Documentary Review/Analysis

I watched a C-SPAN StudentCam documentary winner from last year. This was an interactive film on intellectual property. Intellectual property is the creations of the mind this exclusive copyright. The film maker used archival footage of senate hearings on the subject, which added a political and historical significance to the film. During the archival footage there were many text tracks, which I personally thought were distracting, because they appeared randomly across the frame, rather than from left to right. In general, the cinematic aspects of the film were good, but sometimes overdone to the point of distraction. For example, when there was an interview with David Kappos, the Director of US Patent and Trademark Office, there was an overlay of B-Roll, where the Constitution scrolled down the page. This also occurred when the film maker was speaking in front of the camera. I like these techniques, but when used too much, they become overwhelming and take away from the essential message of the film. The camera angles with both the B-Roll and A-Roll were different, such as the dutch angle and the over the shoulder angle, which was ascetically pleasing. The lighting was professional and the nondagetic sound was clear and not grainy. 

By contrast, I thought the dramatic aspects of the film were well done. As we talked about in class, the backdrop for the film was neat and professional, especially when the film maker was speaking in front of the camera. Although there were not costumes or make-up, the speaker was able to clearly and slowly speak, which made understanding the video very simple.