Analysis of the Documentary "Let's Talk about the Yangtze River"

Analysis of the Documentary "Let's Talk about the Yangtze River"

Remember what michael moore said at the Oscar ceremony: We live in a false era? Therefore, most of us are eager to know the truth under the false appearance. In fact, truth is also the life of documentary. Documentary requires a non-hypothetical truth, and it is not allowed to fabricate or forge it. It must go to real life to find and discover the life content with life connotation. Now I will analyze the narrative and documentary ethics of the Yangtze River through Life in the Yangtze River and Let's Talk about the Yangtze River in China by National Geographic Channel.

First, the comparison of narrative means.

Documentary narrative means are divided into long shots, real voices and character narration.

1. Long lens contrast. Recording the event process with a long lens is an important feature and one of the basic means of TV documentary. The truth of a long lens lies in the uninterrupted recording of material reality. The camera is like the eyes of the audience, observing and feeling what happened at the scene. This strong sense of presence and participation makes the audience forget that they are watching TV in many cases, which is also one of the attractions of documentaries. Therefore, when using long lenses, try to reveal profound philosophy through ordinary life appearances.

In River of Life, through the close shot, close shot and long shot, I found that their shots were very orderly, and I slowly told you everything with the lens. And its lens pays great attention to some nuances in life, which makes people feel a strong breath of life. Its lens likes to aim at people in life and tell us something with people's expressions.

On the contrary, in "Let's Talk about the Yangtze River", I found that it likes to constantly switch with some distant views and close-ups of the Yangtze River scenery, lacking the necessary tailoring and selection. In many cases, the lens has nothing to do with the expression of the actual sound.

2. The actual sound contrast. As an art of sound painting, the authenticity of TV must be realized from two aspects: sound painting. Real sound is undoubtedly the most important means to realize sound recording in TV documentaries. Only in this way can we truly avoid the shortcomings of sound painting and painting, record the original actual sound and live sound without carving or whitewashing, and maintain the original form of life.

The actual sound in "River of Life" basically retains the sound of the scene when shooting, and can basically hear the sound of water and machinery. "Let's Talk about the Yangtze River" also retains a lot of sounds filmed at that time. This will make the audience feel the truth of the documentary more.

Commentary is an important part of TV documentary, and its function is mainly to guide the audience and supplement the picture. Commentary can never replace the lens language and the interviewee, nor can it replace the audience's examination and thinking. In TV documentaries, explanation is only a supplementary explanation or the finishing touch of the picture, and it is an auxiliary language.

Life in the River is a foreign documentary filmed in China. Compared with "Talking about the Yangtze River" filmed by China himself, there are obviously more commentaries than "Talking about the Yangtze River". This may be because foreign countries don't know much about many cultures in China and need more explanations. However, in contrast, the interpretation of River of Life is more objective and the description is simpler. "Talking about the Yangtze River" has the meaning of forcibly instilling ready-made ideas into the audience, making the audience form a passive psychological set, thus losing their unique appreciation ability.

3. Character comparison. The characters in both films are good, but the characters in Talk about the Yangtze River are positive, praising the Yangtze River and lacking objectivity. In contrast, the River of Life has many angles, and through the narration of different characters, people have different thoughts.

Second, the contrast of the theme.

Documentary has three requirements for the theme: profundity, novelty and concentration.

The Yangtze River is obviously a plate structure, and the changes of scenery, landforms and customs along the Yangtze River reflect the great changes brought by China's economic reform in the past 20 years. What is the theme of Let's Talk about the Yangtze River? Change? Words, basically emphasize the earth-shaking changes of the Yangtze River in the reform and opening up, and they are all biased towards praise. Because it is a plate structure, let's talk about the Yangtze River in episode 33, and introduce all aspects of the Yangtze River in chapters. After reading it, the audience really got a deeper understanding of the customs related to the Yangtze River and benefited a lot. But it didn't leave a very deep impression on people, and the shooting was not very novel, because the theme was not concentrated enough because of the introduction of multiple episodes. After reading it, it feels like an introduction to Yangtze River tourism. Generally speaking, the Yangtze River, like most of China's films, was filmed under the tone of praising the great rivers and mountains of the motherland. It does make people feel that China is vast in territory and abundant in resources, but it is not objective enough.

The theme of River of Life is different from that of Talk about the Yangtze River. Although both objects are the Yangtze River, River of Life focuses on the Three Gorges Project. The River of Life not only shows us the basic introduction of the Yangtze River, but also focuses on the influence of the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River and its people. Moreover, "River of Life" is relatively objective, and its influence on the Three Gorges is mixed. Basically, it expresses the theme by interviewing local people, entrepreneurs and experts in the Three Gorges, and does not use too many explanations to guide the audience's thoughts. Basically, it lets the audience know through the words of the interviewees. From these points of view, the theme of River of Life is more concentrated than that of Let's Talk about the Yangtze River. The river of life also impressed me deeply. Why? Mainly reflected in its shooting of some far-reaching effects on the Three Gorges Project of the Yangtze River. Because China's main theme is to praise the Three Gorges Project, which is unparalleled in the world, people feel that it is a harmless project, but River of Life boldly reveals some hazards brought by the Three Gorges Project. It really photographed what the water quality of the Yangtze River is like now, and let the picture tell us where the problem lies. I also found local people, and told some problems along the Yangtze River by people living there. It looks very real, unlike "Talk about the Yangtze River", which has some posturing. The most important thing is that it has found experts in geography and related builders of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River to interview, which is more credible and objective. Convince us to find the central idea it wants to express. When we were told that the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River might endanger Shanghai, we even used digital maps to tell us some geographical locations and so on. The Long River of Life is not only focused on the theme, but also novel and profound.

After reading it, people can't help but think about the influence of the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River, which gives the audience a lot of room to think and really speak with facts.

Third, the comparison of cultural characteristics.

"River of Life" and "Let's Talk about the Yangtze River" are documentaries about the Yangtze River made by China and the West respectively. By watching the two films, we can also analyze the cultural differences behind the two films.

Talking about the Yangtze River cost a lot of money and lasted for several years. It is made with the essence of the top documentary directors in China, and it really appeals to both refined and popular tastes. However, the documentary under the main theme, which transcends the unitary vision and the authority of the narrator, makes the documentary not objective enough and is suspected of being over-oriented. The commentary of "Talk about the Yangtze River" always highlights the theme to a certain extent, rather than promoting the development of the plot, and pays little attention to the connection with the documentary. However, Talking about the Yangtze River well expresses the sense of history, customs and customs of the Yangtze River, and gives the audience a deeper understanding of the towns along the Yangtze River. Besides, Talking about the Yangtze River can show the long history of China culture and the spirit in the bones of the people in the Yangtze River valley. For example, an episode introduced the people of Chishui River, introduced the birthplace of Moutai and a lot of related cultural knowledge, which benefited a lot.

"River of Life" is also well-made. It analyzes the real society with a grand series of length and profound content, which plays an important role in spreading cultural knowledge and promoting the process of human civilization. Moreover, a large number of interviews with people born and raised along the Yangtze River were used in the documentary, which increased the affinity and credibility. The most worthwhile thing for our country's documentary "River of Life" is objectivity. Stop at once, don't do too much guidance, and speak with facts instead of simply commenting.

Documentary observes, describes and records the world with its own unique perspective and method. Documentary is also called the "mirror of existence" of human beings. In the reflection of objective reality, the advantages of documentary's dynamic images and colorful sounds are incomparable to traditional means such as writing, painting and photography. Because of this? Real? It has become an indispensable vocabulary in the definition of documentary classics. But do documentaries really reflect reality like mirrors? Not exactly. The choice of starting time, lens and angle in documentary shooting and editing in post-production are permeated with the producer's personal creative concept and expression desire, so the documentary is just? Deal with reality creatively? And then what? Seize the fragments of reality and combine them meaningfully? . The river of life and the Yangtze River can do this, but the emphasis is different. The River of Life focuses on the Three Gorges Project and some future problems of the Yangtze River, while Say Again the Yangtze River focuses on the changes and historical process of the Yangtze River in recent years. Talking about the Yangtze River gives us a deep understanding of the historical process and customs of the Yangtze River and its coastal areas, while the River of Life reminds us of what problems the Yangtze River will face in the future, each with its own merits. "Talking about the Yangtze River" is too long and a bit procrastinating; "River of Life" makes people feel unfinished. However, by watching two documentaries, we can learn a lot about the techniques of river shooting and the narrative techniques of documentaries. Moreover, only comparison can make progress. Through the comparison of two Chinese and western documentaries with the same theme, I saw the benefits of our country and found the places that can be improved.

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