The Documentary Film

 

I don't know what truth is. Truth is something unattainable. We can't think we're creating truth with a camera. But what we can do, is reveal something to viewers that allows them to discover their own truth.

—Michel Brault

Every cut is a lie. It's never that way. Those two shots were never next to each other in time that way. But you're telling a lie in order to tell the truth.

—Wolf Koenig

We are really only successful in finding out anything when we are filming somebody who is more concerned with what he is doing that with the fact that we care filming him.

—Richard Leacock

Of course there's conscious manipulation! Everything about a movie is manipulation ... If you like it, it's an interpretation. If you don't like it, it's a lie — but everything about these movies is a distortion."

—Frederick Wiseman 

 

 

For projects two and three, we will embark on the study of the documentary form as argument. In project two, we will study the form and its context. By observing some landmark documentaries, we will create criteria together for what we think makes a "good" documentary. Then you'll choose a documentary and evaluate that film by the criteria we have created. In project three, you'll be conceiving, directing, filming, and editing your own documentary which we'll screen in an in-class film fesitval. You'll be keeping a detailed production log and providing director commentary to help us understand the intention of your work. 

 

Let's begin by reading a short introduction to the documentary. Head over to the ASU library website  and perform a search for an eBook called The Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction by Patricia Aufderheide. Read Chapter One: Naming & Form, pages 1-25. Then choose a short documentary to watch from this website.  In a comment to this blog post of at least 400 words, draw connections between the reading and the short film--for example, what features mentioned in the text do you see playing out in the film? I would also welcome a very short summary and your reaction to the film.

For Thursday's class, be prepared to discuss film techniques discussed in this helpful primer on filming a documentary.