Visual media, in the form of pictures, posters, movies and documentaries has a greater appeal and a farther reach than the print medium. When it comes to narrating a story or an event, pictures speak volumes when compared to the written word. It is true of movies too. Todd Philips’ film War Dogs recently hit theaters in late 2016. Although most movies are works of fiction, there are certain movies that are based on historical events. Since movies have a wider reach, questions arise about the veracity of the events narrated in a historical movie. There is also the conflict between profit making, artistic licence, aesthetic beauty of the film and the risks involved in portraying the events as it happened. Given that profit making is the primary …show more content…
While the filmmaker is responsible to make the movie with as much historical accuracy as possible, he or she is under no obligation to do so. Also just as an artistic creation, history or the many versions of it is heavily dependant on who gets to tell the story. There are always competing versions of the same story, depending on the success, political leanings and ideology of the participants. In the same way, a movie can also be something that is not a true reflection of what had happened. Although this takes away the obligation of the filmmaker it does not absolve him or her of the responsibility towards the audience. There are still many people who would rather believe the movie version of an event to the reports written about it in real time. This is mainly because a film simplifies an event, breaks it down enough and adds necessary commercial elements in it to make it likeable and palatable. The visual media has the power to mold audience thought and perception on a large scale. It is here that the filmmaker must be responsible and choose to present a movie that stays as close to the truth as possible. Falbe-Hansen in The Filmmaker as Historian says that “It is the experience of reality that is central, not the look of reality (Falbe-Hansen n.d).” This seems to be the basis for most of the historical films that are being
The Australian film institute has been seeking recommendations on what Australian film should be included in an international Australian Film festival in late 2016. The inclusion of the film Red Dog should be definite and I am here to persuade you why. Released in 2011, Red dog is the retold story of the Pilbara wanderer. However this wanderer was not a human, he was a Kelpie that touched the hearts of many throughout Western Australia. Director Kriv Stenders has taken the true story of Red Dog and recreated it into a heart jerking film. During the film viewers are exposed to the history,
This report aims to make light of certain elements of documentary making that are perhaps more susceptible to influence on the director’s part, and once again explore the effect of these decisions on the audience’s reaction to the information presented.
In today's day and age, it's rare to see famous historical events and societal disasters not be picked apart by film directors and then transformed into a box office hit. What these films do is put a visual perspective on these events, sometimes leaving viewers speculating if whatever was depicted is in fact entirely true. I have never felt that feeling more than after I finished watching Oliver Stone’s JFK.
There is no secret that films in the genre of biopic can often stretch the truth. These types of movies are frequently mere depictions of myth that is loosely based on factual accounts rather than being accurate representations of history. Many ethical dilemmas arise from these circumstances. Among those are the damaging representations that may skew a viewer’s perception of how history may have actually played out. Should filmmakers warn viewers that certain historical details of their forthcoming motion picture have been changed for the purpose of film? What are the editorial ethics when important details pertaining to vital pieces of history are left on the proverbial cutting room floor? The brand new film “Cesar Chavez” does a lot of work to bring about the often untold story of the California migrant farmworkers labor activism and organizing, yet in the process, manages to erase the pertinent contributions of the Filipino who many consider as the pioneers of these movements.
‘12 years a Slave, award winning film director Steve McQueen associates making a film to, "writing a novel – you're telling a story. " This message is powerful and defines the true purpose of filmmaking that is, ‘to tell a story.’(Victorino) Hollywood has capitalized on the aspect of visual storytelling first introduced in 1985 by the Lumiere brothers with their first movie ever made for projection -- Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory. They (Hollywood), then designed a Studio System called Classic Hollywood Cinema to Finance, Organize, Produce, Market, Distribute, and Exhibit movies for financial gain while entertaining movie goers. This term was coined by David Bordwell, Janet Staiger and Kristin Thompson to define Hollywood’s film making during the period of 1913 to 1960. From the D.W. Griffith successful 1913 first movie ever shot in Hollywood, ‘In Old California’, to the James Cameron’s 2009 movie Avatar grossing over 760 million in the box office, this process continues to be effective and lives on today.
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.
Films are necessary in our time period because the human eye can articulate the message intended through sight allowing visual imagination to occur. In the book, world 2 by Max Brooks, he creates a character by the name Roy Elliot who was a former movie director. Roy Elliot manages to make a movie titled “Victory at Avalon: The Battle of the Five Colleges” and some how it goes viral. Similarly, Frank Capra’s film, “Why we Fight” expresses a sense of understanding the meaning of wars. Films do not inevitably portray truth because they display what the film director views as important and beneficial for people to know.
In Defiance, the deviations from the historical record are used to emphasis certain aspects of the movie. In the beginning sequence the audience can see how there is a mesh of video of Hitler imposed with footage that the director made to look older. If a person had never seen the original footage they would not see the subtle mixture of fact and fiction. But this practice raises the question should directors be able to add or subtract from the historical accuracy of a movie, especially one with a subject matter such as the Holocaust. In the case of movies that are based on the real life experiences of individuals the deviation makes the matter more accessible to a large group of people. There are many aspects of someones life are not easily readable when place on the screen. In order for them to be understood some liberty must be given to the director to make them understandable to someone who may not know the culture or the traditions behind the actions. In a scene of Defiance Zus, played by Liev Schreibe...
War has been present since the beginning of human history. Likewise, war movies have been present since the movie industry began. Just like most other genres of film, war films have been created as a form of entertainment to profit a person or organization. More people are willing to spend their money and time on a feeling of action, excitement, heroism, and patriotism than gruesome and horrid images of real and common human destruction. Propaganda has been used by governments for a very long time and when motion pictures came into existence, governments almost immediately saw the new medium as an opportunity to influence the public. Governments such as the United States of America, cooperate with the movie industry to use this influence to promote a positive perception about war in order to gain support for wars. The movie industry portrays war in an exciting, glorified, romanticized, and heroic light and often demonizes the enemies; this causes an unrealistic public perception of war which leads to greater positive public opinion and support of real wars.
...ctual roles, or adding in exciting events that revise the storyline. These changes are beneficial to producers because they engage a large audience and generate massive profits. In contrast, they do not always have a positive effect on viewers. Although they are entertaining which is an important aspect of theatre culture, they also are often misguiding. Many spectators take movies at face value, without considering that they may not exactly qualify as primary source material. Even when an historical event is fabricated to teach or enhance a moral message, it still doesn’t compensate for bending the truth. Moviegoer’s may have a positive experience and gain some skewed historical perspective, perhaps better than what they knew before the movie, but they loose out on the truth and therefore, a genuine understanding of the historical event, and its significance.
Full Metal Jacket is written and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The film was released in 1987 and it is starring Matthew Modine (Joker), Vincent D’Onofrio (Pyle), Adam Baldwin (Animal), and R. Lee Ermey ( Guy.Segr. Hartman).
The movie I chose to analyze for historical accuracy was War Horse. This movie was set in the First World War, starting in Britain but the story also explored France and Germany during this time period as well. Three scenes will be analyzed: the trench warfare scene between the British and the Germans, the scene where the British soldiers were gassed, and the scene where the British were getting patched up and nursed. War Horse does well to stick to the historical accuracy of what happened during the First World War due to the fact that the three scenes that I have chosen to analyze are not embellished and are close to what really happened.
Especially for those who are not history buffs like me. These movies are ambitious projects, telling the stories of historical figures that would either be lost to time, or (in)famous is no easy to task to accomplish. The filmmakers have to strike a careful balance between historical accuracy using verified historical documents, and they must also tell an exciting tale for the audience. An example can be made through the comparison of two historical movies, one does its job well and the other does not. The movie "Gladiator" by director Ridley Scott, manages to tell the tale of a Roman General during the Imperial era, betrayed by real life Emperor Commodus, and got sent to fight in gladiatorial
Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...
In many instances, history has been recorded using literature materials that are through books, poems, and songs. However, there are a few instances when the history of some countries and nations has been recorded using films. Japan is an example of a country whose history has recorded in film cases. Yasujiro Ozu is an extraordinary director, and it is one of the most famous directors in the world. Through his films, he has been able to document the transformations the country experienced.