The format of documentaries is not as strict as one might think. The integration of home videos allows for further context and deeper audience empathy.

The usage of found home video within documentary films can be a very effective editing strategy, replacing less impactful B-roll and expanding the availability of audio clips, which reduces the need for recorded narration. This strategy provides more content, which in turn adds context and depth to the story being told by the journalist. The documentaries “The Family Album,” “Minding the Gap” and “Rewind,” three pieces exploring growth and familial relations, are all great examples of this strategy. While the same editing technique is used, each of these documentaries incorporates home video footage in a unique, impactful way.

“The Family Album” uses home videos as the primary source of footage when telling a chronological story. This documentary begins by showing the children of a family from found  footage from the 1940s. The documentary follows these children through all of the ups and downs of their lives as documented by their families over the next 10 to 20 years. The documentary used a chronological format in order to illustrate a story of growing up in the United States in the mid-20th century. From the first scenes of young children, the audience watches these individuals grow into adult life, with a section focused on weddings, unity and the joining of families. The documentary also covers death and loss in its conclusion. 

In “The Family Album,” the reliance on home video as a narrative tool was appropriate. It allowed the audience to become attached to the subjects that the documentary was focused on, and watch them grow while hearing their voices and learning about the trajectory of their lives. An interesting aspect of  this documentary was the way in which the footage was manipulated. In the other two documentaries I mentioned, home video was inserted unedited, purely for the purpose of providing context to present day issues being discussed. In “The Family Album” however, some of the footage was presented in a sped up manner, showing the passage of time. This was a very interesting technique, as it represented how editing can convey deeper messages and concepts to the audience. The music used also contributed to this concept, as when the footage was being played in fast forward, fast background music further enforced the idea of the passage of time.

In subtle contrast, both “Minding the Gap” and “Rewind” used the technique of inserting home footage to provide context to specific ideas being discussed by current day characters. This is interesting, as it compares current opinions and knowledge to moments of the past, allowing the audience to examine all sides and form an opinion for themselves. It increases the legitimacy of ideas presented, as it provides historic primary evidence. Utilizing home footage in this manner  can also be an effective strategy in gaining empathy from the audience, especially in the case of documentaries that are centered around stories from the childhoods of the subjects. 

“Rewind” stands out because there was a third element to the documentary in addition to the home video and the current footage such as interviews with family members. There was the integration of artifacts that had been held from a previous time. Some of these were held by Sasha’s mother, such as a mask that he wore over his face. The rest of these artifacts were held in binders kept at the office of his previous psychiatrist. In a scene shown at 31:43, they went through these binders together and discussed the different drawings from different points through Sasha’s childhood. The psychiatrist explained that when working with children affected by trauma, words aren’t always the most effective strategy when trying to communicate both what happened and what they are feeling. In these instances, they often ask the children to draw instead. 

In the documentary, Sasha and his past psychiatrist sat down together to review the drawings that he had produced when he was a child. They found the drawing that was used to identify his abuser. This was a very emotional experience, as the age of the child can be clearly identified through the style and complexity of the drawing. The documentary balanced the psychiatrist speaking about traditional practices and approaches taken in circumstances such as these while also connecting with Sasha on a personal level when reviewing these artifacts. 

Having these artifacts of the past balanced with the home video footage allowed for a connection to be built between these two time periods. The previous time displayed connects to the present through the present observation of relics of the past. This was a very effective strategy, as a common problem that is often presented is a lack of cohesion when jumping back and forth from the past to the present. This can leave audience members struggling to follow or understand what is important to be keeping track of. The use of this in-between strategy allowed the audience to gain a clearer understanding of what was important and proceed watching the rest of the film with a more well rounded sense of both the past and the effect that it has had on the present.

One more element that was different among these three documentaries was the person behind the camera. This small difference created three different tones with three different messages being shared. “Minding the Gap” was more of a biopic, as both the current footage and the footage of the past were both being filmed by the subject of the story. This created a point of view that the audience was experiencing, and allowed the subject to share the story that he wanted to about his own life.

“The Family Album” was a compilation of footage filmed by many different people over the course of decades. This provided a well-rounded view of the entire family and allowed the filming to take place over a longer period of time. The use of multiple perspectives allowed the documentary to become a piece of history, as it was not just focused on one person or one thing. Instead, it was a symbol of growth and progress as time passed and the children shown in the beginning began lives and families of their own.

“Rewind” was more of a combination, as there was a film crew that captured the current day footage. This allowed the subject of the documentary to be experiencing everything fully in front of the camera, as opposed to “Minding the Gap,” in which he was behind the camera creating a point of view. In “Rewind,” the audience is an outside observer learning about a situation of the past. Most of the home footage was filmed by Sasha’s father, a survivor of assault by the same people as him. When watching the documentary for a second time, this provided an interesting perspective. The abusers were never documented by anyone that they had not harmed. Sasha’s mom spoke about how she felt that this home documentation had torn her family apart, as her husband never came out from behind the camera. His mother and father proceeded to get a divorce. Sasha’s father expressed his discomfort with watching the home videos that he had shot. Bing Liu from “Minding the Gap,” did not seem to hold this sense of discomfort, as he made the active choice to use his own footage when creating a documentary about his past and his community.

An article in the New York Times states “people historically shot home movies to remember happy occasions, not to capture bad ones.” This statement is an interesting one, as “Rewind” was shot with this intention, trying to capture fun family memories and moments. However, circumstances changed the tone of these videos, allowing them to have an eerie and uncertain air to them. “The Family Album” aligns with the message of this quote, in that the home movies were used to capture all of the special family moments such as birthday parties and weddings. While this was enjoyable to watch, the audience is missing some context. No family is perfect, they just often chose not to document the negative. “Minding the Gap” was the most neutral of all three of these documentaries, as it seems that Bing Liu documented everything, the good and the bad. The home video was used purely to provide context when needed, without reservations due to family image. Comparisons between the intended versus actual use of home video can be made for each project individually, and are not the same.

Utilizing previously filmed home videos and integrating it into documentaries about childhood, family and growth is a very effective strategy. It can be used to provide context as well as build the connection between the audience, the filmmaker and the subject.