symbolic camera
i've constructed my symbolic camera from material that was already found in my house for it to be as natural and as 'organic' as possible just like as i believe filming for ethnographic purposes should be. i believe that visually artistic shots and effects should not overwhelm the content and the human element of an ethnographic film.
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it was constructed in the shape that first comes to my mind when i think of a video camera which may reveal that I am at least 25 years of age, although the film was shot with a common dslr camera that does not look like it.
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there are five different coloured circles around the lens and five straight lines on around the view finder in the same colours as the circles. this symbolises that whatever goes in through the lens arrives at the film maker without any loss. in other words, its symbolises my emphasise on realism that ethnographic films should posses. this is the power of visual anthropology when compared to that of photographic representation
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which is always a performance due to it being bonded to the time and frame.
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even though filming also becomes a representation through the editing process, unlike a footage of continuous shooting, the film maker has a control over the degree of manipulation. my stand is that this should be minimal, not necessarily through minimal use of editing tools, but through a minimal manipulation on what the filming process has thought the film maker.