Jean Rouch

This week, Travis, Mark and I looked at the works of Jean Rouch.

"The observer is finally coming down from his ivory tower; his camera, his tape recorder, and his projector have led him- by way of a strange initiation path – to the very heart of knowledge and, for the first time, his work is not being judged by a thesis committee but by the very people he came to observe” pg. 96

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v14179347tanDtaPa?h1=Jean+Rouch+%3A+Les+maîtres+fous+-+The+mad+masters

This video example shows Rouch's engagement with locals in creating a film project that is relevant to them. 

“He is no longer just himself but he is a ‘mechanical eye’ accompanied by an ‘electonric ear’ it is this bizarre state of transformation in the filmmaker that I have called , by analogy with phenomena of possession the cine-entrance" Pg. 90

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jzAegaqqf4#t=07m15s

This video example shows Rouch explain and draw attention to the film tools used in the making of his film.

Big Brother is Watching You

For our Visual Research Methods course, Elaine and I worked together to uncover the experiences and reactions of people who are filmed without consent – examining the aspect of video surveillance.

We followed three groups of people around with a camera until the point where they were consciously aware of the camera.  At this point we stopped and asked them three questions.  We asked them: If they were aware of being filmed? How they thought they were being represented? And as soon as they were aware of the camera what they changed about they moved/looked.

We first interviewed Pablo, mainly because he was sitting next to us.  It took him a few minutes to realize the camera was on him before visibly getting flustered looking at and away at the camera as in embarrassment.

 

The second interview was with the ‘guy from the cafeteria’ . Interestingly, even though he said that he was not bothered by being filmed, there were blatant instances of him fixing his glasses, wiping his shirt, and shrugging away form the camera.  His body language alone was symbolic of his discomfort. He also immediately thought he was doing something wrong and that the purpose of our filming was surveillance as a type of secret police – a fear that we had found something amiss and were sure to report it with our footage.

Our third interview represented self-reflexivity. While being interviewed ourselves by another group, we were ‘secretly’ filming them. Elaine, in answering the questions of the interview, told them straight out that she was using her camera to interview them, yet they did not notice until after our interview part was over.  After realizing they were being filmed, the group was visibly flustered, although Jung-Hsien stated that she was impressed we were reversing the gaze.

After completing this project we were left to reflect…

What is the purpose in recording people without their consent? What does it prove, investigate, answer?

When would we use tactics such as this and what concerns are there to think about such as ethics – are we putting anyone (us included) in danger? What is happening to the subject in terms of representation? Are they being realistically portrayed or are we sublimating some form of representation on them in the way in which we frame the “hidden” camera and then in editing?

Documentary Proposal

           I have always had an interest both personally and academically in using the media to raise awareness of injustices, and exploring the media as an activist tool which can educate, motivate, and inspire people to take action regarding a certain social cause. In following this, I am proposing to make a social documentary that highlights how people interact with social change on a personal level.

           I think that it would be interesting to go to a protest or demonstration happening in the next couple weeks and make a documentary that draws attention not only to the issue being advocated for, but also the experience of the protesters: the challenges that they face (any subsequent police activity), the location of the protest, and any socio-economic factors that might influence the protestors or the protest itself.  The documentary would portray a snapshot of people coming together as a community to ultimately raise awareness of something they are passionate about and the process/journey of making it happen.

           In doing a quick Google search I found that on March 9, there is a march and rally to stop violence against women hosted by Women Organized to Resist and Defend.  While this Saturday is probably too soon to put together a group and organize a documentary project, I plan to keep my eyes open for upcoming events similar to this. (If anyone is partial to an organization or knows of any protests that will be happening I am flexible about the topic!)

           From a visual standpoint, I think it will be interesting to look at the different signs and posters being used as well as looking at what is being chanted/said.  Of course this is a super early proposal and I am not set on this idea.  I am open to working collaboratively with people who have their own spin on this topic or completely other suggestions!