Michael Moore

One of the most prominent documentary makers of our generation is I think Michael Moore, he is controversial figure in the media but I think the strength and the technique of his films is of major importance to any documentary maker now.

His films in a way gave new life to the Art of documentary making. Never before had political documentary had this same energy that Moore's presenting style injected. His style is like a tornado, incredible powerful and has no real breathing space, constantly bombarding you with information.

Something that stands out to me in terms of this module is his interview techniques. He is very clever about what he says/ He knows what he wants to get out of people and asks the right question to extract these answers. I suppose one parallel one could draw is Jon Snow of Channel 4 news and his way of bombarding politician's until he is able to get a straight answer.

I think something to take away from this is that you have to be insistent in yourinterviewing, you just need to know what to say in order to get the points you want. For the film we are making this has a slightly different context as we are not wanting to get any information that anyone would be reluctant to yield like Moore however it is still important that we ask the right questions so that the answers given reflect the structure we want for the film.

Another trick of Moore's is the editing he does, he knows hot to manipulate the footage in order to create an effective film. and also how to create a point. It adds also to the comedy in some cases.

His use of humour is as well something that I want to get into my work, we may not be using humour for Satire as Moore does but I think remind me that humour is a useful tool in documentary to keep your audience interested. In my case I think it should be used to represent that Morris dancing is a light hearted pass time and people do it for the enjoyment and to literally have a laugh, out film should reflect this.

Moore is a clever filmmaker and I think looking at his somewhat unique approach is defiantly useful for any aspiring documentary maker who wants to make their film impactful and interesting. Also he is a different school of film making from the early days and from the beginnings of Political documentary, he is an important figure to keep in mind I think.