Roger and Me

"Roger and Me" The film was one that utilized and demonstrated many techniques found in the genre of documentary. Michael Moore took every aspect of making a film and flawlessly executed it. The resulting product was one that was to the point and interesting. The first thing that I realized was Moore's ability to use B role and integrate it seamlessly into the film. One example would be when he was moving home from San Diego. The story cut to a scene in a movie that was of a man coming home from the army. I remember thinking that even though this film had nothing to do with the story at hand, it was very clear as to what happened. He saved a few mins of film and got straight to the point. Various other film clips were used to tell the story. This brings me to the second point, which is Moore's ability to hold the audiences attention. You have a film about the town of Flint, Michigan and the trouble it went through during the GM plant closings. Right now I can think of a few thousand ways a filmmaker could have taken this story, added his point of view, and bored me out of my mind. That couldn't be any farther from the truth. I found myself drawn into the story that Michael presented. He used comedy to pick up some slower parts and good camera angles to keep my attention on the screen. As for Story and Characters Moore once again used text book accuracy and added his twist. He picked a few characters and used them through out the film. This is something that kept the audience from getting confused. I think a lot of filmmakers screw up by introducing too many characters. For example, the sheriff deputy was a main character the makes you realize the truth behind what was going on. The Deputy represented the problems and pain that GM was causing by closing the plants. Moore took all aspects of the story and assigned characters to represent each side of the whole situation. The story was well thought out and organized in definite sections or acts. You can tell that Moore spent did his time in pre production. This documentary was well thought out and executed. Michael Moore has a definite style of his own. This used together with good fundamentals proved to me that you could make almost any story interesting if you do it correctly.