Short Documentaries

In one of the seminars Debbie showed us some short documentaries to prepare us for the module and the first one that we watched was Kevin Macdonald's Touching the Void (2003). This was a dramatic reconstruction of experiences and follows to mountain climbers who tackle Siula Grande in 1985. This is a gripping film that consists of dramatic shots of the climbers tackling challenges such as snowstorms and falling down certain parts of the mountain. This documentary allows the audience to experience such a huge challenge through the journey of two brave men. The shots in this film were observational rather than interactive, as it is showing the journey the two men took rather than their experiences.

Another documentary we watched was Grizzly Man (Herzog, 2005) which was a documentary retelling another person's story through the filmmaker's videos. Based on the tragic death of Timothy Treadwell, a grizzly bear activist, who created mini films of his journey and Herzog used these videos to share his story with the world. I personally enjoyed this film as it was the original footage of Timothy's work but only revealed to us through Herzog, due to Timothy's death. Due to the film being based on Timothy's own films, this is an observational documentary as we are watching his journey through his own footage and due to his death; no aftermath interviews were possible.

We also watched a documentary called 'The Alcohol Years' by Carol Morley (2002) and this was a personal film based on other people's opinions of Morley during the 1908s; when she was in her 'wild years' of partying and drinking. This documentary, unlike the previous two, features an interview style scene where old acquaintances and friends from Morley's past reveal their honest, and mostly brutal, opinions of Morley as she has almost no memory of these years due to the alcohol consumption. This was also an interesting documentary as those involved were not afraid to reveal their honest opinions of Morley and keeps the viewers taking an interest, as it is more of a social norm for people in front of a camera to say positive things in order to seem a good person.