April 06, 2005
Along with David Hudson, Al Franken and a host of others, I was the recipient of a copy of Chuck's Blogumentary back at SXSW last month. I just now finally got around to watching it. My thoughts:
The first quarter of the documentary is a fine primer on the blogosphere; intended, perhaps, for the unitiated. Then Chuck moves onto several case-in-point stories, such as the whole Trent Lott takedown, and (most compellingly) an extended sequence on embedded reporter/blogger Stuart Hughes. There's also a terrific chronicle of Howard Dean's blog-fueled rise and fall that infuriated me all over again.
Where it really starts to get good, though, is when Chuck's camera comes off the tripod, turning it on his closer friends, his girlfriend Lori (who starts a blog in response to the whole Dean fiasco, and who is also seen drinking Silk vanilla soymilk and using Apple computers - what a killer combo!), and himself (when, at the end, he accidentally deletes his blog). Just as one of the most thrilling aspects of blogs is the possibility of personal introspection unavailable in standard journalism, Blogumentary gets really good (and interesting as a film) when Chuck's life starts to creep in around the edges of his reporting.
But then, suddenly, it's over. In a recent post, Chuck wistfully noted the critique of one gentleman who took the film as a work in progress. I'm afraid I'm of the same opinion: while I do think the film could be a little tighter, both visually and sonically, I also think it shouldn't end when it does! How about a version 2.0, Chuck?
Although in many ways, since all the original material in the documentary is registered under a Creative Commons license, the torch has been passed. Perhaps you think the Stuart Hughes or Howard Dean sequences would make good feature documentaries all by themselves (and they certainly would) - well, go ahead and make it, and use the footage Chuck has shot as your jumping point. This is the first Open Source Documentary; Chuck has taken the first step in ensuring that future documentarians won't have to go through the same rights hassles that are currently blocking the release of his film, in its current state.
I'd help out by passing my copy around to interested parties, but somehow I managed to crack the DVD while re-inserting it into its case. Way to go, me.
Posted by David Lowery at April 6, 2005 08:08 PM
Comments
anyplace to download it? i'd be really interested in seeing it myself..
Posted by: brad at April 6, 2005 09:06 PM
D-Lo!
I'm in complete agreement on every point. Thanks for your thoughts.
The personal bits are also my favourite.
It's all over the map, obviously. People unfamiliar with blogs are really glad I explain what they are. Some are way more into the politics and journalism - in fact those aspects are what have helped me get into conferences and some screenings since that's a hot topic right now. But I'm interested in people and their stories more than technology or politics, and that's probably reflected in the film.
It does feel rough, and could certainly use some cleaning up. But I'll tell you, I'm quite tired of working on it. I can't bear to go into the massive Final Cut timeline anymore. I'll have to, because I want to strip out any copyrighted works to make a free-and-clear version for download/remix. I'd like to turn all my footage over to some interested benevolent institution to digitize and upload to archive.org - really make the open source aspect a reality. There's a lot of potential for different stories in the footage.
I'm mostly interested in videoblogs now. Short-form documentary in videoblog form, for one. Also exploring the idea of a narrative played out in videoblog entries which I may have mentioned to you.
Oh yeah, email me your address so I can send you another DVD. :-)
Posted by: Chuck Olsen at April 6, 2005 11:29 PM
Can I e-mail you my postal address, Chuckly?
Posted by: Matt at April 6, 2005 11:51 PM
Of COURSE, Brother Matt!
Currently downloading "Mark and Katrina Go Boating"...
Posted by: Chuck Olsen at April 7, 2005 03:26 AM
To Brad: you can download bits and pieces from the lefthand column of Chuck's blog, blogumentary.typepad.com.
To Chuck: yeah, the videoblogging aspect was where I was expecting you to end up in the film, but I suppose it's actually quite natural for that to continue as an actual vlog, rather than as a part of the film. In any case, e-mail with my address forthcoming momentarily...
To Matt: I liked the quotations you put around 'film career' in your interview in the film. That's totally the kind of thing I'd do.
Posted by: Ghostboy at April 8, 2005 03:08 AM