All Media is Constructed

With all the commotion regarding the Kony 2012 "movement", I though I would take some time as a filmmaker to explain some fundamental concepts to my readers. The average person thinks of documentaries as works of non-fiction that presents a complete non-biased picture. That could not be further from the truth, as even objective forms of all media are constructed.

Documentaries first start with a concept or an arguement and use interviews and visual imagery to tell the story they are looking to tell. As the crew embarks on shooting the documentary, the director takes that concept and writes interviews, goes to related events, and shoots compelling footage to tell that story. Often, the director will ask leading questions to get a soundbite or answer that will help propel the story along to provide evidence for their argument. In addition, the director will often tell the editor to cut around the desired answer, taking it completely out of context and proving his or her point. 

Another thing to ask yourself when watching a documentary is who is left out of the telling of this story. Is the story fair to both sides? Is another perspective even presented? Who is funding this documentary? Is there a financial incentive to present this argument, this particular way? What is the director's overarching agenda? These are just some of the questions one should look at when evaluating the integrity of a film or filmmaker. 

Another way documentaries are constructed is through their editing. An editor is often given hundreds of hours of footage that they must narrow down to a small sliver. They are able to rearrange things and take them out of context. Overlay B-Roll footage and compelling music on top of interviews to create an emotional appeal. They can cut out things that seem contrary to their argument, and cut around dialogue to make their interviewees seem more articulate. 

As emotionally appealing the Kony 2012 campaign may seem when viewed on the surface, there is much more to the story than Invisible Children make it out to be. It is a complex issue that involved many parties and tragedy on both ends. By making the story simply binary, presenting "good" and "bad" (Kony), Invisible Children has over simplified the issue, preventing the general public from knowing the entire story. 

If you are interested in investigating the story further, please read the blog posts below:

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IC Responds to Criticism

There are a few articles about it as well. 

Follow the money. Always follow the money. It will tell you a lot about the incentives behind a particular message.