Moving Images, Understanding Media

220 Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding Media

would give an appropriate structure to the motion picture. In that way, the

viewer could begin to link the images on the screen and make sense of the

ideas they expressed in a thoughtful way.

Shaping Reality

Th e simplest decisions shape the moving pictures that are captured by the

camera. Every choice for cinematography and sound recording determines

the “reality” seen on the screen. Once these images become a record of

reality, they are to be transformed even further by editing and other post-

production techniques. Th e documentary fi lmmaker must continually ask:

How do I record an accurate representation of this scene or this person? How

do I off er appropriate perspective? What are the important facts that must

be provided? For his 1974 Academy Award-winning documentary Hearts

and Minds, director Peter Davis wove his portrait of the Vietnam War from

the testimonies of civilians, active soldiers, veterans, and leaders from both

the United States and Asia. Th e fi lm has been noted as a landmark for its

“evenhandedness in counterpointing the American and the Vietnamese

experience,” as stated by fi lm journalist Judith Crist.

Before you even turn on a camera, it is vital to consider core ethical

issues that documentary fi lmmakers share with journalists, historians, artists,

and scientists. When fi lmmakers record documentary images, what is the

relationship of the images to their subjects? Will the people, creatures, or

settings in the movie be harmed in any way? Will any individuals face negative

eff ects or unwarranted attention, or are they freely accepting of their presence

in this motion picture? Or does the historical, sociological, or journalistic

importance of these moving images merit their existence?

Figure 6-11 Filmmaker

Amanda Micheli, whose

documentaries include

Double Dare and La

Corona, shooting in diffi cult

conditions. (Photo by Tecia

Esposito, Courtesy Runaway

Films)

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