Learning about others' lives is one of the joys of making video biographies. In this case, my video subject learned a little himself concerning a pivotal figure from his past.

Jim came of age in Pittsburgh during the 1960s and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1976. While Jim was pursuing a degree in education, he taught swimming at a program for children with physical and mental handicaps. However, Jim's potential career as a teacher was put in jeopardy when the city instituted a hiring freeze for public school teachers.

Warren Sipp was the strength coach for the university's football team and ran the swimming program. Sipp had earned his Bachelor's degree in education and suggested that since Jim enjoyed working with the children he should pursue a Master's degree in special education in order to make himself more marketable. He did and as a result Jim was fielding multiple job offers after earning his Master's. Several years later, Jim was able to easily secure a teaching job when he moved to Texas in the early 1980s.

Sipp's influence also benefited Jim years later in the business world because his fifteen-year teaching career had helped him to manage and motivate many types of personalities.

Due to his influence, Jim wanted an image of Sipp in his documentary so we ultimately found one in the University of Pittsburgh's archives. However, we had first conducted a general search where we stumbled upon an obituary for Sipp - Jim was taken aback by this. However, reading through the obituary we learned about Sipp's life after he left the University of Pittsburgh: in 1986 he was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates as their strength coach. In fact, he was Barry Bonds' first strength coach - a fact that delighted Jim.

So although the obituary was a sad surprise for Jim, it was satisfying for him to learn that Sipp had gone on to a successful career. In addition, the obituary contained some other interesting information about him, such as the fact that he had earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh.

When I make a documentary I always learn about other people and on occasion they learn something as well.

About the blog

In the last several years, I have switched my focus from movies to documentaries. While I still watch movies, documentaries are now rivaling - and oftentimes surpassing - the enjoyment I get movies. Now, don't get me wrong. I enjoy movies as well. I can watch everything from big, dumb action movies to nuanced dramas. However, there is something about documentaries that calls my attention as I get older. This change has also occurred in my reading, which is now heavily skewed toward non-fiction. I enjoy learning and find that non-fictional events can be just as interesting as those imagined. I want - and need - to have more knowledge about how the power structure works in the United States than in Star Wars.

So for this reason, I'm only writing about documentaries since they don't generate the attention that movies do. There are plenty of blogs on movies - and while I would love to offer some commentary about them, I feel that I should focus on documentaries first. They lack big budgets, movie stars and heavy promotion. However, they can be helpful to society because they aim to capture truth.

Now, before I go any further, I must point out that I don't have blind faith in documentaries. I'm well-aware that they fail to provide a completely accurate picture of anything just by the mere fact of editing. The act of editing involves decisions about what footage to include and exclude at which point an editor must make decisions based on the goal of the project. A scene that is illuminating may be excluded because it seems boring or doesn't further the thesis of the documentary.

Let me briefly illustrate: let's suppose I want to make a documentary that illustrates how overalls are becoming a sartorial staple for boys. So I only include footage of boys wearing overalls in my documentary, while excluding all footage of boys without them. So for an hour and a half you see nothing but boys outfitted in overalls and you reach the conclusion that this must be a big trend.

However, what I did was simply include footage that supported my thesis. And vice versa, I could say overalls are virtually non-existent in the average boy's wardrobe and include endless footage of boys without an overall in sight, while making sure to exclude shots that counter my argument.

This is a simple example of course, but it demonstrates the power a documentary contains in promoting a certain idea. Seeing is believing applies to this case.

That being said, I find that documentaries are a valuable source for learning and empathy. Hoop Dreams transported me to a 1990s Chicago neighborhood where a teenage boy fought for an extraordinary chance to change his life through basketball. Bill Cunningham New York gave me a glimpse into the life of an elderly New York photographer who lived a monk-like existence. These people, times and places would normally be off-limits to the average person and a documentary could be the closest one may get.

One can research a documentary further to gauge the accuracy and in doing so may be prompted to learn further on a subject they never would have thought to explore. However, it was a documentary that spurred that curiosity in the first place.

This blog features commentary on documentaries that I've seen and enjoyed. They may not all be great, but if I write about them it's because I found some value in their content. Perhaps you'll be inspired to seek out these documentaries, or maybe you'll just prefer to read my commentary. Or perhaps, you may enjoy both.

-Daniel

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