Finding a character

[mcg265]

How do you go about finding a character or way to tell a story when making a documentary about a philosophical idea? I have some ideas of tying Plato's allegory of the cave to mass media. Would I then need to choose some general character, like "the public"?

 

[Maura N.]

Hello @mcg265 !
Welcome to our community!
It can be difficult to create a documentary about someone who nobody alive got to know but you have to do a lot of research and read as much as you can about stories about that character, in this case, Plato. How was he as a person? What was his personality? What do you think was the train of thoughts or actions that led to his achievements?

If you are trying to make a documentary about someone who was knew by others who are still alive, the research is a bit easier because you can interview those people.

 

[Oskar Kuusk]

How do you go about finding a character or way to tell a story when making a documentary about a philosophical idea? I have some ideas of tying Plato's allegory of the cave to mass media. Would I then need to choose some general character, like "the public"?

When you make a documentary, you want to tell a story. The best approach should be a neutral one but you can make it more personal if you wish, more like a TV show with professional actors. You can get an actor to play "Plato". You can also take interviews with local historians about Plato and then use the scenes with the "actor Plato" and the ones with the ones you will interview. In the end, you are making a documentary, not a biography movie. Documentaries tell facts using proofs.

 

[EmilyWilkes]

I haven't seen any documentary about Plato just yet but as Oskar suggested, you could use the help of experts who already have a lot of knowledge about this exact subject. Maybe you can find some experts who have studied Plato their entire life.

 

[mcg265]

I do not want it to be about Plato but about his message of the allegory of the cave and the symbolism that has and how it is still true today, for example Chomsky's "manufacture of consent" is pretty much the same story in documentary form or the Matrix and the Truman Show as fiction tell the same story.

 

[Maura N.]

I do not want it to be about Plato but about his message of the allegory of the cave and the symbolism that has and how it is still true today, for example Chomsky's "manufacture of consent" is pretty much the same story in documentary form or the Matrix and the Truman Show as fiction tell the same story.

I understand. You will still have to do a lot of research and I do not know how much information is available about this specific thing. You can always come up with a theory based on the facts that are available and present it in the documentary. You will also need someone to back it up on camera