1. The Civil War
(Ken Burns, 1990)
2. Know Your Enemy: Japan
(Frank Capra, Joris Ivens, 1945)
3. Are You Popular? (1950?)
4. What Happened on 23rd Street
(Edison, 1901)
5. Mechanical Universe and Beyond
(PBS, 1987)
6. Faces
(John Casavetes, 1968)
7. Battle of Algiers
(Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
8. Grey Gardens
(Albert and David Maysles, 1976)
9. North Sea
(Harry Watt, 1938)
10. Koyaanisqatsi
(Godfrey Reggio, 1983)
11. March of Time (1945)
12. Shark Callers of Kontu
(Dennis O'Rourke, 1987)
13. Sink or Swim
(Su Friedrich, 1990)
14. Family Gathering
(Lise Yasui, 1990)
15. Fear of a Black Hat
(Rusty Cundieff, 1992)
16. All the President’s Men
(Alan J. Pakula, 1976)
17. Casablanca
(Michael Curtiz, 1942)
Docu…what?: Class Definitions
“Documentary film refers to a genre
that has or has the appearance of
conveying themes or subjects in an
objective manner. It does or
appears to use unscripted "reality"
as raw material. It is often used to
inform the public about a particular
event, group, or time period and
gives the impression (often) of
objectivity. “
“A representation that consciously tries to present reality as
it exists in the familiar world. A reconstruction of reality.”
Docu…what?: Class Definitions
“A study of a
subject by
capturing
unrehearsed
events, interviews,
and primary
sources, using some
technical
apparatus, used to
inform an
audience.”
“1. Film or television program
presenting facts objectively
without editorializing or
inserting fictional matter as
in a book or a film. 2. A work
such as a film or television
program presenting political,
social, or historical subject
matter in a factual and
informitive manner. “
“A creative treatment or
representation of our reality
(people, places, events,
anything that constitutes our
environment). “
Docu…what?: Class Definitions
“An intended objective
display of any particular
person, place, or thing that
exists in reality in order to
inform or present to others.
“A documentary is a nonfiction film whose intention is
to articulate a true story, a
historical event or a
biography. Within the genre
there are various levels of
documentary truths. Some
choose to follow facts while
others incorporate reenactments, scripted moments
and manipulative editing.”
“Documentaries are
films that start with
subjective point of view
with a objective goal of
presenting the reality of
social and political
situation.”
Docu…what?: Class Definitions
“The subjective view of one
person's or group of peoples
documentation of a particular
matter or issue. “
“A documentary is a film that answers a
question or poses an issue using footage,
documents and other forms of
information to prove its point. “
“A non-fiction filmic representation of reality in which
actuality is portrayed through creative means, typically,
though not always, with the intent of educating or
persuading the viewer.”
Docu…what?: Class Definitions
“A rendering of nonfictional event,
story, or topic, not a written or
fabricated story. This can be
represented in tons of ways,
including re-enactments, interviews,
voice-over, animation, etc. “
“A film that is meant to reflect reality. It is a non-fiction work that
is meant to be non-subjective in telling a story or facts on any given
issue. It has its own language and target audience.”
“A film that does not contain an
explicitly fictional narrative and in
some way tries to recount a
version of reality or history as
seen by the director.”
Docu…what?: Class Definitions
“An interpretation of real events
or things. intends to explain the
nature of something, or to simply
recreate the subject. two chief
aims: to inform or to persuade (a
visual essay). both aim to
influence the viewer. “
“Documentary is a type of media including film,
television, mini-series, etc. whose main focus is to
present a subjective viewpoint, aspect, or segment of
"real" life. Typically this involves education and
propaganda to sway the audience versus fiction films
whose main purpose is usually to offer escape for the
audience.”
Docu…what?: Class Definitions
•Unscripted "reality" as raw material; Unrehearsed events
•Others incorporate re-enactments, scripted moments
and manipulative editing
•Creative treatment of our reality
•Political, social, or historical subject matter
•Impression of objectivity (Presenting facts objectively
without editorializing)
•Main focus is to present a subjective viewpoint, aspect,
or segment of "real" life.
•Answers a question or poses an issue
•Intends to explain the nature of something, or to simply
recreate; to inform or to persuade
•Uses footage, documents and other forms of information to
prove its point
•Has its own language and target audience
Docu…what?
“An information program that is not designed to be purely
entertainment and which may include drama or variety
techniques in achieving its information goal”
– ACTRA
“'Documentary film belongs to a class of social discourses juridical or historical - that seek to account for actual
occurrences in the phenomenal world. They take as their
reference events that are perceptible, have been
observed, and can be specifically located in time and
space. Documentary films are constituted of documents,
in the sense by which this word obtains in the human
science: faithful representations (here, filmed rather
than written) of events that exist outside the
consciousness of the documentarist.'
--William Guynn, A Cinema of Nonfiction
Docu…what?
“Pictoral accounts that would bring to the
fore otherwise hidden aspects of nature”
--Siegfried Kracauer
“Documentary defines not subject or style,
but approach…Documentary differs from that
of story-film not in its disregard for
craftsmanship, but in the purpose to which
that craftsman is put.”
--Paul Rotha, Cinema Quarterly
Docu…what?
“Any film practice that has as its subject persons,
events, or situations that exist outside of the film
in the real world.”
--Film Studies Dictionary
“Unlike most fiction films, documentaries deal with
facts—real people, places, and events rather than
invented ones. Documentaries believe that they’re
not creating a world so much as reporting on the
one that actually exists.”
--Understanding Movies
“"All methods of recording on celluloid any aspect of reality
interpreted either by factual shooting or by sincere and
justifiable reconstruction, so as to appeal either to reason
or emotion, for the purpose of stimulating the desire for,
and the widening of human knowledge and understanding, and
of truthfully posing problems and their solutions in the
sphere of economics, culture,and human relations.“
--1948 definition (as quoted in Brian Winston:
“Documentary: I Think We are in Trouble”)
Docu…what?
"Of course Moana, being a visual account of
events in the daily life of a Polynesian youth,
has documentary value. But that, I believe,
is secondary to its value as a soft breath
from a sunlit island, washed by a marvelous
sea, as warm as the balmy air. “
--John Grierson, Review of Robert
Flaherty’s 1926 film, Moana.
New York Sun.
Docu…what?
“The creative
interpretation of reality”
– John Grierson
Docu…what?
"Documentary's essence lies
in the dramatization of
actual materials.”
--Paul Rotha
Documentaries of Wish Fulfillment
Documentaries of Social Representation
Documentaries of Wish Fulfillment
•Deal with imagined realities
•Reflections and shapers of
culture (fantasies, prejudices,
hopes and fears)
•Requires that the viewer
suspend disbelief
•Ultimate Goal: to entertain
•Imaginative representation of
historical or personal reality
•Lay claims to representing the
“Truth” (unlike films of wish
fulfillment)
•Make arguments/claims about the
world outside of the theatre
•Use of evidence drawn from the
“real” world
•Goal: to have the viewer believe in
what is being represented; to act on
those beliefs
Documentaries of Social Representation
“We don’t like to use the D word…”
--Errol Morris
How can [all these diverse films] be in one class? I
think they all exhibit a common defining trait:
inherent in their stance toward the audience is the
claim not so much to educate as to edify. So I call
this huge class of films ‘films of edification,’ or
“edifiers. At least the label avoids the classic
truth claims of documentary and acknowledges the
intention to persuade…to raise up the audience to a
more sophisticated or refined notion of what is.”
--Jill Godmillow
So? What Did We Learn
Last Week?
•Definition of “Documentary” = Like nailing jelly to a tree
•Varies with viewer, the times, viewing context, etc.
•Doc not a genre in a formal sense
•The R [Reality] Word: Definitions based on claims of
“truth and reality” fall apart under scrutiny
•Every Film in Some Sense Fiction
•Doc is a social and artistic construct
•Reality is in many ways subjective
•Presence of camera changes everything
•Every Film in Some Sense a Documentary
•Documentaries of Wish Fulfillment
•Recording of the “indexical image”
•Act as social or cultural “texts”
•Documentaries of Social Representation
So? What Did We Learn
Last Week?
•Docs of Social Representation = Discourse of Sobriety
•Not receptive to make-believe or the wholly imaginary
•Claim direct and privileged knowledge about the world
•Use arguments, claims about the historical world based
on evidence drawn from that world
•Want us to believe (rather than to suspend our
disbelief)
•Power to move audiences to action based on this
argument/evidence
•Another Way of Thinking About Documentaries
•A Corpus of Text
•A Community of Practitioners
•An Institutional Framework
•A Constituency of Viewers
Bill Nichols:
A Corpus of Texts
•A body of works characterized by common
conventions and norms, e.g.,
•Voice-of-God narration
•Interviews
(general heavy reliance on spoken word)
•Historical footage
•Location shooting
•Reliance on social actors – people in their
everyday roles
•Certain technological features and cues (e.g.,
handheld camera)
Bill Nichols:
A Corpus of Texts
•Organizational and structural logic in relation to
subject (the historical world), e.g.,
•Problem/solution
•Social activism / speaking for or about
•Organizational logic (editing, sound, etc.) that
supports or presents evidence for
claims/arguments being made (often different
from narrative fictional film’s continuity
editing)
•Evidentiary vs Continuity Editing
Bill Nichols:
A Community of Practitioners
•Shared sense of purpose: a common, self-chosen
mandate to represent the historical rather than
imaginary world.
•Often committed to social action: the use of film
as an agent for social or cultural change.
•Move in the same circles…share common audiences
and exhibitions venues (and funding sources)
(…but what about those who straddle the line? (e.g. Werner
Herzog)
Bill Nichols:
An Institutional Framework
•“Documentaries are what organizations and
institutions that produce them make.”
•Production and exhibition context as cue to
documentary status.
•Context establishes audience expectations
and assumptions.
Bill Nichols:
An Institutional Framework
•Institutional framework imposes institutional
agendas: ways of representing the world,
filming conventions, points of view.
•Independent doc distributors – distribute
documentaries outside of Hollywood
mainstream
•Institutions that support doc may also
support other types of film
Bill Nichols:
A Constituency of Viewers
•Sense of a films documentary status lies in the mind of the
viewer.
•Audience assumptions and expectations about the relationship of
the images on the screen to the historical world:
•The primary assumptions:
•The events represented possess a historical basis, something
we can point to as actually happening or having had happened
down the street or across the sea.
•Images and sounds are accurate recordings of this historical
world with minimal manipulation.
•Expectation that the film will make an argument, raise questions,
provide unique insights into the historical world…Edify and educate.
•These expectations are based on previous experience, both with
life and with other films; context in which film is viewed.
•Do we (the audience) expect OBJECTIVITY from docs??????
Bill Nichols
Documentary Modes
•Poetic
•Expository
•Observational
•Participatory
•Reflexive
•Performative
Bill Nichols
Documentary Modes
Poetic
•Style first developed in late teens and
1920s
•Images from the real world shaped into
subjective impressions
•Emphasis on texture, rhythm, mood,
visual associations (often fragmented or
multiperspective)
•Less emphasis on time/space continuity
•Bears relationship to other modernist
arts (e.g., cubism)
1. The Civil War
(Ken Burns, 1990)
2. Know Your Enemy: Japan
(Frank Capra, Joris Ivens, 1945)
3. Are You Popular? (1950?)
4. What Happened on 23rd Street
(Edison, 1901)
5. Mechanical Universe and Beyond
(PBS, 1987)
6. Faces
(John Casavetes, 1968)
7. Battle of Algiers
(Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
8. Grey Gardens
(Albert and David Maysles, 1976)
9. North Sea
(Harry Watt, 1938)
10. Koyaanisqatsi
(Godfrey Reggio, 1983)
11. March of Time (1945)
12. Shark Callers of Kontu
(Dennis O'Rourke, 1987)
13. Sink or Swim
(Su Friedrich, 1990)
14. Family Gathering
(Lise Yasui, 1990)
15. Fear of a Black Hat
(Rusty Cundieff, 1992)
16. All the President’s Men
(Alan J. Pakula, 1976)
17. Casablanca
(Michael Curtiz, 1942)
Bill Nichols: Documentary Modes
Expository (Griersonian Documentary)
•Represent the world in terms of arguments
and rhetorical stances.
•Make arguments/tell history using visual
evidence drawn from the historical world
•Heavy reliance on the spoken word to make
arguments
•Address the viewer directly
•Voice-of-God
•Voice-of-authority
•Emphasizes the impression of objectivity or
authority
1. The Civil War
(Ken Burns, 1990)
2. Know Your Enemy: Japan
(Frank Capra, Joris Ivens, 1945)
3. Are You Popular? (1950?)
4. What Happened on 23rd Street
(Edison, 1901)
5. Mechanical Universe and Beyond
(PBS, 1987)
6. Faces
(John Casavetes, 1968)
7. Battle of Algiers
(Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
8. Grey Gardens
(Albert and David Maysles, 1976)
9. North Sea
(Harry Watt, 1938)
10. Koyaanisqatsi
(Godfrey Reggio, 1983)
11. March of Time (1945)
12. Shark Callers of Kontu
(Dennis O'Rourke, 1987)
13. Sink or Swim
(Su Friedrich, 1990)
14. Family Gathering
(Lise Yasui, 1990)
15. Fear of a Black Hat
(Rusty Cundieff, 1992)
16. All the President’s Men
(Alan J. Pakula, 1976)
17. Casablanca
(Michael Curtiz, 1942)
Documentary Modes
Observational (“Fly on the wall“ filmmaking )
 Came of age in the 1960's with movements known
variously as Cinema Verité or Direct Cinema.
 Reaction to the earlier expository styles
 Response to new technological developments
(portable cameras and synchronous sound)
 Concentration on
Direct engagement with the subject
Minimum directorial intervention or editorial
manipulation
Spontaneity...no scripts, voice-over, no
music, no interviews, no second-takes
1. The Civil War
(Ken Burns, 1990)
2. Know Your Enemy: Japan
(Frank Capra, Joris Ivens, 1945)
3. Are You Popular? (1950?)
4. What Happened on 23rd Street
(Edison, 1901)
5. Mechanical Universe and Beyond
(PBS, 1987)
6. Faces
(John Casavetes, 1968)
7. Battle of Algiers
(Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
8. Grey Gardens
(Albert and David Maysles, 1976)
9. North Sea
(Harry Watt, 1938)
10. Koyaanisqatsi
(Godfrey Reggio, 1983)
11. March of Time (1945)
12. Shark Callers of Kontu
(Dennis O'Rourke, 1987)
13. Sink or Swim
(Su Friedrich, 1990)
14. Family Gathering
(Lise Yasui, 1990)
15. Fear of a Black Hat
(Rusty Cundieff, 1992)
16. All the President’s Men
(Alan J. Pakula, 1976)
17. Casablanca
(Michael Curtiz, 1942)
Documentary Modes
Participatory (Interactive)
Filmmaker as social actor in his/her own film
Direct and obvious engagement/interaction
with film subject
Filmmaker’s voice or physical presence is
part of the subject
Presence of filmmaker may reveal “truths”
which would have not existed otherwise.
Interviews – another, more formal, form of
filmmaker interaction with subject
1. The Civil War
(Ken Burns, 1990)
2. Know Your Enemy: Japan
(Frank Capra, Joris Ivens, 1945)
3. Are You Popular? (1950?)
4. What Happened on 23rd Street
(Edison, 1901)
5. Mechanical Universe and Beyond
(PBS, 1987)
6. Faces
(John Casavetes, 1968)
7. Battle of Algiers
(Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
8. Grey Gardens
(Albert and David Maysles, 1976)
9. North Sea
(Harry Watt, 1938)
10. Koyaanisqatsi
(Godfrey Reggio, 1983)
11. March of Time (1945)
12. Shark Callers of Kontu
(Dennis O'Rourke, 1987)
13. Sink or Swim
(Su Friedrich, 1990)
14. Family Gathering
(Lise Yasui, 1990)
15. Fear of a Black Hat
(Rusty Cundieff, 1992)
16. All the President’s Men
(Alan J. Pakula, 1976)
17. Casablanca
(Michael Curtiz, 1942)
Documentary Modes
Reflexive
Acknowledge the problems and issues of representing
the historical world on film.
Call into question traditional documentary
evidence.(question the “transparent window” demands of
traditional doc)
Make the filmmaking process a focus of attention:
self-conscious and self-questioning.
Call into question relationship between filmmaker and
film subject
Attempt to readjust audience assumptions and
expectations about the documentary, about historical
truths and the representation of reality in general
1. The Civil War
(Ken Burns, 1990)
2. Know Your Enemy: Japan
(Frank Capra, Joris Ivens, 1945)
3. Are You Popular? (1950?)
4. What Happened on 23rd Street
(Edison, 1901)
5. Mechanical Universe and Beyond
(PBS, 1987)
6. Faces
(John Casavetes, 1968)
7. Battle of Algiers
(Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
8. Grey Gardens
(Albert and David Maysles, 1976)
9. North Sea
(Harry Watt, 1938)
10. Koyaanisqatsi
(Godfrey Reggio, 1983)
11. March of Time (1945)
12. Shark Callers of Kontu
(Dennis O'Rourke, 1987)
13. Sink or Swim
(Su Friedrich, 1990)
14. Family Gathering
(Lise Yasui, 1990)
15. Fear of a Black Hat
(Rusty Cundieff, 1992)
16. All the President’s Men
(Alan J. Pakula, 1976)
17. Casablanca
(Michael Curtiz, 1942)
Documentary Modes
Performative
Recognize that knowledge about the world is
built on more than objective fact & visible
evidence: meaning is often personal and
subjective.
Stress emotional complexity of experience from
the perspective of the filmmaker
Can include combination of actual and imagined
images and event to convey sense of subject
Poetic liberty, unconventional narrative structure
(rather than realist representation)
Mix of methods to convey texture and depth of
experience.
1. The Civil War
(Ken Burns, 1990)
2. Know Your Enemy: Japan
(Frank Capra, Joris Ivens, 1945)
3. Are You Popular? (1950?)
4. What Happened on 23rd Street
(Edison, 1901)
5. Mechanical Universe and Beyond
(PBS, 1987)
6. Faces
(John Casavetes, 1968)
7. Battle of Algiers
(Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
8. Grey Gardens
(Albert and David Maysles, 1976)
9. North Sea
(Harry Watt, 1938)
10. Koyaanisqatsi
(Godfrey Reggio, 1983)
11. March of Time (1945)
12. Shark Callers of Kontu
(Dennis O'Rourke, 1987)
13. Sink or Swim
(Su Friedrich, 1990)
14. Family Gathering
(Lise Yasui, 1990)
15. Fear of a Black Hat
(Rusty Cundieff, 1992)
16. All the President’s Men
(Alan J. Pakula, 1976)
17. Casablanca
(Michael Curtiz, 1942)
The Pre-history of Movies, The Pre-history of
Documentary Film
Etienne-Jules Marey: Photo gun and
sequence photographs
Eadweard Muybridge: sequence photography
The Pre-history of Documentary Film
Thomas A. Edison
Black Maria
The Pre-history of Movies, The Pre-history of
Documentary Film
Auguste and Louis Lumière
Films of Travel and Exploration
Edward S. Curtis
Robert J. Flaherty
Films of Travel and Exploration
Herbert Ponting
Origins of Soviet Documentary
Sergei Eisenstein
Dziga Vertov
1920’s Experimentation: Dada and Surrealism
A Young girl commits suicide. Because of
What? DADA
The spirits are telephoned.
Who invented it? DADA
Someone walks on your feet. It's DADA
If you have serious ideas about life,
If you make artistic discoveries
and if all of a sudden your head begins to
crackle with laughter,
If you find all your ideas useless and
ridiculous, know that
IT IS DADA BEGINNING TO SPEAK TO YOU
1920’s Experimentation
British Documentary Movement
John Grierson
The Great Depression
Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange
Walker Evans
Ben Shahn
Documenting the Depression
Pare Lorentz
Paul Strand
Documentaries go to War: Britain
Humphrey Jennings
Documentaries go to War: Spanish Civil War
Ernest Hemingway &
Joris Ivens
Documentaries go to War: Germany
Documentaries go to War: US
1.To foster a firm belief in the right for
which we fight.
2.To foster a realization that we are up
against a tough job.
3.To initiate a determined confidence in our
own ability and the ability of our comrades
and leaders to do the job that has to be
done
4.To instill a feeling of confidence, insofar
as is possible under the circumstances, in the
integrity and fighting ability of our allies
5.To create resentment, based on knowledge
of the facts, against our enemies who have
made it necessary for us to fight
6.To foster a belief that through military
victory, the political achievement of a better
world order is possible.
Frank Capra
Post-War Documentary
Edward R. Murrow
Italian Neo-Realism
British Free Cinema
Cinema Verite / Direct Cinema
Ricky Leacock
Jean Rouch
Al & Dave Maysles
Fred Wiseman
Robert Drew
War in Vietnam
•1965 to 1968 —Escalation of the war; mass protests at home.
•1968 —Tet Offensive; US embassy compound in Saigon seized by
NLF
•1968 —Lyndon Johnson declines to run another term; Nixon
elected. "The greatest honor history can bestow is the tittle of
'peacemaker'. . . after a period of confrontation we are entering
an era of negotiation."
•1969—Draft lottery instituted
•1969-72 —“Vietnamization program: gradual withdrawal of US
troops; military aid to South Vietnam. US invasion of Cambodia
and Laos; renewed bombing of North; mass protests at home.
•23 Jan 73 - President Nixon announced an agreement "to end the
war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam and S.E. Asia."
Feminist Documentary: Reclaiming History