Faculty Mentor Information
Dr. Taryn Birdsall (Mentor), Boise State University
Additional Funding Sources
This project was funded by the Boise State Undergraduate Research Creative Arts Fellowship.
Abstract
The project "This Isn't About You" is an attempt to complete a film documentary about my life told in an unconventional way: using the second-person.
To accomplish this, I scripted out five scenes based on aspects of my life, which became the five parts the film is told in: Away, Self, Friend, Uncle, and Home. In these scenes I address the camera directly and speak in second-person, replacing "I" with "you".
After each narration scene, I follow with a set of interviews of friends and family, asking them each one question related to that part (e.g. For "Uncle" I asked several of my nieces and nephews, "What does the word 'uncle' mean to you?") and having them answer in the second person, as well.
The idea behind this is to see how an audience, accustomed to more traditional narration in documentaries, will react to a film about someone else but hearing the word "you" used instead. I want to transcend the screen as a barrier between performer and audience, pulling the audience into the story so they might feel there is a part of me, however small, that also exists inside them.
This Isn't About You
The project "This Isn't About You" is an attempt to complete a film documentary about my life told in an unconventional way: using the second-person.
To accomplish this, I scripted out five scenes based on aspects of my life, which became the five parts the film is told in: Away, Self, Friend, Uncle, and Home. In these scenes I address the camera directly and speak in second-person, replacing "I" with "you".
After each narration scene, I follow with a set of interviews of friends and family, asking them each one question related to that part (e.g. For "Uncle" I asked several of my nieces and nephews, "What does the word 'uncle' mean to you?") and having them answer in the second person, as well.
The idea behind this is to see how an audience, accustomed to more traditional narration in documentaries, will react to a film about someone else but hearing the word "you" used instead. I want to transcend the screen as a barrier between performer and audience, pulling the audience into the story so they might feel there is a part of me, however small, that also exists inside them.