Affordances (and Potential Pitfalls) of Documentary as Research: The Creative Process of Australian Screenwriter Jan Sardi

Abstract

This article examines the creative process of prominent Australian screenwriter Jan Sardi (Shine, Mao’s Last Dancer, Love’s Brother, Moving Out) through the use of documentary production as a research methodology. The increasing acceptance of creative practice research within the academy has led to increased interest by scholars in the research capabilities, affordances and potential pitfalls of documentary production. I will draw upon my own extensive documentary production experience as well as my recent research in completing a practice-led PhD to offer some observations about the advantages and disadvantages of this form of research. The research adopted a case study methodology to investigate Sardi’s creative process on four feature films, and comprises a 70-minute documentary investigating the prominent Australian screenwriter’s process. The documentary enables Sardi’s own testimony about his creative process to be foregrounded, and includes corroborating data in the form of comments from his collaborators, such as the producers and directors from within his field. Documentary production also enabled the inclusion of the final output of Sardi’s screen work to be investigated through the inclusion of excerpts from the four completed films. This article explores the issues raised by documentary production as research, including the perspective taken by the researcher towards the subject in an overtly subjective stance rather than attempting a more objective point of view. The article also discusses the rationale for the selection of documentary production as a research method for this study, reviews the usefulness of documentary production as a research tool, and offers some conclusions.