Online Documantary making = Freedom of Speech!

Soooo...
The freedom to document!

I think that online documentary making is extremely relevant in ensuring the potential for freedom of speech and for all voices to be heard. The ‘red tape’ surrounding the professional film industry is no doubt preventative to those who want to make a “professional” film but for those who just want to be heard and have the right to freedom of speech online documentary making has no limits and great potential. Online documentary making is also a vital tool for people and activists group to spread controversial messages and documentaries that would never be allowed to be shown on T.V or for mass distribution because of its “dirty reality” content.

The term ‘dirty reality’ is used to describe some content of online documentaries, especially the one that are immediate and intimate portrayals of people or events. Some examples of these ‘dirty reality’ clips or documentaries can be found on sites such as Youtube and Google video which were launched in 2005. These include various war clips referred to as ‘war videos’ which show the everyday scenes, emotions and happenings of life in a war zone, these videos are made by the soldiers and are edited and posted to online video sites mentioned previously as a reflection of the harsh realities and moving circumstances they find themselves in. These types documentaries along with the new extension of blogging known as ‘vlogging’ which is a blogging but into a webcam,( a mixture of blogging and video), that usually last for a several minutes, are part of the web2.0 craze that has hit the world in the 21st century, That is gradually moving the power into our hands or the users hands which relates back to the previous blog on ‘Produsage’.

Although online documentary making is the growing popular and indeed very relevant to freedom of speech it is very hard to become successful and gain many viewers and exposure because there are so many people out there doing the same thing. Big screen documentaries such as Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, Super size and The corporation, are all good examples of controversial documentaries making it to the big screen but sadly they are only some of only a few to make it because of gatekeepers and other political and social restrictions on ‘dirty reality’ documentaries. I believe that it is important for some documentaries like these make it to the big screen because it influences and inspires many people to create online documentaries and have the right to freedom of speech.

Some people however don’t need any inspiration what so ever like in the case of Dylan Averey ‘s online documentary called ‘Loose Change’ this is a documentary that uncovers and asked questioned about what really happened on 9/11 and who was really responsible for the so called ‘terrorist attacks’ on America that day. It certainly highlights the dirty reality of the world we live in and for that it has had over 3 million views on YouTube alone. I would highly recommend watching this very interesting and enlightening documentary if you have a spare hour and half or are just interested in some facts and figures about 9/11.


In closing I believe that online documentary making is not only extremely relevant but also vital to freedom of speech and the telling of truth that would never be allowed for distribution to mainstream avenues.