As Many Bites as Necessary
Kasmore
In the New York Times piece Is the Entree Heading for Extinction? celebrity chef Tom Colicchio says, “Eating an entree is too many bites of one thing, and it’s boring.”
The article continues, “That’s in part why he moved away from the classic appetizer-entree-dessert rhythm of Gramercy Tavern when he opened Craft in 2001, one of the first prominent restaurants in New York to deconstruct the menu into a long list of proteins, side dishes and sauces to be mixed and matched into a family-style meal.”
I wonder if this same idea, that “too many bites of one thing being boring,” is also influencing the current trend in documentary film?
Recent movies like Magnetic Baby, Four-Eyed Monster and the current release of Nimrod Nation eschew the singular storyline in favor of a more episodic or deconstructed narrative; one that presents a succession of related side stories and minor characters to collectively express the subject of the film.
Is this format gaining popularity with documentary films because it better corresponds to our shortening attention span or is it simply an expression of form adapting to technological changes analogous to how audio technology has revolutionized popular music.
As Shira Golding notes in her Upstream report, Magnetic Baby, the “Video Podcast Docu-Series” one of the advantages of producing an episodic or fragmented narrative is that short self-contained stories can be easily viewed, distributed and digested as a vodcast.
Although I enjoy watching new documentaries via video-sharing networks like YouTube and VodCasts and I appreciate the aesthetic of presenting a story in a variety of “bite size” bits I hope that this new trend is not portent to the end of the “main course” structured narratives.
I’ve always found that there is a unique pleasure in giving yourself to the richness of a hearty and complex creation; where one subject is allowed your undivided attention and given ample time to reveal itself and its many different and subtle flavors. Just as Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon is best enjoyed in full, the complete album being greater than its parts, there are documentaries, like Koyaanisqatsi, Portrait of Jason and Salesman that are best served in long-form and digested in as many bites as necessary.
Comments
Excellent post.
Having eaten at both Craft and Gramercy Tavern multiple times, I have to say that bite sized bits may be amusing to the bouche but not particularly satisfying.
Posted on December 21, 2007 2:56 AM by Jacob Park
mm, hors d’oeuvres will tease those taste buds, but give yourself a large porkbelly full of tooth chomping, gritty, subject matter and youll never have enough..
Posted on December 21, 2007 7:21 AM by tara mooney
I gotta see Koyaanisqatsi!
Posted on December 21, 2007 1:43 PM by Angela Tucker
i like your examples, and i think you may be missing blogs on your bites list. ;) different moods call for different forms, and while sometimes you may want to sit down for a couple of hours with something rich and full, other times you just want to have a quick jolt. however, many bites of one thing that has many layers of flavors doesn’t get boring.
Posted on December 21, 2007 7:23 PM by Violet Yume
I love the comparison between length and narrative style of documentaries and the size and presentation of culinary delights. It makes me think though that the change resides in the type of initial commitment that we make—as viewers or as eaters: tapas bars are popular because you need not make a reservation, you may eat a little or a lot, and you may avoid spending too much without seeming cheap. That said, how often does an “I’ll stop by” turn into a delightful accumulation of dishes, and hours of chatting. In the same way, I never would have tuned into Nimrod Nation had it been a 6-hour long film to which I’d have had to commit an entire weekend afternoon. We are too busy to commit, but not too busy to stop by…. yet somehow human nature continues to love to linger, we just don’t like to plan it anymore… and it’s not just documentary film anymore… I remember going to see Ghandi and Malcolm X … are long films like that made anymore? on the other hand, would a six-hour film on the Upper Peninsula have been released in theatres ten-years ago? Final note - your blog nurtures a comment made by a friend who works at the NY State Council for the Arts, “art is going on strong”, and maybe it’s the bite-size portions that make it more accessible. Thanks!
Posted on December 26, 2007 2:20 PM by A a
I also liked the comparison between food trends and film. Hmmm, provocative questions raised indeed. I hate to sound pessimistic but could this recent trend perhaps just be the commodification of “the family style meal”, deployed to gain a leg up in a competitive market?
and to Angela, I second your enthusiasm for Koyaanisqatsi, it’s an amazing film.
Posted on December 30, 2007 8:39 PM by Kevin D'Abramo
lovely and thought provoking concepts presented in this article. What I walk away with ultimately is that consumerism is consumerism; with regard to food - literally and monetarily - and with regard to film. so how you choose to digest what’s put before you really boils down to a matter of perspective and personal taste. some prefer smaller bites, and others would rather not even chew before they swallow. if you’re served up appetizers, you have the option of creating a meal out of those individual servings, or enjoying them as separate courses. either way, what lands in the pit of your stomach is the same. just as people learn differently and walk differently,and chew differently, they digest information differently. so i say eat the way you live, and create and live the way you eat!
Posted on January 2, 2008 11:25 AM by Quisha Saunders
great post!!! who connects food & film?#@% i agree with kasmore’s technology explanation and the comments, though also wonder if it has something to do with documentary filmmakers moving towards greater transparency, making their final product reflect more closely the way it was filmed…. episodically, over a bunch of visits to the upper Michigan peninsula, or wherever the subjects may be, not taking place in one big arc, but lots of little ups and down and false endings over a longer span of time. kind of like life. kind of like the sopranos. also A LOT easier to edit and assemble ;) even if it lacks the big she-bang of one perfectly constructed 2-hour viewing experience….
Posted on January 4, 2008 11:44 AM by Elena Schneider
Nice post, Kasmore. I think you’re spot on with your comparison of cuisine, cinema and music. After all, they’re each a major tentacle of the squid we call “culture” are they not? IMHO, your observations pretty much correlate to McLuhan’s. The mode of communicating these arts has changed and our current form of interaction with them simply mirrors that development.
As the Times article you linked mentioned, the entree itself hasn’t been around that long. Most of the conventions we have today concerning multi-course eating arose shortly after the 1400s; the same with classical music, literature and visual art. How many people these days listen to a complete symphony (say Mahler’s 3rd) or sit for a painted portrait they had commissioned? Roughly the same amount that sit through a multi-course meal, I’d guess.
Maybe it’s not just a development of the medium, it’s a development of the cognitive processes in the people making, as well as consuming, the media; a shift in the thought patterns of humanity in general since roughly the start of the 20th century. Never mind the fact that the volume of cultural information has increased so much that it is practically impossible to try to grasp the bigger picture without splitting one’s attention to a greater degree. It’s a necessity for engaging with one’s environment these days.
As we move along history’s circle back to a non-linear, oral culture I think we can expect VodCasts and the like to dominate the landscape but I don’t believe what you call “main course” structured narratives will end. There will always be a place for it even though it may be relegated to small pockets of persistence. You might have to dig a little deeper or cast a wider net to get to it but until hairless apes figure out how to get time running backwards, or even sideways, there will continue to be a need for narrative at some level. Those of us that have learned the payoff of that “unique pleasure in giving yourself to the richness of a hearty and complex creation” (great line, that) will still get the opportunity to do so.
Posted on January 29, 2008 5:07 PM by S K