Ethics and Storytelling

1.) A few of the dilemmas that were most likely faced by these filmakers while shooting these films were the exposure of the personal lives of these individuals. The fact that they are filming people who may not have full mental capacity may be one of the biggest of these ethical issues concerning these documentaries. Filming these people in controversial situations as well might bring up questions of what is appropriate. In the Titicut Follies questions that are asked of the inmates seem to probe deeply into their personal lives and expose issues that they might not really want to share with the public. The filming of people who are not in their right mind can also bee considered an ethical dilemma since they might not have the ability to say whether or not they want to be filmed.
2.) Footage that was obtained through prompting or secretly taken should not have been used and that seems to have happened in this film. They should not have used all of the footage that they did as it seems they are almost taking advantage of these people for a little documentary. Footage should have been determined by the possibility for education from the certain clip and whether it was really necessary for the point of the film.
3.) You should use you own moral compass and look at it from their point of view if they could understand what you are trying to accomplish. I would definately look at it from as a scientific viewpoint and see the filming as a way to show people some of what is going on inside the minds of these individuals. The ability to show how an institution works such as in the Titicut Follies would be my main focus and would not be driven by the actions made by certain inmates. As a journalist I would probably question and talk with the guards as they are almost an even larger part of the situation rather than the individual inmates themselves.