FixingtheFacadeofReality

JonathanGomolka
May4,2015
CAPSTONE

AsachildoftwosecondgenerationHolocaustsurvivors,Igrewuplisteningtomy
grandparentsstories.Mymotheringrainedinmetheimportanceofkeepingtheirstoriesalive.
Shetoldmetosharethemwithanyonewhowaswillingtolisten,becausesoon,wewouldbethe
onlyoneswhoareabletotellthem.TheweekmysophomoreHistoryteacherannouncedthatwe
weretostudytheHolocaust,Iimmediatelyexpressedexcitement.Afterwetooknotesona
detailedpowerpoint,wewatcheda1997filmcalled
LifeIsBeautiful

,directedbyRoberto
Benigni
.

Iwasextremelydisappointed.Ifoundthatmanyofthefilmssceneswereover
Hollywoodizedandunrealistic.Forexample,noprisonerofaconcentrationcampcouldhave
everbrokenintoaNazioffice,andproclaimedhisloveforhiswifeonaloudspeaker,andnot
havebeenkilledintheprocess.Thestoryof
LifeIsBeautiful

angeredmebecauseofitshistorical
inaccuracies.Iaskedmyself,whywouldwewatchthisfilminHistoryclass,iftheactual
historyismisrepresented?Duringthatweekofclass,allIwantedtodowasimpactmyclasss
perceptionoftheHolocaustbytellingmyfamilystories,notwatchapartiallyfictional
Hollywoodfilm.Thisspeedbumpinmyeducationturnedmeofffromtellingmystoriesbecause
IfeltlikeIhadnoplacetodoso.Inotherwords,Ifeltunimportant,afeelingnostudentshould
everexperience.AsasenioratNewtonNorthHighSchool,lookingbackonmyfouryears,I
rememberedwhathappenedsophomoreyear.Isteppedbackandnoticedthatpeopleswallow
downinauthenticinterpretationsofimportanthistoryeveryday.Iwonderedwhatwouldhappen
ifwetookthegreatvisualsofmoviemaking,andincorporatedthemintothetruth.Couldwethen
tellourstoriesasauthenticallyaspossible?Themarriagebetweenthesemediumsisofcourse
documentaryfilmmaking.Asmygrandfatherslifeisnearingitsfinalyears,Ifeltitwasmy
responsibilitytomyfamily,todocumenthislife.Documentinghislifethroughfilmseemedto

methebestchoice,soIresearchedthatavenueofstorytelling.Iwantedtodiscoverifvisual
mediacouldimprovemyabilitytoreachpeoplewithmygrandfathersstory(withitsoraland
visualcomponents)andbeasourceforeducationsimultaneously.
Everydocumentary,from
ManwithaMovieCamera

(1929)to
GreyGardens

(1975)to
Dreamcatcher
(2015),hasonepurposetosharetherealitiesoftheworldwiththemasses.
Sharingtheserealstoriesonfilm,
hasthepowertoplantquestionsinpeoplesminds.Ithasthe
powertomakeyouempathizewiththingswhichyouneverreallyknewyoucouldempathize
with(
CapturingReality,

SabihaSumar).Thisemotionalmediumisnotintellectual,itisall
aboutengagementandsentiment.Buthowcanafilmimpactapersoninsuchaway?Through
extensiveresearch,Ihavediscoveredthattheansweris,whenadocumentarysinterviews
visuals,sound,andeditingarehonestandtrue,astorycanbetold,onethatisnotonly
accessible,butimpactfultoanaudience.
Aninterviewisanextremelytrickything.Talkinginfrontofacameraisaveryunnatural
thingtodo.However,acamerahasanaffectonyouthatsomehow,becauseoftheartificiality
ofthesituation,youremorehonest,andmoretruthful,ratherthanlesshonestandtruthful
(
CapturingReality,

KevinMacdonald).Havinganeutrallistenerisoftencompellingbecause
theirroleistojustlistentoyou.Whilesomepeoplehavetheabilitytobethemselveswhilebeing
interviewed,othershaveahardtime.Sofilmmakershavediscoveredadifferentkindofwayto
documentatruestoryobservationalcinema.Observationalcinemaiswhenafilmisshotby

placingtheviewerintheroleofanobserver,awitnessofevents.Theyareessentiallyrevelatory
ratherthanillustrative,fortheyexploresubstancebeforetheory(
PrinciplesofVisual

Anthropology
,DavidMacDougall
,

116).Observationalfilmmakersbelievethatintimacycomes
2

whenthecameraisintegratedwithagroupforsolongthattheynolongercarethatitisthere.
Thisallowsfilmmakerstocatchpeoplesmostunexpectedmoments,likewhentheyanswerthe
door,orwhentheywakeup.Thetraditionofsettingupachairwithfancylightingandapretty
backgroundisnowthoughtofasdestructive,notprofessionalorstylistic.Whenaninterviewis
conductedobservationally,afilmmakerhopestorevealunprecedentedandunpredictable
moments,becausethosearetheverythingsthatmakefootagehonestandtrue.
Aninterviewisa
fundamentalexchangeaboutlife.Itsacinematicspace(
CapturingReality,

PatricioGuzman).
Thevisualaspectofadocumentaryfilmcanbejustasimportantastheinterview.When
aphotographorvisualmediaisdisplayedasapartofthefilm,it
servesboth[asa]testimonyto
pasteventsandasanexpressiveresourceforvisualstorytelling...Thephotographicimagesignals
thepresenceofthecameraonthesceneatthehistoricalmomentofimagecapture.Thearchival
imageappearstobetheclosestwecangettotheoriginalhistoricalreality,asortofsecond
degreeoriginal(
DocumentaryFilmandHistory,

DesmondBell).Inrelationtoadocumentary
featuringagenocide,oragruesomeevent,apictureistrulythebestthingtousetoinsurean
empatheticresponsefromanaudience.KevinMacdonaldsaid,
Asastoryteller,youwantto
impactyouraudienceandshowthemhowterriblethiseventwas...ifyouwantpeopletofeelthat
someoneisreallytoblame,youneedtoshowthemwhatthey'retoblamefor(
Capturing

Reality
).Ifthevisualmediaisusedinsuchaway,thetruestorycanbesuccessfullytold.
Soundisthetrickiestofalloftheaspectsofwhatgoesintomakinganhonest
documentary.Theuseofsoundisoneofthemajorthingsthataredebatedbetweenfilmmakers.
Mostofthepuristfilmmakers,likeStanNeumannandPatricioGuzman,donotfeelthatmusic
andsoundeffectshaveaplaceindocumentaryfilmmaking.Theybelieveittobedistractingand

aformofimpressionism,notrealism(tothemadocumentaryshouldbeaformofrealism,not
impressionism).Theythinkthatattimes,musicindocumentariesistheretotellyouwhatto
think,andthatitiswrongtoattempttoemphasizethedramaofasituationbyaddingmusic.
However,othersthinkdifferently.KimLonginottosaid,Ithinkthesoundistheheartbeatofthe
film.Ifthesoundisntgood,thanthefilmisthin.Youknow,thesoundiswhereyougetthe
emotionofthefilm(
CapturingReality

).Thisdisagreementbetweenfilmmakersisbyfaroneof
themostcontroversialintheworldofdocumentaryfilmmaking.
Somefilmmakersarescaredtosendtheirfootageofftotheediting/cuttingroomfloor
becausetheyareterrifiedthattheirexperiencesandstorythattheywantedtotellwilldisappear.
Throughthetimeandeffortthatisputintomakingadocumentary,thefilmmakernaturallygets
extremelyattachedtothefilmitself,butmoreimportantly,thestorytheyaretelling.Thesubject
ofthefilmsstoryisnolongerhisorhers,butthefilmmakerstoo.Whilethismightbe
terrifyingforthefilmmakertoaccept,theeditingroomprovestobeoneofthemostimportant
placesintheprocessofcreatingadocumentary.Thecuttingroomfloorisaplacefor
simplification.Thefilmmakerfindsthemesandargumentsinthematerialtomakeitmore
obvious,andthereforemakeitmoreaccessibleforanaudiencetowatchandunderstand.When
donewell,agreaterimpactismade.
Allfourcomponentsofdocumentaryfilmmakingareimperativetoitsportrayalof
honestywhentellingthestoryathand.Thesetruthfuldocumentaries,becauseoftheelementsput
intothem,havetheabilitytoreachpeoplewiththeirstories,amediumthatisfoundationaltoour
society.Whenafilmsinterviews,visuals,sound,andeditingcancohesivelyimpacttheir
audience,cinemamagicismade.Forexample,inthedocumentary,
NightWillFall

,allfour
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componentsofdocumentaryfilmmakingappearedharmoniously,ultimatelycreatingavisual
masterpiece.
Forexample,27minutesintothefilm,thereisasequenceofimagesofthepilesof
belongingsthattheJewswerestrippedofwhenenteringconcentrationcamps.Theseimagesare
accompaniedbydeliberatenarrative,lackofmusic,andspacedout(edited)toperfection.The
narrativesays,Nothingwaswasted,eventheteethweretakenoutoftheirmouthsbyproducts
ofthesystem.Toothbrushes,nailbrushes,shoebrushes,shavingbrushes.Ifonemaninten
wearsspectacles,howmanydoesthisheaprepresent?Allthesethingsbelongedtomen,women
andchildrenlikeourselves,quiteordinarypeoplefromallpartsoftheworld(
NightWillFall,

27:00).

Inmyopinion,thissequenceofimagesandwordswerecompiledperfectly,giving
enoughtimefortheviewertoprocessalltheinformationthrownatthem.Ultimatelyallowing
thestoryoftheHolocausttoreachtheheartsofviewers.Thisimpactiswhatevery
documentarianstrivesforwhencreatingtheirvisualmedia.
Inregardstomyendgoalofdocumentingmygrandfathersstory,documentary
filmmakingremainedasmymethod,becauseIcametobelievethatnoothermediumcandoall
thethingsfilmcannotliterature,theatre,visualart,orothertechnologies.
Inhopestoreassuremyselfinmydecisiontochoosedocumentaryfilmmakingasmy
mainmethodofcapturingmygrandfathersstory,Iissuedasurveytofindoutwhatthepublic
thought(199students,friendsandfamilymemberstookthesurvey).Inall,Iwasnotsurprisedto
seeagravitationtowardfilm.Forexample,whenaskedifgiventheoption,wouldyourather
watchastorytoldonfilm,orreadaversionofthatstory?80.6%oftherespondentssaidthat
theypreferredtowatchthestoryonfilm,ratherthanreadaboutit.Ananonymouscontributor
explainedhis/herdecisionofchoosingfilmbysaying,

Seeingactualfootageofsomethingmakesitseemmorerealandmorepresent
insteadofjustseeminglikeahazy,distantconcept.Itisalsogenerallymore
efficienttowatchafilmaboutsomethingthantoreadaboutit,andit'susually
easiertofollowtheplotlineofafilmandrememberdetailswhenyoucanseethem
infrontofyou.Theseimagesthentendtostickmorevividlyinyourmind.Often
youcan'ttrulycapturesomethinginwords,especiallywhentryingtodescribe
somethingofamassivescale(i.e.amasskilling,theeffectsofanaturaldisaster,
etc),whenitisoftentoodifficulttoimagineandpicturesomethingofsuchagreat
magnitude.Apictureisworthathousandwords,sowhenyouhaveamoving
picture,withvoicesnarrating/contributingaswell,itmakesmoreofanimpactand
capturesmoreinacondensedtimeframe.
Peoplearealsogenerallymoreinclined
towatchamoviethanreadabook,justbecauseitrequireslesseffortandisless
intimidating.

Thisresponse,inparticular,shinedalightonanewconceptoffilmthatIhadnotconsidered
before:howeasyitistofollowandunderstand.Today,theworldisaveryvisualplace,with
computers,phones,andothertechnologiesatitsfingertips24/7.Toappealtolargeraudiences,
filmisthemostimmediatewaytoreachpeoplewithourstories.Newtechnologies,likefilm,
werenotonlycreatedforartisticexpression,butasaformofimprovementfromwhattheworld
alreadyhad(literatureandtheatre).MargaretMeadsaid,Departmentafterdepartmentand
researchprojectafterresearchprojectfailtoincludefilmingandinsistoncontinuingthe
hopelesslyinadequatenotetakingofanearlierage,whilethebehaviorthatfilmcouldhave
caughtandpreservedforcenturies(preservedforthejoyofthedescendantsofthosewhodancea
ritualforthelasttimeandfortheilluminationoffuturegenerationsofhumanscientists)
disappears(
PrinciplesofVisualAnthropology,
45
).Forthesereasons,itbecamecleartome
thatdocumentaryfilmingwasthebestwaytocapturereality.
However,theprocessofcapturingrealityonfilm,wasalotmoredifficultthan
anticipated.Fromsettingupthetechnologytotheeditingprocess,Irealized,wasmuchmore
involvedthananyothermedium.Sowasallthatworkworthit?MargaretMeadsaysthat,It
6

takesmorespecializedskillandgifttophotographandmakefilmsthanitdoestosetatape
recordergoingortakewrittennotes.Butonedoesnotdemandthatalinguist,carefullytape
recordinginthefield,beabletoconstructasymphonyoutofhismaterialswhenhereturns.
Samplesoffilmedbehaviorcanbemade,justasadequatelyascantapedtext(
Principlesof
VisualAnthropology,
5
).Meadexplainsthatbothfields,filmandliterature,arevalidmeansto
documentreality,butindirectlyexpressesthatfilmisthegreatermediumthesymphonyof
materialsisapositivefactor,afactorthatmakesthetellingofastory,harmonioustoitsreality.
DavidMacDougalladdstotheconversationbystating,
Atfirstglance,filmseemstoofferanescapefromtheinadequaciesofhuman
perceptionandafactualcheckonthecapriciousnessofhumaninterpretation.The
precisionofthephotographicimageleadstoanuncriticalfaithinthecamera's
powertocapture,nottheimagesofevents,buttheeventsthemselves...Thefilm
imageimpressesuswithitscompleteness,partlybecauseofitspreciserendering
ofdetail,butevenmorebecauseitrepresentsacontinuumofrealitywhich
extendsbeyondtheedgesoftheframeandwhichtherefore,paradoxically,seems
nottobeexcluded.Afewimagescreateaworld.Weignoretheimagesthatcould
havebeen,butweren't.Inmostcaseswehavenoconceptionofwhattheymight
be(
PrinciplesofVisualAnthropology
,123).

MacDougallsideathatseeingisbelievingjustifiesmynotionthatfilmisaneffectivemedium
toeducateandimpactemotion,however,whatifthefilmsrealism,isincorrectinregardstothe
historyoftheeventathand?Wouldthatmeanthatfilmisactuallyahindrancetotellingour
stories?MargaretMeadclarifiesthatitisspecificallyfeaturefilmsthattrytolookbeautiful,like
LifeIsBeautiful
,ratherthantellthestorytruthfully.Meadsays,
Whenfilmingisdoneonlytoproduceacurrentlyfashionablefilm,welackthe
longsequencesfromonepointofviewthataloneprovideuswiththeunedited
stretchesofinstrumentalobservationonwhichscientificworkmustbebased...As
anthropologistswemustinsistonprosaic,controlled,systematicfilmingand
videotaping,whichwillprovideuswithmaterialthatcanberepeatedly
reanalyzedwithfinertoolsanddevelopingtheories.Manyofthesituationswith
7

whichwedeal,situationsprovidedbythousandsofyearsofhumanhistory,can
neverbereplicatedinlaboratorysettings.Butwithproperlycollected,annotated,
andpreservedvisualandsoundmaterials,wecanreplicateoverandoveragain
andcanpainstakinglyanalyzethesamematerials.Asfinerinstrumentshave
taughtusmoreaboutcosmos,sofinerrecordingofthesepreciousmaterialscan
illuminateourgrowingknowledgeandappreciationofmankind(
Principlesof
VisualAnthropology,
10
).

Theillusionofwhatwegetinfictionalorfeaturedfilmistheillusionofthetruth.Thedistinction
isimperativewhenreachingpeoplewithourstories,but
weoughttoknowthatfictionfilmis
bydefinitionmuchlessillusoryandmuchlessdeceitfulthansocalleddocumentarycinema,
becausebothdirectorandspectatorknowthatitsfiction,whichistosaythatitstruthis
conveyedthroughtheimagination(EdgarMorin,
CapturingReality

).Mr.Bedar,aNewton
NorthHistoryteacherscommentedthat
truthisstillelusive,butyourestillconsidering
differentpeoplesperspectivesWhenIthinkaboutteachingHistory,Iconceiveofitasagiant
puzzle.Wedonthaveallthepiecesofthepuzzle,sowerecreateasmuchaspossibletogetto
theessenceofaparticularera,historicalfigureorevent.Wetrytoteaseoutthetruthasmuch
aswecan,butduetoourrelativelackofsources(esp.primarysources)wedealwithconflicting
perspectives.Inhighschool,studentsarelearningandshouldnotbeexpectedtounderstand
abstractconcepts,likeEdgarMorins,aboutthefilmstheywatchinclass(understandingthatthe
fictionalfilmshistoricalaccuracylieswithinitsimagination).Students,likemyclassmatesfrom
sophomoreyear,wereledtobelievethatwhattheywatchedinhistoryclassabouttheHolocaust
wasallperfectlyaccurate,inotherwords,theystillhavenoideahowhorrificthatpartofworld
historytrulywas.Asastudent,Ihaveundoubtedlybeenmisledbythesekindsoffilmsinclass
alongsidemypeers.

Atthestart,Isetouttofindamediumthatcouldimprovemyabilitytotellandreach
peoplewithmygrandfathersstory,buthavefoundmuchmorethanthat.Iresearchedtheworld
ofdocumentingreality,andimplementedwhatIhadlearnedintomyactionsincreatingalegacy
formyfamily,butnow,IhaverealizedthatIcanusewhatIhaveproducedtoimpactothers
educationally.ItismychallengeforNewtonNorth,oranyotherhighschool,toleavethe
fictionalhistoricalfilmsathomeandintroducetheirstudentstounbiaseddocumentaryfilms,like
NightWillFall,
orpossiblymyownfootage,inordertorepresentaccuratehistorywithinthe
classroom.

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