Documentary Critical Reflection

 The goal of my documentary Scrapped was to show what unfinished art projects reveal about their creators, specifically when those creators are young. I think that I succeeded in accomplishing this goal while creating an engaging piece, although there are some areas for improvement.

 When it came to research, it was mainly research through other documentaries as opposed to research of the subject. The subject of unfinished art projects didn't have any facts or history I needed to mention, and I wanted the film to be all about the personal opinions and emotions of the subjects. This is why there are no statistics or facts mentioned in the film, which illustrates the emphasis on personal feelings and attachment. Of the documentaries that I viewed in class, Exit Through the Gift Shop was the biggest inspiration, as I took a lot from it's chaotic and raw aesthetic when it came my editing choices and b-roll. Above is a shot from that film, where the unpolished nature of it's shooting style is noticeable. That film uses a handheld camera and tight close-ups during b-roll to give a sense of rawness, which I replicated in my b-roll, although mine was staged. When filming Scrapped, I chose not use a lighting kit, as I wanted things to look as natural as possible and traditional film lighting would create to much artifice. It's also part of the reason I chose to use alternative rock music. That style of music isn't common in documentaries, but I felt like in both Exit Through the Gift Shop and my film, it's used to illustrate the chaos and freedom of creativity, and in my film specifically, the feelings of anxiety and stress.

 On the subject of the unconventional editing choices, like the colorful filters and big text that appears over people's faces, one reason for their inclusion was to engage the audience at the beginning of the film to get them hooked. When there's this loud music combined with all of this fast and chaotic editing, it excites the viewer and makes draws them into the anxiety fueled world of young artists. One thing that I would criticize about these editing choices, however, is that they can be a little too distracting for some people and lead to them not properly comprehending important information as they're to focused on the music and visuals. I should've either toned it down or had it happen in a place where total comprehension and focus is less vital.

 The entire film is structured using interviews. I alternated between the two interviews so that the documentary would be structured around the progression of topics, going from introductions to detail on the topics of specific projects and why they went unfinished, and then concluding with advice to artists watching the film. I chose this structure because it would be natural and satisfying to follow, progressing like a three act story or a speech. During these interviews I had the subjects look directly into the camera, which I did because it would establish a more intimate and personal connection between the viewer and subject, which makes what they say feel more impactful and makes the overall documentary feel more like a conversation, which enhances the theme of personal and emotional connection to art.

Most of the interviews in the documentary are indirect, but there are some instances of direct interviews, like when Jaden is asked about the role time plays in the creative process and how it leads to projects going unfinished. These moments are mainly in follow-up questions that the interviewee didn't prepare for and therefore didn't rephrase, so to make the film flow better I had to include myself asking the question to create context. I also included moments of direct interviews to create emphasis on certain responses that felt especially poignant. An issue that I noticed looking back on these interviews is how much you can hear me saying "yeah" or some other kind of brief verbal response while someone is talking, especially during Sawyer's interview. I didn't realize that I was doing this when I was filming, but it definitely is an element that feels unprofessional and is distracting to the viewer.

 

 Scrapped is a documentary that primarily represents two social groups, those groups being artists and teenagers. One way that I represented these groups was through the doodle images that appear in multiple places in the film, as they represent both youth and the creative spirit. The haphazard looking design of the doodles represents the energy and anxiousness that many young artists have to get their work out into the world, as well as a sense of youthful nonconformity. These feelings are also illustrated by the editing in the beginning of the film, which is meant to represent the stress and pressure of being a young person and balancing all the aspects of your life, including creativity, and the mere aggressiveness of it is a visualization of teen rebellion. Rebellion is also illustrated through the choice to feature alternative music, although the intensity of the music I used, especially in the beginning, may be too much and distracting for people.

 Representation of teen artists is also shown via the interviews themselves, where the subjects talk about school life and balancing it with creativity. I felt like the experience of scrapping projects because you need to focus on school is mostly universal to teenage creators, so I highlighted it in the film. At the end of the film, the idea of artists being a part of a greater community is illustrated by the subjects giving advice to any artists watching the film about dealing with unfinished projects.

Even though there are some issues with it, I'm very happy with how Scrapped turned out and I believe that it successfully achieved its goal.