Documentary 'mini-task'
In class we have been studying different
documentaries but what exactly is a documentary? When I think of a documentary
I think of something that sets out to present something as it is, in the most
natural way possible however this is not just what a documentary is. A
documentary can be many things and can fall under multiple categories, so you
can't really say what a documentary is without looking at the many different
forms of documentaries.
Expository Documentary
Narration or a voiceover is
a key feature in expository documentaries and will often having accompanying
images where the voiceover will talk about what is being seen, giving strength
to the pictures and giving them more meaning (but without giving any opinions.)
A voiceover will often provide facts which acts as a caption for the images
being shown and once again whilst doing this the voiceover will never give and
opinion just facts to back up what is being said. The voiceover and images work
hand in hand to deliver a stronger message of the purpose of an expository
documentary. The purpose is to show the truth of something and present it in an
unbiased way showing a transparent representation of the situation. A good example
of this would be America's Most Wanted
as in this programme it usually features footage of a car chase or
something like that with a voice over explaining what is happening and why,
giving meaning to the text and strengthening the images that are being played.
Observational Documentary
Observational documentaries can include things like music, interviews,
narration or any kind of scene arrangement but usually it won’t be included so
the film maker’s presence is very hands off resulting in a fly-on-the-wall
perspective. Often when filming for observational documentaries long takes and
few cuts will be used and this creates the feeling of the viewer’s being able
to witness the experience firsthand and gives the viewers a slice of life in
that situation making it feel very real. Another element of observational
documentaries which makes it feel so real is that the filmmaker and director
are hidden form the audience so there is no intervention from them, they are
just an uninvolved bystander making it seem more real. The purpose of this
documentary is in the name, it is simply to observe a situation and present a
transparent record of it in a neutral and non-judgmental way, leaving the
audience to decide for themselves if they think it is right or wrong. A good
example of this type of documentary is Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin's Chronicle of a Summer as the film starts
off with Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin talking about whether or not it is possible
to act sincerely in front of a camera and after getting together a cast of
real-life individuals they discuss topics on the theme of French society and
happiness in the working class. At the end of the movie they show their
subjects the footage and have them discuss the level of reality they thought
the movie obtained. So this movie tries to capture reality and observe upon it
but in a very unique and experimental way.
Interactive Documentary
In an interactive
documentary the filmmaker’s presence is evident and they are a participant and
will often present and interview some people within the programme. Throughout this particular documentary arguments and agendas are usually
presented and it is more evident to see manipulation of the text through
editing which is why it can often be criticized for misrepresentation and
manipulation. It is defended by filmmakers due to the projected image being
more important than fine details. Interactive documentaries can sometimes break
some of the Ofcom code for Access & Privacy; it states in section 8.5 that
“Any infringement of privacy in the making of a programme should be with the person's and/or
organisation's consent or be otherwise warranted.” So any
intention of invasion of privacy would need permission to be able to show it,
it also states that “When people are caught up in events which are covered by
the news they still have a right to privacy in both the making and the
broadcast of a programme, unless it is warranted to infringe it. This
applies both to the time when these events are taking place and to any later programmes that revisit those events.” So it’s important to consider these aspects
when creating an interactive documentary. A good example of an interactive
documentary is A Place for Pedophiles,
presented by Louis Theroux. Louis was the first filmmaker to be allowed to film
and interview the inmates at Coalinga state hospital so by interviewing them it
already makes the filmmakers presence evident and causes interaction with the
inmates and the audience so it
fits in very closely and makes for a good
interactive documentary.
Reflexive Documentary
Reflexive documentaries heavily consider the qualities of documentary
itself and attempt to expose the conventions to the audience. Once these
conventions are exposed it attempts to experiment with them in many different
ways resulting in some very different effects. Often reflexive documentaries
will capture everyday footage but will then use them as tools to experiment
with and make vastly different changes resulting in different and experimental
films. A good example of this would be Man
with a Movie Camera; although this may come under several documentary types
I feel it best suits this one due to its experimental nature. Often in this
documentary it will get every day footage and experiment with it using a variety
of different cuts and transitions creating a disjointed feel in the way the
shots don’t quite seem to fit together especially when you add the soundtrack
adding a very distant and slightly mellow feel to the film this created by the
fact that there is no continuity to it. Nothing like this had every been seen
before so of course it was going to be regarded as being experimental and
people wouldn’t know what to expect living up to the experimental nature of
reflexive documentaries and fitting it well.
Performative Documentary
A lot of the time
performative documentaries concentrate on the presentation rather than the
content and it will do this by using re-enactments, soundtracks and exaggerated
camera positions to get the audience involved with the topic. As opposed to
most other forms of documentary, the filmmaker is visible to the audience and
free to openly discuss his or her perspective as long as it is relevant to the
film being made and also it is presented in a very subjective, expressive and
stylized way meaning they take control of the film. Dramatizations are re-enactments of the scene to try and show what happened when a person
is talking about a situation, they can provide a good idea of what happened but
the problem with them is that they can be manipulated depending on what someone
has said. The other problem with dramatizations is the point where
documentaries start to become fiction so it blurs the boundaries of the two. A
good example of a performative documentary would be Night and Fog, a French documentary
released in 1955 about the liberation of Nazi concentration camps which was
written by Jean Cayrol, a survivor of the Mauthausen-Gusuen concentration camp.
This was written on memory rather than a story so would often use re-enactments
of things the survivor could remember and included contemporary shots of the
camps and stock footage, with the soundtrack composed by Hanns Eisler it falls
into the category of performative documentary and fits well as it follows a lot
of the key features of a performative documentary.
When it comes to filming a
documentary, depending on what you want to achieve overall would depend on what
type of documentary you aim to make. For example if you were wanting to make
something like a nature documentary, such as David Attenborough does, just to
show how beautiful the world can truly be you would want a more light hearted
documentary format such as an expository or observational documentary to show
the world as it is with that soft accompanying voice over explaining what is
going on. If you wanted a documentary to try and uncover the truth behind a
story and try to uncover something you might go for an interactive or
performative documentary type, providing that tougher feel to it such as how
Louis Theroux might choose an interactive documentary type to try and
understand the other parties side of things, it allows him to interact with
them so not only he can understand it but we can as well. At the end of the day
it all depends on what documentary type you wish to do and choosing the right one
for the job by understanding the effect that each documentary type can create
and using it to its full potential.
Sources
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