Please blog a bit about documentaries as an art form/mode of teaching and learning. You can write about whatever you choose…some possibilities: the documentarian’s role in shaping the presentation of reality, their potential to create social change, their relationship to other forms of pop culture.
Stevie
ReplyDeleteDocumentaries can be great opportunities to inspire change. When done right. Blackfish is a documentary that brought to light the abuse of aquatic mammals by corporations like Sea World. As result protests grew and Seaworld was no longer allowed to capture and have trainers in the water with marine life. However bad documentaries can have severe effects. A famous example is that of the Lemmings. A nature documentary wanted to film the lemmings jumping off a cliff to their death, as that was a natural thing the big did. Except it wasn’t, lemmings don’t instinctively commit suicide. Instead, they were lured off the cliff by the filmmakers in order to make a dramatic scene. A more modern example is the popular Tiger King series. Under the impression that she was being interviewed for a show about the illegal breeding, buying, and selling of tigers, Carol Baskin was suddenly asked about the death of her first husband. She was very dismissive of the topic believing that wouldn’t make it because that’s not what the film is about. However, the filmmakers used manipulative editing and interviews with people who believed Carol to have murdered her husband. An entire episode of the show was dedicated to the topic leading the public to believe that she was a murderer with no real evidence.
Rachel Ruble:
ReplyDeleteI think documentaries can be very insightful and inspiring on the topic that the documentary focuses on. I also think that even though they can provide information about certain topics, they can also be biased and sway opinions. For example, the presentation on Fear and Learning was really moving and made me feel like I wanted to do something to help the children that have to go through similar situations. Another example of a more biased type of documentary is the one I watched, The Revisionaries. During the filming of the school board voting, the writer put music behind their conversations to add an effect of them not being serious. Though I may not agree with what the people were saying, I think the addition of the music was mocking them in an unfair and biased way. Overall, I feel that documentaries can be very moving and informative, but can also be misleading when it comes to certain aspects of how it is produced and edited.
It is likely that you can find a documentary on just about anything that interests you. I think they are a great way to become better informed, educated, or just entertained on specific topics you may not have much knowledge on (or you are just interested in learning more about). Although the setup of documentaries (raw footage, interviews, and narration by the documentarian) can seem very transparent and exposed, it is important to keep in mind the documentarian’s goal of the film. They are most likely bias on the subject and looking to sway the viewer in a particular direction. I do not necessarily think this is negative because the idea of a documentary is generally to provide insight on a topic and explain why it may be important to bring change, expose something negative, etc., but keeping this all in the back of your head while watching is necessary.
ReplyDeleteI chose to watch Fear and Learning, and I genuinely enjoyed the film. It was heartbreaking but did a really good job of getting the main ideas across. I think the documentarian’s bias was clear, but she was personally involved with the students and the issues they were facing, so it made sense. She showed both sides, and in my opinion, it did not seem like anything was swayed or skewed to look a certain way. She showed raw footage of the teachers who voted yes for proposition 187, and they put all the heat on themselves. I think her goal with this film was to reach people emotionally by sharing student’s views, giving insight on the rough conditions in the community, and showing teachers voting on both sides of the bill. I think the emotional take was her best bet of getting people to care about the issue. Although the film could be seen as biased, I see no problem because the issues are truly heartbreaking, and she brought light to that in a really well-done film.
Abbe Casey
Catherine Fishburne
ReplyDeleteFor as long as I can remember, I have loved watching documentaries. I feel that you learn so much on a particular person or subject. My personal favorite documentary genre is true crime. I play them in the background as I am doing chores around the house. I like learning about the killer and what drove them to kill. Documentaries are so informational, but only if they are done right. After watching "Schooling the World" and watching the presentations on the documentaries, I learned how detrimental it can be if a documentary misses the mark. For example, in "Schooling the World," my group agreed that the idea behind the film was brilliant, but they executed it poorly. It was all over the place and difficult to follow. The documentary also expected you to know a lot of background information regarding the film and if you did not know that information, it was difficult to understand. I was excited to watch this documentary as I am studying to be an elementary school teacher. I thought it would be insightful and give helpful tips on how to honor my student's from other culture's while in an American school. This documentary, in fact, did the opposite of that. It ended up giving me anxiety about the problems with western schooling (or in this documentary just American schooling). I understand that was not the intention, but it is a worry of mine after watching this documentary.
I think documentaries are a great way to learn snd discover new things. Watching all these different documentaries from around the world about schooling, really gives a person some insight about how different their lives may be compared to the kids in the documentary. Although documentaries provide interesting information, they can also be biased and not show some of the raw footage, so we can't fully trust them. I think documentaries can create change and help people, without them we wouldn't really know what's going on in the world other than from the news, so documentaries create this new learning outlet to inform the public without censorship.
ReplyDeleteDiamon Patterson:
ReplyDeleteI am sorry this is kind of late, I did not know we had this blog at the time.
Documentaries are very interesting and it displays information on a media platform that is realistic or relatable. However, some documentaries are boring to watch and may not grab students' attention enough for them to accept the information. Aside from the previous critique, directors of documentaries can produce a great change by dispersing their findings. Of course film makers may have their own biases about the topic of the documentary, but students must understand how to separate those biases from the actual information provided. Additionally, being able to hear different point of views for insight about the topic presented.
My documentary was High School II and I think the length of it made the main focus hard to understand. However, the documentary did a great job showing how nurturing this school is towards their students. The faculty care about their education and their personal lives. This documentary can teach other secondary schools different techniques of learning and how to be more involved with their students. Additionally, the biggest take away from the documentary was the school has group conferences that tailor to the needs of the students and involve the collaboration of their parents.
I believe documentaries can make very informative tools. I think they can offer information in an easily accessible way. For documentaries to be truly effective I think the filmmakers have to provide enough information for the viewer to fully understand. There can't be assumptions about the viewers knowledge. Documentaries are beneficial because it's typically a quick and easy way to convey information. I don't think all documentaries have bias but I don't consider it a bad thing when they do. Some films seem to be strictly informational and get a point a cross. Those with bias do the same but usually push for a certain opinion. Often times this is to bring attention to certain issues. So I think documentaries can be a good tool to bring attention to things that people don't really know about.
ReplyDeleteWill Finnegan:
ReplyDeleteDocumentaries,when done well, provide insight into topics that most people wouldn't know a lot about. For example, I watched a documentary on the death of Gabriel Fernandez, a nine year old boy who was killed by his mother and her boyfriend. The documentary showed the truth about what happened, as well as the flaws in the social work system. As well as the topic, the editing of documentaries is very important and can add to their effectiveness. A well edited documentary is more interesting to watch.
Lisa Carlen:
ReplyDeleteDocumentaries can be a very insightful and informative way of presenting information about certain topics. If its well made, it can be really interesting to watch will helps people learn and actually be invested in whats being shown. I believe a lot of documentaries use real people's stories to grab the attention of the viewer and makes it realistic and touches peoples emotions.
Walter Garrison
ReplyDeleteDocumentaries are interesting because their main purpose is to inform the viewer about a topic but they are often still displayed in a narrative format. The director of every documentary has supreme power to portray their subject in any manner they choose. Context is everything and filmmakers can very easily create a narrative that suits their beliefs. It is for this reason that I believe every documentary should be taken with a grain of salt. Even if the documentarian has every intention of being honest and clear with their portrayal, they will still have a particular bias that comes with their perspective. All that being said I did really enjoy the documentaries we used in this class and I think they're definitely significant in coming to a conclusion about our purposes of education.
JT Holeman - Documentaries are great because they usually have primary sources accompanied with secondary sources. They can provide a lot of insight which wouldn't be achieved through simply reading an article or document because of the interpersonal involvement of most documentaries.
ReplyDeleteDocumentaries can provide lots of insight in niche subjects that one may not discover elsewhere. They can shine light on issues people wouldn't be aware of otherwise. They are practically big research films so that one doesn't have to compile the information themselves. While this sounds great, it is important to be aware that with most if not all documentaries, there is a motive, therefore there is bias. Documentaries may only show one side of the coin and not the other.
ReplyDelete- Phong Ngo
DeleteIn terms of learning, a lot of people learn better from hearing information paired with visual information as opposed to strictly reading information off paper. So in those terms I think documentaries are excellent. I enjoy the occasional documentary, let's suppose I'm watching a documentary about ocean pollution; I'd hear factual info from the narrator (main teacher) and then I'd get to hear the opinions and perspectives from many people like marine biologist and the fisherman doing the pollution. Letting kids watch a documentary exposes them to many more perspectives then reading a single book by a single author, or taught by one teacher who translates information that they might lack enough experience with to teach. I think documentaries are huge for pop culture, personally I don't want to read about what someone said in an article (it feels like hearsay), I'd rather watch that person sit down in a filmed interview so I can watch them speak about it. Documentaries allow the audience to feel included in the discussion. Documentaries are also film, which is rightfully an artform which is free to be interpreted which I think builds spaces for audience members to share their opinions and perspectives about whatever the topic of the documentary is.
ReplyDeletejake bosak
DeleteDocumentaries are great in theory. They are wonderful modes of information that can inspire great social, political, or educational change. They serve great visuals while relaying information that might have been unknown to the audience. The audience can learn and generate new ideas from a visual art form. Documentaries have a format that sets them up for a niche form of media. While this is great, this is also the problem with documentaries. They are often highly concentrated topics that cater to a specific audience. Thus, the audience typically has some sort of foundation on the information. Sometimes, a knowledgeable audience isn’t the best audience. For example, a Caucasian person wouldn’t normally seek out a documentary that delves into the history of slavery in America and the advancement of African American people. People seek out what is comfortable and rarely place themselves in the position to be uncomfortably challenged, especially by a form of entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there are pros and cons to documentaries. When done right, they can convey a beautiful, powerful and potentially impactful message with an audience. On the other hand, there can be documentaries that can have a great message, but it gets convoluted in the actual film, confusing the audience at the end. I believe when shown in the right context and setting (also providing it is a good documentary like I mentioned at first) in the educational realm, they can be beneficial and impactful and be a great supplement.
ReplyDelete-Ayla Nees-Doeppe
DeleteI do enjoy watching documentaries. Depending on how you present the information in the documentary, I think it can be considered a form of art. I am not a huge fan of the documentaries that just sort of regurgitate information and expect me to remain invested. I like documentaries that have interviews and visuals that keep me interested. Usually, in school, teachers would have us watch documentaries with some dude's boring voice narrating in the background. The documentaries that I've seen nowadays and in this class are definitely a better learning tool for me.
ReplyDeleteDocumentaries can be very informative and entertaining at the same time. There are many ways to do a documentary for starters you can have one person speaking on the topic the whole documentary, or you can have more of a movie documentary where they show clips and flashback while people are explaining whats going on throughout the documentary. I think documentaries are a great way to learn and discover new things but I also think some documentaries can be a little boring when they are just talking the whole documentary.
ReplyDeleteCindy:
ReplyDeleteDocumentaries are great tools for all kinds of students. They can have a good balance and be both entertaining and informative. There are documentaries about every niche interest anyone can think of. I mean, Ken Burns has what feels like a million hours on several topics (I watching the Vietnam one...). It's fascinating seeing directors and writers display their styles through documentaries. Some of the most fascinating ones (and hardest to watch) are social change ones. It was a documentary that pushed me more into the prison and police abolition. Ava DuVernay's "13th" really had an impact on the questions I ask on the carceral system.
Watching documentaries is good when you are interested in the topic. They are informational that can also show physical examples or modules to make it seems as if you are having a first hand experience. Some celebrities document their life to relate to their fans and give an inside scoop on things you want to know about. Documentaries are not always educational and I found myself watching them more when I want to learn about a new topic.
ReplyDeleteI think documentaries are a great and easy way to receive information. I think that they are the best and easiest way when it comes to being in college for me because I sometimes do not have the time to sit down and read an 10 page article, so watching documentaries while doing chores are a big help. I do think that it is also easier to retain information with documentaries because it is entertaining. When watching The Smartest Kids In The World it was very easy for me to feel engaged because it was interesting, but then again there have been documentaries that I have fallen asleep to because I was not particularly in them. -Annalise
ReplyDeleteDocumentaries are an amazing form of learning for people that like to sit and watch tv. As a generation, our media intake has grown exponentially and we have been accustomed to watching movies and tv shows. So documentarians have used this method to get knowledge out into the world. Many people enjoy watching documentaries and the best part is that there are documentaries about almost everything. From wildlife, to education, to huge events of the past, you can find anything. In terms of education, they are a great tool to utilize in a classroom. A teacher can assign papers or other small assignments to keep the students engaged so they can actually learn something. I do believe assigning something with a documentary is crucial or else there is the possibility of a student not watching or simply sleeping through it, which I for one have been guilty of during my time in high school. But when given something to do I was fully engaged and actually learned something.
ReplyDelete