John Liddy Reflection

Personal Reflection

When I embarked on this project I knew it was something I wanted to do but was unsure of how it would work out for me. I had limited experience of using the camera equipment and editing using Final Cut Pro but I felt that I had ample time to learn and become proficient. Luckily my subject matter was something I was very familiar with so my research was something I knew I could do quickly and efficiently. The subject of my documentary, the poet John Liddy, was not only a friend of mine but we grew up in the same neighbourhood and also worked together on the same newspaper in the late 1970’s.
My initial proposal for the documentary was to focus on the life and work of Liddy as a working poet who lives under the influence of two traditions – Irish and Spanish. I also proposed that I would investigate the connections and continuity of the poetry scene in Limerick, citing Liddy as someone who is part of that tradition

I had been thinking in a very linear way not taking into account how mediated messages are received by the audience. As Nicky pointed out to me I was showing things that I knew, but that the audience didn’t. I had to rethink it from an audience perspective and provide clues for them to pick up on rather than presenting them with out of context messages, which may bewilder or disorientate them. I had to remember that the nature of film is that there is no reflective monitoring of their response possible. This can be both a positive and a negative: positive in that I am not constrained creatively but a negative in that I get no feedback to show I am on the right track. So with Nicky acting as my audience and guide I was able to reimagine the concept of my film. Consequently this concept is something I will be taking into account on any future projects I am involved