An American Family: The Louds - Essay Example

An American Family: The Louds The documentary entitled An American Family: The Louds could be used to explore the level of trustworthiness of television content as perceived from the dimension of the audience. The documentary, which was produced in 1971 follows through the life and challenges of an American middle class family that is caught up in the pressures and challenges of daily life, which impart a significant amount of stress on the family. In details, the family faces a series of controversies and domestic conflicts and tensions that eventually develop towards a divorce between Bill Loud and Pat Loud. The documentary uses the realistic situation to illustrate the nature of problems that often afflict an average middle class American family. In essence, it might be argued that the content of the documentary sheds sufficient light on the unstable condition of an American family. Competing perspectives between the family members and the inability of some of the members to adjust appropriately to the difficult and problematic situations that crop up at different points of their lives lead to the undesirable consequences that afflict the family. An evident effort in the production of this documentary is the attainment of the quality of authenticity, which entails presenting the events in the family in a natural and realistic manner. The sequence of action, plot, and other effects of the play has been chosen carefully to illustrate the different ways in which the lives of the lead characters actually became antagonized through various happenings. Towards this objective, the production made use of the different qualities of filming in order to attend to the actual happenings in terms of their impact on the plot and sub-plot, which involves the characters of various members of the Loud family. Issues of mimesis including representation and reception are brought out in ways that seek to anchor the aspects of balance into the actual form of representation as captured in the fundamental details of the documentary. Apart from some of the thematic aspects of the documentary, An American Family: The Louds assesses the possibility of a television documentary to present an objective reality without some element of distortion or deliberate editing to suit into some prejudices of the director. The film examines the possibility of the director to resist the temptation of bending the film towards a certain direction in order to serve some predetermined objective. The common assumption is that reality television usually presents the truth in its raw form and in a manner that does not lend itself to any forms of prejudices on the part of the producer or director. However, certain technical aspects in the production of An American Family: The Louds appear to depict some element of deliberate distortion that effectively misrepresents the truth as determined in the particular aspects about the family under focus. Some of the issues that attend to the depiction of the family might be considered in terms of the various challenges, which include the determination of the essence of reality and the possibility of altering the depiction of the situation to certain dimensions. Audiences tend to believe the content of reality television because it captures certain aspects of life that connect with realistic situations. The kind of audience in reality television is usually influenced by the fact that the content is non-fictional and that it connects perfectly with reality. As such, there is little room for a critical analysis and assessment of the claims made through situations and events as perceived by the audience. The happenings in this particular family are very closely related with certain aspects of truth that connect with the dimensions and perspectives of the audience. The level of trust often comes from the fact that most of the issues are identifiable by the audiences as they relate to known factors. The specific features of An American Family: The Louds effectively portray the nature of life as lived by a real family and one that establishes some level of connection between the established ideals and true facts as they happen. The audience usually connects with the specific audience as a matter of custom and normative assumptions that attract them to certain realistic happenings. This documentary was primarily intended for the middle class American family. The impact of the documentary on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) could be regarded in terms of the various ways in which it portrayed the events precisely as they happened. It is impossible to determine the impact of the filming on the character of the Loud family. Usually the determination of the level of impact is considered in line with the possibility of human subjects to alter their conduct on the awareness that they are under observation. Few studies have established whether it is precisely possible for individuals to carry on with their lives in normal fashion on realization that they are under constant watch. In this manner, it could be argued that the character of the individuals who are under observation from the film was determined, to a large degree, by the level of impact of the filming process. The filming, in this regard, might be considered as an element that aggravated the condition or specific behavioral patterns in the documentary. On this score, the actual authenticity of the documentary can be called into question. A challenge that attachés on documentaries usually revolves around the question of determining the fictional parts of the documentary from the non-fictional parts. In essence, it might be argued that some of the considerations in the production of the film relates directly with the desire to establish some form of controlled patterns of action that are compatible with the personal tastes of the observer. Such a task becomes especially significant in the final determination of the sense of realism of the documentary. The conducts of the family members were supposed to be captured in actual realistic forms. In the process of matching the details presented in the documentary to realistic situations regarding the Loud family, it is important to determine the influence or impact of the level of art on the portrayal of specific factors that are connected with reality. For instance, it is important to determine the manner in which the cinematographic techniques influenced the level of authenticity of the documentary. For instance, the techniques used to show the passage of time and the shifting of setting has some significant impact on the nature and character of the film. Filing entails the use of multiple techniques to portray an aspect of authenticity in the film. Without showing this authenticity, the documentary would lose out in terms of quality. Usually, the determination of the documentary should be assessed in terms of the manner in which it represents aspects of truth about the particular subject. The danger of incorporating aesthetical features through cinematographic techniques is that they may distort the reality that connects to the situation. The line between art and reality is difficult to maintain when assessing the merits of the An American Family: The Louds because the of the shifting nature of characterization and the concealing of certain private matters regarding the subjects. The process of producing reality television relies significantly on the level of connection between the film and other related developments. On this score, it becomes appropriate to determine the manner in which the documentary connects to the reality as represented in the documentary. Some features in this documentary have the characteristics of a rehearsal. The events are well calculated to imply the existing of various issues that connect to the question of reality. However, a deeper assessment of the characters in the documentary shows that many works of reality tend to be as nearly as possible to the actual manifestation of reality as it presents itself on the judgment of the viewer. On this score, it becomes appropriate to measure the impact of realistic portrayals on the nature of reality. Although the documentary does not fit perfectly into the domain of reality, there is an important sense in which it attempts to connect with the elements of reality as nearly as possible. The implication of this connection might be seen in the manner in which some of the issues that connect to the aspect of reality portray themselves as fictional situations because of some deliberate strategies adopted by the director. The techniques used and the use of background features such as audio and visual have some significant connection with the end result. An assessment of the impression created on the mind of the audience shows that most of the issues within the documentary were measured within the limits of situations that afflicted the family in question. Some of the issues that determine the level of connection between a range of issues have to be considered together with the kind of reality that affects the various processes and issues that manifest in the behavior of the main characters. The documentary follows through the sequence of events in a way that illustrates the kind of connection between the forces of reality and the fictional attachment to the same. Creativity in the production of the documentary provides the locus that determines the nature of reaction from audiences. The outcome of the documentary is determined by various factors, which include the allocation of time and focus on particular events, settings, and other aspects of the documentary. Depending with the biases of the director, certain characters, and situations may be highlighted with more emphasis than others. For instance, in this particular documentary there is more focus on the adult members of the family as opposed to the other members. For instance, the arguments between the couple receive more focus than the arguments of the other members of the family. There is also a sense in which the film focuses on the points of conflicts more than it does on points of normal relationship. On this score, it becomes easy to connect the fact that much of the interest of the documentary director was focused on points that are more interesting to watch than on those that portray some kind of a humdrum existence between the characters. It is not usual that a couple’s entire life is focusses on conflict and other sensational aspects of life. In general terms, some of the issues that are effectively brought out are those that highlight on the sensational aspect of the family in the documentary. On this score, it might appear that the film projects a one dimensional perspective of the family under review. It is difficult to assess the merits of the argument in terms of the various points that connect with the essence of reality. As such, the film does not actually represent an honest picture of the kind of life and issues that affected the family under question. It is important to consider the fact that some of the challenges facing the family in the documentary only manifested themselves at specific points of their lives. The sum of their lives was determined by multiple determinants that connected effectively with the complex nature of life as lived by the family. It would have been more appropriate to allocate some significant coverage on specific aspects of the film that represent life in totality. Representation in film is a product of multiple issues that involve the choices and strategies employed by the director. The kind of techniques and strategies employed by the director will ultimately determine the perceptions of the viewers on the documentary. There is some level of consistency between ideology and the manner in, which a film or documentary director portrays the details of the documentary. For instance, a director with a feminist ideological bias will tend to infuse some aspects of feminism into the film. Similarly, a director with patriarchal leanings will tend to produce a favorable coverage for the male subjects in the documentary. In this particular documentary, the director appears to provide some kind of room for the manipulation of certain aspects of the documentary with the express purpose of achieving some kind of authenticity. However, the reactions of some characters in the documentary to certain situation appear to be specifically trained towards the development of certain issues and situations in the film. In this regard, it becomes important to weigh the impact of the portrayal to the kind of reality projected within the film. The use of cinematographic techniques to capture the mood of situations illustrates the way in which the director uniquely tailors certain aspects of the film to respond to predetermined preferences. On this score, it might be argued that some of the features that are used to highlight on the major events in the documentary have some psychological impact on the viewers. This is because audiences often connect certain symbols and images with certain realities. The illustration of these features could be captured in the way in which they respond to specific aspects of reality as presented within the documentary. In order to achieve a natural representation of reality, it is important for the film director to limit the amount of control on the course of activities as established within the film. The aspect of representation entails the determination of a various factors that are tailored towards the fulfillment of certain biases that connect with the audience. Usually, some of the structures that contribute towards the making of meaning require the application of various strategies that are specifically trained to respond to the perceptions of the viewers. Perceptions are determined by various environmental factors. The process of filming a documentary might incorporate environmental features in order to achieve the natural quality within the film. In this regard, it becomes important to determine the impact of the environmental features in the making of meaning as achieved in An American Family: The Louds. Various issues that require appropriate measures in order to achieve a sense of identity usually control perceptions. The production of reality television shows differ significantly from the production of fiction particularly with regard to the kind of controls required to balance between various aspects in the film. On this matter, the development of characters are conducted in ways that respond effectively to the central concerns of the film. Deviations from the central themes could be carried out in order to limit the action and processes in the documentary to the chief idea of the film. On this score, it becomes necessary to consider the connection between the influence of nature and subjective positions to the ultimate outcome. In this particular documentary, the film achieves some aspect of authenticity by emphasizing on the ideas and situations that manifest the different aspects of reality. The characters in this documentary are brought out in ways that illustrate the natural qualities of the documentary. The director in An American Family: Louds ensured to incorporate some aspects of realism sourced outside the specific situations affecting the Louds family. The intention of such a move addresses the need to fill into the deficiencies within the manifestation of situations and actions that apply in the normal course of events and situations. In order to establish some element of sincerity, it is important to consider the fact that most of the issues the affect the distance between the reality of the situation and the sequence of action as captured in the film has to be understood as a sum of various influences. The effectiveness of this documentary could be seen in the sense that it attempts to achieve consistency between the portrayal of facts and the limitations of various issues that connect with the norms and established practices. Much of the effect of the documentary connects with the interest of the primary audience and differs significantly with the portrayal as it might appear in fictional form. On this matter it becomes necessary to understand reality as a sum of influences that determine the nature of connectedness between reality and the various forms of fiction. Read More