Times of Harvey Milk

We watched a small clip of this in class and from the small clip I wanted to cry. This was an older film, but it was still very moving. The accounts were honest and although there were many night shots in regards to the candlelight scene the riot scene, it was very well shot considering it was film.

My friend had been telling me to rent this for a long time before I had watched that scene and she wanted to watch Milk once it came out with me. I don’t know what it is about these very factual and socially charged documentaries but those are the one that seemed to be most inspiring . I related this documentary with another older doc called “Who Killed Vincent Chin” as this movie also takes various accounts of a murder as well as a very in depth description of the main character.

The way the b-roll, photographs, interviews and footage were all cut together just flowed so nicely together. The documentary makers didn’t even need to add dramatic music to make an individual seem like a criminal, the archival footage simply spoke for itself.

Order of Myths

I watched a free screening of Order of Myths at the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse where the director appeared at and after the screening. It was revealed at the end of the doc that the director had very exclusive access to all the individuals within the film which made it seem much more realistic and involved.

I loved looking into the Mardis Gras culture in Alabama. I’m so used to the idea of it being in Louisiana that I kept comparing the two throughout the movie. I’m glad to see that despite a deep rooted racism that might be prevalent throughout the South, there is still some progress trying to be made.

It honestly took me a while to figure out what the Order of Myths was and why it was so important to the story—but I think its title was two fold, so it didn’t necessarily need to have a huge role in the story, since it was only one order out of the many orders there were involved with Mardis Gras.

Trey Lecture

Professor Darling was kind enough to let me use a wireless mic to use during Trey’s lecture. I had been in this class before and this is how I met Trey, so I knew that it would be dark, but that the actual audio from the lecture would be important.

It was just as I expected. Although I tried getting some reactions from the crowd, the projector light was not bright enough. I hope I can use this audio in my final project.

Office Shots

I met with Trey today and went to his office downtown to get some exposition/B-roll shots of his office. His office is very swanky and unlike a depressing cubicle type place. Unfortunately it was very dark since it was nighttime and I didn’t know how to adjust the white balance on Alex’s camera. I also tried to get some footage within this restaurant we went to but it was too dark in there.

I also didn’t have good audio! This was mostly a test run to see what I could get and see if I could use any of it, but I don’t know, most of it seems like I can’t use it.

Southern Comfort

This was a very sweet film. I liked seeing Robert’s personality. His personality as well as all the transgendered people within this film lent a window into their family lives as well as social events. It helped you understand what difficulties they had to overcome as opposed to homosexuals or bisexuals because the doc made it seem like they faced a lot of bias.

I felt like this was a good example of a very thorough documentary with not necessarily the best film quality in the world. It looked at what makes a documentary a documentary. The director was there for most of the important events; but some of the cinematography was lacking.

After watching this I wondered what happened to each of the characters after the filming of this documentary. Did Lola ever find someone new? Has the convention Southern Comfort grown after this documentary?

Chris Landreth's Ryan

This is a short film about an award winning Candian animator named Ryan Larkin. Ryan Larkin created several short films, including a short clip called "Walking" in 1969 and his life has slowly fallen into decline. Chris Landreth interviews Larkin and close friends of Larkin to examine Larkin's life from different perspectives.

Chris Landreth's film is all rendered in CG animation, giving each of the characters a visual depth which is not necessarily something that can be capture just by audio or video. It may be an animated film, is a very interesting example of what forms a documentary can take.

Tarnation

This was an amazing documentary. I can’t believe that he edited this on iMovie. It makes me wish I had recorded all of my life on video (not that mine was as half as interesting as his at ALL) or started to work with film or something a long time ago. Since he had such good access, obviously to this footage as well as to his mother, it seemed like it was very easy to know how to edit this and how to splice them together for dramatic effect.

The whole doc is something like what Hunter S. Thompson might have been like as a child/young-man before he became a huge drug addict rock journalist. I know this may have been because of the speed at which the film he was using was changing rapidly (the video quality changed a lot) but I liked the quality it had.

Even though my life may not have had as much events as his life had, it made me want to record my own experiences. These are the kind of docs which really let you into someone’s life and feels very personal and seems like a way that you can connect with other people. Or know that someone might be experiencing something far worse than you.