Presentation David MacDougall, Manchester July 2007

All forms of representation are interpretative: Choices of: What to film Framing Movements Culture Cinematography These are all different modes of interpretation We can therefore make different separations of approaches: We can distinguish different modes of camera-use for different purposes. We draw upon them according to our : Responsive Interactive and Constructive modes. Responsive Mode The term observational, implies detachment, which is often not the case. Observational is personal, participatory responses to events. Responsive means that it is observing + must also respond + interprete. It may mean though: non intervention, non-interference. Interactive Mode Does involve intervention. Many events would not have occured without the filmmaking Here we have to explore issues of : Intersubjctivity The contact between filmmaker and subjects These issues are often discussed in discourses comparing direct cinema and cinema verite. Where the camera is regarded as a catalyst for events to happen. Constructive mode The constructive mode of interpretation reassembles observed events. Can be seen as a non-realist mode of filmmaking Formally abstract Filmic construction Sentences of observed elements Responsive mode: In the responsive mode we see an acceptance of the presence of the filmmaker participation in events

the filmmaker iss open to what is happening and to relationships with eachother, and has the ability to follow the unexpected shifts in eventss. When one feels one is filming effectively, one needs to have a sense that one can anticipate events that will happen, being at the right time at the right place. It is intuitive. There is a emotional synchrony with what haappens, suddenly we feel a national flow, like playing a musical instrument. There is a degree of opportunism in that: ceassing the telling detail. Non interactiveness meanss non-assertiveness. Not disrupting events. The filmmaker is present but not determining the situation. Filmmaking is not the main event! The filmmaker has to be sensitive to significance of the eventss. Question in her mind what to film next. The filmmaker has a thematic matrix in her mind (themes that have become apparent in the research-period) This matrix is evolving and has to be modified constantly. We have to understand at some point how events link up with eachother, to know what we need to understand of a certain event. Each action implies a context, we need to reveal that signifying context in the film. There are also social dramas (Turner) and existing patterns we can follow. This type of filming needs relationships of trust, within which a natural interchange is possible. It creates a physical space that dictates a comfortable distance from the persons we film. Such distances are obstructed by a tripod. When filming children we should choose an eyelevel position. The camera has to become a non-theratening item. The camera can become a catalyst as well which makes it into an interactive mode. Rouch claimed that people are more hounest when challenged to speak in front of a camera. People feel a historical importance in that, it is imperative to be truthful. When speaking of introducing reflexivity in a film, the filmmakerss presence becomes obvious in the filmmateriaal, through his voice, through a voice over, etc Constructive mode Through this mode there is an intensification of the elements possible. An abstraction of elements the filmmaker wants to stress as a result of analysis. It is a non-realisst mode because the filmmaker applies distortion for a purpose. He can emphasize certain elements. This formal cinematographic aspects are emphasized. Dai Vaughan referred to this mode as: the aim of this mode is not to record something but to give an impression of it. It is a summarization of events, an essentialisation. Abstarction, re-digetion in a more abstarct mode. We think here more in ecxistential, intelectual terms, it makes us think again about kinds of knowledge that we can communicate through film.