Critical Review #8: Titon 1992

Titon's article deals with ethnographic film and the issues of representation and authority that an ethnographer must deal with when producing such films. He discusses the dangers in film, including the fact that viewers are more likely to accept film representations as "reality" than written representations. According to Titon, modern viewers have come to mistrust representations of authority on the behalf of the filmmakers, so it can be advantageous for filmmakers to diffuse their own authority through techniques such as allowing subjects to interpret their own actions on film. He argues that by diffusing or undercutting the symbols of their own traditional authority, filmmakers can create a document that viewers will accept as more authentic and accurately representative of the subjects. Titon concludes that there is substantial potential for positive, powerful results when ethnographic filmmaking is done carefully and thoughtfully.

In his article, Titon suggests that there are different considerations to take into account when creating a documentary about humans as opposed to, for example, a nature documentary. Do you think that there are also additional issues that an ethnomusicologist filmmaker must consider as opposed to someone documenting another aspect of human life? For example, is there a greater burden to provide good sound quality, since music will be the focus of the work? Are there any other additional responsibilities or considerations for ethnomusicological filmmaking?