Critical Reading Reviews
Charles Forceville; 'Source-Path-Goal'
The theory of ‘Source-Path-Goal’ helps us to better understand the recurring structures in peoples journeys, making it a staple element of not just everyday peoples lives, but also of stories told through all kinds of media platforms, from documentary films to fictional novels.
The basic premise behind the ‘Source-Path-Goal’ schema is how people interact with their own personal journeys, and how their intentions can change the significance of their journeys. When somebody has the motivation (the Source) to head towards somewhere/someone/something (AKA, the Goal), then it becomes a destination that the person desires to reach. If the journey (Path) is itself an obstacle of importance for the person to overcome, then it becomes a quest. When their destination is reached, that journey has come to its end.
It is argued that this whole process of conceptualising a story with some form of beginning, middle and end, is entirely natural and instinctual in people. We do this to help make sense of things in life as life is made up of a series of journeys.
In all stories, there is always more to it than this basic structure. The imposing issues of ‘Time’ and ’Characters’ play a big part in how stories/journeys turn out. For instance, if a Goal is not reached in a certain time then this could change the motivation of the Source, and then altogether alter the journey. The same goes for any interference from other characters that have an effect on the stories protagonist.
If we were to apply this structure to our documentary idea on ‘Bronies’, then it would centre around our journey as filmmakers to find out about this strange sub-culture. We are the Source as we want to learn about this group. Our Path is to find these people, meet them and learn about why they have this obsession and passion for something that most others would find quite odd. This would then lead to our metaphorical Goal of understanding the groups values. It may also become a vehicle to show the journey of the Bronies wanting to express their passion without being the subject of humiliation.
Dr. Charles Forceville.
Image sourced from http://muldisc.wordpress.com/a-i-m-research-group/associates/charles-forceville/
John Grierson & British Documentary
John Grierson was a Scottish filmmaker and is credited with coining the term ‘Documentary’. He was also one the key figures behind the ‘British Documentary movement’ at the end of the 1920’s. Before this movement, documentaries were staged and recreated with actors due to the limitations of technology. Once the technologies started to improve, they were able to go to locations and get a much more genuine view of what they were trying document.
Griersons aim for the documentary movement was to try and make educational films. Making these educational films led to Britain being put on the Cinema map as the desire to portray ‘Realism’ became a staple of British documentary.
For our documentary, we are aiming to take this stance as we want to show our subjects without too much interference and just see the real story of what they are all about.
Yin-Yang Theory
The Yin Yang theory applies to any image that would have two juxtaposing elements within it. The importance of point locations plays a big part in this theory as connections are instantly drawn between the contrasting elements by the audience and gives an overriding different perspective of the picture as a whole. Having an image with contrasting features can provide the elusive quality of shock for the audience. We hope to utilise this with our stills for our documentary and I think we have a subject that lends itself to something like this. I think this as we have a group of grown men who enjoy what would not only be seen as a kids cartoon, but possibly also a female child’s cartoon.