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Behind the Scenes: Making Research Films in Sociology

Radhamany Sooryamoorthy
International Sociology 2007 22: 547
DOI: 10.1177/0268580907080486
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Behind the Scenes

Making Research Films in Sociology
Radhamany Sooryamoorthy
University of KwaZulu-Natal

abstract: Research films are a rarity in sociology. Enthralled by the potential of

research films and having made three films so far, the author believes that this
medium offers great opportunities for sociologists. As a powerful means of communication with its tremendous appeal to sociologists and the public alike,
research films have a future as an effective tool of data collection like surveys and
interviews. But this largely depends upon the readiness of sociologists to make
use of the medium of film in their research, by sparing some of their time to learn
the necessary skills of filming and editing. Making research films is as rigorous as
writing a research paper or a book, and it offers a great deal of satisfaction and
pleasure to the sociologist-filmmaker. Against a backdrop of the production of the
authors own research films, this article looks at the relevance of the medium to
present sociological concepts and theses, the work associated with the production
of a research film, the skills that can be learned to produce a movie without relying on film professionals, and the impact that it can have on the career of sociologists in the near future.
keywords: editing film-making research films visual sociology

Introduction
Juxtaposed to any written medium, films as a visual form of expression and
(re)construction of social reality have been recognized as an effective medium
that engages its viewers. A photograph instantly draws the attention more
than a few words about the same subject. Visual images photographs,
motion film/video clips, movies of all kinds (documentary, observational
films, ethnographic/anthropological movies or feature films) are able to
hold the attention of viewers more than inert printed words.
Not surprisingly, the visual medium and its variety of structure and form
has grown remarkably since the first public screening of a film in 1895 by
International Sociology September 2007 Vol. 22(5): 547563
International Sociological Association
SAGE (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore)
DOI: 10.1177/0268580907080486

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the Lumire brothers. The medium is still inventing creative new ways to
enlarge its coverage in the realms of communication and expression. Film,
made up of scores of moving images, is a rich and culturally embedded
medium, relying upon much more than the purely visual channels of information (Pauwels, 2002: 151). Inherent in film is the power to communicate
ideas in a realistic, concrete manner that is not easily afforded by language.
The ideas presented through the medium of film, in contrast to the medium
of language, have immediate meaning, and the medium can introduce and
summarize topics in a brief and concise manner (McClusky, 1947: 373).
The advantage of film lies in its ability to combine multi-tracks to convey
a message. This multiple method uses both images and audio to tell a story.
Film language consists of five tracks or channels of moving photographic
images (Stam, 2000: 33), recorded sound (conversation of actors), recorded
noises (like the chirping of birds, water flowing down a stream), music (to
set the mood of the film and to keep the audience engaged) and writing
(credits and other written material). Moving visuals and synchronous sound
in the background of the environment (inside a room or outside in the garden) render a real-life feeling. Movies give a more or less complete picture
of reality by adding sensory experience to analytical data and by exploring
various levels of human experience (MacDougall, 196970: 27). They present
facts realistically, dramatize human relations and events, arouse emotions,
transmit attitudes, record and reproduce phenomena for scientific study and
analysis (McClusky, 1947: 371). However, films mean different things to different viewers. While they portray social conditions they also tap the personal conditions and sensitivities of the viewers (Ill, 1981: 74).
In the world of the social sciences wherein words, numbers and diagrams are the primary and predominant means for the transfer of information and production of knowledge, films remain a perplexing and
unmanageable intrusion (MacDougall, 196970: 27). In the use and application of visual materials, the social sciences have apparently lagged
behind the natural sciences (Becker, 2000: 333). Since the 1980s, however,
there has been a methodological and subject matter shift, to the study of
visual objects (Ruby, 2005: 164). Harnessing the advantages of the revolutionary feats in digital technology, there have been attempts to make use of
it for the study and research of social situations, events and phenomena.
As W. J. T. Mitchell rightly says, this has heralded the emergent visual
moment or pictorial turn in the humanities and the social sciences
(MacDougall et al., 20001: 5).

Visual Sociology
Documentary evidence supporting the use of films as a valuable tool
in sociological teaching is not rare in the discipline (Leblanc, 1997: 62).
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Sooryamoorthy Behind the Scenes

Regrettably, though, this is the not the story about film-making by

sociologists. In a trend report on visual sociology for the past hundred
years, Leonard Henny (1986: 67) concluded that the relationship between
sociology and photography has been weakened rather than strengthened.
The presence of visual sociology, measured in terms of the count of papers
published in the American Journal of Sociology over a period of 20 years
between 1896 and 1916 (31 papers), showed a progressive growth (Harper
[1989] and Becker [1998], cited in Shrum et al., 2005) but between 1920 and
1960 this trend was reversed (Shrum et al., 2005).
Sociologists, unlike their counterparts in the cognate discipline of
anthropology, are yet to make strides in video sociology and progress
beyond their penchant for photographs. Sociologists continued to contest
the uses of visual images in research, and in response to this the subdiscipline of visual sociology did not engage with the visual beyond using it
as a recording method and support for a word-based discipline (Pink,
2007: 1314). Sociologists seem to be reluctant to tune their skills to tap
into the opportunities unfolding to record and analyse moving images for
their research, except for the use of films for teaching purposes. Visual
sociologists tend to be photographers (Becker, 1981; Pauwels, 2002).
Visual sociology, therefore, seems to have been destined to remain within
the limited confines and scope of photographs, not making any significant steps towards video sociology. One of the principal concerns that
visual sociologists could undertake is the production of visual/pictorial
records of people and their activities, to construct an argument more
cogent than one that words alone could make (Chalfen, 2005: 141).
In the latter part of the 1970s, anthropologists were similarly reluctant
to employ film. The main argument then was that film-making was too
costly, too intrusive and too difficult. But Mead and others rejected these
arguments as rationalizations and blamed anthropologists conservatism
for not using a research tool of immense potential (MacDougall, 1978: 418).
However, things could change in sociology. As Becker (2000) advocates,
every sociologist should have a working knowledge of cinematic skills
and tools, and a course in photography should be part of the sociology
curriculum.

Research Films as a Medium

Research films, parallel to the films that use a great deal of research material for script, voice-over and text, have distinctive characteristics and
follow a format, form, structure and presentation that might not be radically different from ethnographic films or documentaries. Collier and
Collier (1999: 152) make the distinction between research film and
ethnographic film, calling research films the type made to contain
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relatively undisturbed processes and behaviour to develop information,

whereas ethnographic films create a narrative selected by the filmmaker-producer. Research films are edited films, meant for specific
research purposes and for a specialized audience (Crawford, 2003: 74).
A research film can be about a research topic or part of a research project in which one is involved and has substantial knowledge. More often
than not, research films are the natural outcome of a study, deriving its
actors and data from the research itself. A sizeable share of the footage in
a research film might be in the form of interviews with the subject(s)
providing firsthand empirical information. It does not require a detailed
script but the information (data) comes out spontaneously at the input of
the researcher-filmmaker, which is recorded for the movie. In order to
avoid monotony and for the sake of the flow of the scenes one after the
other to engage viewers, the researcher will have to assume the role of a
creative filmmaker. Although filming can start without a detailed script,
the researcher needs to have the plans laid out in advance as to the scenes,
locations and settings. The creative part, and the challenge to the
researcher, is to make it a viewable film. The scenes are thoughtfully
selected, not losing the valuable research content of the original footage.
All the research footage can be integrated with attractive scenes that will
capture the audiences attention. In research films, on the one hand, the
researcher confronts the challenge of having all the footage and, on the
other hand, she or he has to be decisive in the use of the footage so as not
to overburden the viewer, potentially disrupting the viewers understanding and killing interest in the movie. Originality of facts and information is retained in research films, while dramatic scenes are spliced in
for the aesthetic value of the film. A successful film, be it a feature film or
any other genre such as an observational film, an ethnographic film or a
research film, holds the interest of the viewer until the final credits roll. As
Steven Spielberg (1988: 12) said, you make a movie to get the audience to
stand up and cheer.
The difference between film-making and research lies in the role of storytelling. Goodman (2004: 327) makes the distinction clear in terms of orientation (evoke feelings for film vs evoke knowing for research), goals (to tell a
story and evoke social change in film vs to explain or predict phenomena for
research), transmission methods (visual, music, sound and text for movies
vs primarily text for research) and the targeted audience (diverse groups for
films vs a specific research community for research). Research films, however, are a genre of their own, to be distinguished from documentaries,
which are constructed more freely. By making research films, one is able to
widen the knowledge horizon of the discipline and to supplement ones
research output through visual imagery, which is not artificially created as
in a fiction film, but represents social reality and sociological understanding.
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Sooryamoorthy Behind the Scenes

Research films, like research papers, are filled with data and information
captured through a different medium with a perspective. This makes its scientific value and content undeniable.

Collaboration Blues, A Journey to Robben

Island and Storing the Unstorable: Why Make
Research Films?
Should I consider film a proper medium to state my thesis, rather than a
survey or in-depth interviews? Visual sociologists are often concerned
with the appearance of things, and explain what is hidden behind those
appearances via sociological principles (Curry, 1985: 6). Like ethnographic
filmmakers, who communicate their anthropological ideas through the
medium of film, sociologists too are faced with the problem of whether
their films are able to communicate and disseminate what they want to
achieve, as an alternative to using written materials.
A clear distinction between the recording of social data with a pen or
with a camera, given by Richard Fauman, who is both a sociologist and a
filmmaker, indicates that the sociological filmmaker has in her or his mind
a hypothesis before the event is photographed/filmed and understands the
need for a little story in the activities (Henny, 1986: 49). Becker (2000: 333)
believes that photographs, more than words, display social phenomena in
context, and this can have important empirical and theoretical consequences. A film like A Country Action: The Paul V. Leitzel Estate Sale (1984) is
a good illustration. It is a scientific film about the social, personal and economic aspects of an auction of the last general store in a rural community
in the US. The authors (read filmmakers) not only applied rigorous standards such as those followed in science in their films but also skilfully used
several properties of film such as camera movement and position, framing
and editing tools to express their views on this social process (Pauwels,
2002: 151). Another example is the movie What the Bleep. It is a new genre of
film, which is part documentary, part story and part inspiring visual effects
and animation. Its contributors include scientists, physicists, neurologists,
anaesthesiologists, molecular biologists and physicians (Canning, 2007: 8).
When I made my first movie, Collaboration Blues, a facet of the research
I was involved in, I thought that the movie would allow me the freedom
to show in an effective but interesting way a slice of the life of the subject
that is part of the whole research project. Collaboration Blues (CB) is a
22-minute digital video movie that tells us that scientific collaboration,
involving multiple partners, is a strenuous process fraught with difficulties along with the benefits it brings. The movie focuses on both the professional difficulties and advantages of collaboration as experienced in
the professional life of a long-standing physical geographer (Figure 1).
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CB thus originated as an offshoot of my own research on the scientific

communication of scientists that employed quantitative and qualitative
methods of data collection over a period of six years. We had just concluded the study in South Africa among 275 scientists and were writing a
paper on scientific collaboration and productivity, which was eventually
published (Sooryamoorthy and Shrum, 2007). While working on the data
for this paper, it suddenly struck me that it would be exciting to look at
the collaboration experiences of the respondents through the viewfinder
of a video camera. Scientific collaboration, a multifaceted concept encompassing an array of dimensions, impressed me as an important aspect of
the professional life of scientists. The paper was to be presented at a preconference workshop of the second NCeSS (National Centre for e-Social
Science) conference at the Manchester Metropolitan University. It was
thus an opportunity to screen the movie (if I could make one) preceding
the paper. CB was made under this constraint.

Some of my Experiences
When CB emerged as a research movie I was not sure how to do it, except
for having had a little hands-on experience with a still camera in my
childhood and with a video camera a few years ago. I knew people who
had been making similar research movies (called academic movies and
video essays) and researching in the same area (Shrum et al., 2005) and I
sought their technical advice. It seemed to be a challenge but I was fascinated by the possibilities of the medium. Moving images, colour and synchronous sound rendered pleasure while I worked with it. Like writing a
research paper using a keyboard, I was writing a visual movie using moving images, sound, text and effects. It was a wonderful and enjoyable
experience. But at the editing stage, it became more complicated and led
to a great deal of frustration as things did not move the way I thought.
Partly it was because I was learning a new kind of software and wasnt
quite familiar with film editing. You spend long (continuous, of course)
hours to finish a scene and close the computer for the day. For every
minute of the clip you finally use in the film you need approximately
2025 hours of editing with visual, music, voice-over and text. When you
open the programme the next day, all the work of the previous day is gone
and you are back to square one. This is frustrating, but I must note that
this did not recur with my second movie and I never had any technical
problems like this again.
CB as a research film was meant for a specialist audience, like the readers of a journal. It would not survive as a stand-alone movie at public
screenings. It was not intended to do so. As Crawford (2003: 74) noted,
research films are for specific research purposes and for a specialized academic audience. Necessarily, the viewers must have knowledge of the
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Figure 1

theme of scientific collaboration. But as a byproduct of research, it has a

standing of its own.
When I label CB a research film, I am aware of its distinguishing features. First, it did not require substantial funding to make, except for the
initial investment in equipment and the editing software. Research films
originate as part of ones own research. We do not need the help of a film
crew; the work can be accomplished single-handedly or with the help of
an able student or research assistant. The facility of making a film without
the help of crew has put film-making within the reach of academics who
have the talent and the tenacity (MacDougall, 2001: 15). Second, research
films are basically and essentially the creation of a researcher, acting as the
producer, director, scriptwriter, camera operator and editor, who brings in
all the components that go into the making of the film. Third, scientific
research films are the product of in-depth research, a topic on which the
researcher-filmmaker has substantial knowledge and understanding. This
is different from the research one is usually assigned to in the production
of documentaries. The analytical mind of a researcher could also be evident, albeit in latent form, in research films.
A Journey to Robben Island (Figure 2), a 20-minute video, was developed
out of my interest in South African society and its enchanting history. This
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movie takes us to Robben Island in South Africa which, since the 15th
century, was used as a place of banishment, exile and prison. With enough
background research, including photographs and archival footage drawn
from a variety of sources, the film is set against the backdrop of Apartheid
and the struggle for democracy. Naturally, the film centres around the
prison life of Nelson Mandela, who spent 17 years of his imprisonment on
this island, looked at from the angle of his personal life (as well as at the
lives of some other political prisoners). There are no actors in this movie
nor are there any interviews. Instead, the movie relies heavily on historical material including photographs. (I had to learn new software to edit
the photographs.) In the movie, I have used a great deal of script about
six pages for the voice-over. The approach, firmly grounded in historical research, was to produce a social document about an island that has
a horrific past. I would call it an ex post facto film. Similar to a research
paper, it has its own scientific value and sociological significance as it
deals with social history and historical data. In contrast to Collaboration
Blues, it is actually a piece of visual research. It was not part of a study, but
a visual study in itself. This film is very direct and hence viewers need not
be knowledgeable about South African history, although this would help
them to better understand and enjoy the film.

Figure 2

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Sooryamoorthy Behind the Scenes

Storing the Unstorable (Figure 3), like CB, comes out of my ongoing
research in scientific communication. The original intention was to make a
movie on the life and profession of an accomplished woman in science
whom I had interviewed earlier for a survey. While filming, the scientist
asked me to make a video clip on the collection and processing of seeds
(using cryotechnology), involving her students. I agreed (one has to in
these situations) as it has a bearing on the production of the film I was
making and in which she was the main actor. Filming was finished in a
single schedule and the editing took two weeks. It was much easier for me
at the editing table and the 11-minute movie was made before the deadline. Instead of voice-over I used subtitles, because it was to be shown in
an exhibition where audio would be lost in the din of a busy hall with
viewers moving around. The film was shown at a conference in Dar-esSalaam and the people in science and technology watched it with interest.
Fellow scientists of the star scientist greatly appreciated what a sociologist could show in a movie. I still have to finish the film on the scientist;
now it can be accomplished without any difficulty, since the actor is more
than willing to extend full cooperation for completing the movie. This is a
very crucial matter for the researcher. As in a survey or in-depth interview,
participation and cooperation of the respondent is an important element in
films. But by and large, respondents like to see their moving images on
camera and finally on the screen. CB was very well received by its actors
and other team members when it was previewed. The main actor who
knew that it was my maiden film remarked that the movie had exceeded
his expectations. It is always easy to get someone to act in your second film
by showing them your first movie.
Collaboration Blues and Storing the Unstorable were designed to be part of
a film series in scientific communication. In a way, a series of films on a
chosen theme can present differing aspects of ongoing research, adding a
visual dimension to it and each producing a scientific visual piece of
research of its own. If one is able to sustain the interest in any chosen area
for quite some time the production of a series will have the value of a
book containing several chapters on a related theme.
In the following section, we look at the intricacies of making a research film
and get a glimpse of the amount of work research films usually demand. This
description is based on my experience with the production of CB.

Sociologists as Filmmakers
Digital video opened up new possibilities for research and representation,
and researchers from various social science disciplines began to engage with
video anew (Pink, 2007: 96). Technological advancement from analogue to
digital with CCD1 technology has brought advantages to the filmmakers.
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One of the notable outcomes of this shift to digital technology is its reproducibility without degrading the quality of the original images, as the picture is stored in pixels (Miller and Sam, 2000; Shrum et al., 2005). The new
technology makes things easier for the researcher-filmmaker to capture the
video images and sound on the computer, to edit, output and copy the final
product (Shrum et al., 2005). The compactness of the digital video camera
with its ever-changing user-friendly technological features, inexpensiveness
and its capability of producing high quality images have made it attractive
and relatively easy for researchers to make their own movies. Furthermore,
the editing suite and studio have lost their sanctity, slipping from the hands
of technicians and traditional equipment to desktop computers and laptops,
making things more accessible to anyone who is interested. Several nonlinear video editing packages (Adobe Premiere, Avid and Final Cut Pro), run on
Windows and Mac systems.
Film production is arduous for social scientists (Pauwels, 2002: 151) but
it is not as difficult to master as one may think. As Henley (2004: 117)
notes, film-making requires intense concentration and commitment, leaving little room for anything else for the researcher. Certainly this is hard
work, from its conception to the final production of the film, demanding
that the researcher organize everything by her- or himself. Venturing into
film-making is a deviation from the routines of teaching and writing academic papers. Film-making, therefore, may be a refreshing and replenishing way of doing research. In present circumstances, however, it may not
bring in any academic credit, on a par with a paper published in a refereed journal.
Reviewers look at the purpose, content and contribution a film makes.
Linden (1953: 846) asks a number of questions in this regard. These relate
to the purpose of a film, the truth of its statements, the representation of
visual material, the use of standard procedures, the emphasis on principles or on technicalities, film as the appropriate medium for the subject
matter and its contribution to human relations.
Film dynamics is important as it refers to the three essential factors,
namely, photography, sound and editing. One looks at various elements
of a film including the content, its presentation, its organization, the clarity and focus of the photography, satisfactory sound and its narration
(Bernstein, 1996; Linden, 1953). As for the photography, several variables
are crucial: clear and well-focused photography, uncluttered scenes, use
of camera with discretion, shots in proper light, careful use of techniques
such as camera mobility, close-ups, angle shots, visual composition, rate
of motion and selective use of sound and effects (Linden, 1953: 847). In
terms of sound, it is important that the narration (voice-over) be easy to
follow and interesting, and that the sound supports themes and scenes
(Linden, 1953: 847).
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Sooryamoorthy Behind the Scenes

Figure 3

Music plays a very important part in the soundscape of movies, even in

documentaries (Ruoff, 1993: 32). I commissioned someone to compose the
music for CB. Music often serves as a link to the visual and verbal story in
a film (Goodman, 2004: 334). Music can create a particular emotion in a
screen situation in two ways: either it can directly express the feeling of the
scene by taking on the rhythm, tone and phrasing of the scene; or it can
express conspicuous indifference to the situation (Chion, 2000: 114). Music
provides continuity and soothes the flow from scene to scene, covers up
edits (effects), facilitates changes of scenes, provides mood and allows for
narrative interludes and montage sequences (Ruoff, 1993: 33). But the
researcher-filmmaker needs to keep in mind that the music should be
expressive and not intrude into the film (Linden, 1953: 848).
In the production of a research film one has to address both the intellectual and technical components of the movie. In the intellectual component
of the film, one selects the episode or slice of the research that progresses
into a research movie, and arranges the scenes that can fit into such a
movie. It also makes things easier at the editing stage. As noted earlier,
scenes are thought out before actual filming is scheduled with the subjects,
although the ordering of the scenes is flexible, decided at the editing desk.
Script is written. But it is mainly for the voice-over to set the context of the
movie and not for the conversation of the respondents, which must be
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original, as in data collection. I did not have any script for many of the
scenes in CB. Two of the scenes reproduced illustrate this.
Scene number 2: Gerry speaks to Kerry about the history of his collaboration.
Long shot of Gerry and Kerry talking (outside the Memorial Tower Building)
about the history of Gerrys collaboration enterprise. [See Figure 1]
Sound: Real conversation, with audible frequency.
Scene number 3: Gerry with students going on a field trip.
Students waiting on the steps, with baggage, talking to each other.
Voice-over: These are Geography students. They are travelling to KwaZulu-Natal
North Coast to undertake research . . . They work with Gerry . . . Together they are
involved in what is termed internal collaboration.
Music in the background.
Gerry walks down the steps.
Gerry speaks to students about the trip.
Sound: Original speech of Gerry.

As for the technical component, the researcher-filmmaker has to be familiar with the equipment, namely, the camera, lens (wide-angle, telephoto
and filters), microphone (shotgun or lavaliere), lights and audio-recording
devices. While filming, you are likely to forget to connect the microphone
for additional audio or use the wrong lens. A basic checklist is always
helpful to see to it that, when the camera is to be on and ready for recording, the recording medium (digital tape, for instance) is set at the correct
play mode (SP or LP), the audio (16-bit or 12-bit) recording is fixed to suit
the editing software (and to eliminate glitches of recording), microphones
are held to the camera, cables are firmly in place, the camera is positioned
for its free movement (useful for a continuous shot) on the dolly or on the
tripod head, distance between the subjects and the camera is measured
accurately, suitable angles and frames of the shot are determined to capture the images in their most aesthetic and attractive appearance, and the
lighting is adequate for the shot.
Attending to technicalities does not end with filming. At the editing
keyboard, important decisions are made, not just for the arrangement of
footage in the timeline but also for the timing and length of each clip
(in terms of seconds) to be chosen for the scenes that compose the final
movie. The researcher now assumes the role of a film editor. This is a
very creative phase in the whole film-making process, as it can make or
break a movie. One would not wish to leave this part of the job to technical personnel though it is the hardest part. As in a research paper, the
imprint of a researcher should be evident in the finished product.
Outsourcing means missing the opportunity to construct the movie the
way you wanted to create it. It is not advisable to contract the editing job
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out to someone who is neither familiar with the research topic nor with
the intentions of the researcher-filmmaker. Research films are about specialized subjects and themes, and the researcher is the person who knows
about her or his research subjects/themes better than anyone else. A
novice would find editing a job cumbersome because it is very timeconsuming, and requires intensive, focused attention for extended periods
of time before a final version is ready for screening. But the advantages
of editing to the filmmaker her- or himself are numerous. It is too
rewarding to avoid.
Visual images are only one of the several components that receive the
touch of the editor. Audio (one or two tracks, depending on the choice of
voice-over and music), effects (dissolves, fade in/out, reveal) and text
(subtitles, credits) await the decision of the editor. The purposes of the
movie and the expected audience must always be kept in mind throughout editing, justifying each decisive cut and splice-in.
Software for non-linear editing works more or less the way word-processing software operates, in which cut and paste are easily done; but it
definitely requires more precision and accuracy. Observational filmmakers spend prolonged periods in the editing suite working on the
ordering and weighting of the constituent parts of their movies to give
them meaning (Henley, 2004: 121). However, there is danger in treating
film as simply a text. MacDougall warns that this is making the film no
more than the sum of its parts, stripping it of its internal logic. The
importance of the film is not in its parts but in the resonance set up
between them (MacDougall et al., 20001: 6).
Basically, in editing one will have to bear in mind the economical and
rigid use of scenes for every second (there are 24 frames per second to deal
with) in the timeline (such as effecting a cut immediately after scenes have
served their purpose) and to see that the theme moves quite smoothly to
its finish (Linden, 1953: 848). At the end of editing, the sequences are finalized for the final output in the desired format such as DVD. I do not want
to oversimplify the whole process of film-making and give the impression
that it is as easy as word-processing. It is not. There will be glitches while
capturing the images onto the computer, doing the cuts and splice-ins or
outputting the final movie; but they can all be successfully overcome with
the experience one gains at editing.

Conclusion
Although visual sociology has entered the arena of filmmakers, from the
premises of still photographers, it is yet to make its presence felt in the
discipline. As a powerful medium for the communication and production
of knowledge, digital video offers opportunities for sociologists to author
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their visual papers. Given the facility of multi-tracks, research films are
appealing and have the potential to take sociological events and phenomena to the layperson. Digital technology is now on our side and we
should not be hesitant to grab its impressive advantages for making
research films.
What effects film-making would create in ones professional career is a
question that naturally comes up. As film-making by sociologists has not
yet become common, it is premature to assess the contribution it could
make to the discipline. Despite the increased attention and recognition
received by ethnographic filmmakers, through reviews of their movies
and public screenings, ethnographic film-making has not to date been
regarded as a scholarly activity (Ruby, 2005: 161). In the US, only a few
anthropologists have obtained tenure or promotion based primarily upon
film productions (Ruby, 2005: 161). Ultimately, the discipline of sociology
will have to accept the fact that the research film contributes to the production of knowledge and that it deserves full recognition as a scholarly
activity. Such recognition in any measure, even if not on a par with
research papers and books, can attract sociologists to this powerful
medium and to experiment with their talent and sociological understanding for visual presentation. Unlike feature films, research movies can get
messages about social phenomena and social reality across to sociologists
and the public alike. This is their great advantage over research papers
and books.
South Africa, as in several other respects, has tremendous potential for
sociologist-filmmakers. As a society in the international limelight due to
its sociocultural, political and demographic features, South African
sociology, with its existing institutional support and infrastructure at the
universities and research institutes, can make use of the opportunities
presented by this emerging medium. While the production of small
research films is an enjoyable deviation from mundane academic activities, it also takes sociologists into a new territory of academic productivity, and thus can attract new talents to the discipline. Students could
potentially find sociology a more interesting and relevant subject to study.
Through this medium we would be able to showcase South African society before a large audience of sociologists across the world. At the same
time, by following the standards required for the collection and presentation of data we are not undermining criteria of scientific rigour. Reviews
and public screenings should be encouraged by the fraternity of South
African sociologists, who need to recognize this as the future way of
releasing ones research product. When I asked the editors of at least two
prominent South African journals, including one sociological journal,
about the scope of reviews of such films in their review sections, they
were indifferent. I am sure that their attitude would change if more and
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more sociologists were to adopt the medium of film for expressing their
intellect and creativity.

Notes
I thank Devorah Kalekin-Fishman for raising some very critical questions on my
movies, and asking me to write this article, which led me to look more seriously into
the literature on films and rethink the movies I produce. My sincere thanks go to
Geoff Waters for his assistance in the production of my movies, his creative suggestions and corrections on this article. I also thank the participants at the second
NCeSS conference held at the Manchester Metropolitan University and at the seminar at the History Department, University of KwaZulu-Natal for their insightful
criticisms and comments when the film was screened before them.
1. CCD (coupled-charge device or colour-capture device) is an image sensor.
Cameras with 3CCD provide a high quality colour image as they have separate
CCDs for taking measurements of red, green and blue light.

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rsum: Les documents filmographiques de recherche en sociologie sont trs rares.
Ayant dj ralis trois de ces films, captiv par leur potentiel, je suis convaincu que
ce moyen dexpression offre de belles opportunits aux chercheurs sociologues. Mis
part lutilisation de films des fins pdagogiques, les sociologues nont pas
vraiment ide des possibilits et du potentiel que ces documents filmographiques
dans le domaine de la recherche en sociologie peuvent vhiculer quant au
dveloppement de cette discipline. Ces films de recherche, moyens de
communication puissants, soulevant un vif attrait auprs des sociologues et du
grand public, ont un avenir radieux devant eux devenant ainsi une base de donnes
efficace rpertoriant interviews et questionnaires en tous genres. Aussi faudra-t-il
que les sociologues soient disposs intgrer cet outil mdia, le film de recherche,
dans leurs travaux, en consacrant le temps ncessaire lapprentissage de la camra
et de la ralisation dun film. Le film de recherche exige autant de rigueur que
lcriture dun article ou dun livre. Aussi, procurera-t-il au sociologue ralisateur

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autant de satisfaction que de plaisir. Attirant lattention sur la ralisation de mes
films de recherche, cet article se propose de dmontrer lefficacit quoffre ce mdia
dvoilant concepts et thses sociologiques actuels, traitant du travail associ la
ralisation de ce document filmographique, des techniques permettant la ralisation
dun film sans devoir faire appel aux professionnels et de limpact quil peut
rapidement avoir sur la carrire des sociologues.

resumen: Las pelculas de investigacin son una rareza en la sociologa. Cautivado

por el potencial de las pelculas de investigacin y habiendo realizado tres pelculas
hasta el momento, considero que este medio ofrece grandes oportunidades para los
socilogos. Como un poderoso medio de comunicacin con su descomunal
atractivo entre socilogos y pblico por igual, las pelculas de investigacin tienen
un brillante futuro como una eficaz herramienta en la recoleccin de datos cmo las
encuestas y las entrevistas. Pero esto, en gran medida, depende de la rapidez en que
los socilogos hagan uso de la pelcula como mtodo de investigacin, ocupando
parte de su tiempo en aprender las habilidades necesarias para filmar y editar.
Hacer pelculas de investigacin es tan riguroso como escribir un documento de
investigacin o un libro, pero definitivamente ofrece una enorme satisfaccin y
placer al socilogo-director. Bajo un enfoque en la produccin de mis filmes de
investigacin, este documento vislumbra la relevancia de este medio para presentar
conceptos sociolgicos y tesis, el trabajo asociado a la produccin de una pelcula de
investigacin, las habilidades que pueden estudiarse para producir una pelcula sin
depender de los profesionales del cine, y el impacto que puede crear en la carrera
de los socilogos en un futuro cercano.

Biographical Note: Radhamany Sooryamoorthy is associate professor of sociology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is the director-producer of
Collaboration Blues (2006), Storing the Unstorable (2007) and A Journey to Robben
Island (2007).
Address: Sociology Programme, Howard Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal,
Durban 4041, South Africa. [email: sooryamoorthyr@ukzn.ac.za]

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