Self-Reflexive Documentary Evaluation

How does your film conform to the conventions of the film movement you chose?

 

The film movement that I chose was self-reflexive documentary and the main source of inspiration for the film was 2012 self-reflexive documentary by Sarah Polley, The Stories We Tell. Similarly to The Stories We Tell the genre was easily identified throughout due to the fact that many of the techniques that I used have connotations with self-reflexive documentaries. For instance, within my film I used archive footage in order to illustrate the strong relationship with my mother and my brother therefore fulfilling another convention of self-reflexive documentary which is to make it personal and emotive. In addition to this, I filmed the technical aspects of how the documentary is made by showing camera and lighting equipment in order to highlight how self-reflexive documentaries are real life which ultimately makes the content of the film more relatable. Furthermore, I, as the film maker, interacted with the participators not only to make my family feel more at ease but also to show that there was minimal filming crew and therefore making the film much more honest and real. As a result of this my self-reflexive documentary easily identifies in this genre due to the number of conventions that were used.

Although there was not much of a story within the film, as it was more revolved around my family member’s answers to the questions, there was a linear narrative with archive footage from around a year ago edited in to give a sense of who these people were and their close relationship with each other. The linear narrative ensured that the film adhered to its genre conventions of being as close to reality as possible, as the audience could understand the thought process of the participators. In addition to this, during the editing process it was ensured that the participator’s pauses and hesitations were kept in the final cut in order to assist the narrative as the film shows my family stopping to think which illustrates how self-reflexive documentary focuses on reality and evokes sympathy amongst the audience. However, similarly to The Stories We Tell within the film there were certain moments where there was a story. For instance, when my mother talks about when my cat died. Therefore these stories helped the film further conform to the genre conventions and drive the narrative. Although, the film failed to have much of a plot as there was no screenplay as it was important that the self-reflexive documentary stayed as close to reality as possible. If there was a script it would have seemed fake and the participators would not have space to tell their truth which would ultimately make the film more relatable to the audience.

There was no specific target audience as it was necessary for the film to be accessible to all, as many self-reflexive documentary spark conversation and evoke thought no matter what category of audience they fit into. As an audience they would most likely experience the preferred reading of the film which was to showcase the difference between an adult and a child’s responses to a series of philosophical questions whilst simultaneously highlighting the close relationship of a family. However, as a spectator, the individual member of an audience, it is possible that they could have had a more negotiated reading as they would be a lot more free to think on their own experiences and possibly relate it to the self-reflexive piece. It would be highly unlikely that the audience or spectator would receive an oppositional reading as the film isn’t polysemic and there is no intended hidden meaning, as the film conforms to the conventions of the genre of being truthful and evoking an emotional response rather than being like a surrealist film where there is room for different interpretations.

 

In regards to representation there were two main groups of people that were being represented which were children and adults, as my brother is nine and my mother is forty-three. This representation was vital in order for the message of the film to be clear which was to illustrate the difference in opinions between children and adults. The self-reflexive documentary also has the capacity to represent the different genders, as the participant’s genders differ, however it was not the intention of the film to raise issues around gender roles. It is important to note that both the participants are heterosexual and white, which could be quite significant as the questions that were asked may have been responded to differently if they were ethnic minorities or LGBT+. Another area of representation that is explored is that my brother is more middle class whereas my mother is working class which is possibly why they would have different answers and ideologies when it came to answering some questions as they were brought up in different backgrounds.