A documentary film is a nonfictional motion picture intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record.[1] "Documentary" has been described as a "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception" that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries.
1. A FICTIONAL FILM WAS MADE TO ENTERTAIN BY TELLING A STORY - IT WAS SUBJECTIVE AND MEANT TO SUSPEND DISBELIEF
2. A DOCUMENTARY FILM WAS MADE TO INSTRUCT INFORM EDUCATE - IT WAS MEANT TO BE OBJECTIVE AND TRUTHFUL
THESE 2 FORMS OF FILM ARE NOW NOT SO EASY TO SEPARATE
Review of contempory media forms of presenter / host guided documentary films
non presenter VOICE OVER documentary
TRUTH v FICTION ON FILM ?
Cinéma vérité (/ˈsɪnɪmə vɛrɪˈteɪ/; French: [sinema veʁite]; 'truthful cinema') is a style of documentary filmmaking, invented by Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about Kino-Pravda and influenced by Robert Flaherty’s films. It combines improvisation with the use of the camera to unveil truth or highlight subjects hidden behind crude reality.
Cinema Verite is a French film movement, which took place back in the 1960s. This film movement forced the movie industry to pay more attention towards incorporating natural actions and authentic dialogue into the movies, which showed people in day to day lives. Basically, the movement was about observing and capturing life as it was or finding truth in the moving images.
Before this movement, filmmakers recorded footage, interviews, and actual conversations separately. The camera was usually handheld. Then they would review the footage and cut them all together. However, this technique did not have the ability to give life to realistic looking movies.
Many different factors influenced the production of documentary movies in the 20th century. Post World War II, neorealist movement, and the British independent documentaries hold a prominent place out of them. In fact, all these reasons contributed significantly towards the rise of Cinema Verite during the 1960s. However, the film industry elites heavily criticized the Cinema Verite movement at that time.
One of the biggest differences with Cinema Verite is that it illiminated the need for a Narrator Voice Over - thereby leaving the audience free to think for themselves. However without a VO script visual editing becomes more important because you are cutting to images and not audio.
ORIGINS OF 'DIRECT' CINEMA - IN THE USA (SIMILAR TO CINEMA VERITE)
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2O19 ACADEMY AWARD WINNER FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY
THE FOLLOWING ARE CLASSIFIED AS DOCUMENTARY FILM MAKERS - THEY ARE SUBJECTIVE FILM EXPERIENCES CREATED BY MASTER FILM MAKERS'
WERNER HERZOG
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001348/
HERZOG GUIDE FOR FILM MAKERS
1. Always take the initiative. 2. There is nothing wrong with spending a night in jail if it means getting the shot you need. 3. Send out all your dogs and one might return with prey. 4. Never wallow in your troubles; despair must be kept private and brief. 5. Learn to live with your mistakes. 6. Expand your knowledge and understanding of music and literature, old and modern. 7. That roll of unexposed celluloid you have in your hand might be the last in existence, so do something impressive with it. 8. There is never an excuse not to finish a film. 9. Carry bolt cutters everywhere. 10. Thwart institutional cowardice. 11. Ask for forgiveness, not permission. 12. Take your fate into your own hands. 13. Learn to read the inner essence of a landscape. 14. Ignite the fire within and explore unknown territory. 15. Walk straight ahead, never detour. 16. Manoeuvre and mislead, but always deliver. 17. Don't be fearful of rejection. 18. Develop your own voice. 19. Day one is the point of no return. 20. A badge of honor is to fail a film theory class. 21. Chance is the lifeblood of cinema. 22. Guerrilla tactics are best. 23. Take revenge if need be. 24. Get used to the bear behind you
'It's a very dangerous thing to have a video village, a video output. Avoid it. Shut it down. Throw it into the next river. You have an actor, and people that close all staring at the monitor gives a false feeling; that 'feel good' feeling of security. It's always misleading. You have to avoid it.
I always do the slate board; I want to be the last one from the actors on one side and the technical apparatus on the other side. I'm the last one and then things roll.
You don't have to be a dictator.
Never show anyone in a documentary, rushes. They'll become self-conscious. Never ever do that.
Sometimes it's good to leave your character alone so no one can predict what is going to happen next. Sometimes these moments are very telling and moving.
Dismiss the culture of complaint you hear everywhere.
You should always try to find a way deep into someone ...'
ERROL MORRIS
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001554/
GODFREY REGGIO
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0716585/
VISUAL NON LINEAR NARRATIVE FILM MAKING
OTHER EXAMPLES OF NON LINEAR NARRATIVES
BY MARK MAGIDSON & RON FRICKE
MICHAEL MOORE
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0601619/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
“They want the lights to go down and be taken somewhere. They don’t care whether you make them cry, whether you make them laugh, whether you even challenge them to think – but damn it, they don’t want to be lectured, they don’t want to see our invisible wagging finger popping out of the screen. They want to be entertained.” Michael Moore
EARLY DOCUMENTARY APPROACHES
MAN WITH A CAMERA
SOY CUBA- Soy Cuba (I am Cuba) is an amazing Soviet/Cuban propaganda film from 1964, directed by Mikhail Kalazatov. It was made to celebrate the Cuban revolution. The Cubans didn’t like it because they thought it misrepresented their revolution (it did). The Soviets thought it made pre-Revolutionary decadence look rather too attractive (it did). So it remained virtually unseen for decades until its rediscovery in the 1900s by enthusiasts including Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.
FUNERAL SCENE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYFXv6bDIY8
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