Living Small - Tiny House Documentary

Living Small – Tiny House Documentary

            Imagine trying to fit all your belongings, your whole life, in a house that is 8 x 20 feet on top of a trailer bed. That is exactly what it is like living in a tiny house. Tiny houses are defined as spaces between 100 and 400 square feet. Living Small – Tiny House Documentary highlights the tiny house movement and follows an undergraduate student, Anderson Page as he races to build a tiny house for his senior thesis. The video also explores the tiny house movement by interviewing designers and people who live in their own tiny houses. The film discusses the environmental and monetary benefits of downsizing and living a more modest life. After watching this film, I pictured living in my own tiny house surrounded by trees, mountains, and the colors of fall. Living Small – Tiny House Documentary shows the tiny house movement through personal testimonies and Anderson Page’s building journey to inform and educate people on the benefits of living small.

          

  The tiny house movement has gained more traction in the last couple of years as well as gaining widespread media coverage. The documentary was filmed in 2014 which is the same year FYI channel showed their television program Tiny House Nation hosted by John Weisbarth and Zack Giffin who search the Nation to find creative small spaces. Around that time HGTV released its show, Tiny House Hunters. People were especially interested in finding a more economical and flexible housing situation after the United States mortgage crisis from 2007-2010. The fear during that period made many people reconsider their living situations. Another thing that contributes to the tiny house movement that was mentioned in the documentary, is younger generations, in general, are more inclined to move around and avoid the traditional housing expectations. The documentary featured beautiful scenery with quaint house designs to encourage this idea of traveling the country in your own house with only the things you need.

            The people highlighted in this documentary fell into one or more of three categories – they were either younger, environmentally conscious, or interested in downsizing. Those tend to be the people who are intrigued with the idea of tiny houses, and that is the audience that they were trying to appeal to – the people who are interested in making a change. The director shows people who are building or have built their own living spaces in hopes to show others that it is possible. The film specifically focuses on designing and building to appeal to that audience. In this case, I don’t think the target audience is that far off from the actual audience watching this documentary. Where I think the two audiences differ is some of the actual audience might just be interested in the concept of tiny houses but not in the building and designing. Also, part of their actual audience would probably never seriously consider living in a tiny house.

            Throughout the film, it gives statistics concerning past and current housing practices. The statistics and the interviews with people who are involved in the tiny house movement are meant to inform the potential audience of tiny houses and the benefits that come with living in them. Another issue raised in the film is the lack of areas for people living in tiny houses to park their trailer since they do not fit into standard housing criteria. It sends a message that part of the documentary’s purpose was using this to educate people on the difficulty people are facing from local officials to live in their own homes. The film uses real stories to inspire emotions and to create awareness of the movement.

            This story is portrayed by interviews and statistics flashed on the screen. There is hardly any voice-overs and the director’s voice is never heard. The director is Stephen Hewitt, and he is an MFA student at Emerson College. There is little to no information about him or his film career available. The lack of information makes it hard to determine his stance on certain issues outside of what is covered in the film. Based on how tiny houses are portrayed in the film, and the people who live in them, it is fairly safe to say Hewitt is intrigued with the idea of tiny houses and most likely support them for the benefits they have on the environment and the freedom they give their inhabitants.

            Living Small – Tiny House Documentary focuses on the uniqueness of living in such a small space and seeks to give others an appreciation of tiny houses. The director uses personal stories from a wide variety of people such as those who design, build, and live in tiny houses to add credibility to their portrayal of the movement going on all around the country. Following Anderson Page through his journey to build a tiny house from the ground up showed the determination and the skill that goes into building one’s living space. This documentary beautifully portrayed the tiny house movement and makes people consider whether bigger is really better.