Writing Culture Via Image:Reflection On The Relationship Between Film Maker And The Subject In Ethnographic Film

Since the1970s, as the core of reflection on anthropology,"writing culture" deconstructed the relationship between ethnography author and the object, and subverted the understanding of classical ethnography’s concepts such as "objectivity" and "authenticity". As a result, ethnography should be jointly constructed by authors and the object. For the ethnographic film, writing culture via the visual and audio language, what is the relationship between the filmmaker and the subject? And how filmmaker and subject construct the ethnographical film. Based on my16year experience of ethnographic film making, this paper focus on the relationship between filmmaker and the subject in ethnographic film, and how "authenticity" and "objectivity" influence the relationship between producer and the subject.Ethnographic filmmaker in this doctoral dissertation mainly includes the director, producer, photographer, recording engineer, editor, and other subjects who use filming and editing equipment to express viewpoints and intention. The subject of ethnographic film, refers to the holders of culture.Ethnographic film as an artifacts, filmmaker fragments the continuous actuality with video camera, and reconstruct a so-called ethnographic film by using part of those fragment. In this dissertation, the film shooting in the field is defined the first presentation of ethnographic film, and the post editing is defined the second presentation. The first presentation is a process of fragmenting of life actuality, the second presentation is a process of fragmenting the fragments which obtain in the first presentation, so the second presentation is also called "the presentation of the presentation". For ethnographic filmmaker, those expression skills are "common sense", but are a series of secrets for the subject, this reality constructed the first unequal relationship between filmmaker and subject.In ethnographic films first expression, Although the filmmaker and the subject can be the observer and the observed in the first presentation, but the way the observation (filmmaker look through the camera, the subject through naked eye), and the quantity of access to information are different, the second unequal relationship between filmmaker and subject is constructed. Actually, a game relation exist between the subject acting in front of the camera and the filmmaker’s acting in front of subject. However, this "encounter" process with the game relation between the filmmaker and subject is usually hidden in most of ethnographic film.Because the subject almost could not present in the process of the second presentation, and filmmaker usually consider in how the audience accept the film but not how the subject accept content and presentation measure in the second presentation process. It led to a one-way observe and observed unequal relationship between filmmaker and subject. Rethinking on ethnographic filmmaking promote some remedies under the code of ethics:such as to protect the benefit and dignity of the subject, to protect the privacy of the subject, etc. However, could this really change or eliminate the unequal relationship between the filmmaker and the subject?Ethnographic filmmaking is also an important practical pattern in the community video which spring up in1960s, because the filmmaker and subject are residents, this kind of ethnographic film once dispelled the asymmetrical relationship between filmmaker and the subject. Community video, however, still can’t get rid of the grim reality that the capital, equipment, technical training are provided by outsider in current mainland of China. As a result, the outsider who provide the capital and equipment play the similar part of filmmaker in the traditional ethnographic film. Moreover, if outsiders are not involved in the community ethnographic filmmaking, the community ethnographic film will be another type of mono presentation, and have to face the ethical considerations and risks.As a conclusion, community ethnographic film and academic ethnographic film are not conducive to the reflection and improvement of the unequal relationship between filmmaker and the subject. Because we can’t abandon the ethnographical film presentation form, Perhaps the unequal relationship between filmmaker and subject could be improved and eliminated via the following approaches, such as break the highly unified internal narrative style in the same ethnographic film, guarantee the independence how and what the filmmaker and subject present in the ethnographic film, and let the audience obtain their own independent space and possibility for watching and understanding the different view and intention in the narrative of ethnographic film. Based on the multichannel presentation, different subjects of ethnographic film have the space and the possibility of dialogue, may be the unequal relationship between filmmaker and subject could be eliminated.