Documentary Cinema

Respond to the following questions. Be sure to answer each question completely, citing the assigned texts where necessary. No outside sources only use what is provided.

Question 1. What did find interesting about Conor Bateman’s video analysis of Cameraperson?

Question 2. How do you understand Bateman’s use of the phrase “co-opted dialogue”? Cite an example he does not discuss in the video and explain how it works using his comments on this idea in the video as a model.

Question 3. Patrik Sjöberg observes that “there are aspects of Cameraperson that, to me, seem to be guided by priorities other than memoir.” How does he support this point? What are some of the priorities, questions, or themes that you noticed that he does not mention? Choose a scene and describe it carefully to support your response.

Question 4. Vera Brunner-Sung emphasizes the important role that sound plays in Cameraperson. What is the effect she associates with the soundtrack and how does she relate it to Johnson’s ethics as a filmmaker? How do you understand the ethics of documentary filmmaking Johnson is exploring in the film? Choose a scene and describe it carefully to support your response.

Question 5. How do you understand the importance of Johnson’s mother’s appearance within Cameraperson?

Materials:

Watch: Cameraperson (Kirsten Johnson, 2016) Link:https://drm.osu.edu/media/Media/Play/9404?format=Standard

Watch: Cameraperson to Person (Conor Bateman, 2017) Link:https://vimeo.com/2156139

Read: Read both. They are under the same link: https://docalogue.com/july-cameraperson/

Patrik Sjöberg, “I Ask You to See it as My Memoir”
Vera Brunner-Sung, “The Embodied Lens”