Waiting for Guffman is a perfect example of a mockumentary, poking fun at real life while making the viewer get the impression that it is really happening. The characters in the story can easily be seen as actual people. The perfectly timed pauses that occur when the characters are speaking to the camera only adds to the realistic effect of the film. Instead of cutting quickly to another scene, Christopher Guest leave the camera on the character a few extra seconds, mainly because pauses in the film mimic the pauses that occur in real life. People do not always know what to say and are not always the most articulate, but Christopher Guest uses this to his advantage when he is filming his story.
The characters not only seem real because of the way they act in front of the camera, but also because we are given the interesting back stories of all of the major characters. We know what the characters do for a living, what their families are like, and why they happen to be living in Blaine, Missouri. Each character is given a unique story that makes them seem as if they are really citizens in the small town. Eugene Levy's character, Dr. Pearl, is a good example of this because we get to meet his wife, find out why he became a dentist, and how he enjoys entertaining people. All of the major characters are given this treatment in the film to provide the viewer with an even more elaborate sense of realism.
One of the final ways we are brought into the world of Blaine is because we learn the story of the town itself. Blaine might be a small town, but we learn that it became "famous" for making stools. The history of the town is provided by the town historians, saying how Blaine Fabin founded the town when he and his followers traveled to California. We also discover that they had an alien encounter before the Roswell occurrence. Both the major and minor details we are given throughout the film contribute greatly to the realism of the movie, giving us the impression that these are real people celebrating the town of Blaine.
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4 comments:
I agree with the pauses adding to the sense of realism of the characters. I believe in part that these characters could be considered real, but not quite. I think that the realism of the characters does come across through their one on one time with the camera, but I believe that all the characters are a bit too goofy to be real. I do think that they are near realistic characters, but not all people aren't as funny as these characters are.
The mockumentary tone is what makes this film work because why else would anyone want to hear about a 150th anniversary of a town in Missouri?
There were so many things someone could identify with in this movie. I think you got them all down. Guest always gives a decent backstory on his characters in a way very similar to how documentaries do it. Peoples' histories are discovered over time, not in a linear fashion. That's one way Guest takes fictional people and makes you almost forget that they are not real. You are hooked into the pattern of a documentary learning about fake, but quite believable people.
One of the other documentary conventions that Guest uses that gives Waiting for Guffman an authentic feel in the midst of all the absurdity is the use of archival newspaper articles & photos. For instance when the characters are recalling the fire that was ignited at the performance of "Backdraft", they had materials to support the claim, showing us that this is something that really happened, at least in their story world.
although i agree the movie was very funny, in comparison to his other films, Guest really didnt stretch himself. i like the characters a lot, but after a while they are so one layer that they just keep recycling their reactions to new situations. it happens in every one of his movies.
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