Degree Name
Master of Science
Graduate Program
Mass Communication and Media Arts
Advisor
Thompson, Jan I.
Abstract
The term 'participatory documentary' was first coined by Bill Nichols, a documentary theorist. He describes it as a mode of documentary where the observer interacts with the observed, and the filmmaker becomes a subject of the film. What started as a little documentary about a minor league baseball team's line dance group composed of women over the age of 65, shifted when tragedy hit the 'observer'. It turned out these ladies were now in the right place at the right time to help guide the documentary maker out of her grief. What resulted was a new documentary with a participatory mode.
I intend to show, through the process of how I made this documentary, that reconceptualization can be a useful part of documentary making. In fact, it is necessary at times to change the modes, perspectives, and methodologies of storytelling. It is through this reconceptualization that the true story is revealed. Without this process, “Beyond the Bananas: Grief, Grace, & the Groove” would have been a different, less compelling story. Without this reconceptualization, it would not have been the story this documentarian needed to tell.