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Formc TITLE: AUTHOR: Report on Oral Defense of Project Metal FormC Report on Oral Defense ofProject TITLE: Metal Monsters and Sacred Cement AUTHOR: Matthew Nie Having heard the oral defense ofthe above project, the Advis01y Committee: _LA) Finds the defense of the project to be satisfactory and accepts the thesis as submitted. __B) Finds the defense of the project to be unsatisfactory and recommends that defense be rescheduled contingent upon: Metal Monsters and Sacred Cement 1 Metal Monsters and Sacred Cement: A Documentary on Outdoor Sculptural Landscapes in Wisconsin UWSP Division of Communication Graduate Thesis Project Professor Deering Professor Midkiff-DeBauche Professor Vanhala May 9, 2006 Metal Monsters and Sacred Cement 2 Introduction Metal monsters and concrete creations-traveling across Wisconsin, one encounters a variety of outdoor sculptural landscapes. From twisted metal dinosaurs to beer bottle Clydesdales, these sculptural behemoths recreate a world all their own. Outsiders look upon these man-made monuments with a simple and resounding, ''why?" · Do their creators know something we don't? What would possess someone to build a wedding cake out of glass and cement? Why build a Forevertron-a huge, hulking, metal time machine? This documentary attempts to chronicie the history as well as question the artists' rationale behind these sculpted goliaths. To achieve this end, ten sites in Wisconsin and one in Iowa ( created by a former Wisconsin resident) were filmed. The sites were constructed from 1894 to present. Over twenty hours of footage were collected consisting of extensive interviews, archival photographs, vintage audio, and of the sites themselves. In addition, narration and music will be added to help accentuate the film. The end result is a film exploring the historical phenomenon behind these sites. Rationale There is an old travel adage that suggests "you'll travel around the globe, but fail to explore what's in your own back yard." That is certainly appropriate to residents of the Midwest, and in particular Wisconsin, with regard to sculptural landscapes. In creating a documentary that highlights this phenomenon, people become more aware of the culture that exists in "their own back yard." Documentaries are particularly adept at "highlighting" selective reality by condensing both time and space. Through editing, the most interesting and essential footage is selected. This subjective process ultimately creates a condensed format that aims to find an audience. In a short matter of time, individuals might be exposed to a cultural phenomenon that they might not have the time or means to explore. In this way, this documentary is appropriate for the Wisconsin resident. This documentary possesses elements of universal appeal. From historic perspective, it chronicles the birth of the American grotto to current sculptural creations. From a dramatic perspective, it relates the trials and tribulations faced by these artists. Metal Monsters and Sacred Cement 3 Finally from a phenomenological perspective, the artist's intention becomes important. According to Bogdan and Taylor (1975), "the phenomenologist attempts to see things from that person's point of view" (13-15). In this case, that person is the artist. After the initial awe of witnessing a site, most viewers are curious as to why these artists spent a lifetime pursuing this goal. In attempting to see things from the artist's point of view, this "why'' is better answered. All of these individuals were self-taught artists. They wer.e once regarded as strange and eccentric. There is a renewed interest in this work. Art historians struggle to classify this form as folk art, self-made art, raw art or outsider art. Many of these sites are fighting the natural elements. By creating a documentary that preserves their image on film, artists and historians have another visual record to study. Perhaps the greatest question pertains to the format itself Why a documentary? Why not a written thesis, a photo collection, or a radio interview? First, this documentary is dealing with a visual subject. These sculptural landscapes are inherently visual. All of these sights have textures, colors, and form. They must be seen. A photo collection is limited in that it lacks dimension. As the camera moves we see light, reflections, and depth. This may be the closest one may come to truly seeing a site. Aside from portraying the visual experience, the documentary format allows great flexibility in the construction of auditory elements. Archival radio interviews can accompany vintage photographs. Period music can serve to highlight an interviewee's recollection of the past. In combining these aural elements, the message is made more accessible while adding depth. Considering the subject and the focus, the documentary format appears to be the most appropriate means of information acquisition and dispersal. Literature Review In attempting to create a documentary, it becomes necessary to define one. As the documentary filmmaker, how is it that I specifically define the genre? It is a fair and essential question, one that stimulates much debate. While I do not intend an exhaustive examination of this issue, I will flesh out my current assertions and biases. The origins of documentary are intricately tied with its definition. The precise origin of documentary is difficult to pinpoint. Some attribute the English-born Eadweard Metal Monsters and Sacred Cement 4 Muybridge and Iris obsession with photographing horse movement in 1880 as the seminal moment inthe beginning of the form. Still others may point to the Louis Lumiere with his 1895 short film Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory (Banieau, 7). While I consider these essential advances in the field, their lack of a defined narrative purpose excludes them from being deemed a true documentary. If an origin of the documentary must be identified, I believe it resides in Robert Flaherty's 1922 film Nanook ofthe North. Prior to that the film of"fact" acted "as a newspaper of the day reporting ... the world of invention, the world of imagination, and the world of nature" (Jacobs, 4). Nanook ofthe North deviated from this norm. Instead Flaherty constructed a unique narrative oflnuit life in the Arctic. Lewis Jacob in The Documentary Tradition writes, Nanook marked the advent of a type of film new to the world. Its use of environment details and skilled continuity broke with the purely descriptive; it swept away the notion that what the camera recorded was total reality. Flaherty proved that there was another reality which the eye alone could not perceive, but which the heart and mind could discern. (8) In the construction of his film Flaherty laid a corner stone in the documentary process. The documentary filmmaker assembles footage in order to express a message that may not exist without such assembly. In this sense, the filmmaker is creating a deliberate perspective ofreality. Some may argue that this is a manipulation of reality. It is known that Flaherty staged some of his scenes. For instance, he filmed an Inupiat couple sleeping in a half cut Igloo. It appears they are in the warmth of their shelter while they actually were exposed to the elements. This was done to allow for proper lighting. While morally unethical by today's standards, I think Flaherty thought these actions served the greater good of recording scenes that would be otherwise unattainable. If many consider Flaherty the father of documentary, the distinction as "the son" often goes to John Grierson. Grierson crafted the documentary process into a well-oiled propaganda machine (Ellis, 194). He did not see propaganda in a negative light, and although he acknowledged Flaherty' s contribution, he saw him as a romanticist falsely constructing an ancient past. Grierson wanted to confront the issues of the day and Metal Monsters and Sacred Cement 5 perpetuate a bias in favor of the working class. Grierson defined documentary as "the creative treatment of reality" (Ellis, 5). While Grierson may be blunt in his "documentary as propaganda" perspective, the filmmaker' s influence on "reality" is impossible to avoid. The mere turning on and off of a camera is evidence of that fact. Bill Nichols (2001) states that, "a documentary is not a reproduction of reality, it is a representation of the world we already occupy. It stands for a particular view of the world, one we may never have encountered before even if the aspects of the world are familiar to us" (20). A documentary is a subjective perspective ofreality. It is one worldview. This being the case, what value does it have for us? Nichols continues, "We [the audience] judge a representation more by the nature of the pleasure it offers, the . value of the insight or knowledge it provides, and the quality of the orientation or disposition, tone or perspective it instills" (21 ). It is the connection of feeling, knowledge, or insight a documentary holds with an audience that warrants its value. So what is a documentary? It is a representation of the world that, when effective, finds a connection. Jack Ellis (1989) further unpacks the mystery: Q: What is a documentary for? A: To record actuality. Q: Why would one want to do that? A: To inform people about it. Q: Inform to what ends? A: Either to affect our understanding-to change, increase, reinforce it-which may (but is not necessarily designed to) lead to action, may make better persons ofus, and which in tum make the world a better place to live in (Flaherty): or to make better citizens of us and to move us to collective action in order to make a better society (Grierson) (7). In this sense, a documentary aims to effect change in perspective or action. It aspires to a loftier goal beyond mere entertainment, although it should hold the viewer's attention. It is a fabrication using elements ofreality that strives toward a greater good through action or revelation.
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