Narrative in film, while attempting to be
realistic, usually includes camera shots and angles that are most unnatural. Editing also plays an important role in film, as the pacing, the content, and how the film is presented to us and in what order, can influence or manipulate our emotions as viewers. When this happens, we call this
formalistic cinema.
Originally,
documentary films started off as just "home movies" or simple scenes of ordinary life (without actors or scripts). They were capturing real life on film for the purpose of sharing reality with an audience.
Here's a famous example of one of the first films:
The Arrival of a Train (1897)
Filmmakers today use documentary to "document" important social, political, and popular cultural events. An example:
What sort of topics might you come up with if you were going to make a documentary?
TASK: Make a list of topics that you can think of that would make a good or interesting documentary.
All documentaries have similar basic principals and/or qualities:
1. The events depicted in the film are unstaged; the events exist above and beyond the
diegesis (the film world) or the act of filming them. The unstaged nature of the events suggest that the events or subjects have an existence independent of the cinema, thus granting them an air of authenticity or "realism".
2. Documentaries are understood to be non-fiction films. The world or
diegesis of what appears on screen is considered real, not imaginary (as in fiction films).
3. It is often assumed that the documentary film maker observes, recording events or subject matter objectively. This is, of course, an untrue or uninformed statement.
There are Five different TYPES of documentary:
A. Expository documentary: the film maker's commentary acts as the "voice-of-God", often giving information or perspectives external to the filmed world in order to "see the world afresh, even if the world seems romantic (idealized) and/or didactic. Here's two examples: March of the Penguins (2005) & the Last Lions (2011)
B. Observational documentary: The film maker records events depicted in the film unobtrusively, without intervention from the film-maker, capturing "real life" without commentary, intertitles, or interviews. The first feature length documentary is Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North (1922). Intertitles are used at the very beginning of the film to establish context. We'll discuss this film more next year in Film Studies.
The documentary type depicts a "slice of life" or direct representation without comment or subjectivity of the film maker. The film maker is completely invisible and/or uninvolved. Here's an example: the French films: Microcosmos (about the life of insects), and Etre et Avoir about elementary schools in France & the American film What the Matter With Kansas (2010).
C. Interactive documentary: The filmmaker's perspective and opinion is more evident. Interview styles allow the film maker to participate actively in presenting of events. It is sort of the opposite of the observational documentary. Sometimes the film maker him/herself is present in the film, asking questions or juxtaposing their opinion with others. Unlike expository documentaries, the film maker is present instead of a disembodied voice of authority (god).
Roger & Me (1989) but also Bowling For Columbine (2002)
Capitalism a Love Story (2009), Where to Invade Next (2015) & Morgan Spurlock's Supersize Me (2004, full film)
D. Reflexive documentary: Going one step further from interactive documentary, the film maker of reflexive documentary does not attempt to hide the convention of film making. You know you are "watching a film" about "making a film." While documentaries are usually considered realistic, the camera work in a reflexive documentary are much more similar to formalism (the opposite style to realism). Example "Man with a Movie Camera" (1928) & "A Film About Failure" (parts 1&2, 2016), "Aahar" (2016)
E. Performative documentary: Going beyond the reflexive documentary, the performative documentary seeks to evoke mood or atmosphere traditionally found in fiction films. It can be downright avant garde and formalistic. Its purpose is more metaphorical than literal. Two of the most famous performative documentaries are Koyaanisqatsi (1982) and Ballet Mechanique (1924).
TASK: Choose one of these kinds of styles for your own project(s).
Take a look at Michael Moore's
13 Rules for Documentary Filmmakers.
TASK: Working alone or with a partner, brainstorm and begin researching ideas/content for a documentary of your own. Just like your biography documentary projects, you will likely need to do a little research, take notes, come up with a list of questions you might ask your subject(s), etc. Begin gathering ideas with time remaining in class.
SOTA Student films from the past (sample models):
At 12:45, we will go next door to screen the documentary
Intersexion (2012) as an interactive/reflexive documentary.
HOMEWORK: Choose an idea for a documentary. Begin filming.
