Documentary Critical Reflection

     Our documentary asked the question of why people continue to pursue theater, even with all the negative stigma and stereotypes surrounding it. It explores the reasons why people love theater. It also explains some of the common stigmas and stereotypes, as well as delving into what theater lovers think of these things. 

    One of the productions that I researched was exit through the gift shop. This documentary followed street artists and a person that had been documenting these artists. In the end, it actually turned out to be about the person that had been the documentarian, and how he somewhat became a successful street artist too. I wanted to do a similar thing, go with the flow of the piece, and see where it would take me. One way that I did challenge the conventions though is by not really changing my original plans. It was overall very similar to what I had already planned out, but some things were unexpected. For instance, I went with the flow when my director started talking more about herself and her life in the theater. Even though I didn't have questions planned based on the things she was saying, I stayed on my toes and was able to really listen to her, and ask more questions to gain more information from her. 

    Our piece is very engaging with the audience. The audience of this piece is people that enjoy theater, mainly teenagers that are not sure if they want to pursue theater seriously or not in the future. Not only does it have very engaging content to look at, it is also interesting to listen to also. The video quality is nice to look at, and it keeps the audience engaged because it is impressive to see all the nice colors of the production of theater. Also, multiple camera techniques are used in order to keep the audience more engaged. Frequently, the camera pans or zooms so that it is not just a still shot. There are also some close-ups, which can be very engaging to the audience since they get a closer look, and therefore closer feel of what's going on in the documentary. Also, it is engaging with the audio too, because there were no unnecessary pauses, which could have bored the audience. Also, since the video was put on top of the audio, it made it more engaging than just looking at the interviewee talking to the camera. The actual content is also very engaging since it is not really a topic that is discussed every day since only a specific group of people actually like theater. however, it is still a very interesting topic to discuss, because it explains to the public why people love theater so much, and put so much energy into it. It really gives insights into what it's like to do in theater and love it so much. 

    This documentary also represents a variety of social groups and issues. First, it has a wide representation of different interviewees, which were specifically chosen to represent a wide range of people. There is a god variety of different ages, such as a very young girl that is just starting theater, a few teenagers, and also a director that is an adult. There is also a representation of the males in theater since one of the teenagers is a male. Not only is there a variety of ages and gender, but there is also a variety of different opinions on whether or not they want to pursue theater or not. Our documentary also represents issues in society, because of their negative view of theater. they are so well known, that even the theater kids know about all the negative stereotypes and stigmas revolving around the theater.