Armadillo, (Mentz, 2010) is a Danish documentary focusing on a small platoon of soldiers as they go to Afghanistan to complete a tour of duty. Directed by Danish filmmaker Janus Metz, and photographed by Lars Skree, the men spent six months with the troops at their base called Armadillo in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. Armadillo is a film revealing the young volunteers experiences of the highs and lows of combat. This essay will discuss the filmmaker’s techniques and the various ways in which he structured the story and whether his techniques allowed him to express his viewpoint.
Documentaries are thought to be one of three basic creative modes of film. While neither narrative fiction nor avant-garde, documentaries are often the work of individual filmmakers and are based on or re-creating an actual event, era, person or situation, containing no fictional information. In the early decades of documentaries, films focused on things other than the human condition, such as love, relationships or feelings (McLane, 2012). Early films created in the late 1800’s still managed to portray actuality items and did not use actors (Barnouw, 1993). Generally in documentary film making, regularly about something specific and factual; documentaries are traditionally focused on public matters rather than private. However in recent times, this approach has been challenged. A second aspect, focusing on the purpose, viewpoint or approach, is what the filmmakers are aiming to explain with their films. In modern documentaries, filmmakers are recording a diverse range of social, personal and cultural, as well as natural or political films. In doing so, viewers are enabled to understand or become interested in a number of subjects (McLane, 2012). Armadillo was filmed in a start to finish sequence to show the journey the selected troops went on. The filmmaker, Mentz, used a number of various documentary modes to develop an at times surreal segment of scenes. “Actuality” and “observational mode” were two distinctive documentary modes to provide an uninterrupted sense of film. Unlike the common documentary modes of expository, rhetoric or interactive mode where scenes were organised for direct questions to be asked, which at times leads the film subjects to be manipulated to appear with particular characters determined by the director or editors. Explained by Bill Nichols (2010), “Documentaries address the world in which we live rather than a world imagined by the filmmaker” (pp. 6). As documentaries are supposed to portray and expose the truth, being filmed in an actuality and observational mode the film has been made with a non-judgmental feel. One documentary used by Metz to structure the film was “actuality”, which is the state or quality of being actual or real (Merriam-Webster, 2015). This technique is used in documentaries to show footage of actual events in real world situations. Rather than telling viewers the story, the actuality technique allows the film to show what is happening without added commentary or inclusion of interviews with the film subjects. The original meaning of documentaries was the creative treatment of actuality (Nichols, 2010). Armadillo is a prime documentary example filmed using the “actuality” technique. From start to finish, viewers are confronted with the reality of war and the situations the various troops undergo. From the boredom on uneventful patrols to watching porn in the barracks and to the stark brutality of shoot-outs, the actuality is highlighted in these scenes by the natural lighting and …show more content…
Particularly in the combat sequences we see the footage filmed on go-pro’s connected to the soldiers helmets, this provides the viewers the impression they are a member of the platoon. One scene in particular where the audience notably may feel a part of the action is the last combat scene at the end of the film where the young troops has close combat which resulted in two injured Danes and the deaths of many Taliban members. As there was no interference from the filmmaker and this scene was purely from an observational stance, it cannot be said that Mentz intended to create a “good vs. evil” scenario between the Danes and the Taliban. However as discussed by Rabiger and Hurbis-Cherrier (2013), “Conflicts can even involve a struggle between opposing forces in which each side has virtuous objectives and good intentions, which makes it “right vs. right” – which is complex and challenging”
Documentaries are thought to be one of three basic creative modes of film. While neither narrative fiction nor avant-garde, documentaries are often the work of individual filmmakers and are based on or re-creating an actual event, era, person or situation, containing no fictional information. In the early decades of documentaries, films focused on things other than the human condition, such as love, relationships or feelings (McLane, 2012). Early films created in the late 1800’s still managed to portray actuality items and did not use actors (Barnouw, 1993). Generally in documentary film making, regularly about something specific and factual; documentaries are traditionally focused on public matters rather than private. However in recent times, this approach has been challenged. A second aspect, focusing on the purpose, viewpoint or approach, is what the filmmakers are aiming to explain with their films. In modern documentaries, filmmakers are recording a diverse range of social, personal and cultural, as well as natural or political films. In doing so, viewers are enabled to understand or become interested in a number of subjects (McLane, 2012). Armadillo was filmed in a start to finish sequence to show the journey the selected troops went on. The filmmaker, Mentz, used a number of various documentary modes to develop an at times surreal segment of scenes. “Actuality” and “observational mode” were two distinctive documentary modes to provide an uninterrupted sense of film. Unlike the common documentary modes of expository, rhetoric or interactive mode where scenes were organised for direct questions to be asked, which at times leads the film subjects to be manipulated to appear with particular characters determined by the director or editors. Explained by Bill Nichols (2010), “Documentaries address the world in which we live rather than a world imagined by the filmmaker” (pp. 6). As documentaries are supposed to portray and expose the truth, being filmed in an actuality and observational mode the film has been made with a non-judgmental feel. One documentary used by Metz to structure the film was “actuality”, which is the state or quality of being actual or real (Merriam-Webster, 2015). This technique is used in documentaries to show footage of actual events in real world situations. Rather than telling viewers the story, the actuality technique allows the film to show what is happening without added commentary or inclusion of interviews with the film subjects. The original meaning of documentaries was the creative treatment of actuality (Nichols, 2010). Armadillo is a prime documentary example filmed using the “actuality” technique. From start to finish, viewers are confronted with the reality of war and the situations the various troops undergo. From the boredom on uneventful patrols to watching porn in the barracks and to the stark brutality of shoot-outs, the actuality is highlighted in these scenes by the natural lighting and …show more content…
Particularly in the combat sequences we see the footage filmed on go-pro’s connected to the soldiers helmets, this provides the viewers the impression they are a member of the platoon. One scene in particular where the audience notably may feel a part of the action is the last combat scene at the end of the film where the young troops has close combat which resulted in two injured Danes and the deaths of many Taliban members. As there was no interference from the filmmaker and this scene was purely from an observational stance, it cannot be said that Mentz intended to create a “good vs. evil” scenario between the Danes and the Taliban. However as discussed by Rabiger and Hurbis-Cherrier (2013), “Conflicts can even involve a struggle between opposing forces in which each side has virtuous objectives and good intentions, which makes it “right vs. right” – which is complex and challenging”