As documentary by its very nature introduces itself as factual, concerns exist as to where the boundary between the truth of subject and the fiction produced by its creator emerges. As anything that has been edited has by definition removed certain aspects and enhanced others, there must be at best an innocent naturally occurring bias formed from individual perception, and at worst purposefully manipulated misinformation. Through researching various sources, I intend to discover the difference (if any) between these two methods making factually based programmes, to determine any variables that lie in the ‘grey area’ between the two extremes, and to ascertain the diverse forms of conduct in which truth (and in turn documentary) can be presented to an audience, and to what effect? This report aims to make light of certain elements of documentary making that are perhaps more susceptible to influence on the director’s part, and once again explore the effect of these decisions on the audience’s reaction to the information presented. Corner, J. ed., 1986. Documentary and the mass media. Suffolk: Richard Clay ltd This book contains, amongst other things, an insightful account into the foundations of documentary, in particular its British base and its early days via the medium of radio. It features quotations and journal extracts, as well as interviews with some of the prominent figures of early documentary programming during the first half of the 20th century, before leading into the mass observation experiments beginning in the late 30’s. The book describes the documentary format’s departure from its BBC London base under the guidance of Hilda Matheson and Charles Siepmann, who relocated their mobile recording units to what was kn... ... middle of paper ... ... a documentary film by definition must include visuals, but Ames aspires to explain how an emphasis on certain imagery can be used to persuade as well as inform. Works Cited Corner, J. ed., 1986. Documentary and the mass media. Suffolk: Richard Clay ltd Davies, N. 2008. Flat Earth News. London: Random House Publishing Control Room, 2004. [Film] Directed by Jehane Noujaim. Iraq: World Cinema ltd. Waltz with Bashir, 2008. [Film] Directed by Ari Folman. Israel: Artificial eye. Tompkins, C., 2009. The paradoxical effect of the documentary in Walter Salles’s “Central do Brasil”. Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature 33 no1 p9-27 Zeitgeist, 2007. [Film] Directed by Peter Joseph. USA: Released via Internet. Available at http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com. [accessed 14/03/2010] Ames, E,. 2009 Herzog, Landscape and Documentary. Cinema Journal v. 48 no. 2 p46-69.
...lly has a critic. To strengthen the arguments and persuade viewers to their side of the debate, film makers tend to present only one side of the story. Specific placement of an object, the choice of words and the selection of scenes are possible elements that could be woven into documentaries to shape viewers’ perspectives on certain issues. Fat Head is a great case in point, which is likely to convert some public opinion about the ideology of healthy eating. Documentaries may contain biases that mislead the viewers; presenting ‘facts’ but perhaps not revealing the entire picture. Therefore, in a sense, documentaries can be truthful, but also fallacious. It is imperative to evaluate the techniques used in documentaries, in order to distinguish readily from what is fantasy. It could be concluded that Fat Head and Super Size Me are two version of the same reality.
Larry Rohter was a journalist in Brazil for 14 years and from his experiences he offers in this book some unique insights into Brazilian history, politics, culture and more. In 10 topical chapters Rohter’s easy-to-read book provides a look at Brazilian history and the extraordinary changes the country has undergone -- and is still undergoing. Rother covers many significant issues, but several stand out more than others. Namely: the country’s history, culture, politics, and finally its economy/natural wealth.
Veloso, Caetano, and Barbara Einzig. Tropical Truth: A Story of Music and Revolution in Brazil. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo, 2003. Print.
[3] Through a discussion of how history has been maneuvered within films, specifically Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music, I pose the question of how closely should our films be monitored for historical inaccuracies. This serves to benefit ...
Documentary has been heavily associated as a representation of the truth and reality due to its absence of fictional elements and control by the filmmaker (Chapman, 2009). It aims to entice the audience perception of the information presented as fundamental and legitimate (Beattie, 2004). With today's technology, the question of manipulated facts and proclaimed evidences presented in documentaries has heightened concerns in providing the audience with the truth and the real. Hence, with reference to the documentary on "Biggie and Tupac" (2002) directed by Nick Broomfield, we will explore how the documentary has managed to capture the real in terms of structure, style and modes of documentary.
Documentaries on television have changed quite a lot over time. They used to be good outlets to learn about things, but now they are seen as more of comical piece of entertainment rather than an educational source. The History Channel’s documentary The Dark Ages is no exception. The documentary portrays the early middles ages as a time of death and hunger mixed with religious conflicts, also containing an abnormal amount of bright red objects in an otherwise bleak and monochromatic world. This is contrary to the readings and lectures with descriptions of historical figures and religious affiliations, but similar in its description of the amount of war and hunger in the society.
As a viewer, the documentary’s intention to inform is more completely fulfilled by research conducted beyond the scope of the camera lens. Had I never written this paper, for instance, the reason for all the violence embedded within the subject matter would remain as enigmatic as the documentary itself.
Dickson, Christa. “Bugs in the Machine: Anti - and Post-modernism in Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.” http://www.public.coe.edu/~crdickso/brazil.htm Dec. 12, 2001.
Since the target group holds different social beliefs and values it's therefore important that one choose an appropriate method to convey his message without offending anyone. The method of persuasion chosen should also be able to persuade the audience and not alter the facts. There are several reasons that make a documentary film persuasive and influential hence making it the most appropriate method of representing the information. First, currently the documentary film is gaining popularity from its audience at a higher rate than any other method of representation. With the development in mass media and communication technology people prefer watching documentaries streaming them from them from the internet to their mobile phones or the televisions. Research proves that the number of people watching documentaries from the year 2008 to 2016 has increased from 70.9 million to 93.3 million in the United States of America (Scarborough, 2017). There is a few documentary films that talks about the Ridges, that is why it will be very effective to inform people about the history of this asylum by making a documentary so they can watch it. Secondly, documentary films are convincing, realistic and motivating since it incorporates other language techniques that makes it more interesting to follow. These persuasive language techniques include narrative, poetic, rhetoric, logic
John Corner, 1996. The Art of Record: A Critical Introduction to Documentary. Edi-tion. Manchester University Press. PG.24
The definition of documentary given by the Oxford dictionary is ‘A film or television or radio programme that provides a factual report on a particular subject.’ (Oxford, Online) Documentaries are carefully constructed to present the reality of a variety of situations. The aim of the documentary
The film immediately sets the tone from the very beginning by presenting various interdisciplinary ‘experts’ who equally have part in narrating the film throughout. As the argument develops, however, the narrators seem to hav...
2. Burns, Bradford E. . A History of Brazil: Second Edition. New York: Cornell University Press, 1980.
This is a critique of" Roger And Me", a documentary by Michael Moore. This is a film about a city that at one time had a great economy. The working class people lived the American dream. The majority of people in this town worked at the large GM factory. The factory is what gave these people security in their middle working class home life. Life in the city of Flint was good until Roger Smith the CEO of GM decided to close the factory. This destroyed the city. Violent crime became the highest in the nation, businesses went bankrupt, people were evicted from their rented homes. There were no jobs and no opportunity. Life was so bad that Money magazine named Flint the worst place to live in the entire nation. When news of the factory closing first broke, Michael Moore a native of flint decided to search for Roger Smith and bring him to Flint.
2. Nichols, Bill. ‘Documentary Modes of Representation (The Observational Mode).’ Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Bloomington & Indianapolis; Indiana University Press. 1991. 38-44