Tarnation (2003) dir. Jonathan Caouette

Tarnation is a film by Johnathan Caouette where he combines footage from his life that he took on a sense8 camera, over the span of 20 years, to create a narrative on growing up with his schizophrenic mother. From Renee (his mother) growing up being a model, having an accident, getting 200 electric shock treatments, and then following that through onto the affect it had on his life and how he believes the shock treatments are to blame for her mental state. We follow as Johnathan gets older and discovers his sexuality, going to gay bars at 13 and we are shown footage of him filming himself doing a monologue when he was around that age of him dressed as a woman in an abusive relationship. We also see Johnathan begin to be shaped as a person, and even how he got into film with the friends he met who introduced him to it.

The narrative is carried by the captions on screen that takes you through like a typical story, as Johnathan refers to himself as third person - which I think works really well, adding a more personal element as you know he is talking about himself.
I loved the way this film was edited and how Caouette collected the footage and made it into some sort of moving collage, and referring back to the use of text on the screen pulls along the narrative in a tidy, yet poetic, way. A quote from this being

"and feel as though the sun
would make her evaporate"

The use of the old footage and it being edited on iMovie, enhances the connection made to the film and 'characters' as it resembles a home made movie. I found the film captivating, with the way clips and audio were layered, creating an almost psychedelic illusion. The use of freeze frames, scenes tiled into the same image, and sound effects also exaggerate this, as they resemble the hecticness of this families life.
There are interviews that are not like most documentaries, as they are more Johnathan asking his family for answers and confronting them with a camera in hand, so the audience get a lot more of a personal insight because of the connection between the interviewer and interviewee. Because of this the answers and reactions are real and genuine, as there is that trust between them. This film breaks barriers of what is a documentary and what is a home movie and questions the line between fiction and non-fiction, especially at the beginning where it follows a typical fiction style as Johnathan and his boyfriend wake up.

watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLDQL23nutw

The style of Tarnation is definitely something I would like to interpret when we make our own documentaries. I love how the style of the editing, like a kind of continuous montage, mirrors the mood and desired feeling of the piece. I think this film also really shows how you don't need a lot of good equipment or access to music as look what you can create without it. I love the use of text along the screen, which i think is also something we could use, especially if we need something to carry the film or connect different segments or even fill the audience in. The use of text can also create it's own mood as the use of a voice over would have a very different effect, as text can be a lot more softer and less up front. The majority of the use of handheld, also creates a more intimate, personal, and in the spur of the moment element.