Larry Lessing notes a New York Times article on the "guerrilla documentary" OutFOXed: :Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism. The legal issues of fair use are interesting, especially if you watch the trailer and note just how much Fox New Channel footage they are using. Lessig is one of the legal advisors to Robert Greenwald the films producer and director. As Lessig notes at the end of his post, maybe this guerilla documentary style is the future of the medium.
All that brings me to my idea...
Rather than debunk Fahrenheit 9/11 in print (which has been widely accomplished), how about some enterprising documentary maker do it by combining footage from the movie with Pop-up Video style bubbles? If you remember back to that VH1 mini-craze, the video action is a secondary player to the visual effort required to follow (and read) the pop-up video bubbles around the screen. You could take 30-40 minutes of F911 clips, cut network news coverage the same way, and add a layer of Dave Kopel's 59 Deceits in Fahrenheit 9/11 and you'd have a hell of a documentary.
Given the direct to DVD pre-order sales of OutFOXed, you would probably make a shitload of money too...
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Comments (6)
"reality TV" is NOT real, a... (Below threshold)1. Posted by daniel | July 13, 2004 12:24 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"reality TV" is NOT real, and moore-like propagnada movies ain't documentaries.
the popularity of both MOSTLY says that many people crave edgy freshness.
moore is not terribly different that dennis miller --- except miller doesn't lie.
an inconsequential item for the Left, obviously.
what i think it REALLY means, is this:
Americans are a huge and diverse market, and they like and want all kinds of stuff, SO if you market it well, then you might find your audience.
moore's deliberately fashioned bad-boy image helps him - and miramax - sell tix.
this is not too diff from the bad boys of RAP.
marketing badness has been a growing phenom in the USA. it's gotten worse and worse: now thee;s no longer a difference between notoriety and celebrity.
notorirty helps marketers cut throuhg the clutter and find an audience.
there's got to be a better way -
actually GIBSON found one way: he created a edgy version of the passion paly and then pumped up the controversy, and CASHED IN.
how can normal, bourgeois, middle American, down-home, true-blue American ENTERTAINMENT cut through the clutter - and get beyond the over-sexed, overdrugged, too-too-violent noise of EXTREME marketing and find an audience???
This is the problem.
and real heros - barely seem to rate.
and REAL truth-telling sdocumentaries that m,ight inform and insore - they donp;t stand a chance.
only the hatchet man can cut through the clutter for the marketing man.
michael moore = "hatchet harry" of clutter cutters...
1. Posted by daniel | July 13, 2004 12:24 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on July 13, 2004 00:24
2. Posted by Cman22 | July 13, 2004 1:37 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"Rather than debunk Fahrenheit 9/11 in print (which has been widely accomplished"
You wish. www.michaelmoore.com has all his sources and debunks the debunkers.
2. Posted by Cman22 | July 13, 2004 1:37 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on July 13, 2004 01:37
3. Posted by Macker | July 13, 2004 2:12 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
If there were anything that would make Mike al-Moor go postal, this would be it!
3. Posted by Macker | July 13, 2004 2:12 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on July 13, 2004 02:12
4. Posted by -S- | July 13, 2004 2:23 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
cman: you haven't been reading.
4. Posted by -S- | July 13, 2004 2:23 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on July 13, 2004 02:23
5. Posted by bryan | July 13, 2004 10:30 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Others have said that some of the footage used in outfoxed was not actual broadcast footage, but footage sent by satellite and intercepted. I don't think Lessig's going to win a case of fair use for material that isn't broadcast. But what do I know, IANAL.
5. Posted by bryan | July 13, 2004 10:30 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on July 13, 2004 22:30
6. Posted by fmk | October 11, 2004 3:13 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
you may find this article in sigla mag on documentaries interesting: http://www.siglamag.com/arts/0410/CinemaDocumentaries.php
6. Posted by fmk | October 11, 2004 3:13 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 11, 2004 15:13