Being There
I named my film ‘Being There’ because that it what it is about. When people ask “being where?”, one immediately finds out where ‘there’ is, in the opening shot (figure 1). During the end credits you hear Grace say “I just think it’s a really good representation of the shop because it’s not like, eww nerds, it's just people, being there, and talking to each other and having a nice time” (Moorhouse, 2018 11:00). I was concerned about representation, as multiple patrons at the shop would make anxious jokes about me making a David Attenborough style documentary where I comment on the behaviours and habits of the ‘nerd’ community. I wanted to create this film as a gift to the shop, something they could share and be proud of, to show the fun and community that I love to be a part of. To me it felt less exploitative to give back rather than just take people’s time and trust. As Otto suggests, film can be a form of exchange (2013).
I spent many weeks filming at the shop, getting to know people better along the way. At the same time I was also learning how to use my camera to produce higher quality more professional footage (this is why some shots are more beautiful than others). My filming style was modelled after ‘Sisters in Law’ (2005), an observational story about two women working in the judicial system in Cameroon. When filming my own film, I took inspiration from the way Longinotto portrays these women’s lives without the use of interview or narration. I filmed in an observational way, never taking people outside of their activities. Occasionally I would ask a question, most of the time people would take their own initiative explaining things to me. After gathering hours of footage of people being in the shop, only then did I start the construction of a narrative. I decided to experiment with different ways of editing to achieve different anthropological styles in the three main sections of my film. The styles I chose are explanation, participation, observation.
The first section, on Role Playing Games (RPG), is edited with the attempt to explain in an overt and clear way. This harks back to the roots of visual anthropology, for example in Disappearing Worlds: to make the film accessible to a wider audience, anthropologists narrated sections (Turton 1992 p.291). Within my film I asked Hayden to explain what RPG’s are, rather than doing it myself, to avoid the David Attenborough style documentary that my participants were afraid of.
The second section of my film, participation, is about Thursday night at the shop: board game night. Board game night is what got me involved with the Dice and Destiny community three years ago. This night shows off me and my friends playing games, like we have been doing for my entire time in Canterbury. I attempted to break down “the barrier between observer and being observed” (MacDougall, 1998 p.130) by observing myself. Although you cannot see my face, you can see my hands and hear my voice. Watching yourself on film is an interesting experience, that Ton Otto refers to as the parallax effect (2013 p.199). I learnt that I can be quite annoying: while listening back to the footage of me playing John Company you can hear my voice saying “no, no, no” (04:30). I considered not including this, but I thought it was important to not actively censor my own portrayal, since the other people appearing in the film do not get the opportunity to edit their representation either.
The third section, about Friday Night Magic, is in a purely observational stlye. There are long shots of people just playing the card game Magic the Gathering, which allows the audience to get to know the characters and personalities through their interactions with other players. Observational films aim to record events in long takes without directional intervention. The long shots give access to the emotional lives of people through their social interactions that are allowed to carry out in (close to) real time (MacDougall, 1998 p.115-116). The observational style was criticised for attempting to hide the decisions of the film maker and acting as if the camera is not present, in an attempt to show scientific objectivism (MacDougall, 1998 p.137). I have tried to avoid this downfall by showing the little interactions with the camera that would normally be cut out. “You filming the cardboard addiction that the regular guys at the store have?” (Moorhouse, 2018 09:25-09:33), here Jacob is referring to the camera which reminds the audience that the film maker and the camera exist.
Finally, I was also inspired by Ton Otto’s film ‘Ngaat is Dead’, to include a section of reflection at the end. I showed Grace, the only female member of staff at the shop, some sections of ‘Being There’ and asked her opinions on it. She is a member of the community and it was interesting to get her take on it. I found this a good way to end the film on a reflexive note as well as to give slightly more information about the shop to the audience.
The evenings in Dice and Destiny can become loud and noisy. I decided to subtitle the sections of my film in which people are talking to the camera so that everyone can understand what they are saying. Rouch preferred narration over subtitles because he felt that subtitles “retracted from the poetic power of commentary” (MacDougall, 1998 p.165). I understand that subtitles are distracting, which is why I did not embed them in the video. If you cannot clearly hear what someone is trying to explain to you, you have the choice to turn them on. At a later date, when I have more time, I may completely subtitle my film for the hearing impaired, to allow for a greater audience to be able to experience ‘Being There’.
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References
Being There. (2018). [film] Directed by J. Moorhouse. Canterbury.
MacDougall, D. (1998). Transcultural Cinema. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
Ngat is dead: studying mortuary traditions. (2009). [film] Directed by S. Christian, T. Otto and S. Dalsgaard. Papua New Guinea: Moesgaard Film.
Otto, T. (2013). Ethnographic Film as Exchange. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 14(2), pp.195-205.
Sisters in Law. (2005). [film] Directed by F. Ayisi and K. Longinotto. Cameroon.
Turton, D. (1992). Anthropology on television: what next?. In: D. Turton and P. Crawford, ed., Film as Ethnography. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp.283-299.