What is a personal documentary?

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 One thing to be clear about before researching, what is a personal documentary?


Citation:
  • Lebow, A. (2012). The cinema of me: The self and subjectivity in first person documentary. Wallflower Press.
Annotation:
    First-person documentary films often focus not only on "me", but also on one thing, which is a narrative way to record the process.
    " A director does nothing other than seek himself in his films - which are documents not of a finifshed thought but rather of thought in the making"
- (Antonmioni 1994:57; author's translation)
    Directors of personal documentaries often explore themselves through their own films and see film as a way of documenting the thought process.
(Emphasis: The making of a personal documentary is an evolving and changing thought process, not just the expression of a certain opinion or thought - exploring and expressing one's feelings and thoughts through film)







Citation:
  • Nichols, B. (2017). Introduction to documentary (Third ed.). Indiana University Press.
Annotation：
    In Chapter 3, "What Gives Documentary A Voice Of Their Own?" rhetorical vocie, narrative voice, and poetic voice are mainly divided into three types: rhetorical vocie, narrative voice, and poetic voice. One of them can represent the personal documentary is the voice of narrative.

    Voice of narrative: Using stories to express personal growth or change of opinion (more appealing to the audience)
A story has a beginning, a middle and an end
  • Beginning: The story presents problems related to the character, the main character's shortcomings and needs (not related to society, mainly personal problems).
  • Middle (adds complexity) :Elaborate on problems and challenges (show conflicts, emphasize and show the character of the protagonist)
    • The presentation of the story is character driven: the main character generally does not achieve his goals easily, how the main character faces challenges and how to solve them)
    • Focus: In character-driven documentaries, conflicts often arise from the main character or people closely related to the main character
  • Ending: The main character resolves himself (not necessarily a happy ending, but there must be an ending. Focus on protagonist changes throughout the process)







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