The viewing and post-discussion of “Tickling Giants” was definitely one of my favorites of the semester, and left me thinking deeply about the topics discussed. I did not know what to expect when walking into the film, as I had done very little research on the filmmaker and her subject, yet I was still taken for surprise at the direction it took. The integration of humor with one of the most intense topics in today’s world is one that very few would have to confidence to approach as a documentary subject, but I think the film was very well-made and did exactly what Taksler intended. It told the story of Dr. Bassem Youssef, including his careers, family, and goals, while revealing an even bigger story – Egypt’s struggles throughout its nation-wide revolution. Youseff was able to use the power of satirical comedy to gain a strong following and use his voice to ignite change. I think Taksler did a phenomenal job capturing his humor both on-screen and off-screen, and gave us a vivid image of who he is and the passion he has for his country.

From a film standpoint, I think “Tickling Giants” had a nice chronological flow and had the perfect combination of Youseff in his everyday life and on his show. Each shot was intriguing and left the viewer both engaged and curious as to what Youseff’s next move would be. His personality was able to carry the film and the audience felt the effects of his emotion when he changed from an upbeat, funny emotion to an upset and intense one. I liked the incorporation of his behind-the-scenes crew as well, because they helped to create much of who he was and were the driving force behind his movement.

I walked away from this film with several new outlooks, both on documentary subjects and worldly affairs. I am glad I was able to learn so much about one man and his country in such a short amount of time, and again see the power of documentary storytelling at work.

Here is the final cut to my interview project. After receiving a lot of different feedback, I worked with what I had to make adjustments and finalize the project. If I choose to continue working on this project, I hope to re-shoot the interview and definitely get more B-roll. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to shoot more footage of Z, however I think I worked well with what I had. That being said, I adjusted the length of some shots to work better with what she is saying, added a fade-in and fade-out at the beginning and end, added a photo of her and her kids to give more life to the film, and added a few more lines of text to clarify where she is from. I tried to work with adding music, but it just didn’t feel right. Overall, I am happy with how this project turned out, and I was able to learn a lot from the process. I am excited to work on more like this in the future. Enjoy!

I am not totally happy with the rough cut of my interview. I was hoping to go to my subject (Z)’s house and get footage and B-roll of her there, however she insisted on coming to Lehigh. The day she came was rainy, so we did the interview in the lounge of my apartment. It was difficult for me to get different angles of her speaking and I knew once I had finished shooting that I did not have enough B-roll. I do think that her strong story is able to carry the interview and keep viewers listening and intrigued, which I am happy about. I hope to incorporate more B-roll in my final cut, and definitely understand now how imperative it is to shoot more than you think you may need.

Here is the rough cut to my interview with Z.

Sunday, November 5 was a difficult day for myself as long as the rest of our country as news spread of another mass shooting that had taken place – this time at a small church in Texas. As I read the headlines on my phone, I became increasingly alarmed at my numbness to this news. I called my dad and asked when it would be that I’d wake up in a world without these weekly headlines. He had no answers for me.

Monday’s viewing and discussion, for this reason, came at an important time. “Newtown” was an incredibly well made documentary that Kim Snyder most definitely captured and executed well. It is important that topics that weigh so heavily on the lives of so many are properly told, and I think Snyder could not have done a better job. The beginning shots of the film followed by the interview with the first father create an immediate emotional impact that viewers can feel and thus become attached. Even the title of the film – simply “Newtown” – struck a cord because I immediately knew what the film would entail and the emotions it would surface. As a viewer, I knew I could not feel half the grief that these parents and siblings had from losing their first-grade children, but the content of the film made created an intense emotional impact on its viewers. We saw into the lives of these people before and after such a huge part of their happiness was taken from them.

I think it was important that Snyder did not include a picture, or much information, on the shooter. This film was about the victims and their struggles to go on after their children were murdered. So many films and news sources today tend to document and report on the killer or murderer, because, unfortunately, that is what people gravitate towards in the news. I appreciated that Snyder acknowledged this and defended her belief that he should not have been included.

Because of the events prior to Monday’s class, I was able to take a lot away from Snyder’s answers after the screening, especially when she spoke about the role of doctors in these events and their argument to find out why these events are taking place. This idea, spoken about by one doctor who was in the ER the day of this event, was definitely one that shed some hope of finding out why these things are happening and perhaps a way to decrease their frequent happenings. I was able to walk away from the film feeling upset but also with some sense of hope that these tragedies may one day come to a stop.

Aidan Trevisan, Josh Kline, Kiera Kehoe

Watching the film “Night and Fog,” was difficult, as is anything on the Holocaust. The footage used in this film was extremely graphic, but I imagine the intention of this filmmaker was to evoke a intense sense of grief from his viewers. I was surprised to see how short this documentary was when I began watching it, however I realized that he only needed a short span of time to tell this story and create the resounding impacts he intended.

In high school and in some of my college courses, we viewed several videos and read primary and secondary texts on the Holocaust, however very few had the same effects as “Night and Fog.” Some of the footage in this film I had never seen before, and it was difficult to get through without turning my head away in horror. The narrator in this film is never shown, which is different from most documentaries. The images and video content were enough to drive the film and tell the story.

The silent shots force the viewer to feel for themselves the heaviness of the grief experienced by so many. In the article “Documenting the Inevitable,” by Sandy Flitterman Lewis, she states that “recognizing that the ‘truth’ of an event always exceeds the documented fact, Renais attempts to locate those other tribunaries of meaning and association (social, personal, ideological, emotional, philosophical, ethical/moral, national/cultural) through a metaphoric play of contrasts and opposition that includes the viewer in the very definition of the meaning itself…” The contrasts of shots and narration versus silence were done purposely to confront the viewer with the feelings associated with an event this traumatic and dehumanization of an entire group of people. “The haunting sense of absence produced by the camera’s relentless track across deserted space is continually put into revision with the finite temporality of the documentary shots, providing the viewer with a space in which to consider the enduring effects of the specific historical movements.”

This documentary definitely had these impacts on me, and left me with an intense emotional response.

I’m not sure what, or who rather, I was expecting Robert Seidman to be, but he definitely surprised me with his unique personality and straightforward sense of humor. Siedman shared several interesting stories, especially those from his work on the Hasidic Jewish community, in which he had to separate his personal beliefs from those of his subjects in order to properly capture their lives. It is important as a documentarian to put aside our opinions on certain matters so that we can truly document our subject, and not only show one side of them or one side of their lives. I liked that he showed specific clips of his work that spoke to his teachings and then explained the stories and his thought processes behind them. He took immense pride in his work, which I admired, and was eager to share his experiences and advice on the documentary filmmaking process along with the experiences that come with it.

I also enjoyed hearing about the different areas of work Seidman has done, starting as an author and then making his way into screenwriting for documentaries. His confidence and skill seemed to drive his career choices, and it was exciting to see someone who was able to make a career out of his writing skills.

My interview subject for the “Watchable Interview Assignment” will be Zikreta Bjelosevic, or “Z,” as she likes to be called. Z worked in Rathbone Hall, Lehigh’s dining hall, during my freshman and sophomore years here, and had profound impacts on several students including myself. Z sat with us for hours at times in the dining hall telling us her past stories including her escape from the Bosnian War and her struggles getting to America. She has two grown children, both whom were able to go through college in the U.S. and become successful. Despite all she has been through, Z’s outlook on life is still profound. Her story is definitely one that needs to be heard, so I am excited and grateful to have her as an interview subject.

I plan on going to Z’s house to conduct this interview. She lives right in South Bethlehem, and I believe doing it here will be able to capture who she has and how far she has come. I plan on getting different shots of Z speaking, and also several b-roll shots of her home and belongings. I am interested to see what belongings she has carried with her throughout her life and get shots of those. I plan on asking questions about her escape from the war, the hardships she went through, and what it was like coming to America, finding work, providing for her children, and starting over. I think depending on where Z decides to go with her story (there are so many potential directions it may go), I will try to get b-roll shots that correlate to what she says; the visuals will be important in how she is portrayed.

Mystery and murder documentaries always tend to catch my eye, so watching “Thin Blue Line” was exciting because I had never seen it before, and, because it was produced in 1988, was different from many I have seen. Adams had a unique personality that I think drove the film, because from the start I felt as if I was on his side. This film started a little slower than most, but picked up with the extensive interviews and visual reenactments of the crime. While the story itself was engaging enough, the reenactments of the shooting were crucial to the film; without them, it would be easy to lose viewers, as there were few other strong visuals.

As Natalie stated in her post, this film was very similar to the documentary “Making A Murderer,” that became a Netflix hit upon its release. These two storylines drew several parallels, and the usage of interviews is prevalent in both films.

This documentary reinstated the power that comes with this form of storytelling. I had never heard of this case before, and this film, like “Making A Murderer,” exposed several aspects of the criminal justice system that go unnoticed. Adams deserved to have his story told, and I’m glad this documentary did just that.