Anthropological films and videos provide one of the best ways to
"experience" another culture without actually going there. Fieldworkers
have used visual methods for years to record how other cultures operate. At the same time, students should be aware of major problems associated with visual anthropology. Some relate to you and how
you see visual representations. Others relate to problems with the media.
Some of the most important issues are considered below:
Anthropological videos are not made as entertainment.
American audiences have been raised to think of films and video primarily
as an entertainment medium. That is often the first consideration many
have about film: Will I enjoy it? Certainly many anthropological films
are entertaining; most are meant to document or teach.
Watching films more than once can be instructive.
Following the entertainment idea, we often think that if we have seen a
film once we have seen all there is to see. Nothing could be further from
the truth. Seeing a film many more times than once can help you see the
richness of the visual ethnographic document.
Are the films boring?
Again, they are not usually meant as entertainment. If you see them as
that, then they probably will be boring. Ask yourself this: If someone
were to make a film of my daily life, just how exciting will the film
probably be?
Watch for biases!
Anthropologists and the video makers (usually not one and the same!) are
products of their own cultures. They will have the same sorts of biases
that are apparent in any fieldwork. At the same time, some films have
more direct biases, and you need to watch for them.
Some are actually made to change your thinking on a subject, say for example, rainforest destruction. Though there may be good ethnographic content in the film, you need to know the limits of the ethnographic record and the filmmaker's message. Look for these problems.
Western ideas of filmmaking interfere with good anthropology
Karl Hieder points out that westerners have a peculiar idea that the most
important part of the body to film is the head, the locus of speech and
emotion that is quite visible. Instead of this "talking heads" approach,
he promotes an idea of "whole bodies-whole acts." Consider that much more
action goes on outside the frame of the video/film. What might it mean
and what could it tell you about the people and events being filmed?
Remember that good information can come from the visual when it is
put into the hands of those being studied.
Some excellent work has also been done when the visual tools are put into
the hands of those being studied. Perspectives are often very different.
For an excellent coverage of the problems, please see Karl Heider's book Ethnographic Film. It examines many of the issues (USD library call #GN347.h44). Hieder has also produced a volume, now in its 8th edition, Films for Anthropological Teaching (available through the American Anthropological Association) that summarizes numerous anthropological films and keys them to published reviews.
A major journal addresses the topic of visual anthropology. Visual Anthropology Review is published by the Society for Visual Anthropology, a unit of the American Anthropological Association. Several journals regularly publish anthropology film reviews, most notably American Anthropologist. The University of Southern California maintains The Center for Visual Anthropology where you can get additional information.