We have been talking about how ethnography is rarely “value free.” Neither is ethnographic film.
Take a look at “Night Mail” and ask how this film might have been different had it been made independently rather than having been funded by “interested” parties.
Here we have one of the first documentary films that features “interviewing.” Do you think the interviewees are “natural”? This is also a good opportunity to begin to deal with issues of representation. How is the subject of housing treated? How are the interviewees themselves treated? Do you think this film violates modern-day ethical standards as promulgated by the IRB? What is the value of looking at this kind of footage today?
I will begin the process of posting some classic documentary footage available for viewing both in and out of class. I hope students will view these materials for ideas about how ethnographic filmmakers worked (and work) their craft. Here is a classic that gives an idea of the use of “voiceover” and the “authorial” stance of the narrator. What do you think of both Basil Wright’s footage and the other techniques he uses?