Words and Images
Handling
language is a complex affair in the production of the documentary
because the language is largely designed to be heard, not read. A
documentary producer has to write a script for the voice-over, conduct
interviews and edit them to select only the most relevant and useful
soundbites. The most challenging part of the process consists of
organizing the language to present information in a sequence that is
compelling.
Different techniques are used to convey a message
within a limited time period using images and sounds. The most
important one concerns the way you represent a person's language.
For while the subject of the interview controls what he or she chooses
to say, the producer controls the choice of language and image, a
producer can make an individual look strong or weak, believable or
phony.
How Music Affects Emotions
Music
is one of the most important techniques used to encourage viewers to
have an emotional response. Music can be added to make something look
more playful, more suspenseful, more dramatic and spectacular, and more
fearful. Lots of times when we are watching, we do not notice the
impact that music can have. A pretty ordinary or ambiguous image can be
give a clear and dramatic meaning through the selection of music.
Camera Techniques
And
of course the camera itself, while it captures some aspects of
perception, shapes images just by choosing what to focus on and by the
very look of the image itself. Camera techniques like the close-up,
the pan, the angle shot, the freeze-frame, the time lapse and the
aerial view al influence our perceptions of a scene. And of course,
lighting, activity within the frame, the pace and rhythm of the editing
all work to influence our emotional responses to the image. A producer
and editor can do wonders by using many different images of a single
scene to make something look more exciting and interesting. This kind
of manipulation is increasingly necessary because according to the
experts, television has nurtured a set of expectations that everything
be visually dynamic. Perhaps this is a natural bias of
film and television, or maybe the public has simply been trained to
expect that television present a fast-paced and ever-changing visual
display.
Target Age: Middle School and up
Materials Needed: VCR and monitor, videotape of examples
Video Materials: Segment 4 contains two parts. Part A is a demonstration segment thatshows a repeated visual sequence with two different narrations; Part Bcontains a segment from a documentary that students need to complete bywriting different kinds of narration.
Focus Question: How do words change the meaning of images?
Goals and Objectives:
- Students will write scripts that distinguish between the points of view of involved participant and detached observer.
- Students will learn how words can re-shape the meanings of images.
- Students will understand how much control a producer has over the meanings that viewers construct through effective use of language.
Activity 1
Playthe Part A of Segment 4 that shows a sequence of images representingtwo different points of view about the Los Angeles riots. Discuss withstudents what they noticed about the sequence. Introduce the conceptsof involved participant and detached observer. In this sequence you will notice two different points of view about themotives and feelings of riot participants.
Invite students todescribe the similarities and differences in the words and phrases ofeach of the two narrative voice-overs. You might point out to studentsthat both voice-overs are making a claim about the motives of therioters, but they do it in different ways. Invite students to explorethe questions:
Which point of view is more believable to you?
How are specific words and phrases used to convey information about the participants' emotional states?
Activity 2
Dividestudents into two groups before watching the remainder of Segment 4, aone-minute-and-26-second visual segment about a baby learning to climbstairs. One group is designated to represent the involved articipant -- for example, the baby himself, parent, grandparentor caregiver. The other group should represent the detached observer -- for example, a psychologist, social worker, orphysician. These sub-groups should break down to work in small teamsof two or three for the remainder of the lesson. View the rest ofSegment 4 and have the teams start brainstorming on how to write andappropriate voice-over narration.
View the segment at least twomore times at intervals during the writing process so students canexamine the visual sequence while they are working on their scripts.
Considerthat an average person speaks at a rate of 125 words per minute whencalculating how long students' scripts should be. Have studentstime the length of the segment and then complete the math to determinethe approximate length of the scripts.
When the groups havecompleted their scripts, have one member of each of the teams stand upnext to the TV monitor and read their scripts while you play the videosegment. After every team has performed its script, discuss what kindsof words used have had the most impact in relation to the images.
Discuss: What other points of view besides participant and observer might be used as voice-over for these visualimages? Try writing narration for these different roles.