Through the LCD clearly

One of the questions posed during the Encounters Film Festival the Lens as the Oracle discussion was what is the role of a film maker? Ask that question in a room with 5 people and you will get at least 7 responses. A room with perhaps 40 people of course resulted in an deadlock. One of the panelists Professor Tawana Kupe stated and on reflection correctly that we are simply storytellers.

Yes there are thousands of ancillary roles and diverging functions within the realm of media production but I believe as humbling as it may be he is correct. When most of our consumers are asked to describe why they view our products it is more often as a desire for escape or entertainment than as a implicit need for artistic exposure.

When times are tough such as during the Great Depression movies and other mediums provide a much needed escape from daily concerns. There is also a reinforcing of socio-cultural norms and traditions through such storytelling. The traditional mythological stories have been replaced by Joseph Campbell influenced films such as Star Wars, and our urban legends and even literary classics are updated and passed on via these mediums. It is not hard then to make the argument that we are first and foremost fulfilling a role as storyteller.

One of my most enjoyable experiences in South Africa was flying a few times with my Uncle William. African pilots are a hardy breed, my Uncle and his friends fly out of strip cut out of sugar cane, dodging Mambas, and take off on an incline. I’ve always had an interest in Aerial shots (After Apocalpyse Now, and Black Hawk Down who doesn’t?)

We’re flying over the KZN coastline in a Super-Cub belonging to his friend Paul Dutton. Mr Dutton uses his plane and photography skills to do Environmental Impact Studies and aid conservation. I have an aerial camera mount in mind for the Scarlet but on this plane it’s a simple tripod head with wooden planks and vise grips I’m not sure I’d risk my camera on that but what results!)

We’ve come a long way from having to strap old Bell and Howells or Kodaks to the wings of a surplus Biplane. Now I’m considering strapping a Scarlet, my DVX, and a modded CVS camcorder to a….

Surplus Biplane. Also My Uncle’s and does he ever have something planned for it! If filmed and editing properly I assure you will be one of the funniest things ever to grace the internet. Keep an eye out for further notices.

Perhaps pointing out the lack of broadband capabilities in a country that began Television broadcasts in the late 1970s is perhaps a bit unfair of us. Indeed cheap broadband is readily available, mostly through mobile phone service providers, but it is still lacking. Most users it seems opt for or are sold on a bandwidth quota, 500mb a month being the most common cap. Cell phone usage in South Africa is probably more widespread than even here in the United States but computer ownership or at least access to broadband is still considerably expensive for the vast majority of the population. Which brings me to another issue.

The gap between those with access to technology and the poor in impoverished areas is growing at an alarming rate. Children in rural areas on or in shanty towns are lucky if they’re able to go to school, the drop out rate is abominable. It is not uncommon at all to see seven or eight year olds running around unattended on the streets or even working as beggars rather than going to schools. Many of the rural schools do not have money or even electricity for the most basic supplies and computers are beyond consideration. . Our industry is one that is reliant on technology and we need as many eyeballs on our products as possible. It seems that this could have drastic effects in terms of market division. But the spread of mobile phones and their use even amongst the poorest highlight the global growth potential of mobile tailored content.

The SABC had representatives at the Encounters Film Festival, and on the panel in the debate but were harpooned from every angle about their programming choices and apparent devotion to profit. The compromise between social responsibility and the need for a broadcaster to appease shareholders is usually contentious but I tend to change my usual stance and veer in the direction of social responsibility when the broadcaster receives licensing fees and governmental funding as does the SABC.

The SABC if I may expand on my observations is not held in the highest esteem by the population. Part of this may be the perceived slant towards the ANC and covering it to the exclusion of other options. In fact there is a lawsuit being brought by a former SABC head or alleges that he was let go for not towing the party line enough. Alternative news sources are actually bountiful in South Africa for those who can afford to buy digital cable or satellite, but for the vast portion of the viewing audience (license paid or no) they have little option but to rely on one source.

I’ve recently returned from the Encounters Film Festival, at the Cape Town Victoria and Albert waterfront.

Among the movies was a Serbian film called How to be a Hero, which unfortunately seems to have little or no discernible marketing presence. The film (aside from the camera work) was really rather well done. A overweight aspiring film maker turns 40 and decides to get into shape and run the Belgrade marathon. Perhaps if I knew any Serbian or Croat I could find a little more about it in terms of promotion but something tuned to western markets would probably help it sell a few more tickets here in the “flyover states“.

I attended a debate where the main topic of interest was on the role of the Camera lens as an Oracle, and with it came all the generic questions about social responsibility versus corporate interests etc.
I’d like to say the debate was interesting but as with most public debates the topic becomes obscured as the discussion becomes sidetracked and bogged down like a campaign in a Belarussian swamp, with the same results.

There were some documentary film makers in attendance, including some who introduced the world to the conditions at Robben Island, showed the forced removals of residents of mixed districts, and did so by smuggling prints to London decried the lack attention paid to the rising Xenophobic feelings in the country. It seems most documentaries of import are in large part due to the timeliness of their subject, and frankly having footage others don’t. So many are cobbled together from home video and news footage. But the lens as an Oracle is something I don’t see, it can steer people and societies towards certain courses but most of the time it’s more of a Cassandra doomed to issue warnings and see them remain unheeded most of the time.

Several attendees inferred that perhaps documentary pieces should take more of a stand rather than act as merely an observer. Perhaps we as content producers could use the AIDA formula and give more power to an attended message. This however seems to be dangerous, emotional appeals are fine for commercial and entertainment purposes but when the message being conveyed is a call for more serious action we stray dangerously into the realm of propaganda.