What has been your experience with ddocumentary films? Have you seen many? Why? Why not? Do you have a favorite? Why?
How can using documentary films as subject matter for this course help you as a writer? Relate to things we have discussed, or add new ideas from your deep reflection.
Assuming you have watched your film for the Documentary Project, tell us a bit about your response to it, adding some reflective writing on how watching the documentary will help you as a writer and communicator (aka "rhetor").
Response:
Growing up as a child, I had a profound curiosity that I had always set out to pacify. I was always hungry for knowledge and answers to my endless questions. I never had a successful relationship with reading as I was very picky about what I wanted to read and never found reading fun or entertaining. My disinterest in reading but continuing thirst for knowledge lead me to watching documentary films to quench my thirst for knowledge. I began watching documentaries at around twelve years of age and continued doing so to this date. It became a hobby that I practiced monthly. Since then I have seen too many documentaries to count. I actually found the films more interesting than popular cinema because of their factual nature. I find fictional cinema entertaining, but nonfictional documentaries to be truly interesting. I suppose it was the thought that "Wow! These things really happened!" drew me closer to documentary film rather than popular cinema. I have seen so many now that I cannot recall ever choosing a favorite simply because I appreciate them all.
In terms of developing my writing skill, I believe documentary films can aid by improving my ability to interpret, summarize, and analyze someone else's work. To be able to successfully interpret another person's work helps to build a writer's understanding of how other people write and communicate their ideas. By noting and observing how others formulate their ideas through documentary films, writers can convey how they would formulate their ideas and compare and contrast how they differ from how the original author told the story. This is the beauty of summary writing, also known as paraphrasing. Essentially, the novice writer is telling the story of the film in their own words. This form of writing is especially profound when summarizing older films where the language is not as modern as today's. I discovered this immediately as I watched the documentary posted above. Not only is the language in the film from the late 1960s, but it is also in English dialect. As a millennial young adult in modern America, it would be a little challenging for me to paraphrase the documentary in my own words because its is foreign and from a different decade. It is this particular challenge that would help me, and many other young writers like me, to build on their writing skills.
After watching the documentary posted above, I'd have to say that my overall reaction was shock and sadness over the end result of Mr. Crowhurst's journey. The reason I chose this particular documentary as opposed to the other interesting titles is because I am a sailor myself and the idea of sailing around the world alone in a small vessel is not foreign to me. In fact, it was the title "Deep Water" that initiated my decision to choose this particular documentary to focus my writing assignment on. Right away I suspected the title to have nautical ties and after I read the description, I was hooked. In the beginning of the film they introduced the focus of the film and the protagonist. the idea of being a twenty first century spectator of a circumnavigational sailing race in 1968 excited me during the first half hour of the film. I believe I am more connected to the film than most because I sail and I know first hand the difficulties sailors encounter on the high seas. The film was also very educational for me because up until seeing the film, I had no idea England hosted a circumnavigational sailing race in 1968. As the film reached its end, my excitement became a growing concern for the dimming hope of Mr. Crowhurst's success. Learning of his death in the end brought shock and sadness as I tried to imagine how his family and all the people from his town of origin, where he had cast off nine months earlier on his journey, felt in response to Crowhurst's failure and suicide. I could not help but pity him for his efforts to secure a better life for himself and his family. My overall opinion on the film is that I enjoyed the plot because I can relate to it as a sailor, and that it is an inspirational story for anyone who may have the privilege of viewing it.
No comments:
Post a Comment