Danielle Kaye
Power. The ability or capacity to influence or direct the course of events or the behavior of
others. Power is a strength that can be shown verbally, physically, mentally and through film
techniques, film techniques in documentaries have become a popular way of portraying power to
a wide range of audiences. Techniques such as camera angles, the events of the actual film and the
order in how they are shown to the audience as all cinematic ways of showing a message,
specifically power. This can be seen in documentaries such as High School directed by Frederick
Wiseman in 1968, Triumph of the Will directed by Leni Riefenstahl in 1934 and Industrial Britain
directed by Robert J. Flaherty in 1931, all three films display a message of power through factual
events. These films show through techniques such as camera angles, the content of the events being
filmed and the order in which the events are being shown, the audience can see through these
aspects the show of power and authority the directors are wanting to show to the audience.
The documentary High School shows the events of an everyday public American High
school, the documentary was filmed over five weeks at Northeast High school in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. The films main purpose was to show the everyday lives of the students and staff in
an average American High school, but the film has also managed to show the events of power and
authority teachers have over the students of Northeast. By using camera angles, Wiseman can get
across subtly to the audience a message of power, that power being an authority the staff of
Northeast has over its students. When filming scenes between staff and students Wiseman cleverly
used camera angles to show how the staff’s attitudes of authority came across in the classroom.
Instead of filming the interaction between students and teachers at a mid-height angle so that the
audience could be separate from the interaction, he filmed the interactions so that the audience
could put themselves in the position of staff and student. Wiseman did this by shooting the students
from a high angle so that when the audience looks at the students they are looking down on them.
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While filming the teachers from a low angle, this meant that when the audience viewed the teachers
from a student’s point of view they were looking up at the teachers. This can be seen in the
classroom scenes when the students are sitting at their desks and the teacher is standing above
them (Wiseman,), these camera angles are able to emphasize what the students go through every
day and how every day they have someone standing over them telling them what to do. As well as
using high and low angles to show authority and power, Wiseman also uses extreme close-ups of
the staff to emphasize the ‘in your face’ authority they have over the students. When filming
teachers speaking to students, specifically telling them something. Wiseman typically uses the
extreme close-ups on the teacher's mouths as they speak which asserts the authority teachers have
over students not just physically but verbally too (Wiseman). This again is highlighted when
Wiseman uses closes ups on the students, the close-ups are on the upper part of their face, not the
lower, specifically their eyes. Wiseman is showing the audience that the students have no voice in
the classroom, that they are subjects of authority and a product of a power of administration. By
having this mixture of camera angles to show the positions of power between students and staff in
high school, Wiseman has been able to put the audience into both positions so they may understand
and possibly sympathizes with these parties.
In addition to showing camera angles that display the authority teachers have over students
and having that interpreted by the audience Wiseman emphasizes the audience interpreting the
film by themselves that by having no narration of the events of the film, the only voice in the film
is by the staff and students of the school. Wiseman is like a fly on the wall while filming, filming
the ‘truth’ and not having an added voice, but through the content and layout of events, Wiseman
has been able to spin the truth to show the struggle of power between students and teachers. Over
five weeks of footage, Wiseman used many scenes that show students being disciplined by a
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teacher or undermining them in one way or another. A common struggle of power between students
and teachers shown is between a male teacher and male students. In several scenes involving a
male teacher, he is seen yelling at students and not listening to them when they try to speak.
Especially when students try to show him respect by calling him ‘Sir’ he becomes infuriated at
this sign of respect and raises his voice to them saying “Don’t call me sir!” (Wiseman), this shows
the audience the power this male teacher has over his students by his tone of voice and delivery of
words to his students. He does not care what they must say, he is the authority and he will not let
them forget that. Even when this teacher is sitting down and Wiseman cannot easily use camera
angles to show the authority he lets the teacher’s words show that authority to the audience instead.
Wiseman has carefully crafted the events used in his film as well as the layout of those
events to display the power struggles in Northeast high. During the film Wiseman constantly
reiterates the power and authority the teachers have in this high school, this can also be seen by
the first and last scene of the film. The beginning scene of the film starts with a teacher talking to
a classroom of students, he starts the class by telling the students to listen to the daily bulletin as it
might ‘change their lives’ (Wiseman), this starts the film off by showing the audience how
important the daily events of high school have on its students. This is shown several times
throughout the film and is reiterated in the ending sequence when one of the female teachers is
reading a letter from an ex-student who is currently serving in the American armed forces in
Vietnam. Before she even begins the letter the teacher states how this ‘boy’ despite being in the
military, “Could have been a nobody, he was a sub-average student, but a few teachers who cared
made a great difference in this boy’s life” (Wiseman). As she is speaking Wiseman shows the
room she is speaking to - the room is half filled with bored-looking teachers. This opening and
closing of the film emphases the teacher’s belief that school is a life-changing experience for
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students, that school and teachers mold and form students into successful adults. By having this
mindset, the teachers of Northeast High believe that gives them a power and authority over its
students, as their power will help turn them into prospers people despite this power coming across
at undermining and controlling.
The film Triumph of the Will is a documentary film of a Nazi party rally in Nuremberg
Germany. The documentary shows the events of Hitler visiting Nuremberg, a Hitler youth camp
and a Hitler rally over the course of several days in 1934. This documentary shows a message to
its viewers, a message of power that Germany has regained after years of hardship. This is shown
especially with the opening credits of the film, the opening credits start with the date of the events
of the film which is September 1934, the credits then continue with “20 years after the outbreak
of the World War, 16 years after the beginning of Germany’s suffering, 19 months after the
beginning of the German rebirth” (Riefenstahl) by having these statements in the opening credits
the film is sending a very clear message to its viewers. The film is showing its audience as well as
other nations that German has rebuilt itself and it is a powerful nation once again. This makes it
clear from the start of the film that Germany has regained its power since World War I and that
the nation is ready to show that power to the world. After the opening credits, the film is crafted
to continue this message throughout the film. The images used are the films are used to back up
the opening statement of the film, when the audience views images of the German city of
Nuremberg and its occupants there is no sign or evidence that they suffered during the Great War
or the depression. All the images seen are of whole buildings, there are no war-damaged buildings
in any shot and it shows the people of Germany as being happy and healthy, not sickly and starving,
indicating the strength of the civilianize of Germany. Riefenstahl also discreetly shows the strength
of the German military without directly referencing them, while filming on a plane above a Hitler
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youth camp Riefenstahl films the rows and rows of perfectly straight tents (Riefenstahl), by doing
this Riefenstahl can show her audience that Germany is organized and this is only its youth, not
its army. The images of the film give a very clear message, with no immediate weakness so nothing
that can be exploited. The images show clear power. Another example of how this film shows
Germany’s power is through the use if the camera angles specifically through the image of Hitler.
During the opening sequence after the introduction credits, the first shot the audience sees
is of the clouds in a plane flying over a German city (Riefenstahl). The scene continues viewing
the clouds and the city below it in a very soft, angelic manner, at the end of the sequence when the
plane descends, the angelic image of someone coming off the plane that someone being Hitler.
The sequence of the plane and descending of the plane is a clear indication of Hitler’s power, that
he has been sent down from the heavens to restore Germany to its former power. This is also
highlighted whenever the camera views Hitler he is typical shot from a low angle so when the
audience views him he is being above them, bigger than life. This is also highlighted by the angles
of other people in the film, commonly when the camera views the everyday people of Germany it
is taken from a low angle despite the film showing Germany’s returned power as a nation but from
filming the people at these angles it shows that Hitler has the real power and authority over
Germany and its people. These camera angles emphasize not only Germany’s restored power but
also the leader and authority behind that power, being Hitler. How Riefenstahl produced the events
of the film only reiterates Hitler power over Germany, the first sequence of the film shows Hitler
mingling with smiling woman and children (Riefenstahl), the film goes on to view young men at
a Hitler youth camp, then every day men that have joined the German army before then finishing
with the German leaders. By Riefenstahl having the events of the film in this order it shows the
power Hitler has over all of Germany, overall levels of people his message is ingrained, loved and
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valued. In Fascinating fascism Susan Sontag summarizes the events of 1933 as “Hitler having
attained power” (), she mentions how Riefenstahl’s work was Nazi propaganda. That her work
(Triumph of the will) displayed Hitler’s power so much and the fact that she had a close friendship
with him that she was arrested after World War II. Triumph of the will was financed and made by
the Nazi government, Riefenstahl herself comments how “Everything was genuine” despite the
rally being set up for cameras as well as Hitler personally asking Riefenstahl to film the rally and
make the documentary. Sontag then goes on the comment how this reality has been constructed to
sever an image, that the rally in a way was staged to present a certain image to its audience (), that
image being ‘German power’. Triumph of the will show not only unity between all the people of
Germany but also the restoration of power Germany has regained after the Great War, the power
that was abstained through the rise of Hitler and his power over the German people.
Industrial Britain was a documentary film showing the industrialization industry in Britain
during this time. This film promotes how workers in Britain work and how their work continues
to make Britain great, the documentary was produced by the company ‘Empire marketing board
film unit’ the purpose of the board was to promote internal trade within the Empire and to persuade
consumers to buy from the Empire. The film strategically promotes the power and strength of the
British industrial industry, it is not only promoting to foreign buyers the strength of British steel
and its workers while also reinforcing how strong Britain is. The film is tightly controlled by its
producers while maintaining a clear image to its audience. The film is designed for a national and
international audience and sends a carefully crafted message to both parties. For its national
audience, the film sends a message of pride towards the people of Britain, that the people of Britain
should be proud of their traditional crafts as well as their strength in the industrial industry.
Although this film shows the people of Britain the skills and strengthens the people have it also
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does not show the negative aspect of the industrial trades. Industrial Britain shows the image of
the worker and the importance of the worker to Britain but it does not give a voice to the workers
in the film. The film is narrated by Donald Calthrop his voice is that of an upper-class English man
and not that of a typical British industrial worker. By doing this the industrial class is not given a
voice in a documentary about them, the voice of the film controls the image that is being displayed,
this ‘reality’ of this industrial lifestyle is being controlled by the producers to create an image of
the Empire, Grierson states that “As a maker of Empire and as a manipulator of worldwide
services” (Grierson) he is acknowledging that he is manipulating the image of the Empire and their
services. As well the voice of the film being controlled by the production company, the film also
does not show the side effects of the workers in the industrial industry. The film does not address
the injuries or accidents that were extremely common in the industry during this time, accidents
within the workplace that resulted in extreme accidents and even death. While the message for an
international audience is equally clear, that message is a national power. It is to show the power
that Britain possesses, that Britain has a strong and united workforce, that the country is not only
united in work but as united as a nation that they value tradition as well as being able to grow into
new industries and thrive in that industry. The sends a message of power to other nations, that
Britain not only is the head of an empire but that the empire is a power source of the world. The
time that this film was realized was post world war I when Britain made it a priority to show the
rest of the world the power Britain possessed and it was not a nation to be trifled with. This can be
seen through the director himself, Grierson mentions how Flaherty was an American director who
despised Hollywood and filmed within the Empire (British), he favored the Empire and its
merchandise, he had seen people travel thousands of miles to abstain English food and
merchandise. He praised the craftsmanship of the English and believed that the public could not
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heroize their national men as their work and in turn, they were being exploited (). Although
Flaherty’s main goal through Industrial Britain was to praise the men of Britain and their craft he
also sent the message of power to his viewers.
The 20th century was a time of showing a message to a national and international audience,
commonly a message of power one has over another or the ‘image’ of power, documentaries were
a factual but easily manipulative way to display this to an audience. In documentaries such as High
School directed by Frederick Wiseman in 1968, Triumph of the Will directed by Leni Riefenstahl
in 934 and Industrial Britain directed by Robert J. Flaherty in 1931, all three films display a
message of power one group wants to show over another. These films show through camera angles,
the content of the events being filmed and the order in which the events are being shown, the
audience can see through these aspects the way the directors manipulate film techniques to show
the power and authority in a cinematic image. An image that easily influenced and reached millions
as well as hugely impacting the way documentaries were seen or considered to be factual.
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Buzzi, S. “The legacy of direct cinema”. New Documentary, 2nd Edition, London and New
York. 2006
Grierson, John. “Flaherty”. 1898- 1972 Grierson on documentary, 1979.
Flaherty, Robert J. (1931). “Industrial Britain”. DVD. United Kingdom. Empire
marketing board film unit.
Riefenstahl, Leni. (1935). “Triumph of the will”. DVD. Germany. Reichsparteitag- film.
Sontag, Susan. “New York review of books” 1975.
Wiseman, Fredrick. (1968). “High School”. DVD. United States. Zipporah films.
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