Reel Injun

 

Reel Injun explores common stereotypical depictions of Native Americans in film, from the noble savage to the drunk indian. Even beyond stereotypes, Hollywood has commonly hired non-Native American actors to play Native American roles (particularly actors of Italian or Jewish descent). The mythic Indian character has evolved over history to fit the dominant culture’s narrative and contribute to an overall sense of “otherness” that the Native American’s embody. Through setting and location, Hollywood has built an unrealistic picture of what a Native Person looks like. The era of various films has played a large role in creating ideas around Native Persons, such as the classic western in creating a demonizing portrayal of Native Americans. These depictions have led to a conflict of identity within many of the Native actors, directors, and critics, however as more and more Natives are finding voices within the production of film the narrative is changing for the better.

When looking at how the setting and location has fueled many stereotypes, we look to the West. Westerns are notorious for their depiction of Native Americans, and it provides a cumulation of stereotypical behaviors, attitudes, and appearance that has fueled the dominant culture’s image of what a Native American should be and look like. The west combines aspects of various tribes into one. While it is mostly influenced by the look of the Plains native peoples through it’s use of feather headdresses and lavish dress, it also incorporates other aspects that is not a part of that tribe’s identity such as headdresses. The natural landscape of the west has also contributed to the mysticism and natural spirituality that the dominant culture believes Native American’s possess. The West was also a historical place of struggle and harsh conditions--therefore putting Native American’s at the helm for this struggle. They symbolically “stood in the way” of the white settler’s access to what rightfully “belonged” to them.

The era of which films were produced has played a large role in the “othering” of the Native American, particularly in early film depictions of the Native American. In the late 1800s-early 1900s, the feelings towards Native Americans were filled with immense amounts of tension. Native Americans were socially disliked and unwanted within society, and this played out in the creation of many myths such as the savage injun and the dead injun. These depictions helped fuel an acceptance of the real-life atrocities that Native American’s faced such as mass genocide and other forms of violence. By limiting portrayals of Native Americans, it created a lens through which Native People were seen as “less than”. By being stoic and emotionless, they were less than human, by being portrayed as a violent they were seen as a threat to white civilization.

The construction of the Hollywood Injun has had a major impact on Native American people in reality. The initial stereotypes such as spirituality have led many of the critics in the film to question their own identity and who they are. The depiction of cowboys vs indians in both play and film have led to an internalized self-loathing. An internalized notion that they are “other”. Starting in the seventies, cultural appropriation became a major problem. From hippy culture adopting the “groovy indian” lifestyle to white romanticism of Native American women, the absorption of mythological ideas of Native Americans has led to conflict between a real identity and that of a false one. Sacheen Littlefeather discusses in the film her confusion with white culture’s adaptation of “Native life”. From dress to way of living, she looked at the free spirited hippies and did not see herself--even though it was “her” they were trying to emulate.

Similar to what is found in Reel Injun, T* will aspire to participate in a dialogue that is currently missing--transgender voices discussing problems with media representation of transgender individuals. While my focus is on new and real life figures, it will nonetheless have a similar feel to it.

Use film commisioners

Something often overlooked for student filmmakers. Use film commissioners - especially if you are not in the middle of New York City or LA. Each country has their own commissioner who often will not get many phone calls or requests. If you present yourself professionally they will be more than willing to spend their time working for you. I mean it, they will literally help you with preproduction and they have connections. They can get you locations, sets, crews, equipment, etc. Usually for no to little cost.

I should have used this resource earlier. It has helped me immensely for preparing to shoot my thesis. I got location I thought were impossible for little cost.

The Obsession With the Death Penalty

Documentaries have always been fascinated witht he death penalty and those who sit on death row. There is something truly unique about waiting to die. There are few other circumstances where a usually healthy person sits still, waiting for that day. Often, they know the exact day.

One example of our fascination is the infamous last meal. Last meals are known for being the very last thing the inmate eats before being executed. The inmate gets to choose whatever they want to eat, within reason.

A photo collection went viral late last spring called "No Seconds" by Henry Hargeaves. He gathered information on infamous inmates last meals. He then recreated what they would look like then photographed each one. The photos are ominous.

This may hint at why there are so many death row films. Errol Morris made the Thin Blue Line. Werner Herzog made Into The Abyss. And do not forget fiction films like Dead Man Walking. It is a powerful subject matter.

Doc Work

During Monday’s lighting workshop with Chris Scarafile, he said something toward the end that really stuck with me.  When someone asked him whether he enjoyed his fiction work or his documentary work better, he answered that without, documentary was where he his heart was. It’s the part of media creation where he can really make a difference, to tell real stories about people and places we otherwise would never be aware of. As he talked about the photos he had, the certainty in his voice made that very clear.

While I had never been much into documentary work myself, a few years ago I came across a small production company called Gnarly Bay. It’s a small group of five young filmmakers who aim to inspire people and tell stories that are worth giving people pause and spread positivity. I didn’t realize it in the moment but the short videos and films I had been watching on their website were documentaries or sorts. The sorts that I began to get really into.

This past Summer, I spent a lot of my free time walking the nature trails in Ithaca and listening to podcasts, two in particular: Radio Lab and Invisibilia. Both of these podcasts tell extremely fascinating stories in a way that is both entertaining and inspirational. It was through these podcasts that I began having the realization that there are so many amazing, heart-wretching, inspirational, shocking, and otherwise fascinating stories out there happening everyday, and if told right, can empower people to change the way they think and to take action. All of these stories floated around my head and I continued to find myself surprised and inspired. It wasn’t until our road trip to Virginia a few weeks ago that I realized my own new passion.

As we drove and talked about the film that were driving to shoot for, Shai said something to me that put to words what I had been feeling. “I want to use media to make people care about people.” That’s it. That’s what all of these videos, these podcasts, these documentaries were doing. They were making people see each other differently. When Chris Scarafile told our class that his heart lay in documentary work because of the real impact it had on other people, I didn’t need the pictures or his voice to convince me that he was telling the truth; I was feeling the same thing and just didn’t know how to express it. This semester, Shai and I are working on a short documentary that’s sole intention is to remind people to reach out and help each other every day in whatever capacity they can, to remind people that others are doing good things despite the terrible news stories and the tragedies that fill our newsfeeds. Shai, Chris, and the guys from Gnarly Bay are right; there are a lot of stories out there that need to be told and documentaries are a great way to do it. As we continue to work on this project, I am realizing more and more that while I had never been much into documentaries before, I’s never too late to realize another passion. I’m glad I still have this opportunity to get my feet wet in this field of work before I graduate because at this rate, I may end do much more documentary work after school than I ever would have thought a few years ago.

Panasonic DVX200

Browsing NoFilmSchool today after not reading the site for well over a month I discovered that Panasonic released a camera called the DVX200. This camera is a successor to the DVX100, a 4:3 CCD camera released in 2002. At its time, the DVX100 was the first camera to support progressive scan video recording at an affordable price. Since then other cameras have been released, such as the HPX500, the HVX200A and the HMC150, which were released in the 2000s.

Several years ago I owned an HMC150 that I bought after saving up for over a year while working at a NAPA Autoparts store in my town. I loved that camera. At the time, I was shooting action sports videos of my friends snowboarding and riding BMX bikes. The HMC150 served a versatile tool for the type of filming I was doing. Action sports filming is a run'n'gun situation. Many times we would arrive at a location and after a few minutes of scoping out shot locations begin to film. Content was key, the more the better (as always), and we never wanted to miss a moment. The first video I have posted above is a edit from footage I shot during one year for my friend Shane. His video was being shot when I bought my camera and is the first one that I shot part of with my HMC150. The second video was made about a few years later. By this time I had become much more adept at using the camera.

The release of the DVX200 is important because it brings 4K quality video recording to the build style that favors action sports videos as well as documentaries as well. Most 4K cameras are not built for run'n'gun style shooting as they require a monitor and a complex setup that is suitable for studio work in a controlled environment. Sports and documentary filmmaking involve quick setups, the ability to zoom easily with a servo zoom motor, attachment of shotgun mics with onboard XLR ports, as well as other features, such as ND filters. All-in-all I'm excited about this camera.

Baraka and Non-narrative Film

As a fan of documentaries, I’ve become fairly well acquainted with the various styles found in the genre. One of the less-discussed styles that greatly intrigues me is non-narrative docs/nonfiction films - particularly those that lack any sort of narration whatsoever. 

The first time I saw this sort of thing was back in middle school, when our music teacher showed us some clips from Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi (we watched it in music class because of its remarkable score by Philip Glass). And as a middle school kid, of course I found it to be the most boring thing I’d ever seen. After that experience I stayed away from the genre until I found Ron Fricke’s 1992 film Baraka a few years later. 

Baraka opened the door for me to the world of non-verbal film. It is a movie shot in 25 different countries on 6 different continents, and it completely avoids the use of dialogue, narration, and narrative. It is comprised of footage of people, nature, vehicles, infrastructure, etc. over a beautiful score. Regarding the film, producer Mark Magidson said “[the goal] was to reach past language, nationality, religion and politics and speak to the inner viewer.” 

Baraka is remarkably captivating, yet in a different way from most films. There is no story to become invested in, or characters you get to know. However the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, and the film keeps your interest by providing vastly different aesthetics as locations change. Here is an example, in a particularly depressing scene:

The film was shot in 70mm and later scanned at a ridiculous 8k for their 2008 blu-ray remaster. Even though I (or pretty much anyone, for that matter) am not getting anywhere near that resolution on my TV, it still looks absurdly good and it's certainly one of the best blu-ray film restorations I've seen. Take a look at the original trailer vs. a re-cut trailer with the restored footage: 

I highly suggest checking out the Baraka blu-ray, it's good stuff. A sequel to Baraka called Samsara was released a few years ago, and it is equally as stunning. 

Documentaries

Documentary [dok-yuh-men-tuh-ree] : based on or re-creating an actual event, era, life story, etc., that purports to be factually accurate and contains no fictional elements.

Although this class is focused on narratives, I felt like documentaries essentially do the same thing. They tell a story to the audience. They introduce a world, a conflict, and how it can be resolved or has been resolved. Narratives do the same, with an opening scene that is completely opposite from the ending scene, and a climax in the middle. The reason why I'm writing this is because recently, I researched more into documentaries and how to make a good one for my trip to Myanmar this winter. I feel like the same elements that make a documentary can also be applied to making a narrative film.

How to make an effective documentary

1. What is the message you want to convey?

I think this is an important question to ask yourself. Before you even think about what equipment you need, you need to find out what the focus of the documentary is going to be, and why you're filming this in the first place. What are the issues you want to address and offer solutions to? Is it going to be worthy of your audience's time? And make sure the topic you choose is also something that you're interested in, as well as enlightening and enganging the audience. Generally, documentaries are about controversial issues, and as well as educational. If you're going to provoke, fully explain.

2. No one likes to be lectured

Although it's the documentaries job to inform, you don't want to bore the audience and make them feel like they're in a classroom. This can also be applied to films as well: Don't tell, show. People don't go to see films to have a person tell them what the film is about. We go to see movies to see the emotions and the drama and the action. With documentaries, you don't want to lecture your audience and over inform them on the subject. Instead, you want to inspire them to learn more about your documentary and be involved as well. 

3. Outline, outline, outline

It honestly can't be emphasized enough. Outlining what you want to include in your documentary or film can help you organize your shots and time schedule as well. You don't wanna be out in the middle of the day ready to shoot, and not know what you need to film. Along with that, it's better to overshoot than to undershoot. You want to have more shots to work and edit with, especially if you're travelling to a location and you'll only be able to shoot certain days. Re-shooting sucks, and no one wants to go through all that effort, only to not have enough shots. 

4. Music 

Music can completely change the mood of a scene, even manipulate how the audience can react towards a clip because of the sound. It's one thing to enhance the scene with audio, and another to alter it's intent. When editing, it's important to ask if the shot can speak for itself. If it can't and you need music to alter it in anyway, chances are you're going to ruin it and make the audience feel disconnected and even feel different than what they were supposed to feel. 

Reenactmetns in Documentaries

Reenactments and documentaries have gone hand in hand since the inception of the genre. Reenactments, although often unappreciated, take the viewer a step further than just hearing the story being told; they place the audience into the story. This, when done well, results in an unbelievable viewing experience that can beautifully blend the lines between documentary and narrative film
making.

In my opinion, When talking about reenactments in documentaries you can really only start with one film, Errol Morris’ 1988 film Thin Blue Line. The Documentary is an investigation of the murder of a Dallas Police officer, Robert Wood, in 1976.  David Harris testified that Randall Adams, who was with Harris the night of the killing, was person guilty of shooting the officer in cold blood. The film progresses to show the series of events, like poor timing, misinformation, ulterior motives, and downright lies, that lead to a wrongful conviction. The story behind the documentary is fascinating in and of its self and should be viewed just for that, however for me the true gems of the film are the multiple reenactments of the murder. The each reenactment is shown from a different witnesses’ point of view, and changes slightly with each of their interpretations of the crime. This was done so successfully that it allowed the audience to better understand the case, separate facts from fiction for themselves, and come to their own conclusion about who was actually guilty.

            The reenactments in Thin Blue Line are vastly different from the reenactments of most film and television documentaries. Having them shot in very low key lighting, and having characters in question silhouetted gave the documentary’s cinematography an almost Film-Noir feeling. These techniques are effectively used for a number of reasons. First, and perhaps most obviously, it helps set the over all mood of the film; uncertainty in regards to the case. The low-key lighting also adds a stark contrast between the interviews and the reenactments; while the silhouetted framing of the suspects reinforces the idea the viewer has limited information about what actually happened. Ironically Thin Blue Line was not considered for Best Documentary, because according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the reenactments made the movie “a fiction film,” not a documentary, I however strongly disagree.

            Another documentary with reenactments worthy of mentioning is, my personal favorite documentary, The Stories We Tell directed by the talented actress, and arguably more talented writer and director Sarah Polley. The movie is multidimensional and has many twists, turns, and subplots, but is for the most part about the life of Sarah’s mother, Diane and an affair that she may or may not have had which may or may not have produced Sarah. The movie also deals with her family’s different interpretations and memories of the story and the past, dealing with the main theme of the film, the faultiness and unreliability of memory. The story of Sarah’s mother’s life is complexly beautiful, sorrowful and somehow simultaneously joyful, and was portrayed excellently in the reenactments.

            However, the fascinating thing about the reenactments in this film are the fact that most people don’t even realize that they are reenactments; they look exactly like old home movies. Sarah shot the reenactments on a Super 8 camera, mimicking, almost exactly, the way her brother shot the real home footage as a child (some of which is also in the film). The painstaking efforts to find actors and actress who look almost identical to the actual family members also didn’t help the viewer realize they were not watching real home movies form Sarah’s child hood. Sarah at first indented for the reenactments to be “hokey” and obviously not real, but she soon changed her mind. This decision was a brilliant one because it really adds the  theme that memories are not always all them seem, or as reliable as we think they are.

Of cores, crappy reenactments can be just as entertaining…

                   

Exit Through the Gift Shop: A Hoax?

I’ve always been really interested in street art, especially the artist who guys by Banksy. This past week, while my friend and I were on netflix looking for a movie to watch, we found a film called Exit Through the Gift Shop. The synopsis said the film was done by Banksy, and about a current street artist  named "Mr. Brainwash" and how he came to be. We were more then excited to watch it, however unfortunately it wasn’t anything like we expected. 

It told the story about French filmmaker Thierry Guetta, who was always filming everything in his life that he partook in. While filming as usual, he realizes that the street artist “Invader” is related to him, and he becomes infatuated. He soon starts to contact Banksy and follows him around and films him. After this, he begins his own street art career, however he isn’t actually making the street art; he is having other people make it for him. Strangely he gets huge attention because Banksy promotes him. The art is not original, and he basically did nothing to create the art. This made street art seem like a joke, and all those people who came and paid money were basically goofed. I was kind of confused whether this was all a hoax ,and whether street art in general was a joke. 

My friend and I were both uneasy after watching it, and we both agree that “Mr. Brainwash” (Thierry Guetta) was a fake, and the whole movie wasn’t real. I don’t even think Banksy was involved in it, seeing as we don’t see him at all, just an anonymous face and voice claiming to be him. Although there are many different perspectives of the film, I definitely think that the movie is a joke and makes fun of the seriousness that can be attributed to street art. But, if you don’t believe me see the film for yourself and you can decide. The film does a good job with educating you with the history of street art, and where it's so popular. I'm still a fan of street art, and will continue to partake in the process around Ithaca, however this film did not do a very good job in motivating me to continue to do so. 

How Are Movie Ratings Determined??

This is a documentary about the process of how movies are rated. It features producers, directors, and actors, that have been part in making movies that most of us have never heard of. Why? Because they received an NC-17 rating and got little to no funding for advertising.

This documentary tries to uncover the mysteries of why some of these movies got that NC-17 rating, and just how the process works in general. As of the time this was filmed (2006) the whole process was 100% secret, and nobody knew the identities of those who rated films. This documentary hires a private investigator to find these identities, and also interviews producers, directors, and actors as mentioned above. It compares side-by-side scenes from movies that received an R, and those that received an NC-17; which are extremely similar in terms of content, camera angles, etc. It raises an obvious question as to why, and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is very vague and confusing when they attempt to give answers.

The documentary also reveals that in the USA, violence is basically unlimited, while sexual situations are highly censored. However, in European countries, they are nearly the complete opposite, by being very liberal when it comes to sex, and very suppressive on violence. Again, why? The documentary answers the questions as best as it can, but in the end, the MPAA is still very secretive, confusing, and vague. But what it does a great job of is showing the major inconsistencies in the rating system and puts the right questions out there to hopefully change the system for the better. It is a tough topic though, since it does flirt with the boundaries of the First Amendment and censorship, as well as give a general indication of the content in the movies being rated so that parents can choose what they let their children watch. The latter was the original purpose for movie ratings, but does the MPAA do a good job at it? This documentary would say "no," and they do give convincing evidence of why.

This Film is not yet Rated is an award-winning documentary, that I feel is very valuable to Park students who aspire to be in the film industry later on in their careers. It even ends with quite a big f**k you to the MPAA, which I found quite hilarious, and definitely worth watching (you can find it on Netflix). However, I will end by saying that it does show the full uncensored scenes from the NC-17 movies as examples, but we're all adults and professionals here, right?

Film Crunch Time

During our first Fiction Feild class we discussed "crunch time" or the time when you need to stay up for hours and work  extra hard to complete a project.  I've learned over this past summer that there is no "crunch time" like "film crunch time."  I'm sure we've all had our fair share of late night essay writing and pre-test cramming, but it wasn't until this summer that I truly had to push myself to the absolute maximum to make a deadline.

This summer I was fortunate enough to study at the Hanyang University of Seoul, South Korea for approximately a month.  During my time in Korea I took a course called Cross Cultural Documentary Studies.  The goal of this class was to make a short documentary in only a month.  Like any class, I thought that despite the time extreme constraints with good planning and hard work my group and I would be able to ease through, get our sleep, and not have to go crazy and stay up for hours the night before.  Initially our group was ahead of the game.  We came up with our topic and began research.  We got a Korean translator and began to set up interviews.  Our planning was nearly perfect, wasting no time.  We simultaneously collected b-roll of anything and everything we thought could be useable.   Finally we were able to conduct all our interviews.  Just like that we were done shooting.  "Wow a whole week and a half to edit, we'll be done with time to spare" we thought.  

In post-production I served as Co-editor alongside my friend Colton, also from Ithaca College.  The days pasted as we spend hours and hours sorting footage and translating interviews.  Soon we found ourselves editing into the night just to keep on track.  Suddenly our perfect schedule had fallen apart. Even with the extreme amount of time we had allotted to edit it wasn't enough.  Before we knew it we had two days left until the project was due for a screening!  Unlike many other classes assignments where teachers can give extensions and accept late work, we had no such room for error.  The final projects were due for the screening the day before we got on our planes to go back home.  It was "crunch time" in those two days I stayed awake for 37 hours and edited for approximately 23 of them, only interrupted to eat and attend my other classes for Hanyang in the morning.  Eventually after many sleepless nights and more "Hot 6 Energy Drinks" than I could count we had finished and come up with a great piece.

It wasn't until my first serious film project that I learned what real "crunch time" was…film crunch time.  The hours and hours I put into the project had produced a 13minute 27second documentary I was proud of.  I feel this experience has taught me a lot as a film maker and also a lot as a student.  I have learned the value of having a plan and keeping organized.  I have learned that in this field of film, documentary, and television punctuality is key.  However most importantly I have learned that a deadline is a deadline (invest in energy drinks accordingly).

Theodore Case Film Festival

Hello Everyone! This is my first blog in the whole world! It's not that exciting, but there is a first for everything I suppose. So my topic for this blog shall be (drum roll please),  Theodore Case Film Festival in Auburn, Ny at Auburn Public Theater. The Auburn Public Theater is owned by one of my former mentors/ professors at Cayuga Community College where I just transferred from! THIS IS THEIR WEBSITE!  The Video above is a virtual tour of the theater where the films submitted to the Theodore Case Film Festival are viewed for the festival. Over the past summer I entered one of my recent short films called Pleasuring Grief. It was selected for the festival and was played on the big screen. I knew many of the other local film makers who had entered their animations, documentaries and films. One of them was my mentor Mike "DooWittle" Widger who I have been working with in his new film studio and suite in East Syracuse Ny. I thought I'd share with everyone some of their entries and mine as well! I also hope to see some of you entering into this film festival next year it happens around June every year. This festival is also where I met a recent alumni of Ithaca entering a couple of his short films, J. R. Newell. There were a lot of Ithaca student entries other than him and myself. I hope you enjoy the videos!

The Boys of Oswego, Documentary, Oswego State hockey team!

Masters of their time, Documentary, A band in the recording studio comes up with a brilliant sound.

Office MVP, short film, shows the human hard ships of a working class average office man.

Ashtrays are Everywhere, Short film, a man in his domain!

American Beauty French New Wave, short film/reenactment of American Beauty, one of J.R. Newell's short films

How to be Alone, Short film, J.R.'s second film entry

Pleasuring Grief, short film, MY SHORT FILM

written and directed by Lucy Lynne' Hall!

Movies on Education

I'm planning on visiting my old high school over the break to help out with some stuff and when I went to their front page, they were advertising two movie screenings at the school for students (which I've never heard of at my high school before). Although they screen on days I won't be there I was wondering if anyone has heard of these titles: Race to Nowhere / 2 Million Minutes. The first is a documentary about the pressures of the school system on students, teachers, and parents, while the latter is about how students spend their time in school. At least, that is what their descriptions say.

What is creepy is that it seems we just had a discussion along these lines in class today. You don't have any connections in Vermont, do you Arturo?

Without Bias

I'm a big fan of ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series. I just recently watched another one called "Without Bias." It is the story of Len Bias, a University of Maryland basketball player who was drafted second overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA Draft, but died of a cocaine overdose only two days after. The story is told in a such a way that I really felt connected with what happened. There are interviews from teammates who were there the night of the incident, audio of the 911 call and other features that make you seem like you are reliving the story. Basically they do a great job storytelling in the documentary and I would recommend the 30 for 30 series for any sports or documentary fan because they are extremely well done.