The challenges of personal documentaries

 

Citation:

• Lebow, A. (2012). The cinema of me: The self and subjectivity in first person documentary. Wallflower Press.

Annotation:

Personal documentary challenges: The creator must confront the material, listen without any preconceived notions, relate the most compelling pieces, and construct plot points or arguments.

This is normal when film maker find contradictions in perspective. Because subjectivity and objectivity are generally opposed. Subjectivity often lacks fairness, and fairness is the essence of documentary.

A documentary about one's own family inevitably involves the film-maker in the film to tell one's story - how do you mix fairness with personal relationships?

Here's an example:

    "Out Of Roach"-Annie Griffin 1994: The film uses the family as a backdrop to tell the story of the filmmaker himself (the director, as the protagonist, never appears in front of the camera, but is always behind the camera, using an narrative voice to show a subjective point of view, and then the camera points to the interviewer to record an objective reflection) Although it is a personal documentary, the viewer never sees the protagonist, and the documentary as a whole lacks the performance of a subjective character. While objectivity is assured, it does not achieve a good balance of perspectives.

Therefore, personal documentary as a director's self-portrait, the use of perspective is very key. Too subjective will affect the audience's judgment, and the entire film will become a person's emotional vent, while too objective and destroy the structure of personal documentary. So it's important to find a balance.