Jean Rouch on the Future of Visual Anthropology

[meebee2beebee]

frickin amazing man. i wish i could have met him.

[rodriguez798]

Jean Rouche was an exceptional person and had huge impact on social sciences in and filmmaking, Godard called him the Jeanne d'Arc of film.

Its a shame someone has the opportunity to interview him but doesn't know what to ask. He didn't refer to the camera which "does not work" or "insn't real", but to the interviewer. The perspective you choose, the questions you ask and the way you talk to him, all this is so very against what he stood for.

[callmejunior08]

brilliant

[sclogse1]

The public seems to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff...

[amdura]

i think everyone should video everyone else and that way everyone will ignore that they are being filmed all the time and act normal. Even Rouch changes his behavior when being filmed.

[Kris10MichelleRoss]

I think he meant that pretending the camera doesn't exist doesn't work. It does exist, and we shouldn't try to hide it, because that's dishonest.

[ashotistoshootwith]

It filmed you saying it didn't work.

[Mevlevi1207]

Very interesting person! We're learning about him in my Visual Anthropology course at the moment. I love it!

[rositaalvirez]

He doesn't believe in video. He's actually saying it doesn't work, it doesn't exist. Film is the only medium, and no matter how we kid ourselves, the digital image can never replace that holy grain...

[sclogse1]

Film is so stylized by technique...lighting, filters, behavior, processing, emulsions, editing, that there can not be a direct comparison to video vs. film. Walk into an Eddie Bauer store, and look at the skiing video they have on their large monitor..(around a 46 or 50 inch). THe damn thing is so spectacular, so amazingly sharp That it reminds me of what Doug Trumball was seeking when he developed ShowScan in 70 mm, shooting 60 frames a sec...Video can be transferred to film too...

[pr8212]

À questions magnifiques, réponses magnifiques!

[ethnofilm]

Below is my personal interpretation and might be completely wrong. Maybe there is someone who knew him better who could contribute to this discussion...

[ethnofilm]

I guess we agree that those who publish images have some kind of responsibility. As I understood Rouch, he acknowledged that an increasing number of people are able to publish their films - due to technological developments such as video. At the same time he feared that many of those would not act responsibly and therefore promoted the use of the film-camera. This argument implies that people who have access to the expensive technology must be trained and therfore act more responsibly.

[sclogse1]

Unfortunately the top people do not act responsibly, as opposed to young broke filmmakers. Cigarette placement, etc. is so common, and violence is used to such an extent because the media created the zeitgeist for the public to fall into. Films now look like video games, and vice versa. Even Avatar came to fruition based on ideas for video games environments.

[platymeris]

@ethnofilm I agree with ethnofilm. I think this an interesting argument. The fact that film is more expensive and less accessible might be able to weed out irresponsible filmmakers. However, its lack of accessibility might also limit its use to those who are privileged enough to have access to this form - which, ironically, might contradict Rouch's own view of the importance of the 'subject''s voice.

[sonrisa822]

oooO when was this? cool!! i can't believe i'm seeing this.

[tejaspics]

i NEVER use the viewfinder.

[rhinoariefiansyah]

old school...

[mjbrads]

i don't quite understand. camera's don't work?? I assume the "real camera" he's referring to is our own two eyes... but we all know that our own eyes deceive us all the time and our capacity for memory is shit. The video camera is the ulimate tool for anthropologist. Maybe I'm misinterpreting though...

[heyschorsch]

Hi there. The "real" camera Rouch is refering to is his 16 mm film camera as opposed to my video camera.... Cheers

[evita75020]

@mjbrads You misunderstood it. He's actually saying that nowadays cameras, without a viewfinder, aren't "real" cameras, because you can't see what you're filming when you're doing it. And anthropologists do not always work with cameras, the first tool is the eye, and then comes the pen, to write down what you see.

[MassObserver]

when i put jean rouch in the serach i wasn't optimistic... delighted to find this. thanks.

[speechmodule]

really great

[DolgoFred]

Oui, merci ! Du Rouch tout craché ! sacré bonhomme...

[diasporaman]

Thanks for putting this up!