Assumption about documentaries being true, educational only, no imagination needed aren’t correct . There are several documentaries we watched in class that show that documentaries don’t all fall under the same assumptions. A common assumption about documentaries is that there is no imagination needed. “ In a time when the major media recycle the same stories on the same subjects over and over, when they risk little in formal innovation, when they remain beholden to powerful sponsors with their own political agendas and restrictive demands, it is the independent documentary film that has brought a fresh eye to the events of the world and told stories, with verve and imagination, that broaden limited horizons and awaken new possibilities.” (Nichols,1) “Not all documentaries, of course, are sober-minded, stodgy affairs any more than all political speeches or all scientific reports are dull. Wit, imagination, and persuasive rhetorical skills come into play in many cases.” (Nichols,38) Imagination does exist in documentary, Nichols talked about how documentaries weren’t only just informational or political speeches. An example of a documentary that involves a lot of imagination is Man with a Movie Camera . It was not filled with information or dialogue but it does involve a story being told without any words. The camera angles used in this film are creative and something ahead of its time. It has several scenes that seem like modern day special effects, such as the seen with the camera under the train, a shot of a cameraman setting up his camera atop a second, mountainous camera, superimposing a cameraman inside a beer glass, filming a woman getting out of bed.
Another assumption is that documentary films have real people and is ba...
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...en we get behind Nev and his search for this women. The audience sees the weird thing that he says and does because of his love for Megan. It also uses convincing (logos) which uses apparent reasoning or demonstration.It gives the impression of proving one’s case. With Angela she reasons with why she did what she did to Nev. It tries to demonstrate what was Angela’s reasoning.
The film seems to sometimes be direct and indirect. Most of the time we see it as indirect, because the people aren't in a talking head interview they seem to be in conversation with others. They aren't always having a conversation with the camera. We do see the speakers, so it is disembodied. Not as much but there are instances where we see them. The director takes the position that what happen to Nev was awful and that technology allows people to be able to pretend to be someone else online.
Films are necessary in our time period because the human eye can articulate the message intended through sight allowing visual imagination to occur. In the book, world 2 by Max Brooks, he creates a character by the name Roy Elliot who was a former movie director. Roy Elliot manages to make a movie titled “Victory at Avalon: The Battle of the Five Colleges” and some how it goes viral. Similarly, Frank Capra’s film, “Why we Fight” expresses a sense of understanding the meaning of wars. Films do not inevitably portray truth because they display what the film director views as important and beneficial for people to know.
...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.
Policies are often put in place without regards for the effect it will have on other areas, people, or wildlife. Several examples of these unintended consequences are shown in the documentary Salmon: Running the Gauntlet, which explains the effects that human activity, dams, and attempts to repopulate the salmon species have been implemented and failed. With proper evaluation at the onset of a major project, these severe consequences may be avoided.
Blackfish is a documentary based on the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that has taken the lives of several people whilst in captivity. This documentary underscores problems within the multi-billion sea-park industry, describes man's relationship to nature, and how little has been learned about these highly intelligent mammals.
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.
“You hear her just scream out, ‘somebody help me!’ It was such a bloodcurdling scream. She knew she was going to die,” commented John Hargrove, a former SeaWorld trainer. There has been 21 attacks on humans by killer whales in the last 10 years. SeaWorld was associated with 12 of them. In 2013 SeaWorld was worth $2.5 billion, they would do anything to protect their business. They target adults and teenagers; or anyone who can pay. The purpose of the Blackfish documentary was made to inform people how wrong it is what SeaWorld is doing. Animals in captivity do not live as long and depending on the animal there is more complications. Seaworld is an unacceptable place to live, for orcas and any other animal. They do not have animals’ best interests in mind.
Blackfish is a 2013 documentary attempting to elevate public awareness regarding the orca that are being kept in maritime amusement parks, specifically SeaWorld, and the inherent danger of their captivity. The film is effective because it raises a set of important ethical questions for the viewer while presenting with a necessary fact-based style of documentation that does not evoke gratuitous scenes of abuse in order to inspire sympathy, unlike some of the other films that are intended to raise awareness about animal abuse.
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.
Currently, live whale performances have become well liked for tourists to visit. When they are there, they only see what they want to see and do not care or want to know all about the complications the whales go through just to make people smile. The documentary “Blackfish” exposes the truth about the whales, their habits, and why they act the manner they do when in captivity. The inhumane treatment of whales in captivity causes negative effects on the animals which, in turn, affects the humans who care for them.
You are starving and your family is starving, but the law told you that you could not feed your family, would you obey the law or do you decide to feed your family anyway despite what the law says? To Tommy Pikok Sr., “When I am hungry, I can protest the law. I can use my stomach as a reason to protest the law” (Edwardsen, Duck-In). In the documentary, The Duck-In, the Iñupiat people of Barrow, Alaska fought against the law by coming together as a whole community to get what should be their right as native people. The Iñupiat people would rather hunt for their food than consume white people food on a daily basis. It is our culture, tradition, and duty to hunt for food and no one or anything could change our way of thinking. The citizens of Barrow, Alaska should watch the Duck-In because the documentary informs the citizens
As documentary filmmakers Jill Godmilow and Ann-Louise Shapiro stated, “documentary film... is one of the "discourses of sobriety" that include science, economics, politics, and history-discourses that claim to describe the "real," to tell the truth.” (Godmilow & Shaprio, 1997, pg.80). Although documentaries are presumed to represent the realities of the world, questions of truth, and more specifically, how “real” a film is, are inherent to the form. With this in mind, this essay aims to critically analyze the key theoretical, historiographical and formal debates surrounding ethnography, direct cinema and cinema verité, and the ways in which these schools of documentary film are all situated in a never-ending quest for the truth. The following
mean it in a different point of view. A good example of this is the
The walking catfish has become known as a notorious and harmful indigenous species on the top 100 most invasive species list (Masterson 2007). The species is so harmful that is has been blacklisted by numerous states including the state of Indiana (Brogan 2003). This species has a certain trait that allows it to work its way throughout the regions in order to invade and reproduce. Due to the species ability to walk on dry land and also to survive long periods of time without food or water, it has made its mark as an invasive species (Masterson 2007).
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