At the inception of my senior project I proposed the question “​​Is direct cinema still valuable in an age of constant and easily accessible methods of documentation?” I intended on framing my project through the lens of this question and answering it by participating in creating a direct cinema documentary while simultaneously immersing myself in established films and written works, both underground and highly esteemed, to understand the praise and criticisms of the genre and its methods. By way of this process my all encompassing question morphed into “​​​​Do the inherent intrusive and voyeuristic tendencies of direct cinema call for the remodeling or deprecation of such genre?” Though my question evolved into something, in my opinion, more interesting and relevant, I am not certain that the logged hours of my senior project experience have given me the tools to answer it. I believe that the aforementioned question is pertinent to the exploration of direct cinema, yet it feels as if it was a realization that came to fruition from my proximity to and engagement in the genre, rather than something of a framework for my senior project. In retrospect, I would’ve framed my project with a question similar to “How does active participation in the material of interest aid, expand, and cement our understanding of such material?” 

Though my project does not outwardly project an exploration of educational pedagogies, participating in this project has given me a better understanding of why it is important for students to actively participate in and then reflect on and question what they are learning. Watching documentaries and reading analyses has incredibly been helpful in my process, however I believe I would not have been able to propose my questions about methods and the need to remodel or entirely cease the production of direct cinema films if not for actually engaging in the creation of a film itself. Attempting to create this movie allowed me to harness the feeling of imposing exploitation upon people I know and care about. Reading about how this exploitation is vital the creation of direct cinema films gave me a jumping off point, but once I had stakes in the issue I was able to introspectively think about and question the genre’s methods, my perpetuation of them, and ultimately about the role of direct cinema in today’s world. It was the unlogged and random hours spent ruminating on my creation of the film and the inherent exploitation that I had committed that further my understanding of my part in and need for direct cinema documentaries. In classes throughout my high school experience I have become familiar with the notion of “doing the inner work” and understanding my own position in what I study and fight for. This project has given me a model applicable to many areas of study in which I begin with research, then move to experience, then to introspectively reflecting on such topic, turn my findings outward to understand my position and stakes in the topic, and ultimately understand something in its entirety and possibly create the change necessary to better what I have studied. The merits of inquiry-based learning and progressive educational pedagogies made themselves clear throughout my project as I used real-world experiences to pose my own questions and then find answers to them. I suppose my newly desired framework of “How does active participation in the material of interest aid, expand, and cement our understanding of such material?” is actually applicable to the senior project experience on mass.

While pitching my senior project I promised those watching my pitch a completed film that told the story of Z and Elijah collaborating to make a jazz album. While not explicit in my slideshow, I told myself and hoped that I would be able to answer my essential question through an additional essay in which I could analyze direct cinema movies, methods, and philosophies, and draw a conclusion on whether today’s cinematic world, and the world generally, still needs the production of films that fit the genre. This was something I felt necessary, as films of this genre are still made, yet direct cinema was much more popular in the 50s through the 80s, and most of the writings I found happened to be published during that time period and read as dated. 

Reaching the culmination of the senior project experience and the presentation night, I am anticipating the completion of my explicit promises: the watching of direct cinema movies, the reading of works that pertain to and analyze the genre and it’s films, and most importantly the creation of a documentary I filmed, edited, and displayed before an audience. Currently, I have completed the rough cut of my movie and am in the process of editing a final version. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete Stephen Mamber’s book Cinema Verite: Studies in Uncontrolled Documentary, a work that I hoped to read throughout my project, as it was long, dense, and my excitement about writing critiques in my annotated margins became tiring as I became increasingly frustrated with his dissociated praises of exploitation. I am also disappointed that I will likely not have the time to fulfill the vow to myself in writing a succinct analytical essay. The hours each day I spent filming, organizing footage, editing, and completing senior project requirements proved to be more tiring than I originally imagined. Additionally, my engagement in the senior project experience left me at a distance to the work I was used to doing in a classroom. Despite the genuine enjoyment I get from essay writing and thinking analytically, I found it difficult to participate in something I was used to doing in my traditional school environment, and on top of the energy exhausted fulfilling my explicit promises and expectations, I have not been able to write the piece. My project, however, has raised questions that continue to interest and challenge me and I hope to find time in the future in which I will be able to complete a work that attempts to answer them.

To best display my process and product during my senior project presentation, I hope to display the film to audiences alongside an edited version of my journal. My edited journal would present a few examples of what my day typically looked as well as excerpts from blog posts and other pieces of reflection and writing that I completed over the past few weeks. I also intend to write an artist statement for the film to better convey my process and the ideas behind the film. To present the movie I hope to have a few laptops with headphones that will be available to those interested in watching. This would allow people to watch for as short or long as desired and would make sure that people wouldn’t walk in the middle of the story, etc. I fantasize about the opportunity to have a more formal screening in which a group could gather and watch the beginning of the film followed by a Q&A with me, Z, and Elijah, however I believe this would likely be too logistically challenging. Under the impression that I will engage in a presentation like my first option, I will make sure to make myself present and still allow for questions to be asked to me personally. I hope that, regardless of how my film and project is conveyed, I will be able to ignite interesting conversation not just between me and those who participate in my presentation, but also between the participants themselves.