Performative Documentary

The documentary “Fed Up” provides some important and disturbing details of the food industry. The 1977 heart disease and diet study known as the McGovern Report warned that the obesity rate was increasing rapidly due to American diets in fatty meats, saturated fats, cholesterol, and sugar. The food industry vehemently denied these claims, but the American people still demanded lower fat food products. The food manufacturers found that the fat removal made the food bland and unpalatable so to address this they replaced the fat content with sugar. Both the documentary and the Harvard Nutrition Source discuss the role sugar has in health conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. They both link the consumption of sugar as the causality for

The set used for Vernon God Little was highly symbolic and simplistic; when we walked into the theatre we could visually see that there were flowers, cards and memorable items attached on the audiences seats above our heads, which already created a sombre atmosphere around the theatre.

The documentary Who Get’s In? examines the immigration policies and priorities of the Canadian government, said to represent the economic needs and values of the Canadian people. The film documents the experiences of migrants from asian and african countries and the barriers particular groups of migrants face.

The Holding Ground documentary was powerful and highly effective in showing the struggle of the Dudley Street and the Roxbury neighborhood and their struggle to in effect take back their neighborhoods. The people in the video were passionate about their community and faced many obstacles like illegal dumping and arson for profit as well as a committee of people who had no idea about the community making decisions without having anyone in the community representing them. In the documentary, Robert Holmes, Jr a Trustee at the Riley Foundation discussed how the board was having a community meeting. He originally thought that Che Madyun was sent in as an agitator. He then realized that she was just passion about her community and had valid points.

The documentary, Stronghearted, created by Jodie Martinson, tells the story of Evelyn Amony and uses various techniques to support the theme of how God saves people in unexpected ways. Amony was kidnapped by Joseph Kony’s Lord Resistance Army at age twelve and raped by Kony. Yet rather than telling the story of how Kony raped her or kept her in servitude, Amony shares the story about how he saved her life. It sheds a new light onto the event. It does not justify Kony’s misdeeds or water down the obstacles Amony faced, but rather shows that the story is not simply black or white.

The above example illustrates not only how the theatrical performance affects the audience, but also how the audience influences its dynamics, development and the characters within it. The actors feel a certain level of acceptance from the viewer, who demands a certain way of depicting the character. Theatre is not just entertainment, itís something much more than that ñ itís education. Theatre should always represent things, rather than

This documentary has a voice which is the most important part of any movie, furthermore, it has it own way of living and breathing and speaking to

This view gives us a deeper understanding of behaviours as performances. A personal example of looking at a performativity culture and analyzing it, is the roles people play in everyday life. The role of a

The documentary, Stronghearted, created by Jodie Martinson, tells the story of Evelyn Amony and uses various techniques to support the theme of how God saves people in unexpected ways. Joseph Kony’s Lord Resistance Army kidnapped Amony at age twelve and Kony raped her. Yet instead of telling the story of how she was raped or kept in servitude, Amony shares the story about how he saved her life. It sheds a new light onto the event. It does not justify Kony’s misdeeds or water down the obstacles Amony faced, but rather shows that the story is not simply black or white.

Is a documentary always more realistic than fiction film? If so, why? If not, why not? What makes a film more or less realistic?

Performance. The interactions are viewed as a performance, constantly being shaped by the environment and audience, with the objective of providing others with impressions that are consonant with the desired goals of the actor. Specifically Goffman states as “all the activity of an individual which occurs during a period marked by his continuous presence before a particular set of observers and which has some influence on the observers” (1959, 32). Goffman (1959) uses the

This is obviously beneficial for the protagonist but also is helpful to the other group members, allowing them to assume the role of another person and apply that experience to their own life. The focus during the session is on the acting out of different scenarios, rather than simply talking through them. All of the different elements of the session (stage, props, lighting, etc.) are used to heighten the reality of the scene.

“Theatre makes us think about power and the way our society works and it does this with a clear purpose, to make a change.”

I’ve adored theatre for as long as I can remember. From writing plays throughout elementary school, to being involved in Drama Club in middle school, to performing in community theatre in high school, and to visiting the theatre as often as I could from the very beginning, theatre has always been a part of my life. Every aspect of it engages me: the directors working to bring their vision of the show’s scenes, choreography, or music to life, the actors transforming into different characters through their expression of dialogue, song, or dance, the costumers and set-builders transporting the audience into the setting and time period with their artistry, the backstage tech and crew working quickly and precisely to keep the show flowing to curtain call, and the orchestra bringing the show to life through music. There is nothing like the experience of live theatre, both as a member of the audience and as a member of the cast and crew.

What makes documentary filmmaking distinct to narrative filmmaking? There are a few contrasting objectives for both types of filmmaking that distinguishes them from each other. Simply put, narrative filmmaking is a movie with a pre-written script, actors and a story which is already crafted before they start shooting. while documentaries are filmmaking where real life events are captured, and a script is usually written afterwards. Narrative films rely on the three-act structure which goes Setup, Confrontation and Resolution or in other words, a beginning, middle and end. The main aim for the three-act structure is for the story to develop while the stakes get risker for our characters, so they evolve as the movie goes on. Narrative film