In terms of the text Cathy Come Home, the film makers are trying to depict the life of the stuggling underclass in 1960's Britain. They use the cinema verite style which focuses more on treating it's characters as 'objects' that are being studied. The use of 'shaky' or hand held camera is one of the more distinctive techniques used and considering this film is about dislocation and homelessness it disables viewers from gaining any real sense of stability. This technique often has a violent and un-nerving quality which again helps to further illustrate the struggle of Cathy and her family
The use of voice-over narrative is also one of the distinct features of the documentary genre. In Cathy Come Homes the voice-over narrative is used in a way akin to a public service announcement. The tone and style of the male narrator is largely cold and detached and used to give additional information about housing and welfare. This style of voice over helps to further separate the text from fiction, this simply is not a story, it is real and happening at this very moment.
In terms of the narrative flow, different events in Cathy life's are presented in short encapsulated burst that jump from one event to the next. Their is no effort to reveal character's backgrounds or their relevance to each other, for example Reg's mother is simply there to represent the struggle of the elderly but her relationship to the characters is only explored in a couple of fiery exchanges. There is no mention of Cathy's background and the most important aspect of the storytelling seems to be the focus on the 'now' and being 'in the moment'.
The most obvious visual indicator of the documentary genre is the use of black and white. It provides a stark realism which obviously heightens the gloom and doom of the world in which Cathy and her family live in. Every hardship is brought out in black and white shadings and manipulates viewers into feeling even more sympathy for the struggles of the underclass.
Cathy Come Home is obviously interesting in the way it intersects tradtional ficitional narrative and documentary-style elements. Through the use of more conventional story-telling modes the viewers are encouraged to connect with Cathy and her family and try and relate it to their own experiences. However the documentary elements give it a much more sterner sense of realism which is overall the more important feature the film makers are trying to evoke.
I agree that the visual indicators in current reality TV, especially shows like Survivor, still use a sort of black and white filming to portray realism. Although us as viewers know that the reality shows we watch are scripted or manipulated to invoke some sort of response from us, the use of black and white to portray or enhance the feeling of hardship does make me feel like it's more 'real'. And shows like 'Cops' still employ the hand held filming technique. Those shows are more realistic for me in a way. Even though the characters or the show are fully aware of the presence of the camera and the fact that they are being filmed, shows like 'Cops' really connects with the viewers by showing how real people give real reactions to the situations they are in. The camera men often also appear in the show which gives the feeling that us viewers are not being cheated and being shown that this show is being filmed and there are people behind the lenses.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, oops forgot to link it back to reality TV of today. Yeah I think what I found when I compare the two is that manipulation of the camera to make it feel like everything is natural when in reality it is highly staged. The manipulation of the camera in particular seems vital in providing the context of a situation in reality tv. Jerky movement normally equates to a fight scene/bust-up as seen in any late night altercation on Jersey Shore. Or shock is normally represented by a quick swipe to a character's facial expression ala the kardashians when a sister announces that they broke a nail... or actually worked for a day hahaha.
ReplyDeleteHahaha xD the people who made those shows probably mixed their medications wrongly. Thankfully, I've never watched either show. But it is really that camera manipulation (aside from the obvious editing) that gives the money shots. As you've mentioned the jerky movements and the quick swipe makes it feel like the viewer is the one who was running after the character or turning their head to look from one person to another. People probably don't think about it but those movements that gives you vertigo are actually the techniques that makes reality TV 'real'.
DeleteYeah.. and the other one that gets me is the 'time passing' shots when they use high angle shots of people just sitting in the lounge or in the kitchen doing absolutely nothing and this sense of tedium helps to elevate whatever drama they later have install for viewers. Half the time reality shows struggle to hold your attention for more than half an hour, although competition shows are clever in the fact that you sort of have to stick around to see who gets the cut, or they stage elaborate challenges which breaks up the monotony of people sitting on a beach or foreigners driving endless on foreign roads. Roads all look the same after a while!
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