Reading Response #5

1. Going by Sandra Gaudenzi’s description of interactive documentary, Out My Window encompasses the “fluid, layered and changeable” nature of the medium that leads to a possibly infinite amount of forms through “a dialogue between the user and the possibilities that the interactive documentary system offers” (Gaudenzi 2). Through a series of algorithms, the user can pick and chose their way through the virtual world of Out My Window ensuring each who participates in the interface their own, unique experience of it.

2. The first mode of documentary that Bill Nichols describes in “What Kind of Documentaries Are There?” is the Poetic Mode, which seeks to explore connections of “temporal rhythms and spatial juxtapositions” rather than conventional here-and-now conventions driven by continuity editing (Nichols 102). This mode focuses more on mood and tone of the piece rather than the direct transfer of information to the audience. 

The next mode Nichols discusses is the Expository Mode, which takes historical bits and from them forms an argument and a specific perspective. This mode relies heavily on the spoken word. 

The Observational Mode of documentary throws meditated construction out the window, instead focusing strictly on what happens in front of the camera and nothing more. Through this, we see life at the pace we live it, leaving the viewer to form opinions of the matter at hand simply through their observations. 

The Participatory Mode requires the filmmaker to actually be with and participate in the lives and/or cultures of his subjects in order to gain a first hand understanding of what he is filming. As a result, the viewer is given a feel of what this experience was like for the filmmaker and in turn, they can form their opinion on the matter. 

In the Reflexive Mode of documentary, the viewer is tasked with not simply seeing through the world of the documentary, but seeing the documentary as the constructed piece that it is. This relies on the viewer looking at the events shown as needing interpretation rather than the film itself. Needless to say, reflexive documentaries rely heavily on content. 

Finally, the Performative Mode of documentary highlights the subjective nature of each individual’s understanding of the world and uses it as gateway to general understanding. Actual facts and the imagined are often intertwined in this mode. 

3. Since Nichols descriptions in “What Kind of Documentaries Are There?,” the main changes in the format have largely been those described by Gaudenzi in her description of interactive documentary. The many types of documentary Nichols describes are all what Gaudenzi describes as the linear form and cut of documentary, which though still relevant, now have competition in the form of fluid, interactive documentaries that let the viewer pick-and-choose their experience rather than it being forced upon them in the form of a concrete piece.  

4. Out My Window is very much a representation of the world as we neglect to see it. We become so caught up in our own private lives that we rarely look beyond into the lives of those around us as well as simply what is going on around us. Out My Window lets the viewer explore the world as though they were a fly on the wall in any room or space of their choosing (although with the ability to pick-and-choose what information they take in and experience).