Blog post and reading response #1

Blog: Now it is time to switch modes from PSAs to documentaries. I am very excited to start learning about this new art form. My group hasn't accomplished that much, but it is still early. Sarah, Leah, and I have thought about doing a documentary on adoption having Leah's family be the main focus. We all think that this would be a good idea so I believe this is what we will do. I don't think we will have procrastination problems, we are all focused and dedicated to making an effective documentary. I don't see any big problems with either the members of my group or the work that we will do. I am mostly excited to see the classes end results. The PSAs blew me away and I can only imagine that our documentaries will be even better.

Reading: Michael Rabiger, author of "Directing the Documentary", gives many details in his introduction chapter as to what a documentary entails of. I found it very helpful to myself in that it will help me organize my thoughts better and how I should draw in the attention of the audience. The point that stuck out the most and surprised me what when Rabiger stated "lower production costs and an increased outlet should mean increased freedom for the individual voice". I know that I knew this was true in the back of my mind but it really hit home when I read it in the article. I have never thought about how lucky we are as teens to have so much technology available to us that we can have freedom in the media. We can make videos from our phones and cameras and post them on youtube on the same day. Whatever we want to be seen or expressed has the potential to be seen by millions of people very quickly. This is something that my parents would never have been able to do as teens. Rabiger also tells that company executives, who choose what is aired on television, do not always show what should be. Corporations are able to subtract documentaries that may hurt profitability by offending some audience members. With expanded media sources such as cable, internet, or video facilities anything can be broadcasted. This connects with what I said earlier about this generation being able to post videos, and even documentaries, that are important to us and know that they can be seen.
The most important thing that I got out of this article was what exactly a documentary is. I never imagined all of the work and thought that goes into creating one. I learned that the best documentaries are those that are passionate about their topic and find that way to show the familiar in an unfamiliar way. I also learned that documentaries come in a range of forms. They can be spontaneous, silent, controlled, you name it. I am excited to start to work on a documentary knowing that the choice is all mine to make whatever it is I want to make. There is a lot of freedom in accomplishing some sort of order and cause and effect with options like these to choose from. Having a clearer definition of a documentary in my mind will definitely be useful when starting to develop my idea for a documentary and when shooting.