High School honestly brought back a lot of memories for me. I think this may be a part of Wisemans’ plan because not only does this documentary really bring a sense of you being there, but it almost feels like you are watching this through a pair of eyes and not a lens. There are a few points in the movie where he seems to zoom in on weird shots, or even questionable ones such as the girl’s gym class. Maybe that is the point though, the focus is on things that a person may be focused on to begin with. A girl with a pretty face in the hall, the boys lip quivering while he’s trying to be argue his innocence, a mother’s hand fidgeting etc. This gives the film a sense of agency because it doesn’t feel like observation it feels like you are there. I don’t think that the people in the film are acting perfectly natural, but they do seem relaxed and going about their day to the best of their ability. The arguments are credible, I mean they feel like something anyone in the audience may have easily gone through, or witnessed as a high school student. It was just relatable, I found myself enthralled watching the film unfold but at the same time going down my own memories. I remembered my own experiences, my detentions, my impossible arguments with teachers, but most importantly the people that affected my life. See at the end when the teacher reads that note allowed she begins by saying that this person wasn’t great academically he was below average really. She isn’t bashing him she’s saying that even though he wasn’t a great student and maybe caused trouble that wasn’t a reason to give up on him, the teachers that stood by him truly impacted him as a person. I feel like maybe this was Wisemans’ message the importance of these moments in our life’s, the effect that high school and our teachers have on us. He spent all that time filming the day and showing all these different interactions with different people, it’s those memories that we eventually carry with us that he wants to emphasize. Just like the ones I was remembering while I watched in awe remembering the good and bad, and witnessing the same unfold so vividly in front of me.
I agree that this film could be viewed as very nostalgic. I feel as though this was my favorite film we’ve seen so far in class. I feel like the reasoning behind this is because It’s the first film that is actually relatable. It is also the most current film we’ve watched so far. It brings a sense of nostalgia and understanding, as opposed to Nanook of the North where it wasn’t very relatable due to both the time period as well the location that it took place. I do think that people look for different things in movies. Some people are more entertained by movies like Nanook of the North, where they are learning something new about someone or a place or a type of people or community. Other people prefer a movie where they are able to relate to the people they are watching on the screen. I personally enjoy both of these, however I found High School to be an intriguing documentary. As you mentioned, I was intrigued by the way Wiseman used the camera angles and zoom to focus in on certain things throughout the movie. You had mentioned how this makes you feel as though you’re actually there and that’t what you would be looking at. I completely agree with this idea. If I had to guess I would say that this was Wiseman’s idea. There’s no way to know for sure if these were his intentions but it is always fun to speculate and explore the possibilities.I agree that this film could be viewed as very nostalgic. I feel as though this was my favorite film we’ve seen so far in class. I feel like the reasoning behind this is because It’s the first film that is actually relatable. It is also the most current film we’ve watched so far. It brings a sense of nostalgia and understanding, as opposed to Nanook of the North where it wasn’t very relatable due to both the time period as well the location that it took place. I do think that people look for different things in movies. Some people are more entertained by movies like Nanook of the North, where they are learning something new about someone or a place or a type of people or community. Other people prefer a movie where they are able to relate to the people they are watching on the screen. I personally enjoy both of these, however I found High School to be an intriguing documentary. As you mentioned, I was intrigued by the way Wiseman used the camera angles and zoom to focus in on certain things throughout the movie. You had mentioned how this makes you feel as though you’re actually there and that’t what you would be looking at. I completely agree with this idea. If I had to guess I would say that this was Wiseman’s idea. There’s no way to know for sure if these were his intentions but it is always fun to speculate and explore the possibilities.
I also really enjoyed this film. Because of the same reasons. I found myself reminiscing on past memories of my highschool days. The sports I was in the moments when you find yourself in trouble. I liked how you compared Nanook of the North to highschool. The way that you described the differences make sense. I agree that with Nanook of the north you are left with questions. The reason why it may be as you mentioned the time period. For instance the castor oil what is it exactly? How would they make it. This questions involves because he had advance medication now and we just go to the pharmacy and what whatever we need. The film highschool is relatable because not so long ago we were in highschool and we did some of the same things the students do in the film.
I think your post is really important because of the positive feedback that you give about the film, in contrast to the mostly negative responses expressed in class that night after the screening. While some of the criticism in class was absolutely justified and well meant in terms of the questionable moral conduct of some of the teachers or the filmmaker himself, some positive aspects of the film were ignored or perhaps misconstrued.
One such example, which I’m glad you happened to point out, is the scenes where the filmmaker zooms into the subjects’ faces, which arguably appear as a kind of “mock” or disrespect. But I, for one, wholeheartedly agree with you that these scenes were supposed to make the audience feel like they’re actually there; in other words, less observation more participation, or, as you say, “eyes not lens.” Indeed, even something that seems utterly disrespectful and obscene as the scene where he zooms in during the girls’ gym class can be viewed as an attempt to make the audience feel like they’re really there. Maybe you’re right that “the focus is on things that a person may be focused on to begin with,” however strange that may sound.
Evoking memories were certainly a big part of the film, and I think Wiseman wanted to evoke the memories of his contemporary audience as well as future audiences. I love high school films in general for the very reason that they bring back memories, whether they be good ones or bad ones. Anybody can relate to the dreadful detentions, arguments with teachers, but also to the special moments that undoubtedly affect students for the rest of their lives. And yes, the scene where a teacher reads aloud a letter from a student who was apparently not the greatest, was a particularly remarkable scene because it shows, as you say, how the teachers care about their students and how they indeed never give up.
I’m glad you made these points, and I would hope that our classmates will perhaps see the agreeable side of this remarkable documentary.
I completely agree.Even though this documentary was filmed 33 years before i was born, the personalities in the school still give me nostalgic memories of the people in high school. Most of all the students themselves, the saying “kids will be kids” never made so much sense to me. These teenagers acted the exact way i remember students in my highschool acting. The arguments that never seem to end, the kid who just doesn’t care and the teacher who punishes the students. These characters stuck out the most to me, and i’d argue that they were pretty natural too. This film was filmed before social media and the fear of being exposed by a video probably wasn’t as common. That’s what i think was made it so relatable, the characters seem to be phased at all by the camera. The teacher was still a jerk, students still goofed off and kids still argued, it all seemed natural to me. The thing that wasn’t relatable about this movie were the social norms. The school entirely lacks any form of political correctness, kids are openly racist and a teacher openly calls students fat and judges their looks. This movie made remember the social environment of high school the most. No other experience could replicate what being in high school is like other then being in a high school.