Catfish

A documentary following the development of an online friendship. Unintentionally, the Schulman's and Joost find themselves on a journey to discover what is actually real.

This documentary stirs up a lot of emotions. Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost start documenting the beginning of Nev's online friendship with a young girl called Abi. The documentary contains surprising twists and leaves you on the edge of your seat as the boys begin to question what's real. With the filmmakers unsure of what is coming next at the time of filming, it feels as though you too are on the journey to discover the truth. A brilliant, entertaining, thought provoking, (slightly scary) documentary.

Catfish is both a reflective and interactive documentary. It is filmed with all of the participants responding to questions asked of them throughout. Nev is consistently asked how he feels on the situation and at the end of the film even more questions are asked of even more people; as the filmmakers and Nev try to eliminate the lies and locate the truth. The filmmakers make their case as the film continues, this is because they had no idea how the story would play out. There is emphasis on how the film is made all the way through the documentary. They are as equally interested in the process of making the film and how reality is constructed. They show this through various shots of them holding cameras, asking questions etc.

The first lines have a significant impact on how the movie concluded. Nev's quote "set it up, organise a time with me, put together some materials, emails, we'll get the Facebook conversation printed out and really talk about it" shows how a documentary normally plays out. In normal circumstances filmmakers know the route they want the story to go down. However in this case, they didn't know what was going to happen - it was completely spontaneous. This adds to the film and helps drive the emotion in the film and out, felt by the audience.

If Catfish had involved the specific level of planning that you usually associate with the factual genre I don't think it would have been as good. When watching the film, you feel as though you are also on the journey to discover the truth. What you are seeing on the screen is people's true reactions to what is happening.

Lift

Confined in a small space with no where to hide your true self, Marc Isaacs captures on film what it is to be human and how over a short period of time, you can really get to know someone.

Marc Isaacs, Lift, is a compelling documentary following the tedious lives of residents in a block of council flats in London. Isaac, along with his camera, patiently wait in a lift of the block capturing the residents reactions and learning more about them. The film was quite enjoyable though personally, a documentary I would never normally chose to watch. The film moved at a gentle pace, introducing the residents and their 'outerselves' - to begin with, complete strangers. Yet by the end of the film, we see their innerselves; a kind elderly lady who just wants company, a tired man with terrible life experiences that wouldn't be wished upon anyone and a man who shows kindness through food. As time goes by they begin to open up to Isaac and you can really paint a picture of the type of person they are. A thought provoking film about how a person feels and interacts with those around them, whether they have a choice or not.

I believe this documentary was in the style of reflective and interactive. Some of the documentary is filmed with the individuals responding to questions asked of them. While the film as a whole is experimental. Isaac is interested as much in the process of making the film. This is emphasised with the repeated shots of his reflection in the lift holding the camera. He is showing how reality can be constructed, as the actual content.

I think the awkwardness of the filmmaker and location helps the narrative form naturally. However it does force the conversations and the feel of the film. If the location was a local park, there would be a completely different atmosphere throughout. The lift creates the illusion of being boxed away from the outside, you can't hide who you are or how you are feeling. The questions Isaac asks: "what did you dream last night?", "have you ever been in love?", "do you have religion in your life?", are anything but normal everyday questions. He provokes a real answer from these people, where they have to think deeply about themselves and their life experiences.