The long process of applying a definition to documentary filmmaking is in short; arduous.
The term documentary is often used alongside ‘non-fiction film’ as it opposes narrative filmmaking, which depicts a fictional story or event. If the term documentary is considered as interchangeable by its counterpart phrase ‘non-fiction film’, it is easily understood how broad the genre is. To fully understand the comprehensiveness of this mode of filmmaking, an engagement with documentaries is required. By way of illustration, the mockumentary is one form of the documentary which presents fictitious events through the codes and conventions of a documentary film. These films are often made with the intention of being comedic or satirical and the form
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This is a value which he argues is of more importance - as opposed to the advantageous goal of defining the form. In his introduction Nichols establishes a structure through outlining three basic assumptions regarding the newly emerging genre; documentaries are about reality, documentaries are about real people and documentaries tell stories about what really happened. A positive derived from Nichols perspective is his straightforward approach to defining the documentary. Rather than attempt to give an all-encompassing definition to a documentary (which he previously addressed as difficult and not of fundamental importance), Nichols instead provides three overarching elements which enable many documentary forms to be blanketed by his …show more content…
The first is a sociological documentary and the second is a naturalistic documentary. The sociological deals with the ‘industrial man, urban or machine-minding man’ and naturalistic refers to ‘man in a state of nature- primitive, unaffected by machinery’. This definition does not resemble Bill Nichol’s flawed proposal for a documentary definition. In spite of its difference from the main characteristics of a documentary which Nichols defined, Flaherty does inadvertently support Nichols method of subcategorising the elements of the form, as the form is extremely broad. The subcategories are also essential as it needs to be done in order to be applied to filmmaking
In this documentary, the conventions and techniques included are; real footage, recorded audio, written codes, montages, use of authority figures/experts, facts and statistics, interviews, bystanders, animation, background music etc. The four conventions/techniques that I will be discussing in this essay will be real footage, use of authority figures/experts, sound and bystanders.
As documentary by its very nature introduces itself as factual, concerns exist as to where the boundary between the truth of subject and the fiction produced by its creator emerges. As anything that has been edited has by definition removed certain aspects and enhanced others, there must be at best an innocent naturally occurring bias formed from individual perception, and at worst purposefully manipulated misinformation. Through researching various sources, I intend to discover the difference (if any) between these two methods making factually based programmes, to determine any variables that lie in the ‘grey area’ between the two extremes, and to ascertain the diverse forms of conduct in which truth (and in turn documentary) can be presented to an audience, and to what effect?
The documentary is structured in a way that presents the factual information first, and uses
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Narrative Apparatus Ideology. Ed. Philip Rosen, (New York: Columbia UP, 1986), 198-209.
Documentary has been heavily associated as a representation of the truth and reality due to its absence of fictional elements and control by the filmmaker (Chapman, 2009). It aims to entice the audience perception of the information presented as fundamental and legitimate (Beattie, 2004). With today's technology, the question of manipulated facts and proclaimed evidences presented in documentaries has heightened concerns in providing the audience with the truth and the real. Hence, with reference to the documentary on "Biggie and Tupac" (2002) directed by Nick Broomfield, we will explore how the documentary has managed to capture the real in terms of structure, style and modes of documentary.
As a viewer, the documentary’s intention to inform is more completely fulfilled by research conducted beyond the scope of the camera lens. Had I never written this paper, for instance, the reason for all the violence embedded within the subject matter would remain as enigmatic as the documentary itself.
Throughout the US, millions of POC students exposed to the traditional, rather outdated version of US History. Never do the textbooks explicitly mention and/ or explain the terrorizing, constant stripping down of others’ cultures and appropriating it into the dominant group of predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon and protestant. For many Mexican American students, they can’t relate to anything in the text, nor do they share an interest in the coursework provided. The way US history sets up doesn't teach and somehow excludes Indigenous backgrounds or for the most part was never taught in the classroom but, rather briefly mentioned in one or two paragraphs. Immigrants from diverse groups built this country yet their culture is consistently shown
...use of documentary style lighting and discontinuous editing that diverges from the Hollywood “invisible” editing. Through understanding the historical climates these two seemingly similar French cinematic movements were in, the psychology of a generation can be visualized in a way truly unique to the indexicality of the cinematic medium.
In this paper I used outside sources such as Hurley’s book, Gawthrop’s, Jacobson and Moakley articles to clarify and develop deeper thinking about Coles’ ideas in “The Tradition: Fact and Fiction,” with focal points being: human actuality, the interiority of a photograph, and the emotional impact of cropping. Throughout Coles’ essay he portrays a documentarian as one who creates their work to meet their own standards based on personal opinion, values, interest and their audience. He also shows, in correlation to the title, that there is no line between fact or fiction in documentary work; they are loosely mingled, overlapping and only seen separately from a biased standpoint.
Roger and Me, on a basic level falls into the Interactive category with its involved interviews and archival footage. On page thirty-three, Nichols comments on the use of archival footage in the Interactive Mode of Documentary. Writing that old news clips are often appended onto expert and witness interviews as to avoid reenactments and voice of god commentaries.
Many of the scenes are filmed in front of a camera as the "filmmakers" pose and answer questions regarding their research before it transitions into their story outside of the film-making process. The Conspiracy is a mockumentary but doesn't necessarily make fun of the documentary process as other mockumentaries do, and neither does The Watermelon Woman. Both of these films, The Watermelon Woman and The Conspiracy, allow for easy understanding from any type of audience, and they both offer plots and storytelling-patterns that flow in ways able to be comprehended by any type of
Postmodernism is a vague term that can describe a variety of disciplines that include, architecture, art, music, film, fashion, literature…etc. (Klages). In the case of “Videotape”, postmodern literature would be the main focus or area of study. This type of literature emerged in the era that succeeded World War II and relies heavily on the use of techniques such as, fragmentation, the creation of paradoxes, and questionable protagonists. Furthermore, postmodern literature also exudes ambiguity and critical thinking where the focus is mainly on the reader and his/her experience of the work rather than the content and form. Building upon that, the selected passag...
This is a critique of" Roger And Me", a documentary by Michael Moore. This is a film about a city that at one time had a great economy. The working class people lived the American dream. The majority of people in this town worked at the large GM factory. The factory is what gave these people security in their middle working class home life. Life in the city of Flint was good until Roger Smith the CEO of GM decided to close the factory. This destroyed the city. Violent crime became the highest in the nation, businesses went bankrupt, people were evicted from their rented homes. There were no jobs and no opportunity. Life was so bad that Money magazine named Flint the worst place to live in the entire nation. When news of the factory closing first broke, Michael Moore a native of flint decided to search for Roger Smith and bring him to Flint.
2. Nichols, Bill. ‘Documentary Modes of Representation (The Observational Mode).’ Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Bloomington & Indianapolis; Indiana University Press. 1991. 38-44
...ie Calle’s works in the context of documentaries. It bases its arguments on the nature in which Sophie Calle collects her photographs and uses established sources to buttress theories put foward.