Balance of the perspective: 3rd view point

 

Citation:

• Walsh, S. (2024). The documentary filmmaker's intuition: Creating ethical & impactful non-fiction films. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003320296

Annotation:

• In chapter 6, "Autobiography, Family Histories, & Personal Storytelling", describes the development of the personal documentary and the shifting standards of judgement. In the early days of personal documentary, personal narrative-driven documentaries and family stories were seen as self-absorbed and judged to be inoffensive. However, in the course of documentary development, film and television makers found the further exploration of their own stories compelling, and audiences were happy to buy into the plot conflicts and developments of personal documentaries. These stories, derived from the creator's personal experience and everyday experiences, can reveal to the viewer the truth about the world that may have been hidden from them from a particular perspective.

• An example: Sol Guy's personal film The Death of My Two Fathers (2021), which focuses on the deaths of his biological father and the father who raised him. Taking the director's father as a starting point, the documentary explores masculinity, identity, fatherhood and family, while critiquing issues related to domestic violence against men.
• With the development of the personal documentary, there is a challenge for the filmmaker. The authors similarly address this issue in Chapter 6: film creators may initially have a clear vision of their story and a clear purpose. However, as the amount of time and material recorded increases, maintaining transparency and objectivity is a major challenge. A large number of subjective shots can lead to an imbalance in perspective, thus affecting the audience's judgement.
• The solution: 3rd view point intervention. Find someone to provide an outside perspective (this person must not have any family ties to the creator and can be someone from the production team.) The addition of a 3rd view point can help the film creator not to lose his/her way in the creation of the film, and can also be a good balance between the use of subjective and objective perspectives.

• Burnat, E., & Davidi, G. (Directors). (2011, November 23). 5 Broken Cameras. Kino Lorber.
• An example: Emad Burnat & Guy Davidi's Five Broken Cameras (2011). 
• This documentary is a collaboration between two directors. Although the film focuses on Emil Burnat's personal experience. The film documents the conflict and oppression of people's lives under Israel's security fence, as well as the confrontation between his village and the Israeli government. Each camera records a different stage of the protests and people's lives. 
• In chapter 6 the author mentions that although it is a personal documentary, the director kept an open mind and it was a good idea to invite Guy Davidi to work together. It is the 3rd view point intervention that also helped to balance the subjectivity and objectivity of the whole film, reflecting well the political and social issues that have been going on in the whole region for a long time.

Test in my film:

• During the process of material recording, I invited several classmates to watch my videos. Different genders offered distinct evaluations and focal points for the characters in the film—male audiences tended to focus more on observing the relationship between "myself" (male) and "father," attempting to comprehend why "father" behaved the way he did. In contrast, female audiences concentrated more on "mother," empathizing with her and criticizing "father's" actions.
• In order to present a more complete story, to document the characters, and to strike a balance between multiple perspectives, I invited my classmate Kewei to participate as the third perspective in my documentary. Kewei would serve as a recorder from a female perspective. Throughout the recording process, my portrayal of male thinking as the protagonist in the narrative could receive diverse presentations and evaluations from the female perspective documented by Kewei, thus making the family story less akin to a subjective venting of one individual. The inclusion of a third party of a different gender can balance the male perspective of the story, making it easier for audiences to understand the reasons behind my quest for the unknown truth and to engage in the narrative development process. As I delve into the process of seeking the unknown truth and immersing myself in the narrative, the story becomes more accessible to the audience.