Matthew J. Dinaburg

Conceived, directed, and edited by Matthew J. Dinaburg

A look into Stanford Wrestling practice.

The film questions concepts of documentary realism and cinematic editing – how can films both be “truthful” and “crafted?” How can they show reality but still be clearly influenced by a filmmaker’s unique perspective? This film presents the singular experience of a cameraman at wrestling practice – shot largely at 35mm with natural light. It gives a sense of intimacy in the mundane grind of practice.

But with non-diegetic music, acquired from “Original Team Dynamite” in agreement with licensing from “The Artist’s Union,” the film transitions into a sequence contemplating the pervasive struggle to “get back up.” Here, images are presented in rapid succession and edited out of the order they occurred, designed to mimic a “hype video:” a video phenomenon that pairs music and images to arouse, excite or, simply, “hype up” its audience.

Here, one must question the divide between the perspective of the cameraman and the perspective of the audience member: this is not how reality occurred, yet it is how reality is remembered.