I make ethical decisions every single time I turn on my video camera. While my project seems straightforward (5-30 seconds of something compelling or interesting) it’s fraught with ethical dilemmas.
For example, I was at the airport on the 14th. And admittedly, it’s really cool to watch people reunite with their families. But then here’s the questions I have to ask:
- What right do I have to film a stranger and post them on youtube? Maybe I’ll just try to post things I wouldn’t mind if a stranger posted of me. And perhaps I’ll do what most doc makers do and says, they’re in a public place. I’m not emotionally scarring any children. It’ll only be for a few seconds, and they’re not going to be the focus of this doc project, and it’s not viable to get permission forms signed from them. Let’s film them.
- Why am I choosing to film this scene, and is it fair to the subject and to the viewer? Well, what I love is the emotion of the scene. But emotion is powerful, and can also be manipulative. What I hate is when a cinematographer ruins a perfectly good Christmas concert by zooming in on the soprano on the 5th row who is bawling her eyes out as she sings about Christ. And then that makes me cry. And then I’m upset, because I feel like I’ve been manipulated as a viewer. My tears weren’t earned, except by a cheap filmmaking trick. And yes that frumpy middle-aged lady is performing and thus has agreed that it’s alright if her image is used, but did she really want her very personal experience memorialized like that? Yet the emotion is sort of the point. I decide to film the family, but keep it a long shot. You can see the emotion of the experience, but I’m not intruding. The audience will be a spectator, a stranger watching from the distance, and not thrown into the thick of things.
And this internal, ethical debate resulted in this shot of a family reuniting after several years.
Fast forward a few days. It’s 10 at night and I haven’t found anything interesting to film. Perhaps it’s because I took the same walk as every other day. Perhaps it’s because I wasn’t paying attention to the movement in the world around me. Perhaps I have a boring life (though I doubt it). So me and my husband decide to create a science/musical/entertaining/cooking experience that I can film. I’ve done this countless times, but it raises other ethical questions:
- Can I count this as documentary if it’s, well, staged? The whole idea of a documentary is that you’re documenting life as it happens…and if I’m interfering to make life happen then it’s theoretically not a documentary. On the other hand, what if part of what I’m documenting is myself and my interactions with the world? By obviously doing so, I’m admitting that the filmmaker is never truly just an observer, and always becomes an “actor,” no matter how they try. I could also make the case that everyone uses B-roll footage, much of which is staged. (B-roll = clips of life that often go on top of speaking, serve to bridge cuts, and create a general atmosphere/visual context for the documentary.) However, this isn’t really b-roll, because these shots are the point. The conclusion I’ve come to is that “this is how it would look if someone decided to put food coloring in a vase of water, and regardless of the fact that I would not have done so if I weren’t doing this doc, this is how it looks.” Science docs do this all the time. I suppose what I’m engaged in is the science of looking and seeing how things look and move and interact.
And then on occasion I run into other ethical questions:
- What if there’s music in the background of my shot that I don’t have permission to use? I’m under 30 seconds, so I should be fine arguing fair use, but I need to make sure it’s an essential part of the experience, and yet still a periphery thing (I’m not just using this shot so I can justify potentially violating copyright).
- Is scaring birds so I can get a shot of them flying a mistreatment of animals?
- How acceptable are “camera tricks” (like messing with focus) in documentary?
- Is this camera angle misleading? Intentionally unflattering to the subject?
The list goes on and on. And so I stumble my way through, trying to make good, ethical decisions that don’t manipulate the viewer or take advantage of my subject matter. And I try to stay true to the purpose of my project.
What is the key to being an ethical documentarian? Thinking about it. Reevaluating. Asking myself tough questions. And I think this is something every documentary filmmaker should consider, because film is too powerful a medium to be used carelessly.
If I were to write a short Documentary Code of Ethics, it would go something like this:
Don’t do any harm. Don’t sacrifice a person, a relationship, or an emotion for a shot. Be respectful of others and their space. Be appreciative of the world and what it has to offer to you. Look to create something that is meaningful and worthwhile, for ethics is not just about avoiding negative behavior, but adding something positive to the universe.
And that’s what I’m trying to do. On that note, here’s some of my favorite shots that I took during the month of July:
1. Double fans with light and darkness
2. My friend the snail
3. A performer at a jazz festival
4. Colors mixing in a vase
5. A stubborn dandelion
