Lights

So I brought up the idea of investigating what our eyes say about us in class.  However, as I began exploring this idea and how it could be pulled off, it occurred to me that I was going to New York this weekend and that I would be missing a great opportunity to get some cool footage and explore something else.  So instead of going with the eyes idea, I decided to stow that away until our next Doc Mode activity and instead made a piece about lights since, after all, I found myself in the city of lights this weekend.

LIGHTS

To begin, I’d say that this piece is an example of the poetic mode.  I say this for a few reasons.  There is no traditional narration or any sort of narrative device.  Anything the piece says is said through either its choice in music, its editing or its juxtaposition of images.  There’s not a person telling you or guiding you how to feel, but simply images for you to look at for your consideration and for you to form an opinion about.

There were also very even cuts to accompany the rhythm of the music, which is highly conformant to form rather than function.  Style is obviously important in this piece, maybe even more so than conveying any sort of message.

No on-set sound was used, continuity wasn’t an issue, and it was exploring a topic that was somewhat abstract.  All of these things combined make for a poetic documentary piece.

I would say that “Rain” and “Berlin: Symphony of a Great City” were the two biggest influences here.  “Rain” was a big influence because it showed me how to investigate a subject without worrying about a narrative thread necessarily, but still be able to say something.  If it weren’t for “Rain”, I likely wouldn’t have had the idea to start with small lights and get bigger and bigger, eventually revealing the most impressive lights of all: other people.  Likewise, “Berlin: Symphony of a Great City” taught me how enthralling footage of a city can be and that tribute can be paid just by paying attention to certain things.  New York is obviously an impressive city, and merely showing that is a commentary on its grand stature.

I felt that using the poetic mode here was the best way to both show the impressive nature of New York and also comment that as amazing as it is, people are what makes the world so amazing, not necessarily the edifices the construct.  Without saying a single word, I was able to explore these ideas possibly more deeply than I would have with commentary, making the poetic mode an ideal choice for this type of documentary.