Blog 4 - Dogme - up2150171

Blog 4 - Dogme - up2150171

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Did Dogme reduce or increase the prominence of the director?

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Dogme is a Danish film movement popularised by Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who founded the Dogme 95 Manifesto. Which were a set of rules to follow in filmmaking. Rules included the camera to always be hand-held, only use natural lighting and props, no produced sound or music, and the director must not be credited. The purpose of Dogme 95 is to bring filmmaking back to its simplest roots by avoiding the trappings of mainstream filmmaking.

The rules that make up Dogme 95 are extremely restrictive to the director, as it controls their style, ideas of genre and personalisation in their film with the intent of prioritizing storytelling over the technical aspects of a film. But does this reduce or increase the prominence of the director?

First of all, the fact that the director goes uncredited for their work is a clear indication of how the Dogme 95 ruleset does not intend on making it's directors recognised. One of rules even ask the director to swear they are no longer an artist. It reduces their prominence in the film drastically as they are forced to perform by the rulebook in a work world where artistry and expression are supposed to flourish.

You could argue that Dogme increases the director's prominence by insisting that they take a more hands-on approach to filmmaking, meaning since they cannot rely on advanced technology anymore, they must tune into their deepest creativity to find ways to express their vision, and work extra hard to find the perfect natural lighting and soundscape, only using the authentic world around them as their inspiration and answers. This push gives the director's a whole new way to explore their art whilst emphasizing the purity of the story and the performances, and also forces the director into creating something unique and special compared to the countless similarly styled films.

Furthermore, Dogme could increase a director's prominence because of the audience's response to a Dogme film. The audience could recognise that the director was able to tell the story efficiently whilst filming under a code, and they may give the director credit for that. For example, Lars Von Trier's film, Les Idiots was able to bring attention to the director despite not being credited in the film, whether it was negative attention or positive attention.

Overall, the director's vision should never be restricted, not because it is easier to create films when you can rely on fancy technology but because cinema opens up dramatically when we incorporate technology into films whether it be achieving unique lighting and sound, to special effects to creating stunning visuals, the directors skillset can be flexed to the absolute limit. But Dogme 95 does offer a challenge for director's to conquer, as it asks for the director to reject the easy way in film production and use their talents at their most raw to achieve something great. Sometimes this chaotic approach to filmmaking can create it's own unique art that couldn't be captured by a typical director, and some audiences may recognise this and want to learn about the director behind the film.

REF: Dogme 95 — Rules, Manifesto and Films of a Radical Experiment (studiobinder.com)

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