After watching the three documentaries, I only liked the Royce White one. When I watched that documentary, I actually felt like I couldn't breathe and was having a panic attack. I felt emotionally connected with the story because I experience a lot of anxiety (mainly caused by small, stupid things), so I wanted Royce to be successful and overcome his panic attacks. Slow-mo and different sound effects (i.e. ticking and breathing) created the feeling of having a panic attack. The director did a great job of using shaky cam and silence to make viewers feel like they were a part of the film.
Although not to the extent of the Royce White documentary, I thought that the director of Korean Netiquette also was effective in making viewers connect with the film. We've all been through elementary school, so that was easy to connect with. Not to mention, our generation revolves around the internet, primarily social networking, which has created the need for netiquette. I remember being in the third grade in computer class and playing games that taught my peers and I how not to be cyber-bullies and what to do in the case of being cyber-bullied. The content was relatable, therefore, the documentary held my interest. I really liked the close-up shots of students using the computers and the children singing the song towards the end–it made me feel like I was back in elementary school again. Also, I liked that the narrator (or whoever he was) was in the film, since there wasn't any shaky cam to show that the film crew was there. Overall, the documentary felt very National Geographic or almost like a news report. I was disappointed that it was so short. I thought that there would have been more to the story.
I liked The Archive the least. I think this simply has to do with the fact that I don't care for records nor do I understand their value, so it wasn't something I could easily relate to. Also, I don't think the green/yellow filter added anything to it. Yes, I understand the feeling of nostalgia, but for me it just made the documentary even more boring and dull. Let's face it, in our generation, no one likes old people! They're too slow, and they always nag you. The use of still shots during interviews and shots of records playing added to the dullness. The director was effective in creating a sense of hopelessness; however, it wasn't something I enjoyed watching. I thought that the best part of the documentary was in the beginning when the man said, "Something this old must be worth a lot." This was the punch line of the entire documentary and was a great attention grabber. The Royce White documentary had somewhat of a similar attention grabber when he discussed panic attacks, but the Korean Netiquette documentary just kind of jumped into the meat of the discussion. Though they varied in style, all of the documentaries were effective in conveying their messages.
