DocuDay and the Oscars

I went to DocuDay on Saturday, watching all the Academy Award nominated docs from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. -- but couldn't stay for "Undefeated," thereby guaranteeing it the win. I was also able to predict that "Saving Face" would win. I'm not sure why I knew that.

But the two real surprises:

1. DSLR video was key to "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom," shot on a Canon 7D, and also "Hell and Back Again," shot in essentially a photojournalistic style but on video.

2. The 3D look and feel of "Pina," which I thought I would hate, worked. Worked very well, even. Biggest surprise: Wim Wenders was very clear about the fact that editing for a 3D doc could not just use existing strategies from 2D work. It has to be a different edit.

Above: the worst cell phone camera photo I've ever taken.

Currently Reading

My current train reading -- read in 20 minute bursts via my iPhone -- is Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction by Patricia Aufderheide. I'll write something on it when I'm finished. That will take a few more train rides.

Documentary Ethics. Who Knew?

The New York Times has an article on “Honest Truths: Documentary Filmmakers on Ethical Challenges in Their Work," a report from the Center for Social Media at American University.

At Toronto Film Festival, Cautions on Documentaries

Based on anonymous interviews with 45 long-form documentary filmmakers, the study came to some conclusions that could shock those schooled in conventional journalistic ethics. (A few comments from the likes of Ken Burns, whose credits include “Jazz,” and Gordon Quinn, of “Hoop Dreams,” were included for the record, pointing toward the prominence of the participants.) The report found that documentarians, while they generally aspire to act honorably, often operate under ad hoc ethical codes. The craft tends to see itself as being bound less by the need to be accurate and fair than by a desire for social justice, to level the playing field between those who are perceived to be powerful and those who are not.

I promise: I have never broken my subject's legs in the making of a doc. (Read the article, that will make sense once you do.)