2. Documentary Conventions
• What is the last documentary that
you saw and why did you have to
watch it?
• What are some of the conventions
that documentary film frequently
uses?
• Why do you think these conventions
developed?
• What is the goal of a documentary
film?
3. What defines a documentary film?
• There is a fine line between the realm of documentary
and narrative film, but traditionally we define
documentaries as:
• Existing in the same historical world that we live in
• We believe that the events in the film happened within the same
historical world that we occupy
• Not fully re-enacted
• There is an especially a blurry line between Biopics (Narrative films
about historical figures) and Documentaries
• Discussion: What is the last biography film that you
watched? Would you define this as a documentary?
• A film like American Splendor straddles this line as it mostly contains re-
enacted scenes from the life of Harvey Pekar, however, it includes voice
over narration from Pekar as well as appearances from Pekar alongside
Paul Giametti, the actor who portrays him
4. What are some common Misconceptions
about Documentaries?
• Documentaries are boring
• There is a documentary for any subject of
interest
• The storytelling of a documentary can be
more compelling than a narrative film
• Documentaries are or should be
objective
• This is a common criticism of filmmaker
Michael Moore
• In truth, every film is made from a
particular point of view and contains biases
• Documentaries are easy/cheap to
make
• While documentaries often do not require
as much pre-production and manpower as
a fiction film, they can take a while to shoot
and edit
5. A little bit of doc history
1900 – 1920:
Early Muybridge Experiments
Lumiere Brother’s films (travelogues)
Expeditions and Adventure – South (1919)
1920s – 1940s:
Nature films – Nanook of the North (1922)
Poetic Reality – Berlin: Symphony of a City, Man with a Movie
Camera
Propaganda films
1950s to 1970s:
Cinema Verite
Maysles Brothers: Salesman, Grey Gardens
Political films: Primary, Harlan County, USA
7. Objectivity vs. Subjectivity
• One of the best ways that we can analyze documentary films is by
looking at the relationship between the filmmaker and the subject.
• Typically documentary films are categorized by the measurement of this
relationship
More Objective
• Less intrusion on the part of the
filmmaker in the filmmaking
process
• Audience is left to make judgment
on the meaning, argument, and
characters
More Subjectivity
• More intrusion on part of the filmmaker,
maybe even going as far as creating
everything themselves
• Filmmaker presents a very specific
argument, or tries to evoke a specific
emotion
Modes of documentary
filmmaking
PerformativePoeticReflexiveExpositoryObservational Participatory
8. Global and Cultural Awareness
• One of the great uses of documentary filmmaking is that it
can foster awareness of cultures in us as both an
audience and as filmmakers
9. Modes of documentary films
• Because documentaries cover such a wide variety of
topics, it is difficult to develop a classification system for
all of them
• Nichols (2001) devised modes by which we may organize
the conventions and expectations of documentary films:
• Poetic Mode
• Expository Mode
• Observational Mode
• Participatory Mode
• Reflexive Mode
• Performative Mode
• Documentary films can borrow elements from each of
these modes
10. Poetic Mode
• Films in the poetic mode have a heavy concentration
on the power of the image and editing
• There is not an emphasis on the transfer of information
about the historical world, but rather the filmmakers
seek to evoke emotion in the audience in reference to a
subject
• Often relies Heavily on music to create emotion
• We can see influence now in many music videos
• Style would be considered more subjective as
filmmaker is manipulating the way that we see the
historical world in order to present a particular viewpoint
of it
• Cons:
• Films are incredibly abstract and audiences may find it difficult to
watch as there is no traditional storyline
• Examples (Click links to watch)
• Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
• Koyaanisqatsi : Music by Philip Glass
• Baraka
• Chemical Brothers: Star Guitar
11. Expository Mode• Films in the Expository Mode rely on voice-over
narration as the presentational mode
• The images serve a supporting role to the narration –
Evidentiary Editing
• This voice over narration is often referred to as
the Voice-of-God, it is an attempt to be
authoritative and objective on the given subject
• A common example of this mode is the History
Channel: They make documentaries on subjects
and use a top-down approach to history (i.e.
“These were the people that were involved”, “this
is what happened”)
• An objective approach to history
• Often used for propagandistic purposes; To give
the illusion of authority and truth
• Is closer to the objective end of the spectrum, but
this can be manipulated by the filmmaker
• Cons: Can be overly didactic, not account for all
perspectives on events
• Examples:
• Why We Fight Series (1944): A series of war
propaganda films made by Frank Capra to support WWII
12. Observational Mode
• The observational mode is defined by the
fly on the wall approach to a subject; the
filmmaker’s role is simply to observe
actions as they take place
• Mode allows audience to make
judgments on the nature of the
characters as well as overall themes of
the film
• Purely observational films have little
narration or editing
• Cons:
• Can be quite boring; no storyline
• Lack of history; cannot give historical context
of the events
• Examples:
• Don’t Look Back: Film following Bob Dylan
on Tour of England
• Salesman
13. Participatory Mode
• The film relies heavily upon the
interaction between the filmmaker and
the subject
• Use of interviews to get a view of history
from people who participated in it
• Filmmaker often has influence over the
outcome of the story because of their
interaction with the subject
• Cons:
• Excessive faith in witnesses
• May be seen as too obtrusive on the part of
the filmmaker
• Examples:
• Roger and Me
• Ross McElwee: Sherman’s March
14. Reflexive Mode
• Questions the very nature of representation in documentary
film. Uses multiple methods of representation to draw attention
to the fact that the film itself is a representation.
• Often uses actors to represent historical events
• The filmmakers use of different techniques of representation
move it away from subjectivity to objectivity.
• Cons:
• Can be too abstract, may lose sight of the actual issues that need to
be addressed
• Examples:
• American Splendor: Uses many of these techniques even though it
would be classified as a narrative film
• Thin Blue Line: Uses recreations of a crime to show subjective
viewpoint
15. Performative Mode
• Films in the performative mode are
often auto-biographical, based on
the experiences of the filmmaker.
• Films in this mode try to tackle
larger issues through the lens of
the subjects life
• Often bridges on the Poetic or
Avant Garde
• A more personal approach to
societal topics/problems
• Examples
• Tarnation
16. Assignments for this Week
• Final Project Proposal
• Screening
• Quiz
• Blog Post
