In our first Creative Project seminar, we began to explore different kinds of documentary filmmaking; namely documentaries with a experimental feel to them. We were given a list of 8 questions (see notes to the left) which we would use to analyse films provided as examples. As a class, we also debated whether we could come up with a definition of documentary films - while we had a lot of ideas (shown in the mind map to the left) it was difficult to pinpoint a definite set of characteristics that make up a documentary: especially after watching some of the example films!
Many of the screenings were of very experimental documentaries. Out of the films - listed on the right with my short accompanying notes - the two I felt were truest to what I percieve as a documentary were Christmas with Dad and Paperboys. This is because both include face-to-face interviews, contextual sequences of the interviewees in their homes/workplaces, and a very relaxed interview and filming style. They are also presented in a fairly unbiased way, leaving the viewer to make up their own mind about the characters' situations.
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