http://www.creativedc.org/2007/02/making-your-documentary-matter/ Showcasing and inspiring creative living in Washington, DC Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:46:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 http://www.creativedc.org/2007/02/making-your-documentary-matter/comment-page-1/#comment-150 John A Fri, 02 Feb 2007 15:22:00 +0000 http://dev.creativedc.org/?p=132#comment-150 I agree with this one. I'm a wannabe avid documentary watcher (or at least as avid as Netflix and my wife will let me be), and I've been seeing more and more in the past 5-10 years that exist ONLY to further an agenda. More often than not, I lose interest in these about halfway through. (Part of that is that I'm fairly moderate, and there is no real "moderate" agenda I'm trying to advance... Maybe the moderate agenda is just "Everyone shut up, I'm trying to read." :)<br />A good documentary doesn't need to force feed a message. (Michael Moore, for instance, is a decent filmmaker but not a good documentarian.) The most effective documentaries prompt you to make your own decisions about the topic rather than manipulate you into a position. <br />With some of the best ones, I can sit and watch it with my father (who is politically a little to the right of Goebbels) and have us both enjoy it, even if we come to different conclusions. (Errol Morris' Fog of War was the last one I remember that had that effect. I think it's hard to argue against Morris as the best documentarian of all time.)<br />Or such are my thoughts. I agree with this one. I’m a wannabe avid documentary watcher (or at least as avid as Netflix and my wife will let me be), and I’ve been seeing more and more in the past 5-10 years that exist ONLY to further an agenda. More often than not, I lose interest in these about halfway through. (Part of that is that I’m fairly moderate, and there is no real “moderate” agenda I’m trying to advance… Maybe the moderate agenda is just “Everyone shut up, I’m trying to read.” :)
A good documentary doesn’t need to force feed a message. (Michael Moore, for instance, is a decent filmmaker but not a good documentarian.) The most effective documentaries prompt you to make your own decisions about the topic rather than manipulate you into a position.
With some of the best ones, I can sit and watch it with my father (who is politically a little to the right of Goebbels) and have us both enjoy it, even if we come to different conclusions. (Errol Morris’ Fog of War was the last one I remember that had that effect. I think it’s hard to argue against Morris as the best documentarian of all time.)
Or such are my thoughts.

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