Introduction to Documentary Reponse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx9zIGxQ-zE A documentary, in purely linguistic terms, must document something, which implies that nothing about it can be tampered with or manipulated. But as Nichols explains with his 6 modes of documentary, this is is simply not the case. For example, expository documentaries are often heavily narrated and edited to convey a certain message to the viewer, regardless of whether that message would have been apparent if the same viewer had been literally standing on the set of the film for the entire shooting process. For instance, many of Michael Moore's documentaries have been criticized for their bias and twisting of the truth. That is why the observational mode of documentary appeals very much to me: this type of footage cannot be changed or coerced into displaying a filmmaker's hidden agenda. It is designed to show what is there, in the most pure form. Only a camera has the ability to capture a past reality so accurately, and the observational mode brings out this little discussed trait. The clip I have attached is from "Don't Look Back," an observational documentary about Bob Dylan in his heyday. The film is shot in so-called "Fly On the Wall" fashion, meaning that it is shown to us exactly as if we were a fly flying around Bob Dylan for a few weeks. Of course there is some editing, because a film cannot last for such a long amount of time as it takes to film, but the filmmaker should use presence of mind to know which sections should be edited out. As Nichols suggests, there are some ethical problems with a filmmaker ignoring his or her subjects: what if the subject becomes injured? What if the subject acts differently because of the presence of the camera? These questions are certainly issues, but still, the observational mode is the closest thing we have to living a past moment in real time.

Artist Talk: Nick Marshall

I hope you can join me on November 20th for my artist talk and exhibition opening at the Hartnett Gallery!

Artist talk: Nov 20, 4pm

Reception: Nov 20, 5pm - 7pm

Where: Hartnett Gallery, University of Rochester

Ethics and Documentary

Although it may not be entirely relevant to the projects produced in this class, one aspect of documentary that is very interesting to me is the ethics of documentary. There are a few ways that ethics can be discussed in relation to the various modes of documentary. In the observational mode, there are sometimes situations in which the filmmaker(s) choose to document a bad situation rather than intervening, choosing to benefit their own project rather than helping the people involved. In an expository mode, there are a few ethical concerns. Ethnographic expository documentaries deal with ethics of representation of indigenous peoples. It is easy for such films to depict indigenous peoples as primitive or savage, rather than honestly exploring a culture. Other types of expository documentaries deal with the investigation of important events or institutions. One example is the films of Michael Moore (although these also include participatory elements). Such expository works bear an ethical burden of honest, un-manipulated representation of the subject manor. Lastly, in the participatory mode, the main ethical issue deals with the fact that the people appearing in the film do not necessarily know the way in which the filmmaker will be depicting them. One example of this last point is an interview with Charleton Heston in Bowling for Columbine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD2x6-CF2h4

Intro to Doc in the Observational

Nichols has a very interesting and unique take on what documentary is. He brings up the idea of five main different types of film modes: observational, expository, participatory, poetic and the reflexive mode. Each mode deals with different concepts that each bring on their own perspective to films. One particularly interesting piece that Nicholas talks about is in the observation mode. Within this mode, which is not seen too often in may modern documentary films, their is no “voice of god” narration, but rather a compilation of films that is carefully edited together to tell a story.

In the famous “Johnny” scene of “Titicut Follies” we see a man who is singing in the frame, although there is no narration to guide the piece, we can tell what the message is that is trying to be conveyed to the audience. The observational mode of documentary does an excellent job at conveying a messaging without saying very much, and allows the majority of what is going on to fall into the own interpretation of the audience.

Here is the link to the Johnny Scene: “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ettRPOwVLm8"

Poetic Mode

Poetic mode documentary uses more of a visual element that makes your appreciate the video in a different way. Francis Thompsons Ny.Ny. was a clear sign of that. He took elements of New York city and changed elements around and made it visually pleasing to the audience as well as giving them a different perspective of the city they know and love. This video seemed to bit more abstract in comparison to Jean Mity's Pacific 231 where she used pacific trains to display her piece. I found this poetic piece that seems to be more narrative but can be still seen under the light of a poetic documentary based on the angles of the shots as well as the music and the lack of dialog really can capture the audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErcV8vlKexE

Documentary example-A Bite of China

When the term “documentary ” comes into my mind, one thing in my mind is a series of food documentary in china called “A Bite of China”, which is produced by CCTV. In recent year, there is a series of documentary in china, which blow nearly all-Chinese people’s minds. Since Chinese food has such a long history, food takes large portion of people’s daily life. However, they may never think about that food could be documented this way. It not only filmed how the food was made, also the history behind the dish, and the connection between this dish and the characters in the films. It denoted a sense of both culture and history.

In the documentary, I can see some techniques of documentary listed in the reading part. The large amount of narrations in the films could be seen as Expository mode. The most part just quiet and filming how people work to make the food, which is the observational mode. The shooting technique is great. All the extreme close-up shots and even aerial photos glorify the objects a lot. That is the Poetic mode. The personal emotions in the films could be easily captured. People usually express their feeling towards special objects. This is the performative mode.

It is a combination of a lot of documentary modes, and show some excellent shooting skills too.

Here is a link of A Bite of China Season 1 Episode 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afx4PlcoIOs&index=4&list=PLYOTfstAG_IPjyEeT472GEJzafYmBiA3w

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

The documentary I chose for this week is, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry. Ai Weiwei is a very famous artist and activist, often combining the two through performance art. The documentary takes place over a period of two years, during which the filmmaker documented Ai Weiwei’s artistic processes, interviewed his artists, and captured a lot of Weiwei’s conflicts with the Chinese government. I would classify this documentary as an observational one, with some overlapping themes from expository and performative.  It is observational because there is minimum intervention, we don’t really interact with the filmmaker, and it aims to establish intimacy with Ai Weiwei and his “co-artists.” The expository and performative aspects come into play in the content. This film very much shows the control and suppressive nature of the Chinese government and exposing that element is certainly the intent of the filmmaker. In terms of the performative part, a lot of what the filmmaker captures is performance art and the process of creating it. Perhaps that’s too literal of an interpretation of the film mode, I just thought I should bring attention to it!

Expository Documentary

This article describes six different modes of documentary; poetic, expository, participatory,observational, reflexive, and performative. I found reading this article to be pretty difficult because I have always seen documentaries to be the same with regards to their mode. The distinctions among these modes is not that each gets better than the previous one, but the difference in how they represent what is on screen. The documentary in the link below is centered around Marilyn Monroe, her pictures, and who she was as a person. I believe this is an expository film because there is evidentiary editing, there are voice over moments when presenting her pictures, and it recounts her history. However, this documentary is not subjective at all! I was a bit worried about claiming that this documentary is expository because of this until I remembered the article stated that some documentaries embody more than one mode. Determining what are the other methods it encompasses is a struggle for me though, I think expository is the best one with how I interpreted the article. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ4fIUmhYZM (17:07)

documentary "Why Poverty?"

"Why Poverty?" is a series of 8 documentary films and 30 short films sponsored by an international non-profit, Steps International. They are shot by different directors from all over the world. These documentaries focus on how inequality affect societies and whether the poor can master their future. This is a question that all famous economists are unable to solve.  Economist Romain Rolland once said that there are three things that make him want to live and live again: Love, the endless eager for knowledge and the compassion for people's suffering such as poverty. I think one of the reasons that Economics is essential in all ages is that poverty can never be eliminated. This series is so real to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svSnBi1UdZQ&index=1&list=PLWB0UfoChWY2TysEq-paXdZiKUlEHfOgE

Performative Documentary

As we read in the Nichols reading "Introduction to Documentary," there are six different modes of documentaries.  The one I'm providing an example for is the performative mode.  This mode uses a sort of autobiographical tone that follows the documentarist around and shows his or her personal experiences in the film.  For example, in this clip from Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore is shown going to a bank to open an account and getting a gun.  This is all to further his larger point for the entire documentary about how easy it is to get guns and how fascinated our country is with guns.  Clearly, this scene shows Moore's subjective point of view of the issue, as does the entire film.  That is exactly what performative documentaries do: they show a subjective view as a way to comment on a widespread issue.  Moore also wants his viewer to become enraged, as he is, about this issue and, in this scene, he wants to poke fun at how ridiculous it is to be able to get a gun at a bank.  This is yet another aspect of performative documentaries.  At the end of this scene, the viewer is almost definitely left agreeing with Moore's point of view because of his clever use of the elements of the performative mode of documentaries.

Performance piece

Paper Airplanes from Zachary Shaw on Vimeo.

A Wom[i]n

http://vimeo.com/111056051#t=0s

A Questioning

https://vimeo.com/111432906

Where does the Mockumentary fit in?

The modes of documentary are mere guidelines. There are not usually documentaries that solely use one mode of documentary. A lot of the time it is a combination between several different modes. With that said, there still are filmmakers that truly wish to explore one single mode, most commonly expository or observational.

While one mode aims to have a lot of involvement of social actors and the filmmaker's agenda, the other aims to diminish the filmmaker's agenda and watch an event play out. One example of a heavily influenced expository film is Inside Job, which discusses the turmoil put forth by the 2007-8 financial crisis, and points fingers in the process. An example of a heavily influenced observational film is The Last Waltz. Directed by Martin Scorsese, The Last Waltz follows the band The Band, with little to no filmmaker intervention, during their last concert. While The Last Waltz does have an aspect of performance, as The Band had/has a large following, it is more focused on social dynamics and the lack of intervention of Martin Scorsese.

However besides these two films, and several other ones, many documentaries apply multiple tactics from the different modes. For example Michael Moore usually combines some element of all forms of documentary into his films, he discusses himself, through reflexive mode, has an agenda, through expository mode, sometimes doesn't interact, through the observational mode, and also likes to create a composition, through poetic and performative modes. Which leads to the Mockumentary, which doesn't really have it's own mode. In this case it must combine various aspects different modes, depending on the type of documentary it is mocking.

For example, in the Film Confederate States of America, it aims to be an informational investigative film on what the US would be like if the Confederacy had won the Civil War, while also adding satirical quips along the way. The film linked, is The Rutles, which spoofs The Beatles craze. Like Michael Moore, this film combines several different modes of documentary, including expository, reflexive, and participatory, while also poking fun at the Beatles and British Invasion musical craze.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu3T_2GzXSo

Marika's performance piece

Performance Piece

My Makeup Kuso

my makeup kuso from Shiyu Hu on Vimeo.

Everyone Sits... (Performance Piece by Emma Morgan)

Everyone Sits... from Emma Morgan on Vimeo.

How many Pokers can you arrange in one minute?

https://vimeo.com/111381453