Summarizing the Summary Process

    Over the last couple weeks, the documentary project was both enjoyable and more work that I expected. While narrowing down the list of documentaries, I chose about ten that seemed to have interesting narratives. While narrowing down the list further, I worked through which were available on Netflix or Prime and which were no longer streaming. I was able to narrow the list down to two, If a Tree Falls and Human Flow.

    The documentary If a Tree Falls was a great film and very informative about the Earth Liberation Front, a group known for its radical environmental stances. The documentary follows a member who has been radicalized and labeled a domestic terrorist due to the property destruction he was a part of. After watching the film I was left questioning if writing a  subjective summary of the film was possible. I decided to investigate my second choice, Human Flow further.

    With the film Human Flow I was immediately drawn in by the aesthetically pleasing cinematography, but the film quickly turned to the subjects: refugees. The film continued to spark my interest with the intimate view given on their journey’s. After the two and a half hour documentary, I was more interested in summarizing this film. The main concern I had was how I would summarize a film covering so many different locations, ethnic groups, topics and history surrounding each groups stories. I decided to watch the film to write notes with the important topics at hand, type out all of the interviews, data points, locations and tensions being felt in the film. In total I had typed out fifteen pages of dictation, in which I then needed to shorten into the summarization. In the end I chose to focus on a few locations throughout the movie which shared similar meaning to the ones left out and then provided the important details from those areas.

    All in all the summary project was more work than I was expecting. The two and a half hour movie essentially turned into around 10-12 hours reviewing, and another few hours typing out the paper.  I am not sure why I felt the need to type out the major points in the movie and then narrow it down, and I am still not sure that it was the most productive method. When it all comes down to it I feel more confident knowing that everything I need to get across what the film portrays was at my fingertips.