Workshop 1

Nanook of the North (1922)

• This documentary used titles in order to explain the story
• It received criticism for fabricating elements of the Eskimo's lives, raising questions of whether or not it was really true to the documentary genre

Documentary conventions:-

• Real life events - not fabricated
• Should tell the audience the truth
• Neutral but with an argument
• "Creative treatment of actuality" - Grierson

In history, heavy cameras were used, therefore action had to take place in front of the camera (since the cameras couldn't move to follow the action). Sometimes these actions would have to be fabricated in order to be captured on camera. However this suggests that the events weren’t truthful to the documentary genre.

Documentary modes:

Expository:

Bowling For Columbine (2002)

Political documentary filmmaker Michael Moore explores the circumstances that lead to the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and, more broadly, the proliferation of guns and the high homicide rate in America. In his trademark provocative fashion, Moore accosts Kmart corporate employees and pleads with them to stop selling bullets, investigates why Canada doesn't have the same excessive rate of gun violence and questions actor Charlton Heston on his support of the National Rifle Association.

• Follows the director's perspective
• Reveals evidence
• Demonstrates argument

Poetic

A Propos De Nice (1930)

A silent short documentary film directed by Jean Vigo and photographed by Boris Kaufman. The film depicts life in Nice, France by documenting the people in the city, their daily routines, a carnival and social inequalities.

• Abstract shots
• Cross fade transitions
• Association images

Observative:

Don't Look Back (1967)

In 1965, the iconic troubadour Bob Dylan toured the United Kingdom at the age of 23, and director D.A. Pennebaker was allowed behind the scenes to provide one of the most intimate glimpses of the private and frequently cantankerous songwriter. The film chronicles Dylan's concert appearances, hotel room conversations, and transportation downtime, pulling back the curtain on the folk messiah at the end of his relationship with Joan Baez and on the cusp of his creative shift toward rock music.

• Filmed handheld behind subject
• Following action as it happens

Sisters in Law (2005)

Following the caseload of a group of feisty female legal professionals tackling cases from marital violence and kidnapping to child abuse and rape. 

• Follows the subjects as they continue with their day-to-day lives 

Participatory

Chronicles of a Summer (1961)

Chronique d'un été is a 1961 French documentary film shot during the summer of 1960 by sociologist Edgar Morin and anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch, with the technical and aesthetic collaboration of Québécois director-cameraman Michel Brault.

• Director questions audience with their responses

51 Birch Street (2006)

Several months after documentarian Doug Block's mother dies, his father announces that he plans to sell the family's Long Island, N.Y., home and move to Florida with his former secretary, Carol "Kitty" Duffy. Though Doug always believed his parents had a happy marriage, his father's sudden decision makes him wonder if their relationship was more complicated than he realized. In the weeks before his father moves, Doug interviews family and friends to learn more about his parents.

• Conversational interview

Reflexive:

Man With a Movie Camera (1929)

Part documentary and part cinematic art, this film follows a city in the 1920s Soviet Union throughout the day, from morning to night. Directed by Dziga Vertov, with a variety of complex and innovative camera shots, the film depicts scenes of ordinary daily life in Russia.

• Director shows himself and the process of filming
• Subjects response to camera

Performative

Supersize Me (2004)

Director Morgan Spurlock's social experiment in fast-food gastronomy sees him attempting to subsist uniquely on food from the McDonald's menu for an entire month. In the process his weight balloons, his energy level plummets and he experiences all sorts of unexpected -- and terrifying -- side effects. He also examines the corporate giant's growing role in the lives of American consumers and explores its methods of indoctrinating young people and its contribution to America's obesity epidemic.

• The director carries out the actions in order to fulfil the objective of the documentary