Just watched Titicut Follies in the library. I watched The Thin Blue Line this past Saturday at home.

My visceral response to Titicut Follies was one of shock and horror. It was a difficult film to watch and sit through the whole film, needless to say. Well, not quite as bad as Night and Fog, but repulsive in the demeaning treatment of the patients in that mental hospital. It was a bit twisted of Wiseman to reference the title from their sad, talent show. I Wikipedia'd the film to learn more about the background and context, and I was not surprised that it was banned and ill received by the state. My one funny thought that came out of viewing Titicut Follies was that every acting coach or teacher must refer actors to watch this film if they are going to be playing an insane, institutionalized character (Seven Monkeys and One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest come to mind). It was odd that the inmates' behavior so closely reminded me of fictional portrayals of crazy people, so that it felt rather familiar and expected.

I was super inspired by 9 Hours to Burn. It really appealed to me and opened my eyes to a style of documentary filmmaking I've never seen before. It was impressionistic, beautiful and haunting. Really makes me want to try and do work that hits that emotional note while still being aesthetically experimental and interesting. I really see this as an opportunity in this class to do work that is artistic and experimental in nature. My experiences in non-fiction media making has always been heavily dependent on the interview and VO over b-roll format (a carryover from doing broadcast journalism). I would like to see more work that challenges the boundries of what you can do with this form. It seems limitless and open to pushing the envelope and responding to the subtlety of messaging that is lacking in many contemporary documentary films.

I'm interested in making art that isn't necessarily trying to convince the audience of MY opinion per se, but to letting them come to their own conclusions. Asking questions and not telling, and opening up the dialog. Specifically, I would like to do some sort of animated piece that uses documentary research and footage, perhaps for my final project.