Week 1/21

In discussing perpective, the first idea that comes into my head has to do with the different perspectives of film (subjective, objective, and bird's eye view). Filmmakers use different angles and point of views for different effects. A landscape or bird's-eye-view shot may be used as an establishing shot in a film to display the general location (city, train or cars, farm or city, etc.). An objective view makes the viewer feel like they are a part of the film with the actor speaking to them. A subjective view may be used at different angles (looking down upon or up to) with the characters in the film. Doing so can either give or take power away from the character and present them in an perspective the director wants you to see him/her as. This is very similar to the way an artist paints a picture in a desired perspective.
We have been discussing the realism of documentary films. It is impossible to completely portray history because a camera lense can only show so much. Modern technology can never fully reproduce a moment in time for a specific individual. For example, a documentary about the life of a tribe in Ecuador will only show parts of their life at a time as the director or cameraman see it. We will not have the ability to turn around to see what is behind the camera. We can try to back away and focus the lense on one family or part of the group, but the camera can not catch the total surroundings or feelings of the atmosphere there. A documentary can also be edited to fit the beliefs of the filmmaker; the film can only be so authentic.