A description and examination of the production of The exiles: a film of the actual lives of a group of young American Indians

Statement of the problem: The purpose of this thesis is to describe step by step the production of The Exiles -- an attempt to express the inner emotional patterns of a group of young American Indians by filming the details of their actual everyday lives. All the specific techniques used to prevent intrusion of the film makers into these lives will be examined, and the problems which arose due to the nature of the production and the inexperience of the young crew will be discussed.; Although the concepts which influenced the production will be included when appropriate, this paper is not intended to be a philosophical analysis of the relationship between life and film. It is hoped that a detailed description and examination of the production experience on The exiles will be of use to film students and will carry in itself enough philosophical implication for those who are interested.; Importance of the Problem: There is very little opportunity for audiences to view films of this type or for film makers to work on them. This thesis is presented in the hope that it may suggest to others the possibilities for further work and experiment in this area, and outline for them some of the basic problems in this type of production. For the author the writing of this thesis is an opportunity to develop his own thinking by documenting and analyzing an important experience.; Organization of the remainder of the thesis: Chapter II will contain a discussion of the attitudes among the crew which led to the filming of The Exiles. As the film was not produced in a normal commercial manner, Chapter III will contain a brief survey of the "Unusual Production Conditions." Each one of Chapters IV through IX will deal with the attempt to film the reality of life with reference to a particular motion picture specialty. These are, in order, "Research and Scripting," "Directing and Acting," "Photography," "Voice Recording," "Editing," and "Music and Sound Effects." Chapter X will contain a "Summary and Conclusions," and, finally, a number of Appendixes will be included containing material illustrating various aspects of the filming as discussed in the body of the thesis.