Rudimentary Documentary

"The twists and turns of Blues music."

Thursday was a hectic day for all of us. After ending classes late in the afternoon, we had to immediately rush to the Macaulay Honors College Building before the Meet the Artists event began at 6:00. Upon arrival, we signed in before proceeding to the second floor, where the event was held. The event focused on the two documentaries produced by Lee Quinby, a professor at the Macaulay Honors College and Daniel Cowen, a recent graduate, the problems that occur during filmmaking, and how behooving it is to work on projects with others.

One of the documentaries, “Facing the Waves,” was centered on Bobby Vaughn, an entrepreneur who established the FTW surf store in the Rockaways after founding the Von Dutch clothing line and leaving behind a past plagued with gangs and violence, and how he transitioned from his old life to his new life. Even though Bobby Vaughn maintained a “bad boy persona,” he revealed the positive aspects of his personality, in that he was willing to go through the court system, therapy and counseling to regain custody of his son, and helping the Rockaway community by starting up surfing camps for the youth. According to the filmmakers, several filming issues were encountered; Bobby was jumping around, drinking the night before shootings, etc. Also, their diligence is epitomized by how they were able to cut ten hours of footage to make a nineteen minute long documentary.

The other documentary, “True Delta,” was based on Blues music, an indigenous folk music in the Mississippi Delta that could “make someone happy and sad,” and the struggle to keep it alive by passing it down to the next generation. What makes it a struggle is the fact that the new generation may carry out the Blues genre differently because of the changing times and how nowadays, there aren’t as much hardships as there once was. The Blues legends emphasized the positive impact that Blues music has had on the community, by giving the youth something to do besides committing crimes, and helping to unite people. Also, I noticed how there were many river and water scenes. According to the filmmakers, the main purpose of these scenes was to relate the twist and turns of the Mississippi River with the twist and turns of Blues music.

Both documentaries impressed me because the storytelling in each film was done excellently, in that the transitions between scenes were done so smoothly, such that it was relatively easy to understand what was going on, and each film’s picture quality was good, despite the limited amount of resources used by the filmmakers. It was fascinating how the camera shots usually started from the feet and slowly moved upwards to build people’s characters. I was surprised at the amount of time dedicated to producing these two films and the numerous valuable skills acquired, including patience, developing an interview style, listening and silencing oneself, keeping the camera rolling for that one sudden incredible shot, etc. Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close could be related to the documentaries presented, in that they all discuss and convey how people and things adjust to the changing times and surroundings.