Well this is the final entry in the blog assignment. It has been an interesting journey none the less to watch films from different time periods and learn new things.
1) Newsmagazine Documentary :
CTV WFive “Chilling Insight”
This documentary on WFive shows the interrogation of convicted sex killer Russell Williams. It has been condensed from the 10 hour interrogation which was able to get a confession from him rendering him guilty. We see two people throughout this documentary ,Williams and OPP Detective Sgt.Jim Smyth the veteran investigator. It is quite interesting to learn just what was going on in William’s mind as he killed these women and just how mentally ill he really is. What is made really shocking to the views to learn is that how did psychiatric tests not show that something was not right with Williams. Did the screening tests fail? How did he get past the system? How was he able to do this for so long without being caught?
Link: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/WFive/20101022/russell-williams-interrogation-101022/
2)
1990-Present
Born Into Brothels 2004-Zana Briski
This is a film documenting the red light district in Calcutta. Briski originally went to Calcutta to just photograph the prostitutes but ended up befriending the children there. She ended up teaching them photography so they could improve their lives.The children took pictures of their classes and daily life in the red light district. Many of the images were somewhat disturbing but really spoke to the viewers and made them aware of things going on outside of their “little bubble”. It brough attention to the problem of child prostitutes in Calcutta and just how horribly impoverished these children and their families are. It was sending a strong message to viewers that we need to care about people all around the world not just where we live. The children’s photography ended up being exhibited. Briski recorded herself also in an effort to put the children in boarding schools.I extremely enjoyed this film and the way it was presented ,thought some of the images were hard to look at ,it was an interesting educational tool.
3) Secrets of The Dead: The Silver Pharaoh :
This documentary was chilling and extremely fascinating. I am not a huge fan of historical documentaries but this one was extremely interesting. French archaeologist Pierre Monte had in fact unearthed an intact royal burial chamber in Tanis,Egypt containing treasures which were far greater then those found in King Tut’s 2 decades earlier. in a tomb .First we see pictures from 1939 when the first excavated it. Though the Tut discovery caused an international sensation the opening of Tanis was virtually ignored. This is probably due to the fact that the world was on the brink of war. I really enjoyed a re-visit to this tomb and to see just what was discovered. The most spectacular discovery was the silver sarcophagus of Phaaroh Psusennes I. He governed Egypt’s more than 3000 years ago during one of the hardest periods in Egypt’s history. This was a very interesting documentary to watch. Some historical documentaries can be a tad boring and tedious at times but this one really captured my interest and it made it interesting to learn about the past.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Entry # 3
This is my 3rd Documentary Blog Entry , I watched a lot of really interesting documentaries over the past 2 weeks here are my thoughts on them :
A)PBS Frontline “News War: “What’s Happening to the News? Part 3 of “News War” (2007)
This documentary is part 3 in the “News War Series “ .The series is about how the role of the reporter has drastically changed and how the entire news industry is in crisis. It looks at the challenges facing journalists today . In one interview a reporter is asked if she could go to jail for protecting her sources and she’s answers yes. It also takes a look at the new emerging outlets of news such as online as well as the economic situation facing news companies. The most influential news program today is actually The Daily Show hosted by John Stewart. It paordies news shows. It was declared the best news program on television ironically. Something serious is happening to the news as explored in this documentary , which is the whole business of gathering and reporting the news. It is changing the way journalist’s report on news. It really raises a lot of important issues effecting the future of news and journalism. News companies are under fire not just from the public but from governments as well. It was stated in the documentary that new companies have been threatened by government agencies that if they were to post a certain story they would be in deep trouble. I found this documentary to be particularly interesting because of all the b-roll and interviews and subject matter being discussed. As a person who hopes to go into the field of broadcasting one day this documentary helped make me more aware of the issues I will have to face when I enter the industry.
Source: DVD taken out from Centennial College Library
1) 1920-1970
“Salesman” 1969
“Salesman” was a pretty interesting documentary to watch,. It tells the story of four bible salesman who travel door to door selling bibles. Firs meet Paul Brennan he starts the documentary off by saying to a potential customer “The best seller in the whole world is the bible for one reason it’s the greatest piece of literature of all time” He is in a home trying to sell the bible to a mother and her few children . Paul unfortunately does not get a sale . The next salesman we are introduced to is Charles Mc Devit who is not even allowed entry into a home as soon as he mentions that he is from the church. The door is literally slammed in his face. As he turns away you can clearly see he is very frustrated same to how salesman today must feel when they are rejected. They have a lot of stress on them and as the viewer you can feel their emotions. The way this documentary was done is just amazing. You are put through a “day in the life” atmosphere where you get a real sense of what these men go through. They are pushed to sell these bibles and travel a lot ,leaving their families. This documentary was enjoyable to watch and had some great shots such as following the men on the job , and at a meeting where they are told to get their sales up or else.
Link: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzMzNzgyOTY=.html
2) 1970-1990
Burden of Dreams: 1982 Les Blank
Burden of Dreams is a documentary following the chaotic production of Werner Herzog’s “Fitzcarraldo”. The doc depicts how the film was able to get made despite a number of problems. These problems included ,casting problems and getting caught in the war between Peru and Ecuador . It is essentially a journey through making a film . The viewer is drawn in by the way the story is told ,through Herzog’s perspective. The film opens with Herzog expressing to the viewer “ You wanted to know the story of Fitzcarralodo.It’s a strange story”.
He also describes the film as being “ a challenge of the impossible “. One of the most interesting things I noticed in the beginning was that the interview was conducted in a canoe. The use of b-roll showcasing the areas where the film was shot really added to the documentary. The viewer is also given a sense of the people who live in the Amazon Jungle as well as the creatures who inhabit it. We are also thrust into the issues that Herzog faced including the political power struggle between two native groups. Herzog paid the natives a far better wage, $3.50 a day which was twice the going wage for Indian labor. Though Herzog faced many problems during filming he was still able to produce and make a film which is pretty impressive despite all he went through.
Link: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTc4MTgyODYw.html
1990- Present Hoop Dreams 1994 – Steve James .:
This is a documentary about two African American teens , William Gates and Arthur Agee who are recruited by St.Joseph High School for their basketball program. St.Joseph isa predominately white high school with an outstanding basketball program. It follows their journey ,from 90 min commutes to school ,long practices and getting used to a new school environment. It really raises a number of issues including race , class and economic division in America. This film is most well known for giving viewers a real intimate view into the lives of those living in the inner city. It really follows these two young men on a journey through struggles and triumph. Viewers are drawn in emotionally and are able to take something away from it.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBF3ymDQJfU
b) Manufacturing Consent 1993- March Achbar, Peter Winntonick . This documentary is about the political life and ideas of world –renowned linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky. It expands on the ideas raised in his book by the same name. This doc showcases his thesis which is that the corporate media which is profit driven exist only to further the agendas of the elite. Much of the documentary focuses on The New York Times coverage of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Chomsky stated that The New York Times is an example of a media that will not comment or criticize on the elite. This documentary brought a lot of important issues out , such as the role of media and who's really benefiting from it. The B-roll and interviews were extremely interesting.
Link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FKdU_xL4O8&feature=related
C) Food Inc: Robbert Kenner .
This is a documentary about the food industry going behind the scenes of the mechanical American industry behind how our food is produced. It is revealed that with consent from the government agencies such as USDS and FDA ,Americas food supply is controlled by giant corporations who put making a profit over consumer health. The livelihood of Farmers as well as worker's safety is also being affected.With new technology and better looking products such as bigger-breasted chicken ,tomatoes that wont go bad comes with it new bacteria such as E-coli. E-coli causes illness in approximately 73,000 Americans a year. Other heath issues include ,obesity and a rapidly growing number of cases of diabetes in adults. It looks at the future of where our food is going and the future of our lives helath wise and other. It's a very real look at food production and gives consumers an insight it what goes into what they eat everyday. I particularly enjoyed this documentary because of the issues it raised and how every single viewer is able to connect to the issues being discussed. The interviews with experts were also fascinating and informative.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyagLY1Nem8
That's all for this week's entry ! Till next time :)
A)PBS Frontline “News War: “What’s Happening to the News? Part 3 of “News War” (2007)
This documentary is part 3 in the “News War Series “ .The series is about how the role of the reporter has drastically changed and how the entire news industry is in crisis. It looks at the challenges facing journalists today . In one interview a reporter is asked if she could go to jail for protecting her sources and she’s answers yes. It also takes a look at the new emerging outlets of news such as online as well as the economic situation facing news companies. The most influential news program today is actually The Daily Show hosted by John Stewart. It paordies news shows. It was declared the best news program on television ironically. Something serious is happening to the news as explored in this documentary , which is the whole business of gathering and reporting the news. It is changing the way journalist’s report on news. It really raises a lot of important issues effecting the future of news and journalism. News companies are under fire not just from the public but from governments as well. It was stated in the documentary that new companies have been threatened by government agencies that if they were to post a certain story they would be in deep trouble. I found this documentary to be particularly interesting because of all the b-roll and interviews and subject matter being discussed. As a person who hopes to go into the field of broadcasting one day this documentary helped make me more aware of the issues I will have to face when I enter the industry.
Source: DVD taken out from Centennial College Library
1) 1920-1970
“Salesman” 1969
“Salesman” was a pretty interesting documentary to watch,. It tells the story of four bible salesman who travel door to door selling bibles. Firs meet Paul Brennan he starts the documentary off by saying to a potential customer “The best seller in the whole world is the bible for one reason it’s the greatest piece of literature of all time” He is in a home trying to sell the bible to a mother and her few children . Paul unfortunately does not get a sale . The next salesman we are introduced to is Charles Mc Devit who is not even allowed entry into a home as soon as he mentions that he is from the church. The door is literally slammed in his face. As he turns away you can clearly see he is very frustrated same to how salesman today must feel when they are rejected. They have a lot of stress on them and as the viewer you can feel their emotions. The way this documentary was done is just amazing. You are put through a “day in the life” atmosphere where you get a real sense of what these men go through. They are pushed to sell these bibles and travel a lot ,leaving their families. This documentary was enjoyable to watch and had some great shots such as following the men on the job , and at a meeting where they are told to get their sales up or else.
Link: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzMzNzgyOTY=.html
2) 1970-1990
Burden of Dreams: 1982 Les Blank
Burden of Dreams is a documentary following the chaotic production of Werner Herzog’s “Fitzcarraldo”. The doc depicts how the film was able to get made despite a number of problems. These problems included ,casting problems and getting caught in the war between Peru and Ecuador . It is essentially a journey through making a film . The viewer is drawn in by the way the story is told ,through Herzog’s perspective. The film opens with Herzog expressing to the viewer “ You wanted to know the story of Fitzcarralodo.It’s a strange story”.
He also describes the film as being “ a challenge of the impossible “. One of the most interesting things I noticed in the beginning was that the interview was conducted in a canoe. The use of b-roll showcasing the areas where the film was shot really added to the documentary. The viewer is also given a sense of the people who live in the Amazon Jungle as well as the creatures who inhabit it. We are also thrust into the issues that Herzog faced including the political power struggle between two native groups. Herzog paid the natives a far better wage, $3.50 a day which was twice the going wage for Indian labor. Though Herzog faced many problems during filming he was still able to produce and make a film which is pretty impressive despite all he went through.
Link: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTc4MTgyODYw.html
1990- Present Hoop Dreams 1994 – Steve James .:
This is a documentary about two African American teens , William Gates and Arthur Agee who are recruited by St.Joseph High School for their basketball program. St.Joseph isa predominately white high school with an outstanding basketball program. It follows their journey ,from 90 min commutes to school ,long practices and getting used to a new school environment. It really raises a number of issues including race , class and economic division in America. This film is most well known for giving viewers a real intimate view into the lives of those living in the inner city. It really follows these two young men on a journey through struggles and triumph. Viewers are drawn in emotionally and are able to take something away from it.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBF3ymDQJfU
b) Manufacturing Consent 1993- March Achbar, Peter Winntonick . This documentary is about the political life and ideas of world –renowned linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky. It expands on the ideas raised in his book by the same name. This doc showcases his thesis which is that the corporate media which is profit driven exist only to further the agendas of the elite. Much of the documentary focuses on The New York Times coverage of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Chomsky stated that The New York Times is an example of a media that will not comment or criticize on the elite. This documentary brought a lot of important issues out , such as the role of media and who's really benefiting from it. The B-roll and interviews were extremely interesting.
Link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FKdU_xL4O8&feature=related
C) Food Inc: Robbert Kenner .
This is a documentary about the food industry going behind the scenes of the mechanical American industry behind how our food is produced. It is revealed that with consent from the government agencies such as USDS and FDA ,Americas food supply is controlled by giant corporations who put making a profit over consumer health. The livelihood of Farmers as well as worker's safety is also being affected.With new technology and better looking products such as bigger-breasted chicken ,tomatoes that wont go bad comes with it new bacteria such as E-coli. E-coli causes illness in approximately 73,000 Americans a year. Other heath issues include ,obesity and a rapidly growing number of cases of diabetes in adults. It looks at the future of where our food is going and the future of our lives helath wise and other. It's a very real look at food production and gives consumers an insight it what goes into what they eat everyday. I particularly enjoyed this documentary because of the issues it raised and how every single viewer is able to connect to the issues being discussed. The interviews with experts were also fascinating and informative.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyagLY1Nem8
That's all for this week's entry ! Till next time :)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Blog Entry# 2
Here are the Docs and reviews I did for this blog entry :
1 Watched W-Five this past Saturday and found the stories that were covered to be quite interesting. Show was entitled “Silent Treatment” and tells the story of a family’s fight for medical information after a critical mistake is made in the ER and results in death. The tragic event occurred in Newfoundland in 2002.Trudy Menaey’s sister Paula Browne was rushed to the E.R with pain leg. After being in the E.R her situation went from bad to worse. In a little bit over an hr she was dead. I found this incredible shocking as the story went on and it was revealed she had a heart problem and was given medication in the E.R which made it worse. I really feel for the family because the main issue here is that they are fighting to get medical records of a FAMILY member, not a complete stranger. There was clear negligence and it is going un punished. This woman could have been saved. The documentary style of W-Five has always been very interesting and informative and this story proved no different. The message is clear , don’t give up when fighting for answers.
Source : http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/WFive/20101008/w5-silent-treatment-101009/
2 a) A Married Couple –Allan King 1969
This documentary is about the difficulties that can arise during marriage . It follows the Edwards ,Antoinette and Billy . Allan King spent nearly 70 hrs filming the couple and it portrays a very rocky relationship . During the documentary we see lots of fighting and un -ease between the couple. It is essentially showing the breakdown of a marriage. There was a lot of fighting between the couple and they seemed at times to almost be competing .In fact during an interview fairly recently Antoinette admitted to the difficulties that arose between her and her husband. One of the main issues mentioned was that there was a 10 year difference. I think also having a camera crew watching their every move didn’t help the already stressful situation.
Over all I really enjoyed this documentary , Allan King did a very good job of making the viewer feel they were right there witnessing the situation. You as a viewer could also literally feel the tension while watching.
Source : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x8IsGjGZ0o and rented it at home.
b)Roger and Me 1989 : Michael Moore
Roger and Me is a film about the aftermath in Flint ,Michigan after GM makes a decision to close several auto plants costing 30,000 people their jobs. It is a documentary about getting the truth and confronting the head , Roger Smith about how he could lay of so many people. I enjoy Moore’s style of documentary , its very investigative and “in your face”. One of the scenes I will not forget is the scene where Moore and his crew are at the GM Christmas party having just come from Flint to witness a family being evicted on Christmas Eve. He asks one of the heads at GM what his thoughts are on that and the man replies he had no knowledge of the incident nor could he accompany Moore back to flint to see for himself. To me the main message from Moore about big companies like GM and how they operate is “out of side ,out of mind” or not my problem. They really seem to not care about their employees are portrayed rather heartless. My views on GM have shifted a little now after watching this and seeing what all these poor workers and their families went through. Moore did an excellent job of telling this unfortunate event in his home town.
Source:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3622789144304528932&q=roger+and+me#
c) When We Were Kings (1997) – Leon Gast
This is a documentary about the famous battle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle “ heavyweight championship match. The entrire documentary is about a building up to the fight ( what happens before) .It shows Ali’s relationship with the people of Zaire. This relationship is a devoted one and you can see there is love on both sides. I really enjoyed the opening with Muhammad talking about how he hates America etc etc and how proud he is to be an African American it really gives you insight into what kind of a person he is. In the documentary during one of the interviews its mentioned that Muhammad was scared of the upcoming fight.
The documentary was done really well and all the clips of Muhammad throughout his career as well as interviews with him really added to the documentary . The footage of the actual fight itself was done really well and made the viewer feel as if they were right there experiencing the fight.
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUSxWilW9is
d) An Inconvenient Truth
This documentary is about climate change , and follows Al Gore ‘s campaign to educate the public about just how severe the climate crisis actually is. In the film we see Al Gore and his slide show presentation. I enjoyed some of the humor Gore uses in this documentary about a very controversial and serious topic. I really enjoyed the pictures shown in the slide show presentation itself and Gore wasn’t hard to listen to either. This documentary gave the viewers in my opinion a lot more information on this subject because not to many people know what I tis exactly that is going on. It shed a lot of light on the issue of Climate Change and made people pay attention.
Source :
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8847562857479496579#
3) Inside Story : Polygamy : (BBC) Is a documentary about Polygamist groups . The documentary opens with a man, Randy Maudsley who has 4 wives. The story taks place in Utah. Interviews were conducted with the wives . Randy has one son and all of them live under the same roof. One wife admitted that its hard to do what she believes God wants her to when she hears her husband having sex with another partner in the other room. One wife left her 11 children in order to become his 3rd wife.
These people believe that they are living the way God wants them to live, taking more then one wife. It was revealed that most polygamist marriages are performed in secret. The whole issue of polygamy was brought out in the open after a 16 year old girl made a call to police reporting abuse by her uncle who made her his 15th wife. This was the famous Kingston incident. She had broken the first rule of polygamy which was “ Thou shalt obey your husband. Her father took a strap and whipped her 28 times (10 lashings for every attempt made to leave). It was described by police to be one the worst cases of child abuse they had ever seen. Her friend Jane spoke out and said “she had betrayed her father completely and her father will never forgive her”
The pictures shown of the abuse she received were horrific and makes you feel sorry for the woman and young girls who are caught up in this world. The documentary was very well done with lots of voice over’s, b-roll and interviews . Overall it was a pretty interesting documentary and I enjoyed watching it. It really made me realize how serious the issue of polygamy really is.
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITzchbdSvzA&feature=related
Thats all for this entry. I really enjoyed watching and reviewing all these documentaries. More next time! - Tarah
1 Watched W-Five this past Saturday and found the stories that were covered to be quite interesting. Show was entitled “Silent Treatment” and tells the story of a family’s fight for medical information after a critical mistake is made in the ER and results in death. The tragic event occurred in Newfoundland in 2002.Trudy Menaey’s sister Paula Browne was rushed to the E.R with pain leg. After being in the E.R her situation went from bad to worse. In a little bit over an hr she was dead. I found this incredible shocking as the story went on and it was revealed she had a heart problem and was given medication in the E.R which made it worse. I really feel for the family because the main issue here is that they are fighting to get medical records of a FAMILY member, not a complete stranger. There was clear negligence and it is going un punished. This woman could have been saved. The documentary style of W-Five has always been very interesting and informative and this story proved no different. The message is clear , don’t give up when fighting for answers.
Source : http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/WFive/20101008/w5-silent-treatment-101009/
2 a) A Married Couple –Allan King 1969
This documentary is about the difficulties that can arise during marriage . It follows the Edwards ,Antoinette and Billy . Allan King spent nearly 70 hrs filming the couple and it portrays a very rocky relationship . During the documentary we see lots of fighting and un -ease between the couple. It is essentially showing the breakdown of a marriage. There was a lot of fighting between the couple and they seemed at times to almost be competing .In fact during an interview fairly recently Antoinette admitted to the difficulties that arose between her and her husband. One of the main issues mentioned was that there was a 10 year difference. I think also having a camera crew watching their every move didn’t help the already stressful situation.
Over all I really enjoyed this documentary , Allan King did a very good job of making the viewer feel they were right there witnessing the situation. You as a viewer could also literally feel the tension while watching.
Source : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x8IsGjGZ0o and rented it at home.
b)Roger and Me 1989 : Michael Moore
Roger and Me is a film about the aftermath in Flint ,Michigan after GM makes a decision to close several auto plants costing 30,000 people their jobs. It is a documentary about getting the truth and confronting the head , Roger Smith about how he could lay of so many people. I enjoy Moore’s style of documentary , its very investigative and “in your face”. One of the scenes I will not forget is the scene where Moore and his crew are at the GM Christmas party having just come from Flint to witness a family being evicted on Christmas Eve. He asks one of the heads at GM what his thoughts are on that and the man replies he had no knowledge of the incident nor could he accompany Moore back to flint to see for himself. To me the main message from Moore about big companies like GM and how they operate is “out of side ,out of mind” or not my problem. They really seem to not care about their employees are portrayed rather heartless. My views on GM have shifted a little now after watching this and seeing what all these poor workers and their families went through. Moore did an excellent job of telling this unfortunate event in his home town.
Source:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3622789144304528932&q=roger+and+me#
c) When We Were Kings (1997) – Leon Gast
This is a documentary about the famous battle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle “ heavyweight championship match. The entrire documentary is about a building up to the fight ( what happens before) .It shows Ali’s relationship with the people of Zaire. This relationship is a devoted one and you can see there is love on both sides. I really enjoyed the opening with Muhammad talking about how he hates America etc etc and how proud he is to be an African American it really gives you insight into what kind of a person he is. In the documentary during one of the interviews its mentioned that Muhammad was scared of the upcoming fight.
The documentary was done really well and all the clips of Muhammad throughout his career as well as interviews with him really added to the documentary . The footage of the actual fight itself was done really well and made the viewer feel as if they were right there experiencing the fight.
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUSxWilW9is
d) An Inconvenient Truth
This documentary is about climate change , and follows Al Gore ‘s campaign to educate the public about just how severe the climate crisis actually is. In the film we see Al Gore and his slide show presentation. I enjoyed some of the humor Gore uses in this documentary about a very controversial and serious topic. I really enjoyed the pictures shown in the slide show presentation itself and Gore wasn’t hard to listen to either. This documentary gave the viewers in my opinion a lot more information on this subject because not to many people know what I tis exactly that is going on. It shed a lot of light on the issue of Climate Change and made people pay attention.
Source :
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8847562857479496579#
3) Inside Story : Polygamy : (BBC) Is a documentary about Polygamist groups . The documentary opens with a man, Randy Maudsley who has 4 wives. The story taks place in Utah. Interviews were conducted with the wives . Randy has one son and all of them live under the same roof. One wife admitted that its hard to do what she believes God wants her to when she hears her husband having sex with another partner in the other room. One wife left her 11 children in order to become his 3rd wife.
These people believe that they are living the way God wants them to live, taking more then one wife. It was revealed that most polygamist marriages are performed in secret. The whole issue of polygamy was brought out in the open after a 16 year old girl made a call to police reporting abuse by her uncle who made her his 15th wife. This was the famous Kingston incident. She had broken the first rule of polygamy which was “ Thou shalt obey your husband. Her father took a strap and whipped her 28 times (10 lashings for every attempt made to leave). It was described by police to be one the worst cases of child abuse they had ever seen. Her friend Jane spoke out and said “she had betrayed her father completely and her father will never forgive her”
The pictures shown of the abuse she received were horrific and makes you feel sorry for the woman and young girls who are caught up in this world. The documentary was very well done with lots of voice over’s, b-roll and interviews . Overall it was a pretty interesting documentary and I enjoyed watching it. It really made me realize how serious the issue of polygamy really is.
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITzchbdSvzA&feature=related
Thats all for this entry. I really enjoyed watching and reviewing all these documentaries. More next time! - Tarah
Friday, September 24, 2010
Entry # 1
"">
The 1st documentary I happened to watch was from the Newsmagazine genre ( WFive, The Fifth Estate(CBC) , 60 Min etc )
I watched a documentary from The Fifth Estate called "Death Online".
Here is a brief synopsis:
Death Online is about Nadia Kajouji a first year student at Ottawa's Carleton University who committed suicide at the hands of an internet predator . As Nadia began school she developed depression which grew worse as her self recorded web-cam videos show in the documentary.
She was consequencely assigned a counsellor by the university and given anti-depressants all with out her parents knowledge . They also had no clue Nadia had become friends online with a person known only as "Cami D" who encouraged her to commit suicide. Nadia jumped into the Rideau Rive on March 9th 2008, her body was was discovered 6 weeks later.
Halfway across the world in England Celia Bay discovers chat rooms ,websites and newgroups all about suicide. She also discovers one individual encouraging the severely depressed to commit suicide. Celia becomes an amateur detective trying to track down the identity of this online predator.Eventually she identifies him as William Melchert-Dinkel from Faribault, Minnesota. It turns out he has multiple online identities one which turns out to be Cami D. This documentary follows Celia has she attempts to engage police in England,and the United States to investigate William Melchert-Dinke but when they finally do it's too late.
This documentary was very interesting to me for a number of reasons . Firstly the content was interesting though the story was tragic I found it interesting. I also enjoyed the visuals and b-roll ( the never before seen video blogs from Nadia ) . On the story itself I can not believe someone would not think twice about pressuring people who are already severely emotionally depressed to commit suicide instead of seeking help. When I found out that there are sites and chat rooms dedicated to suicide it made me sick. It's especially disheartening because these people are easily influence , like how Nadia was. She was easily manipulated by William because of her emotional state and he probably knew that. This documentary is a very good tool for those who are depressed and for those who know of someone who is battling depression. It was a wake up call for not just those suffering from depression ,but for their families and friends as well.
2) Next I watched a documentary from the following years :
1920-1970 : For this blog I watched a doc from 1968 called "High School" by Frank Weisman
High school is a documentary about the lives of high school students in the late 1960's. It shows their journey from high school into college. It also has been described as a "time capsule" giving viewers an inside look at what high school was like back then. In the film teachers are definitely stricter then the teachers of today. Students were more disciplined and teachers were more overbearing so much so to the point of being frightening .
This documentary was really eye opening to what high school was like back then , quite frankly it kind of bothered me. Students back then did not have the freedom we have today ,and sometimes in my opinion we take that for granted. The system it seems back then had a lot of issues and some of those issues got resolved but some of the same problems still exist.
It's hard to comment on the American School System because I am not American but Canadian and the two are completely different. All i can judge the system on is what I have been allowed to see by documentaries such as these . Overall it was interesting and I do recommend it .
1970-1999: F for Fake by Orson Welles :
F for Fake is a documentary about deception. It is a interesting documentary by Orson Welles. It follows Elymyr de Hory who was at one time a professional art forger. This documentary focuses on the nature of authorship and authenticity i.e copyright.
The documentary is told through mainly through narratives . The choice to use these different narratives made for an interesting film . The topic was also very interesting because it dealt with the subject medium of art. I think the issues it raised were very important and valid ones, the idea of fakers and deception is largely frowned upon in society. Deception as a topic defiantly made for an interesting documentary .
The shooting locations were also very interesting. It was shot in Rome ,Spain ,France as well as in the United States. Orson does a great job with this documentary. The most interesting part of this documentary is that it was as its title suggests fake. So technically
this film was a hoax in itself. I recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of Orson Welles as his work is rarely ever boring and he has a knack for capturing viewers attention.
( 2) From 1990-Present Day :
Super Size Me 2003 :
Super Size Me was a documentary I was first introduced to in 8th grade during heath class. My teacher was doing a session on healthy eating and showed us this documentary. It was an eye opening experience about McDonalds and the food being consumed. I had no idea how bad the problem of obesity truly was until I saw this documentary. The numbers quoted in this documentary were also shocking. more then 400,000 deaths per year with illnesses related to obesity . In fact obesity today is now the 2nd leading cause of death next to smoking. The style of the documentary was extremely interesting , it was told in an almost investigative point of view. It really puts perspective on the problem of obesity. The funniest part of the documentary was overweight teens suing McDonalds for their weight problems. The most important issue raised Morgan Spurlock in this documentary is are the food companies mainly responsible for this problem or is it personal responsibility ? If you think about it , no one forces people to eat fast food , they make that decision themselves. Morgan’s experiment of eating nothing but McDonalds for 30 days was also eye opening for me. Parts of it did gross me out ,but I assume that was the point. What else could I expect from a documentary about eating nothing but fast food? I learned an important lesson here , fast food is ok , in moderation but definitely not something you want to be putting in your body every single day. On the other hand ,fast food is all around us and can not be easily avoided , we see it on tv, in theatres ,malls ,practically everywhere. So maybe this problem can also be blamed on advertisers as well? It seems they also play a huge part in this , how come they weren’t sued?
Bowling For Columbine (2008) Mchael Moore
Bowling For Columbine was in itself another remarkable documentary by Michael Moore. I really enjoy his work and Bowling For Columbine was no exception. The documentary explores the gun control issue in America ,particularly with the constitutional right to bear arms. It has a rather humourous take on a serious subject which is Moore’s style. One of the most interesting parts of the film in my opinion was when Moore went to a bank to get a gun and searched through a catalogue to pick a gun,yes the bank had a gun catalogue. They also had to perform a background check on Moore . The interviews conducted were also very informative and added a lot to the documentary. One man said “ This is an American its an American responsibility if your not armed your not responsible “ .I found that quote interesting, basically if you don’t own a gun your not defending your not a “good” or “responsible “ citizen of your country, at least in this mans point of view. The views expressed on guns in this documentary were surprising , to these citizens owning a gun and carrying one is the norm , like carrying a wallet. Moore did an excellent job on a tough and controversial subject matter.
A Class Divided 1968 TV Documentary from PBS
Finally I watched a tv documentary from PBS called "A Class Divided" . A Class Divided is a documentary about discrimination and racism. In 1968 Jane Elliott a 3rd grade teacher in Riceville Iowa conducted a 3 day experiement with her class. She separated the blue eyed children and brown eyed children. On the first day the blue eyed children were superior to brown eyes. The realization of this had a huge impact on the children’s performance in school as well as their behaviour with the now identified less superior brown eyes. The blue eyed children got higher tests marks when they were superior ,same with the brown eyed children. The less desirable group fo the day was not permitted to play with the superior group ,use the drinking fountain or have extra time for recess. These radical changes deeply affected the children and you could see it in their eyes. Elliott taught these children an important lesson in discrimination and racism , all taking place after the assination of Martin Luther King. The children’s lives would never be the same after this experiment, and in my opinion it helped them become better people in the long run. What I mean by better people , is more tolerant as adults towards people who are different from them in terms or face religion sexual orientation ,etc. If we were all a little more tolerant the world would be a better place.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Purpose of this Blog
Hi everyone , the purpose of this blog ,is to comment and review if you will a bunch of docs both old and recent for my college course at Centennial College : Documentary and News Production.
Over the next couple of months you will see multiple blogs reviewing different docs each time.
I will be expressing my opinions on not just the way the doc was presented but on the content and themes as well,maybe raise a few discussion questions as well.
I hope you enjoy reading my blog as I enter into the fascinating world of documentary films!
-Tarah
Over the next couple of months you will see multiple blogs reviewing different docs each time.
I will be expressing my opinions on not just the way the doc was presented but on the content and themes as well,maybe raise a few discussion questions as well.
I hope you enjoy reading my blog as I enter into the fascinating world of documentary films!
-Tarah
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)