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Modes of Non-Fiction Films

Modes of Non-Fiction Films. Does Documentary = Real or Truth?.

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Modes of Non-Fiction Films

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  1. Modes of Non-Fiction Films

  2. Does Documentary = Real or Truth? • The photograph – once we are sure that it is a photograph – cannot lie. But it can be falsely labeled…If we accept that documentary is best defined as a way of perceiving images, we cannot evade the implication that it is blind to the falsity of labels. Documentary will be consequent upon what it appears to show, rather than upon what it necessarily shows; and the relationship between the two is a matter for the filmmakers’ ethics, inaccessible to the viewer. Yet the assumptions which the viewer makes about this relationship, on the basis of signals intended or unintended, will inform his perception of the film. To make a documentary is therefore to persuade the viewer that what appears to be IS.

  3. First Films…Were Documentaries • Horse Running • Frank Ott’s Sneeze • Women Leaving the Factory • Captured life…

  4. Accidental Documentaries • Zapruder film • Holliday’s film of Rodney King beating

  5. Cinema Verite • Documentary’s driving ambition is to find a way of reproducing reality without bias or manipulation • But…such a pursuit towards actuality is futile (useless) • Why?

  6. 1) Expository Mode • Filmmaker EXPLAINS a topic to the audience. • Nuclear Power • History • Background • interviews

  7. Direct Address • On-screen narrator • Off-screen narrator • Voice of God • Text track as narrator • Guide through the topic for the audience

  8. Indirect Address • No direct address to audience • Visual – people talking about nuclear power • Visual – cutaways to pictures of Three Mile Island or some other nuclear accident site. • Expected to follow along!

  9. Examples • Ken Burns…anything. • Auschwitz • Baraka

  10. 2) Observational Mode • Audience feels as if they “are there” • “Fly on the wall” • Filmmaker tries to disappear • Minimum of editing • Little B-roll usage (cutaways to other stuff) • Little non-diegetic (soundtrack) sound

  11. Often called “direct cinema” • Similar to C-SPAN or Big Brother • Might feel more “real”

  12. Examples • High School • War Room • Spinal Tap

  13. 3) Interactive Mode • Filmmaker is heard (and seen) on screen • Subject of the film act differently because they KNOW a film is being made of them! • Also called cinema verite (cinema truth)

  14. Reality TV = Interactive • Fear Factor • The Bachelor • The Apprentice • Other examples • Bowling for Columbine • Supersize Me

  15. 4) Reflexive Mode • Film that is aware of itself AS a film • Documentaries that raise questions, problems, and dilemmas about the very act of creating a documentary! • Show the difficulties of making an unbiased documentary. • Most obscure

  16. Examples • Man with a Movie Camera

  17. Mix of Modes • Most documentaries are a MIX of many modes throughout.

  18. Let’s Practice

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