Blog #4

Why did Soda find it useful to make a set of commandments or rules to operate by? Soda mentioned that when he was a television producer he had to do a lot of extensive research and prep work when he took on new projects and that he felt that it made for an inauthentic product. The commandments he set for himself are personal goals that go against the grain and nearly every instinct of documentary filmmakers in the industry. For Soda to vow things like "no research" and "no meeting with subjects" it can seem counter-intuitive for a project that is centered around the lives of its subjects. It can also be shocking to read his commandment of "pay for the production yourself" as many documentary projects rely on some kind of outside funding or producing to be possible. But the results that Soda has gotten since abiding by his own commandments are what he feels to be the most authentic human interactions possible while shooting his subjects. By taking away the pretense of researching the person like a school topic and instead observing them in their natural lives and habitats, Soda explains that any preconceptions or misjudgments he might carry into the project are nonexistent when he allows people to be people. What kind of films are likely to emerge when you have rules like Soda's guiding you as you make your movie? With rules like Soda's I can see a project not having as much of a linear narrative or clear progression through story and dialogue as compared to one that did have research, pre-interviews, and even scripts, but I think that the trade off is an unparalleled authenticity that gets to the heart of honest human interaction and a documentary that can be even more emotionally effective. If you were going to make up some rules for yourself, about the work you do or want to do, what might those be? For myself personally I would recommend to outline the work that I want to do and the biggest steps of the project but to not get hung up on the smaller details. In the case of documentary film-making in the future I would set a rule for myself to try and get as honest of a story and interaction from my subjects as possible, and to listen more than I ask or explain.