Preview

Catfish Documentary Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
727 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Catfish Documentary Essay
The film Catfish, directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, changes our understanding of the truth about the media. After watching the film Catfish, the audience questions if the composers are controlling the truth about the media or showing what really happened. It is questionable that the directors would be able to record scenes that were significant enough to use in the documentary. Lastly, the responders are considered if the composers include and exclude different scenes in the media.

The film Catfish changes the way responders think about media and makes them question whether the composers control the audience’s view of the truth. To film news reports about crime or dangerous events, directors would have to film constantly to get every bit of information. But news reports can’t always get everything and missed parts of the action. So they re-act the situation, which means parts of the information are changed or not revealed, leaving the audience with the wrong information. This can make the responders question if the composers control the truth in media. In the film Catfish, the composers have given us information that was not reliable. The chat website Megan gave to Nev wasn’t real, which tells us that the conversation and web chats were fake. Some news articles can be a bit unbelievable because the situation is predictable. Because of this, the audience questions if the composers are manipulation the whole thing. In Catfish, the plot of the documentary is a very common and predictable situation that happens in fiction books and movies, making it hard to believe that this situation really happened in the film. These examples from Catfish allow the audience to raise questions about the truth in media.

In the film, questions were raised about having enough information in the recorded scenes to use in the documentary. To get the information they need, news reporters interview people who have witnessed the scene or have knowledge about the topic. Since the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    One approach that the documentary has to lucratively charm the emotions, or pathos, of its viewers is by presenting interviews that are vastly intense to watch. Introduced in a…

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I have recently watched a movie called blackfish. Actually it was a documentary about orca whales written and directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. For those of you who don't know orcas are the black and white whales, they have also been referred to as Shamu, blackfish, and my favorite, the killer whale. I've always found it kind of fascinating that they are called the “Killer Whales” because they are used at water parks such as SeaWorld. Disney World wouldn't use anything dangerous in their parks. Would they? As it turns out that is a far more complicated question than a simple yes or no answer.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    he says. And all throughout the documentary, various people and even a family was interviewed,…

    • 1130 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    human would not get the opportunity to see let alone interact with. The idea of a special place…

    • 2912 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Big Fish" Essay

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Big Fish is a film directed by Tim Burton and filled with all sorts of different elements. One of these elements pertains to Edward Bloom, a man too full of thoughts and excitement for his hometown of Ashton. This element spreads throughout the entire film while at the same time, demonstrating two of Edward’s different views: the one of the world and the one of himself. Both views play an important role in the film as they are tied together during on the last scenes in the movie: Edward’s funeral. They come together to become one view in which Edward is always present.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The father (Albert Finney) is dying and he wants to tell the son (Ewan McGregor) about his life, so that people could remember him. However, he tells in specific way, the way of imaginary stories : when reality interlaces with fantasy, when human meets giant, witcher, when people can have two heads or use magic. Nevertheless, these stories tell about father's passions, adventures and also fails. The aim of spectators to define, where is fiction and where is truth.…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The concept of understanding persuasion was then applied to the documentary, Blackfish, and explored the filmmakers understanding of how the rhetorical appeals work in favor of a persuasive message. These analyses demonstrate how persuasion can be applied under a multitude of circumstances and how its elements are altered to apply to different situations and events. Although the motives of both of these artifacts was to persuade, it is the way in which the persuasion tactics were carried out that show how different messages require different tactics in order to successfully persuade. Persuasion can be used to exercise power over others thoughts and can even extend to altering their actions. Both works used their understanding of persuasion in efforts to expose, control, and instigate societal changes. These analyses have revealed that persuasion is not a simple matter of changing someone’s thoughts, but rather an extension to action in order to have a larger effect on the greater good of…

    • 1447 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages

    1. How does the archive footage during the opening moments of the film prepare the audience for the story?…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Over a period of time, specific audiences construct expectations of different types of media, related to either what they have been told, or perhaps what the media have exposed them to in the past. Indeed, it could be argued that the success of a film to a large degree, rests on whether or not such expectations are met, surpassed, else the audience successfully surprised. Certainly, such expectations have to be addressed by the film, if it is to be considered satisfying for the audience, and in this way, elements within the film, such as character representations, the narrative and cinematography are all important components which allow this to be achieved. Additionally, the social and political context in which the film is being viewed must be considered, as it is against this background that their expectations will have been formed.…

    • 3110 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Blackfish Essay

    • 1976 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Who does not love to see dolphins and whales flipping and doing tricks? Although the animals look happy and unharmed, there is a dark truth behind the captive marine life in amusement parks and zoos. Yes, attending zoos and marine life amusement parks are a part of childhood; but recently researchers have discovered just how cruel the environment is for the marine life in captivity. After studies of comparing the quality of life of marine animals in the wild and in captivity, there are multiple examples shown in Blackfish, PETA, and the Animal Welfare Institute that show that animals prosper and live longer in their natural habitats. Due to the cruelty endured by the captivated Orcas, all the SeaWorld parks should be shut down and the Orca whales should be set free to prevent further demise to their species.…

    • 1976 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Waiting For Superman

    • 316 Words
    • 1 Page

    1. A. What do you believe is the main argument presented in this documentary? B. Describe how at least one of the children’s personal stories illustrates his argument.…

    • 316 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    King of Kong

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Overall, this documentary shows man techniques of providing different sides and views of a story. They used family members, friends, and the persons own account to express the different…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mass Culture

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Our main goal is to critically assess the images and messages of contemporary media. How do they create meaning? Do they enlarge our understanding of the world, or influence us to think about it in increasingly narrow ways?…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fish Out of Water Essay

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ivan Vladislavic is a South African born writer. He first published this short story “Courage” in the year 1996, two years after the new political party was put in place and democracy evolved (Vladislavic, 1996). In this essay I seek to critically examine the characteristics of My Old Becker, a man who arrives in a black community and is alienated because of his white skin colour. I argue about how his way of dressing, his behaviour and how other characters in the story portray him contribute to express the theme expectation versus reality. Nikita Koloff (2007) once stated that “your habits determine your character and your character your destiny. Your habits are either the best of servants or the worst of masters“. In accordance with Nikita Koloff’s words, I will outline My Old Becker’s emotions, reactions and actions. My aim with this essay is to understand the effects that racial segregation produced in the village of Lufafa at that period in time.…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ans-1) Communication theorist and philosopher Marshall McLuhan had once said: “We are not sure who discovered the water, but we are pretty sure it wasn’t a fish”. The fish, as we know, is always immersed in water and has no anti-environment to help it judge the element it lives in. It thus becomes the last to discover water. The case of the fish is metaphorical and can be applied in the context of contemporary media landscape where ideas of ideology and hegemony act as filters in shaping news. Human beings are social animals whose views and opinions about the world are influenced by the news they consume. Media's role is to function as a mediator and represent the reality by careful selection and editing. To avoid becoming that fish whose…

    • 1822 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays