmaking
Formally abstract
Filmic construction
Sentences of observed elements
Responsive mode:
In the responsive mode we see
an acceptance of the presence of the filmmakerparticipation in
events
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the filmmaker iss open to what is happening and to relationships
with eachother, and
has the ability to follow the unexpected shifts in eventss.
When one feels one is filming effectively, one needs to have a
sense that one can
anticipate events that will happen, being at the right time at
the right place. It is
intuitive. There is a emotional synchrony with what haappens,
suddenly we feel a
national flow, like playing a musical instrument.There is a
degree of opportunism in that: ceassing the telling detail.
Non interactiveness meanss non-assertiveness. Not disrupting
events. The filmmaker
is present but not determining the situation. Filmmaking is not
the main event!
The filmmaker has to be sensitive to significance of the
eventss.
Question in her mind what to film next. The filmmaker has a
thematic matrix in her
mind (themes that have become apparent in the research-period)
This matrix is
evolving and has to be modified constantly.
We have to understand at some point how events link up with
eachother, to know
what we need to understand of a certain event. Each action
implies a context, we need
to reveal that signifying context in the film.
There are also social dramas (Turner) and existing patterns we
can follow.
This type of filming needs relationships of trust, within which
a natural interchange is
possible. It creates a physical space that dictates a
comfortable distance from the
persons we film. Such distances are obstructed by a tripod.
When filming children we should choose an eyelevel position.
The camera has to become a non-theratening item.
The camera can become a catalyst as well which makes it into an
interactive mode.
Rouch claimed that people are more hounest when challenged to
speak in front of a
camera. People feel a historical importance in that, it is
imperative to be truthful.
When speaking of introducing reflexivity in a film, the
filmmakerss presence becomes
obvious in the filmmateriaal, through his voice, through a voice
over, etc
Constructive mode
Through this mode there is an intensification of the elements
possible. An abstraction
of elements the filmmaker wants to stress as a result of
analysis. It is a non-realisst
mode because the filmmaker applies distortion for a purpose. He
can emphasize
certain elements. This formal cinematographic aspects are
emphasized.
Dai Vaughan referred to this mode as: the aim of this mode is
not to record something
but to give an impression of it. It is a summarization of
events, an essentialisation.
Abstarction, re-digetion in a more abstarct mode. We think here
more in ecxistential,
intelectual terms, it makes us think again about kinds of
knowledge that we can
communicate through film.
