Unprivileged Camera Style

This section seems to mainly discuss the eye of the film maker. It begins by MacDougall discussing his filmmaking process when studying in Uganda with Judith MacDougall. They chose to film a conversation being had within a Jie compound. After getting both shots from each person's point of view, they decided to disregard the shots they have of each position and stick to the situation as a whole. Their goals as filmmakers were to show the acts a mysterious culture as well as to show what fieldwork they have discovered. They wanted nothing but to let the audience make their own opinions. Through this, they found they have established a sort of fictional style of filmmaking. They caught themselves, as people, recording acts of "real" people. They began to see the negative aspect of what they were filming; they are supposed to be accepting of everyone but in a sense they aren't. They are viewing them as subject and filmmaker but. This is called unprivileged camera style. MacDougall brings up two views that are a result of this camera style. After introducing this idea, filmmakers began to change their ways by taking away their usual views of story telling and such. The position that brings up a strong debate is whether or not this camera style is an expression of culture or a passive way to arrogantly study other humans.


John Marshall is a filmmaker from the 1950s. During this time he strayed from the normal cinematography most filmmakers stuck to. He started doing documentaries but not focusing on many aspects. He introduced the idea of having the subject and the viewer be greatly connected. He wanted to show how recording a society is can be a form of communication. He does this by using "sequence shots." This is when the sound in the film is heard clearly and the shots are well put together. Marshall used this method to establish a bond between the audience and the subject. This is also known as an unprivileged style because of the restrictions of perception shown. Even though this camera style displays restrictions, it can show a clean connection between the topic or subject of the matter vs. the audience's opinion.