Good evening everyone,
After a long journey, I’ve finally finished my documentary, “Gutenberg’s Press in a global context: Why a revolution happened in Europe and not elsewhere.” (https://youtu.be/5F9ctEK1d1U)
I chose to use a talking-head format interspersed with images and quotations. I used a talking-head format because I’ve read in the past (I can’t find the source) that people are better able to follow when people are speaking if they can see that person speaking. Also, it’s good practice.
I interspersed the video with images and quotations. Sometimes the images take up the entirety of the video, sometimes they are overlays in the corner of the shot. I left empty space for just this purpose. My inspiration here was news shows, which do exactly the same thing.
Alternative types of videos, like animations, were beyond my reach with this topic: I had spent such a long time researching and tangling with/digesting what I had learned, that I didn’t have time to create a more technically involved documentary.
By studying the printing press, and thinking of comparative history (i.e., why there wasn’t a Gutenberg-esque revolution elsewhere before Europe) I fell down a rabbit hole of information. I struggled to come out of this hole, because I wanted to the global context together and weave a logical and scholarly narrative to meet the end goals of this project.
I’m not sure I’ve succeeded. Through editing the script to fit the time constraints, I may have inadvertently cut vital piece of information.
I also would have liked to have memorized my lines for the camera. Lo, I have a terrible memory, terrible even by the standards of a literate culture. Plato’s Socrates is saying “I told you so.”
Besides gaining an appreciation of the complex history of printing technology, and its ramifications for the world, I’ve also learned how to research better. I usually write my notes by hand to help me memorize and digest the content. However, for this project I additionally composed a document of quotations from the works I read. There are over 13,000 words in this document, spanning over 30 pages, all transcribed via keyboard through my aching fingers.
This was labour intensive, but it has given me two things: a virtual manuscript I can use for future research and studies, one that I’ll attach for you, and an appreciation of the CTRL + F function, which allowed me to find specific quotes that interested me but the source of which I often forgot.
What an experience. I need a rest.
Looking forward to seeing your documentaries everyone!
Mackenzie
1. Gutenberg_Script_MackenzieMoyer
