Scene I: Computer Troubles. 

We couldn't get the computer to work. It was straight-up G (that's a pun, because the "g" key was stuck down and we couldn't get a letter in edgewise). In light of this, J asked for reactions to Tarnation. 

J: It's scary and shocking. 

 Responses to Tarnation

·      I enjoyed the film but thought it was kind of freaky.

·      And what was wrong with Jonathan’s mother, that she had to receive shock therapy? 

o   There was some difference of perception, whether Rene’s parents had consulted the Doctors, or really known what they were doing, if Rene was mentally disturbed before the accident or only as a result of the accident.

 I had a very uncertain reaction toward the documentary Tarnation by Johnathan Caouette when I started watching it. I was not sure what to look for and what to focus on in the light of our class discussion about truth and reality. However, as I continued watching the film, it became clear to me what was happening in his life and the struggle he was going through dealing with his mother's illness. The artistic techniques used in the movie were interesting at some points, but also very creepy at other points. I have also watched some parts of the documentary again but with Johnathan explaining certain aspects of the documentary.

This is my second time watching Tarnation (2003) by Jonathan Caouette, and I have to say that I was just as disturbed and just as impressed as the first time I watched it. 

"The failure of language (as 'we know it') to accurately create an understandable roadmap to 'realization' or 'enlightenment' has been taken by some, as evidence that there is no 'realization' or 'enlightenment'; "what cannot be described, cannot be real" is an actual axiom of certain philosophies.

Indeed, there seems to be a very generous allowance given to the assumption that a description, if accurate, somehow conveys the thing itself; if I accurately describe 'water', the reader would then be wet. Similarly, it is assumed that a person who has had an experience, should be able to describe the experience, in such a way as to convey the actual experience itself, to the reader.

Watching Tarnation, I felt that a lot of what made the movie was the clever ways in which the director filmed, edited, and spliced the segments of video. For instance, the quick clips of flashing video were used when Jonathan was talking about his drug-induced confusion and disorientation.

I also thought that the choice of music was good in that it contrasted with the images and with the mood of the documentary as a whole. While the music was breathy and cheerful, the videos were anything but cheerful.

I again noticed the discrepancies between different characters descriptions of the same event. As the Netflix summary says , “There's more than one truth on view here.”

I really enjoyed watching Thin Blue Line and found myself rewinding to re-watch portions of it. As I mentioned in class, I've been fascinated by the ways in which something is proven or authenticated as true. In terms of documentary film, there are all sorts of techniques and methods that can be employed. The Thin Blue Line features several, from invoking the psychological past and family damage done to David Harris, to the repetition of the murder scene. Interestingly enough, as we discussed, this film was intentionally crafted by the filmmaker to suggest the innocence of Randall Adams. While a murder is fairly black and white, with someone who is guilty of the killing and someone who is not, the stories or versions of the truth told by those involved varied greatly!