unprivileged camera style - david macdougall

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7/29/2019 Unprivileged Camera Style - David Macdougall http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/unprivileged-camera-style-david-macdougall 1/4 Unprivileged Camera Style Author(s): David MacDougall Reviewed work(s): Source: RAIN, No. 50 (Jun., 1982), pp. 8-10 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3031772 . Accessed: 16/03/2013 14:52 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. .  Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to RAIN. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded on Sat, 16 Mar 2013 14:52:16 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: Unprivileged Camera Style - David Macdougall

7/29/2019 Unprivileged Camera Style - David Macdougall

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/unprivileged-camera-style-david-macdougall 1/4

Unprivileged Camera Style

Author(s): David MacDougallReviewed work(s):Source: RAIN, No. 50 (Jun., 1982), pp. 8-10Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3031772 .

Accessed: 16/03/2013 14:52

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of 

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

 Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve

and extend access to RAIN.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded on Sat, 16 Mar 2013 14:52:16 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Unprivileged Camera Style - David Macdougall

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inLondon heWedding amelsandLorang's Way, owardshe ndof 1978suppose,twasDai Vaughneditorfmany fRoger raef's ilms) ho

summoned p VirginiaWoolfto explainhowLorang's Wayhad affected im.

Colin Young

UNPRIVILEGEDCAMERA STYLEDavidMacDougallsDirectorf the ilmUnit, ustraliannstitutefAboriginalStudies, anberra. hese otes reexcerptsrom longer aper n

preparation.Film-makinganbe a protractedprocess, ithong elays etweenhootina filmnd ditingt.Hence ilm-makersare pt omake heir iscoveriesttheworst ossible ime:when he ilmsn'tyefinished,utwhent'stoo ate ogobackand hoottdifferently.iscoveriesfthikindmay xplain hyomany ilmseemlike neasyompromisesrreworkingsf'found'material.

In1968,fter ehadfinishedhootingToLive With erds nUganda,wemadea hardlyovel iscovery,ut newhichsuggestedome fthe deas willmention

here.Wehadbeen ilmingnJie om-pounds, hich ere urroundedyheavystockadesf nterwoventicks. neenteredy rouchingndpassing hrougha lowdoorway.,Inside,he reawas ikerooflessoom,with clean-sweptarthenfloor. avingmanaged o enter ith urfilmingquipment egenerallyettledgratefullynoneplace.Thiswefoundlscsuited urfilming.tgenerallyrovidedanadequate ield fview ndwasaccep-table otheJie,who lsospentmuch ftheirimenfixedositionsround heircompounds.

As webecamemore xperienced,e

beganooking or he ptimumositionnwhich oplace urselves. hiswasthepoint'fromhich ewould ave nunimpedediew fmost ocial ctivities.Weoftenemainedhere,ut ometimeswe hiftedo a second'amera osition,either ecause he entre fsocial nter-action adshiftedr for he uitedifferenteason hatweknew secondcameranglewould euseful henhetime ame oedit he ilm.

Often, or xample, conversationviewedromnly neposition asunsatisfactoryecause ertainersons ere eenat the xpensefothers, hose ackswereto us. twas also difficulto recordhesteps f processikebeer-makingromoneposition henach tep eemedorequirets wnparticularngle. inally,whenittleeemed o behappeningnd hecamera roundn andon,weknew hatlaterwewould eableto, ut o a shotfromnothernglewithoutwkwardnessor a sense fdisjunction.t east hatwaswhatwe hought.

Thesenotionsersistedhroughhesynchronizingndviewingfourrushes.Wewere leasedwithhematerialndwere onfidentecouldusethebest f tina film.twasonlywhenwe tarted

editinghatwebegan ohavedoubts.Thesewould tart henwehadusedlong ake f a conversation,adthen uttoa shot rom second amera osition,andhadthen eturnedo the irstngleagain. or ome easontwasn'tworking,despitehieact hat his atternf nter-

8

cuttingialoguewasthemainstayfmostofthe ilms ehad seennour ives.

Reluctantly,e bandonedhisapproach. ormany equences e ended

updiscardingll ofthe ootage romeithernepositionr the ther,lthoughboth ontainedaluablematerial.

Atfirst henwe sked urselves hathadhappened, eblamedhe echnicalframingf our hots. aterwebegan oseethat hiswasn't he ealproblem.heproblem as a contradictionnpremises:denyingo the udiencen the nehandwhatwe had been fferingtonthe ther.

Whatwe were ryingo givewasa senseofbeing resentna Jie ompound,situationnwhichew f ourviewerswould ver ind hemselves.herewereseveral easons or his to counteract

prevalentepresentationsf exotic'people, oexpresshe ealitiesffield-work,o recordnformalspects fculture,oallowndividualsoemergeratherhan ypes and numberfthings ade tpossible: ur ubjects'acknowledgementf ourpresence,urlong nd taticameraakes,ndthe erylow nergy-levelfmuchhatwefilmed.We were ot inglingutdramaticubjectsfor ttentiono much s openinghe ilmuptoa kind f nti-subject-matter:apparentlynconsequentialventshatweremoreikewhat newouldwitnessnordinaryxperiencehan hoose s film

subjects.By ntercuttinghots romwo rmorecamera ositions e foundwewere akingaway hatmmediacyy nvokingstyleof fictionalilm-makingncompatibleit^hthe deaofrealpeople ittingna com-pound ilmingther ealpeople.We wereaware hat he onventionsffiction adconsiderablynfluencedocumentaryfilms,utwehadunderestimatedheirsignificancend he xtento which eandother ilm-makersadbeen aughtoaccepthemsappropriate.

The term rivileged amera nglewasoften sed n discussionsfHollywoodfilmso describe camera ositionhatcouldnotbeoccupiedneverydayife ashot rom fireplace,ookinghroughheflames,r a shot hrough mirrorrwall,orperhaps distortedrsurrealisticeffect,,ike shot rom he apof a fatman,ookingphisnostrils.uch hotswere ommonnthrillersndpsycholo-gical ramas fthe 940s ndreachedback oGermanxpressionism.utprivilegedamera nglesrereallyhecommonoinage f fictionilmsndonly

become oticeablehenheytrain heaudience'sredulity.ressed littlefurtherhey ecomeokes, ike heopeningf TheTinDrum,nwhich eand ittle skarookdown ismother'sbirth anal owardsworld e regardswith orror.

Most hotsnfictionilmsreprivilegedbecause heres noacknowledgedobserver,nd nany aseonecannotimaginenunknownerson eing ivensuch ccess oother eople'sives. hesefilmsosit n nvisiblebserver ithspecial owers hichmergehe onscious-ness fthe uthorndaudience. heview-pointsrarelyhat f a character.rameenlargementsromictionilmsmake tevidenthatmost oint-of-viewhotsreinfact nly nalogues fthe iewpointf

a character.heeyes fthe ctors arelylookdirectlynto he ameras theywould f twereubstitutedor neoftheirnterlocutors.ecause fthis,documentaryilmsanadopt he hootingstyle ffiction ithouthe ontradictionthat he amera as ctuallybecome'non-fictionalerson.

Theeditingffictionilmslso takesliberties,utwithime nd pace atherthanwithonventionsfprivacy.t sunderstoodhatwithinramaticequencesnotime eed lapse t a cut, ndthispower sconfirmedy he ontinuityfthe oundtrack.hus he ye fthe

observerhiftsnstantaneouslyo newpositions ithouthenecessityftravellingetweenhem. elevisiondirectorsow witchrom necameraoanother,ut he ffectf nstantaneousswitchings a conceptual,ot technolo-gical reation. lthough ultipleamerashavebeen sed ince he arly ays fthecinema,he ffectsusually chievedyseries fseparateameraet-ups.he deaisolder han ilms, hichimply atchedimages o an nventionffiction.

Fiction ilmsre xperiencesfmagicalobservation,efyingrdinaryhysicallimitsnd formsf ccountability.fthey

have ften een alled reamliket sbe-cause hey ive s a sense funtrammelledwill.

* * *

When eople egan akingnapshotsjustbefore he urnfthe enturyheywould ay,Look atthe amera.' ater,respondingoa newmpulse,hey egantosay,Don't ook t the amera.Go onwith hat ouwere oing.'Theywantedphotographsf ife, ut sthoughhoto-graphyadnot ccurred.nproducingthis ffecthey ere ed rrevocablyntofiction.

Somethingimilarappenednfilm.rhedirectnessfmany ftheprimitive'Films adebetween895 nd1920^esultedromnacknowledgementftheict ffilming.ohnsonndGibson'shiving awthorn 1906), neofthemost,xtraordinaryarly ilms,hows eople)aradingutoftheirlaces f work-arryinghe ools ndproductsftheirrades. hey re lsoup to variousricks.Fheyudge nd rip ach otherwhile

rhildreneapandgyraten the oreground,~ullingaces t hecamera. he ilms

iboutts ubjects,ut t s alsoabout he

pecific istorical oment hen cinema-ographerame otown.Later uch cenes isappearedromhe

inema, anishedy professionalismvhich iewednynternalvidencefirn-makings anaestheticrror.Asyou

:now,'aidEBasil rightn 1969,inthe

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old documentaryays, as soon as someoilooked t the camera,you threw hat hoout because he llusion freality ad be(lost.' Levin 1971: 41) Documentary ilmwere upposed o be distillationsf truthtranscendinghehuman gencieswhichproduced hem.Makingthemwas amatter f high eriousnessnd carefulcomposition. xceptwhen ventswereevenmoredramatic han film-makingt-self, s in theatres fwar, ife toppedwhen he ameras ppeared. t had to be

started p artificially hen he camerasrolled, nd so another omponent ffiction as added: peoplebecameactorsimpersonatinghemselves.

VedMehta has described ow televisioperpetuates form f fictionalizedocu-mentary the ntimate ortrait byrelentlessly oulding tssubjects o itsneeds.The filmwas Chachaji, MyPoorRelation:A MemoirbyVedMehta abouthis second cousinBahaliRam, forwhichMehtawas hired s thewriter.

'Tell Daddy Chopratopush openthscreen oor and summonChacha angivehim n errand,'Billsays. Tell

Chacha tokeepon turninghepagesof the edger ntilhe's called.'

I tellChopraandChachajiwhat 4do, andBill shoutsBoard!'

Chopta pushesopenthe creendoor,as instructed,nd callsout,'Lalaji, come nside.Bring edger.'

BeforeChopra can finish is ines,Bill yells Cut!' Chachaji spoiled theshotby umping p at the oundofChopra opening hedoor, nstead fwaiting orChopratocall him.

And so themorning oes,untilwethinkwefinally aveenoughgoodmaterial omake a sequenceof

Chachaji being enton an errand.(1980: 63-4)

Implicitna camera tyles a theory fknowledge. ritish ocumentaryilms fthe1930s nd 40s were oncernedwithessences, nd thecamerawas onlyone ofseveral ools for onveying hatonealreadyknew bout ife. ColinYounghasobserved hat herewas an ArtDirectorGrierson's rifters1929); and inNightMail (1936)therewas no contradictionseen n theuse of studio echniques ogetthe hotsof letter-sortingn route oEdinburgh.A railway arriagewas put uron blocks, it, ndrockedrhythmicallyy

stagehands.Oneview s that he aimsofdocu-

mentary ere head of itsmeans,anditwasn't prepared o wait.Synchronoussoundrecordingutside he tudiowas anadventure, ttemptednonly fewdocu-mentary ilms ikeHousing Problems(1935). Documentaries ad a hard timecompetingwithdirect xperience r,moreimportantlyne suspects,with he concentrated nergy f story ilms.Authenticitybecame a matter f effect,s is madeclea:in The Technique f FilmEditing,published n 1953 and written nd com-piled by Karel Reisz with heguidance f

[a] Committee ppointedby the BritishFilmAcademy':

[The] need to obtain pt, ncisive'raw stuff' efore diting egins sdemonstrated ostforcefullyn theproduction f the implest orm fdocumentarythe reportage ilm

... The facts lone areof interestandthe irector'sask s to presentthem s authenticallyspossible.

At firstight othing ouldappear o besimplerhan o presentan excitingventnanexciting ay.Actually,swe shall ee, o achievea convincingmpressionf anactuallybservedcene, mostelaboratediting rocessmay aveto be broughtnto peration.1953:125-6)

* * *

If onewere o ookfor turningointin the ominationf documentaryilmsbyfiction,newould ave ofindhepoint twhich ilm-makerseasedmerelyto exploithe ersuasiveowersffilm,andbegan oexamineheirdeologicalimplications.zigaVertov asoneofthefirsto doso,but ne would ave o waituntil lmosthe1960s o find erymanyothers. herevolutionftheBritishreeCinema ndofDirect inema nd cinemaverite ere irectedgainstwokindsf

privilege:he rivilegenherentn anaesthetic hichesultednthe ivingpeople f filmseingubordinatedo ananonymousreator,ndthe rivilegefstudios,elevisionompanies,quipmentmanufacturersndexhibitorso nstitut-ionalizehe tylesnd ntellectualssump-tions ffilm-making.he ight-weightsound amerasfRicky eacock,MichelBrault ndAlbertMaysles ere he irstthat ouldbe used s personalnstru-ments,fter earsn whichoundwaseitherdded o magesnthe uttingoomorresultedrom he se ofhuge amerasrequiringeams ftechnicians.fterhe

firstlightsffancyhat ameras hichcould o anywhereould lsorecordeverything,ilm-makersegan acingheimplicationsffilm s a personal ormfrecord-making.t would eflect oredirectlyhe nterestsndcircumstancesfthe bserver,nd twould e unable oclaimhe efinitiveuthorityf films fthe ast. twould esituatehe udiencenrelationothe ubject,nd hismeantresituatinghe ilm-makernrelationothe udience.Theresult asthenotion f n unprivi-

tegedameratyle: style ased n theassumptionhat he ppearancef film

should e an artefactfthe ocial ndphysicalncounteretweenhe ilm-makerand he ubject. o achieve his ome ilm-makersegan orelinquishhe ormalprivilegeshat ustainedheOlympianDmnisciencefstory-tellers.thersaw t?rimarilys a matterfprinciple:hattwvasnethicalo presenthe ives freal?eoplehroughhe evices ywhichmaginaryharactersere reated. ivingriumaneings ere otmerelyhe awnaterial or toriesrthe llustrationfSoncepts.hey adtheir wn xistencenlefiancef anydocumentaryilmhatnight e made bout hem, ndthis

lemandedhat hey e treated orwhatheywere.Of coursehis ervourad ts wn

deological lindness.irect inema,hiftedther owersnto hehands fndividualilm-makers,ho ould e~quallyuthlessnother ays owards l

theirubjectsnd udiences.herewasalso much oom or elf-deception:orbelievinghat hemeaningf events asself-evidentn magesfthem,r thatfilmingomethingade t nteresting,rthat eoplewere o ongernfluencedybeing ilmed,r that ilm-makingasmysticalrphilanthropicctivityn whichcreativembitionlayed opart.

Ethnographicilm onstitutedspecialcaseofdocumentary.inematiconven-tionsttractedpecial ttentionoth s an

expressionf culturetheWorth-AdairNavajoexperiments,or xample)ndbecause fthe ebate ver owfilm ouldserves evidence or nthropology,stimulatedyJeanRouch, olinYoung,JayRubyndothers. hedebate oonshiftedo howfilm ouldbecomemediumf anthopologicalnquiry.utawarenessf the tylisticevolutionoccurringndocumentaryilmmade tsway lowlynto thnographicilms,venthoughwo ftheeadingnnovatorsndocumentary,ean ouch nd JohnMarshall ere thnographers.ostfilmswere ast n a lectureorm hichsserted

the uthorityfthe ommentator,ot hatofthe ootage. thers,angingrom'educational'ilmsnvolvingnthro-pologistso televisionravelogues,continuedo directheirctors atherhanobservehem,ndemployedhe hootingandeditingechniquesf fiction.

Two filmsbouthuntersrecharacter-istic,mademore han iftyears fterFlaherty'samous alrus-huntingcene,which ndre azin elebrateds analter-nativeo stagingndmontage.n CreeHunters fMistassini1974) and ThePygmies Hunters n theForest 1972)thehuntersre een n shotsustbefore

thekillwith heir eaponsimednthegeneralirectionfthe amera. huseither emustccepthat hehuntersallowed he ilmrew oget etweenhem-selvesndtheir rey r that hese hotsweremade t anotherime, robablyfterthehuntwasover.

* * *

Inthe1950sJohnMarshall,quippedtfirst ithnly spring-windamerandnon-synchronousecorder,egan ilmingpassagesfpersonalnteractionmonghe!Kung ftheKalahari. e filmeds

thoughheir oiceswould eheard ndhisshotswould e seenntact a curiousapproachta timewhen ocumentaryfilms eremosaics fshots.Most amera-menknew hat venf hey ilmedontin-uous ventsheirhotswould e cutupand he ragmentsditednto newsynthesis.heoriginalemporalndspatial elationshipsould e ost. n thecircumstanceslmostveryonehot ogetthe ragments,ot he ontinuity.utMarshall asvery oungndhadbeensent ut o do a job of ethnographicocu-mentation,ot o make ocumentaryfilms. s so often appenst the e-

ginningsf things,e thoughtewasdoing omethinguite rdinary,lthoughwhat ewas attemptingoreshadowedhewave fthe uture. is sequence-shots, lwith he ound aboriouslyscissor-synced'to the icture,annowbe seen s earlyexamplesf n efor toputher iee in-

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to a relationshipithhe ubjectmore ikethe ilm-maker'swn.

Sequence-shotsestoreo the udiencesomethingfthe ontinuityfperceptionof n ndividualbserver. hey re lsoprobablyhekey eaturefa camera tylewhicheeks o severtselfrom heimageryffictionndtie tselfothespecificistoricalctoffilming.theraspectsfthis tyleanbe calledunprivi-leged' nlyncontrastostyles hich ainimmunityynot ubjectinghemselveso

the isks nd onsequencesfthat ct,forclearlynyone ith camera njoys er-tain rivilegess an observer.nprivilegedcameratylesa negativeotion, correc-tive.t san assertionfthe bvious: hatfilm-makersrehuman, allible,ootednphysicalpace nd ociety, overnedychance,imitednperception and hatfilms ust e read hisway.Therenuncia-tion f tylisticrivilegesnot recipe orenlightenmentut point f referenceorcommunication.tattemptso narrowhedistanceetweenhe erson homakesfilm nd he erson hoviews t. There sno onger compulsionooccupyn

advantageousamera ositiontany ost;a 'bad' shotwhich everthelessontainsusefulnformation,ndwhich ould ncehave een emoveds unprofessional',snow reserved.

A film owbeing ompletedyGaryKildea ncorporatesany fthe hiftshave een iscussing.t concernshe ivesofCora ndCelso,who re treet-vendorsinManila.Kildea eganworkingntirelyalone, 'one-man-band'fcamera,microphonend aperecorder.e felthis

approach asnecessaryoprotectheobligationse had assumedowardshefamily,ut ater e foundt oo difficultandcompletedhe ilmingithPhilippinessistant. e hasedited he ilmhimselfndrefuses any spectsf con-ventionalilmditing. he llusionfcon-tinuousime, xcept ithinhots,savoided onemightay, urposefullydestroyed by henterpolationf hortlengthsf eader,ike he lackoutsrintertitleshat nce eparatedhotsnsilent ilms,ndwhich ave eappearedfor easonsikeKildea'sn ome thno-graphicndfictionalilmsfthe1970sand80s.

ThusKildeadraws ur ttentiono thefact hat he ilmscomposedffrag-mentsaken utofthe ives fhis ub-jects.Onesuspectshis pproach ill eanathemao televisionrogrammers.

Atonepoint ildea hot ootage romthe river's indow f oneofthe rainsthat egularlyusheshroughahilom,the uarternwhich he amilyive. ntheendhe felt nable o use any fthismaterialecause twastoo alien o theirexperience,view f their uarterhatthey ould ever ee.

Kildea sclearlyprivilegedbserver,

white,middle-classilm-makern oneofthe nnumerableicrocosmsftheThirdWorld, uthis amera tyle eaches ut othe ubject nd o the udience,n anattempto make ur nalysis fwhat e sdoing essproblematical.-e ses ongsequence-shots;n onemade arlyn n _

the ilming,ora s ookingtnewlodgingshey ope ooccupy. fterexamininghe oomn some etail heaskswhenhe ilmingsgoingostart.Upondiscoveringhat he amera asbee]runningll the ime, hereturnso herexaminationfthe oom pparentlyn-concerned.he hot rovides cross-check n Cora'sreactions,ndalthoughlis not definitivene thelps odelineatethe elationshipildeahasestablishedwith is ubjects.

Laternthe ilm shot ccurswhichtells smore bout his elationshipndalso Kildea's ttitudeowardsheaudience. ora andCelsohavehadanargumentndhave eparated. ntopofthis elsohas been oldhe can no ongersell igarettesnfrontftheTowerHotel,where e had been crapingnoughmone3toget y.He hasbeen pallnight ith i,small aughter, aricel,ta new ellingpoint own he treet.t s nowdawn ndhe has come o the oreshoref ManilaBaywithMaricelogiveher, s heputst,'some un nd sea breeze.'He ispre-occupied ith isproblemsut tartstelling ildea bout he trangersearby.Onewoman, esays, ooking ast hecamera,sprobablyryingo cure erbaby's oughwith he.sea ir.Oneguessesthat ildea s ntentt thismomentnwatchingelso,but he amera omesslowlyround nd ooks twhat elsohasdescribedeforeeturningohim.Con-sideringhe ifficultiesfthe hot t svery kilful,ut hewoman s far wayandthe iew f her ursory. any ilm-makers ould ave tayed ith elso ndgot shot fthewoman ater o use s aninsert. ildea refersoshow s hispro-blem: hemage fCelso ost, heneeds fthemomentbserved.

* * *

Not ll the hings emight ish oknow bout ther eople rerecognizableoreven ermissibleubjectsfenquiryothem. ftenmatters hich ouchhem hemost eeplyndwhich remost evealingoftheir oncernsrethemost loselyguarded. hemysteriesffilm-makingoncegavefilm-makerspecial ccess o thelives ftheirubjects, articularlyncultures here ilms ere ittle nder-stood.The pread fcommunicationssnowputtingn end o that rivilege.People rebecomingncreasinglyware fthe azards ndpotentialenefitsffilmsabout hem,nd film-makersust ayspecialttentionothehazards fmxposingheirubjects o officialeprisals:r he stracismftheir eighbours.This an force hemnoneof twodirec-

'ions: itheroabandon ntirereas fhiumanelationsr develop ewapproachesith heirubjects hich

)bjectifyensitiveopics nd llow hem;obe explored.

Forfilms o be properlynterpretedhe~aturefthese ew ontracts ust einderstoody he udience.ncreasingly,'ilm-makersrebringingheirelation-,hips ith he ubjectsnto he oreground)f heir ilms. hese ncountersanlevelopntonformalxchangesuitelifferentromnterviews.s thefilm-nakers drawn urthernto he ubject

areaofthe ilm,he udiences drawnn-to the ositionhe ilm-makerriginallyoccupied.

Theprocessanbe asmuch featurefoveralltructuresofcameratyle. ouchandMorin'sChroniqued'un te'wasposed xplicitlys anexperimentndocu-mentaryilm-making,ith ouch ndMorinakingentretage.Other ilmsikeChrisMarker'sletters'ohis udiences,MikeRubbo's WaitingorFidel, andJamesBlue'sA FewNoteson OurFood

Problem,n theirarious ays urnhefilm-makernto n dentifiablenter-mediary ithhe udience,rapplingitha subject.WhenwemadeToLiveWithHerdswe were ontento ncludesequencesn which urpresence asoccasionallycknowledged.y he imewe made The Wedding amelswewereattemptinguite onsciouslyoshowthroughilm hatt s ike obe anobservern themidst fa complexvent,tryingomake ense f t.Thefilmakesits tructurerom he nquiry.t s clearthatwemiss gooddeal.Much fthe estisfilteredhroughhe estimonyf partici-

pants,whose wnvestednterestsust etakennto ccount. nyknowledgeftheeventsfinallyrovisional,nd nthissense he ilms aboutwhat necanandcannot now.

David MacDougall

Levin,G.R. 1971.Documentaryxplorations.GardenCity,N.Y.: Doubleday& Company.

Mehta,V. 1980.The Photographs fChachaji.NewYorkand Oxford:OxfordU.P.

Reisz,K. 1953. TheTechnique f FilmEditing.London andNew York: Focal Press.

THE SHORTTAKEIvo StreckerasmadeTheLeap AcrosstheCattle, film bout heHamar fEthiopia, nd s nowworkingn everalfilmswhichrebeing o-producednEthiopia y he thiopianilmCentre,under heMinistryf CulturenAddisAbaba, nd theGerman ational cienceFoundation.

Inthis rticle shall rgue hat espitethe rrivalfhighlyophisticatedquip-ment he impleamera till as a place nethnographicilming.

Many nethnographerreamsfusing16mm. lectricyncsoundameras uch sthe clair,Ariflexr Aaton.Thesecamerasit ike ats nyour houlder,yetheworldwithncrediblyersatile,oom-lens yes, ndpurr way uietlystheyunspool ast mounts ffootageromtheir 20m. assettes.utwho an affordthese xpensiveameras,r sabletopersuade isFoundationhat e needsthem spart f his ools or ieldwork?ttookmeyears ntil, uite ecently,wasable o secure sync-soundamera ormyself,ndfor while havehadto workwith very impleandcheap) amera, heBlech-Bolex.

As I wasusingheBlech-Bolex,rofes-sionals ndnon-professionalslikerepeatedlyuggestedome hat tmust efrustratingo workwith uch primitivetool.Butmy xperienceas been uite heopposite. havefoundts implicityn-spiring,nd ts nnateimitationsavehelpedme o understandhe ogic f

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