Let's Go Feed the Birds

Here is one of my film projects from TMA 273. It takes place at the Tracy Aviary and shows the feeding of the Sun Conures from Brazil.

Let's Go See the Birds from Kenneth Bills on Vimeo.

Response Paper - My Kid Could Paint That

My Kid Could Paint That

The film My Kid Could Paint That by Amir Bar-Lev fascinated me because of its approach and subject matter.

As someone interested, and relatively inexperienced, in film, I currently am very interested in the different approaches filmmakers use to present stories in documentary as I’m trying to find one of my own. Bar-Lev took an unusual approach that in turn allowed the film to tell a bigger, maybe more important story. At first, just like the Bar-Lev, I was interested in the story of the film’s subject Marla and her art. While this story is very compelling because of the controversy behind it, I found after a while thinking more about the filmmaker’s experience than about the subject. Bar-Lev places himself in the story and comments on how this story is affecting him. Due to this approach the film made me think and continue to think about what will be my role in the future as a nonfiction storyteller. Usually the most successful films deal with tough subject matters where something dramatic has happened. As a filmmaker I could become greatly involved in those matters and that frightens me because I do not want to use other people’s difficulties to make money. For example my friend recently told me this horrifying story about her experience with Teach for America and one of my first thoughts was, “whoa this would make a really interesting documentary.” However I thought if I made this film how would my friends react who have had a positive experience with TFA? Also what if as I researched this story I discover that my friend was not telling me that entire truth? I then would find myself in a spot much like Bar-Lev where I would have to confront my friend and call her a liar. Then I’m not sure what would be most important to me, film or friend.

Thus for me, at first the film was very intriguing because of the subject matter however the greater value from the viewing comes from how it has made me take a deeper look at my experience as a future filmmaker. As I reflected about Bar-Lev’s experience it has helped me see that I need to be very careful about the stories I choose to tell because of the affect it will have on both the subject and I.

Response Paper - The 11th Hour

The 11^th Hour

The 11^th Hour written and directed by Leila and Nada Conners is clearly propagandistic and openly gives audience a call to action. However while their goal is to persuade the viewer to their point of view, a lack of story caused me to lose interest and not engage as much in the film as most likely the filmmakers would have hoped.

The film used several interviews combined with narration along with as many visuals possible to support the peoples’ statements and make them visually interesting. But after a while the film felt very repetitive. Basically, the film presented a great deal of facts about the negative state of the planet. But there was no story with a beginning, middle, or end to maintain my interest throughout the film. I realized after watching this film and trying to remember specifics that there were not many details that I could remember. Then when I compared this film to others and what I could remember from them I learned, again, that those documentaries that use examples, or in other words, stories to get their message across are more effective teachers. This film could have had a more powerful impact on me and others if the filmmakers could have found some sort of stories of families or specific animals to show the negative influence we as humans are having on the environment.

Thus while the film technically and visually was well done, the lack of a story caused me to not get as much out of this film as others which are based around stories. Therefore stories are powerful teachers and make films more impactful.

Response Paper - Man on Wire

Man on Wire

Man on Wire directed by James Marsh was a good example of many of the recent techniques we have discussed in class, especially interviewing styles. As well this film caught my attention and held it the whole time by effectively using set-ups and pay-offs.

What added a great deal of interest to the storytelling was the use of verite interviews in the film. An effective example of this is when Philippe is describing what happened once they arrived on the top floor of the tower. The filmmakers combined a sit-down interview with an active interview as well as a reenactment. In the active interview we see more enthusiasm and energy from Philippe as he relives this suspenseful moment in his life. The verite interview resulted in not only a more visually interesting representation of the event but also allowing Philippe to get up, move around, and use props, brought more of his personality out and helped us better understand him. From this I saw exactly what I recently attempted to do, both a sit-down and active interview. For me this was a good example of the usefulness of them both as well as how to edit them together. The film made the two interviews as well as a reenactment flow together so that it did not fell jumpy or unnatural.

The director made me care quickly about this story all the way to the end of the film. First the director chose a great story to tell. But more than that the way they structured the film caused me to actively engage with the film. Choosing to reveal many set-ups in the introduction to the films hooked me right from the start. Then returning to that main story periodically throughout the film continued to give me the pay-offs and create more set-ups that kept me asking questions and wanting to know how they managed to achieve this feat. Thus the balance of giving the audience set-ups and pay-offs throughout the film and balancing it with enriching backstory and details created a very interesting story even more engaging.

For me this film was both a great example of the use of interviews, active interviews, and reenactments to tell about an event many years passed and effective storytelling that kept me wanting to watch.

Testing one, two, three . . .

This is only a test of the blog's emergency broadcast system as well as its normal functions.

The End.