1. What type of documentary mode is Catfish, give examples as to how you know this?
The type of documentary mode used in Catfish is Performative as the main character Yaniv is the subject of the documentary as well as one of the main filmmakers actually making the documentary. Throughout the documentary we see his opinions and the whole film is completely based around him and his experience of being 'catfished'. The actual documentary is about a young male who is being filmed by his filmmaker brother and his friend which focuses on his relationship/friendship with a young farmers girl named Angela. Its unique as the relationship has completely been based around the social networking site Facebook, but the firstly seeing sweet and romantic story line turned dark and strange as the audience as well as Yaniv and the filmmakers discovered that in fact it wasn't a young girl he was speaking to but actually a middle aged mother. Some conventions which are used in Catfish and show that this documentary is performative are dramatization, voice overs, music and narravtivsation. The dramatisation used in Catfish consist of cliff hangers, which are used to keep the viewer engaged in the film and keep the interest and excitement running. As viewers we want to witness exciting viewing so cliffhangers are essential for keeping people automatically interested. One example of a good cliffhanger was the consistent questioning of whether Yaniv is going to meet her or not, if she even exists of not? these are good cliff hangers as it keeps us waiting till right at the end of the film to see what happens or not, in a sense its telling a story; starts with giving the viewers an idea of whats happening, the middle is where is gets more exciting and cliff hangers and used and finally when the story is revealed. Another convention used was voice overs, throughout the documentary the voice over we hear the most is Yaniv and also the voice of Angela, through phone calls which gives us an understanding of who she is. Throughout the film theirs no particular voice over which tells the story of the film or the different sides of the story, this is done because the documentary is completely one sided and isn't trying to steer the viewers opinions. Music is also another important convention, the most popular reason why music is used is when to add suspense through different moments and also to change scenes some music is often played. One time when the music was the most suspense was when he was about to meet Angela who he'd been chatting to for months through social media, the music was extremely suspense which builds tension and drama. Throughout the documentary we hear many different music lay overs and all for different reasons.
2. Explain your understanding of the films title, 'Catfish'. What roles did Yaniv and Angela play in each other's lives?
The documentary is called Catfish after Angela's (the actual Catfish who pretended to be a completely different person to manipulate Yaniv) husband near the ending of the documentary describes a story of the tanker ships importing trout. The story was that after weeks traveling by sea and finally reaching it's destination, traders found that the trout became limp, slimy and the meat was no longer tender due to the lack of activity of being in the holding tank. Some of the fish even died. So traders put catfish in the tanks to keep the trout excited and moving, never know when it's coming next. Always keeping the trout on their toes. Hes basically referring to the comparison of catfish and people, he says that catfish are people who keep you on your toes, like people in your life who will keep you going in all situations. This is the line Angela's husband uttered towards the end of the movie Catfish "They used to tank cod from Alaska all the way to China. They’d keep them in vats in the ship. By the time the codfish reached China the flesh was mush and tasteless. So this guy came up with this idea that if you put these cods in these big vats, put some catfish in with them. And the catfish would keep the cod agile. And there are those people who are catfish in life. And they keep you on your toes, they keep you guessin’ they keep you thinkin’ they keep you fresh. And I thank god for the catfish, because we would be dull and boring if we didn’t have somebody nipping at our fin.".
The roles Yaniv and Angela play in each other's lives are very significant as essentially for months they were each others daily thoughts and they completely feel in love with each other through social media and technology which is slightly bizarre to the outside world as how you can besotted by someone who you've never actually meet in person. They also played a significant part in each others lives as they had daily contact through phone calls, Facebook messenger and texts which obviously is going to make their relationship stronger as the days go past. Due to them having so much contact the relationship they both share will get stronger and feelings they have for each other will grow; which is why when Yaniv found out Angela completely lied about her true identity it was such a powerful devastation for him as this whole situation was just based around lies and fantasy.Angela in general plays a huge role in this movie because she pretends to be so many people that she could only wish to be, and Yaniv begins to become friends with all of these people. At the start he simply thinks that these are just different people, but in the end knowing she had made 15 different fake accounts, using each one to talk to Yaniv, was very disappointing through his eyes and Angela made all of these accounts to pretend to be people she only wishes she could be. This does make you feel very sympathetic towards Angela as this wasn't done in a malicious and mean way; she wasn't intentionally trying to hurt Yaniv, she was purely trying to slightly the fantasy shes always dreamed of.
3. In what ways is Catfish similar to or different from other documentaries you have seen?
Catfish is a documentary which is unique to any other documentaries I have watched in the past as it focuses more on a dramatic theme rather then purely informing the audience with factual information. A lot of the scenes are created in a dramatic way to dramatize the happenings with the use of dramatic music, dramatic scene changing and the participants in the actual documentaries use of dramatic acting to make the events seem more shocking. However Catfish is similar to Benefit Street as it focuses on a shocking situation and uses scene manipulation to excite and attract the audience. This documentary is different to the rest I have watched because this is the least real, it does not display any firm if realism in it or 'truth' their are no reenactments its all happening as they film which makes it seem like it has been directed.
A lot of people have argued how real Catfish actually is and whether or not its a real adaption. Catfish is being marketed as a cautionary documentary that explores the world of online relationships, or at least a couple of online relationships that one guy has. The relationship seems slightly staged and overly dramatized as the filmmaker manipulated certain scenes to make the situations seem more tense and shocking. I think some people will judge the authenticity of the documentary as at the time it was opening up a topic which had rarely been discussed before and in general it is a extremely controversial and mind blowing story line which will make people question whether it actually is real. People questioning the truth behind Catfish has affected how I feel about the documentary as it slightly takes away the pure reactions I felt towards it as the constant questioning whether its been completely made up and a form of manipulation towards the audience tarnishes the actually fascinating documentary. I personally feel the documentary is based around a real story but some scenes have been purposely adapted to create a dramatized feeling for the audience. The film has intentionally blurred the lines between documentary and drama but this wasn't hidden through Catfish and done in bad way. I feel if the documentary didn't add a dramatic side to it, The film would be slightly dull and tedious as it would be documenting every single moment through the relationship of Yaniv and Angela, also the discovery of her lies and hidden secrets. If the filmmakers didn't decide to add a touch of drama the actual dramatic moments wouldn't seem so significant as the audience would lose interest. Personally I don't believe adding drama to a documentary is a negative thing as the majority of filmmakers won't purely show the complete unedited truth of something as it's would entertain or interest the audience. Multiple documentaries I've seen in the past like Benefit Street and The 12 Year Old Lifer include dramatized editing which I personally adds the entertainment factor to documentaries and if your aware of filmmaker manipulation you won't be fooled between documentary and drama.
5. How it the making of the documentary as much as a part of the film as the main story line?
The making of the documentary also is much of the part of the film as the main story line as it shows the audience how real and natural the film actually is; nothing is overly staged and the majority of the scenes are mostly undramatic as its film-making whats happening straight as the 'characters' find out. Deciding to allow the audience to see the documentary being made first hand allows the audience to make up their decision whether its factual or fiction it also makes it so much more realistic as we are seeing what the characters find out first hand and the reactions are real and true; nothing is told beforehand and the characters aren't acting their purely documentary the discovery of the catfish Angela. Often documentaries decide to show the audience the film actually being made as a way of showing the viewers that nothing about the documentary is fake as its raw and not staged; what you see is what's happening, scenes having been manipulated like for example in mock documentary The Only Way Is Essex.
The making of the documentary also is much of the part of the film as the main story line as it shows the audience how real and natural the film actually is; nothing is overly staged and the majority of the scenes are mostly undramatic as its film-making whats happening straight as the 'characters' find out. Deciding to allow the audience to see the documentary being made first hand allows the audience to make up their decision whether its factual or fiction it also makes it so much more realistic as we are seeing what the characters find out first hand and the reactions are real and true; nothing is told beforehand and the characters aren't acting their purely documentary the discovery of the catfish Angela. Often documentaries decide to show the audience the film actually being made as a way of showing the viewers that nothing about the documentary is fake as its raw and not staged; what you see is what's happening, scenes having been manipulated like for example in mock documentary The Only Way Is Essex.
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