Japanese Culture
Discovering that I would be having to film a documentary upon starting A2 Media Studies my initial thought was to go for something in my top interests - I then remembered watching the documentary 'Justin Lee Collins: Turning Japanese' at the beginning of 2011 and decided to re-watch it. The series is a three part travel documentary in which Justin Lee Collins travels to Japan in an attempt to integrate into and understand Japanese culture. Below are some images taken from the show:
Here is the opening video of the documentary:
The idea for filming such a documentary was one of my initial ideas where I would film by myself; a solo piece of documentary coursework. I was thinking of adapting my interest of Japanese culture by means of filming Japanese events that I often attend, one of which is upcoming in March 2012. I wanted to do it similar to Justin Lee Collins's documentary by showing the different elements of amazing Japanese culture including traditional (e.g. kimono and calligraphy) and contemporary pop culture (i.e. anime). This would be filmed by means of general observation mode and interactive mode in which I participate in events and narrate over the camera. The purpose of the documentary would be to educate, entertain and inform people about amazing Japanese culture.
Anime and Otaku Culture
Another part of Japanese culture includes anime. Anime is actually the Japanese word for 'animation' but in the West its taken to specifically mean Japanese animation. I have a great interest in Japanese anime (my wall in my room is filled with posters and I have a big collection of anime and related items) and have attended anime festivals in the past. Below is an example clip of an anime, from one of my favourite series called 'Clannad' (click here for more information on this series, adapted from a 'Visual Novel'):
This anime interest is sometimes stretched further in people and some people consider themselves 'Otaku' (click here for the definition and brief description). There is an event in Japan called Comiket held twice a year in Japan dedicated to Otaku interests where they can buy various goods. These events are attended by many people every year. Below is a video of people waiting to enter Comiket 81 to pick up their Doujinshi and other goods (people are more visible around 1:28):
I was thinking of filming a documentary on the topic of anime interests and the breadth and dedication it extends to. It would be filmed using a lot of interactive mode followed up with interviews of anime enthusiasts. The purpose of the documentary would be aimed at people interested in this part of Japanese culture and would be to inform them about this growing Otaku culture.
Languages, Polyglottery and Open-mindedness
The topical interest of this documentary would be to entertain and inform people of language learning, polyglots and open-mindedness, and the beneficial results of language learning. Due to my interest in language learning coupled with my college being a language college I thought that this may have been an interesting documentary. It would show language learners and their background in language learning, as well as their methods. Much observational and interview filming would be used to inform people and let them see people using and explaining their methods, the result of this being an informed target audience - language learners. I would also show how far language learning can go and the dedication people put to it; below is an amazing video of Alexander Arguelles (click here for his Wikipedia page) and his polyglottery work:
The documentary would also take into account 'open-mindedness', a concept I was motivated and influenced by from Moses McCormick, a famous polyglot. He too
has his own YouTube channel; below are two very interesting and important videos that I really like and that I highly recommend watching:
Moses also has his own website that offers material that can be purchased for learning languages using the 'FLR technique' - Moses's technique for language learning. Click here to visit his website.
Some other influential Polyglots that have inspired me include Luca, Steve Kaufmann and Richard Simcott, all with YouTube channels videoed below:
Luca:
Steve Kaufmann:
Steve Kaufmann made and compiled a very helpful and interesting playlist of videos in regard to language learning which he calls 'The Seven Secrets of Language Learning'. Click here to view the playlist.
Kaufmann also has his own website designed for people to sign up to and learn via what he stresses to be the most effective way of learning languages - reading text in the native language while listening to that text and building vocabulary. The website is called LingQ and I am a member.
Richard Simcott:
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