A blog of journey for a designer in training (:: CS Final Project: Documentary

link for the pic

This is our last group project for contextual studies. I am honored to join the group of G.L.Y.S. :) This is a good experience for us to meet and know more about the world outside. As usual we have research the way of documentary.

There are mainly 6 ways of doing documentary.

1. Poetic documentaries, which first appeared in the 1920’s, were a sort of reaction against both the content and the rapidly crystallizing grammar of the early fiction film. The poetic mode moved away from continuity editing and instead organized images of the material world by means of associations and patterns, both in terms of time and space. Well-rounded characters—’life-like people’—were absent; instead, people appeared in these films as entities, just like any other, that are found in the material world. The films were fragmentary, impressionistic, lyrical. Their disruption of the coherence of time and space—a coherence favored by the fiction films of the day—can also be seen as an element of the modernist counter-model of cinematic narrative.

2. Expository documentaries speak directly to the viewer , often in the form of an authoritative commentary employing voice over or titles, proposing a strong argument and point of view . These films are rhetorical, and try to persuade the viewer. (They may use a rich and sonorous male voice.) The (voice-of-God) commentary often sounds ‘objective’ and omniscient. Images are often not paramount; they exist to advance the argument. The rhetoric insistently presses upon us to read the images in a certain fashion. Historical documentaries in this mode deliver an unproblematic and ‘objective’ account and interpretation of past events.

3. Observational documentaries attempt to simply and spontaneously observe lived life with a minimum of intervention. Filmmakers who worked in this sub-genre often saw the poetic mode as too abstract and the expository mode as too didactic. The first observational docs date back to the 1960’s; the technological developments which made them possible include mobile lighweight cameras and portable sound recording equipment for synchronized sound. Often, this mode of film eschewed voice-over commentary, post-synchronized dialogue and music, or re-enactments. The films aimed for immediacy, intimacy, and revelation of individual human character in ordinary life situations.

4. Participatory documentaries believe that it is impossible for the act of film making to not influence or alter the events being filmed. What these films do is emulate the approach of the anthropologist: participant-observation. Not only is the filmmaker part of the film, we also get a sense of how situations in the film are affected or altered by her presence. The filmmaker steps out from behind the cloak of voice-over commentary, steps away from poetic meditation, steps down from a fly-on-the-wall perch, and becomes a social actor (almost) like any other. (Almost like any other because the filmmaker retains the camera, and with it, a certain degree of potential power and control over events.)” The encounter between filmmaker and subject becomes a critical element of the film.

5. Reflexive documentaries don’t see themselves as a transparent window on the world; instead they draw attention to their own constructiveness, and the fact that they are representations. How does the world get represented by documentary films? This question is central to this sub-genre of films. They prompt us to “question the authenticity of documentary in general.” It is the most self-conscious of all the modes, and is highly skeptical of ‘realism.’ It may use Brechtian alienation strategies to jar us, in order to ‘defamiliarize’ what we are seeing and how we are seeing it.

6. Performative documentaries stress subjective experience and emotional response to the world. They are strongly personal, unconventional, perhaps poetic and/or experimental, and might include hypothetical enactments of events designed to make us experience what it might be like for us to possess a certain specific perspective on the world that is not our own, e.g. that of black, gay men in Marlon Riggs’s Tongues Untied (1989) or Jenny Livingston’s Paris Is Burning (1991). This sub-genre might also lend itself to certain groups (e.g. women, ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians, etc) to ‘speak about themselves.’ Often, a battery of techniques, many borrowed from fiction or avant-garde films, are used.

Reference for the text press HERE

After the long research we have done and watch many of the documentaries, which gave us a direction on how to deal with the style.

We are often scared of watching documentaries. Why? Once the word documentary come across our mind, our brain will automatically send us a message which is - boring, very boring and SUPER BORING......

ENOUGH FOR DOCUMENTARIES . (Link for the pic)

In order to make it more interesting, we have used free style which is like a combination of observational documentary & performative documentary to film our own documentary. :) Something like traveling style of interviewing will be great. At first the scenery will catch the attention of audience and also it will give an enjoyment feeling.

something like this :)

Then, we have started to search for our targets ( people who have their personal style in their work). Lucky enough for us, we have found Mr. Chok Yen Hao an Mr. Yap Kim Boon.

PROFILE 1:

Name: Chok Yen Hao

Age: 40

Job: Domestic Tourist & Photographer

Aim / Dream: Introduce many beautiful places at Malaysia to all Malaysians and also the foreigners.

Characteristics: Strong Curiosity, Loves to Travel especially (places he doesn't know the language), Helpful, Loves nature and his country;Malaysia.

PROFILE 2:

Name: Yap Kim Boon
Age: Unknown
Job: Artist
Aim: What I want to capture in each of my paintings is the expression of nature, in terms of both beauty and its importance to mankind as a whole. Nature is God 's gift to us, and if my art can somehow get that message across, so much the better.
Characteristics: Wise Man, Loves to paint, Loves nature, Discover new themes in unknown places, Dare to explore and take risk, Humble and always thankful.

Pictures of Mr. Chok's works:

Beach of Kemasik, Terengganu

Paddy Fields of North Malaysia

Scenery of Old streets at Terrengganu

Waterfall

Beautiful Clouds at North Malaysia

Malay Kampung

Tree

Paddy Field

Mountains

Pictures while interviewing with Mr. Yap:

Numerous of PAINTSSS

Beautiful Gallery View 1

Beautiful Gallery View 2

Mr. Yap's Painting 1

Mr. Yap's Painting 2

When we first met them, we were nervous yet excited. Things that we learn from them were never ending. As we were interviewing them, they talked about their life experienced and the job they were enjoying doing now. Both of them have something similar, which is they love nature very much. They are very kind to help us in many ways. Through this shooting we wanted to let the audience to know there are people are doing such meaningful jobs. Also the style of both of them are the same as well which is being free. They don't like to be restricted like what is the social world right now. And now, they have successfully break the chain of restriction. They can express freely how they feel through their work. Inspiration of their work are from everywhere. As long as you discover it with passion.

Although their appearance are getting old, but their mind and soul are still young and full of spirit.
We know that success doesn't come easy unless you strive for it.

HERE COMES THE TRAILER :)