Ethics in Filmmaking Essay

Firstly, it is important to understand how the documentary form is best suited to illustrate the film’s theme. In order to do this, one must have an overview of the documentary style of filmmaking. Documentaries concern themselves with the “exploration of

During the film Antwone Fisher (Black, Haines, & Washington, 2002) the therapist who worked with Antwone seemed to have Antwone’s best interest at heart, but still managed to violate some ethical codes. One of the first violations that I noticed was when he tried to terminate therapy with Antwone after only three sessions. Whereas he initially informed Antwone that he was only required to see him for three sessions, as the sessions progressed it seemed obvious to me that Antwone may need more, and even asked to come back for a fourth session. According to the 2014 American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics, A. 11.c. Appropriate Termination, “Counselors terminate a counseling relationship when it becomes reasonably apparent that the client no longer needs assistance, is not likely to benefit, or is being harmed by continued counseling.” I think that the therapist trying to terminate therapy with Antwone after three sessions was an obvious violation of this ethics code as it was not in Antwone’s best interest, especially given how much distress it caused him.

Media is so powerful that many people in business and politics have long realised that documentary filmmaking is a powerful way to influence or persuade the masses as to which side they should take on certain issues. Although the media claim their documentaries to be neutral, subjectivity is always an issue. Like any form of communication, including journalism, documentary filmmaking involves interpretation and choice-making on the part of the filmmaker, and is therefore unavoidably subjective. You might set up a camera to record a "day in the life of a Year 12 student” and end up with some interesting footage, but until it is shaped and given meaning by the filmmaker, and until

Richardson’s non-interventionist style is a prime example of observational documentary, and works specifically well in capturing and promulgating the subject of death. According to Nichols, observational documentaries started appearing in the 1960’s as result of more mobile and smaller equipment. Furthermore, observational documentary stresses non-intervention, as filmmakers objectively observe indirect speech, candidness in the form of long takes, and create a world out of historical reality not fabricated with

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.

Documentary films in particular have been the preferred channel for the diffusion of propaganda because of its association with ‘a truthful cinema.’ John Grierson, coiner the term documentary, defined it as “the creative treatment of actuality.” However, Hilmar Hoffman talks about film’s illusory power by explaining that what exists to the viewer is only what the camera ‘sees,’ and due to the absence of alternate perspectives, the viewer conventionally perceives the images shown as reality. In this regard, documentary films are able to influence, represent, and create a particular consciousness by doctoring events, thus making it untrustworthy and, ultimately, the ideal medium to communicate

The documentaries “Night and Fog”, and “Capturing the Friedmans”, both were created to move their audience in a way to get desired reactions. Nevertheless, while they both were created to move their audience, the motivation behind the two are quite different. “Night and Fog was created to serve as a warning for people about the dangers of cruelty, while “Capturing the Friedmans was made in a way to have viewers question the guilt of the two Friedmans convicted of sexuals assault.

Documentaries also include films which are intended to ‘expose’ and often carry interviews, for example Michael Moore’s films on social concerns

During this unit in Term 2, the english class has been exploring the history and development of the documentary; exploring how people, events, cultures and ideas are represented in documentaries. Ellen, Nawshaba, Mercedes and Mia were included in my group on the topics of Nap Rooms. Throughout this process I have developed teamwork and leadership skills to produce a subjective documentary.

Every night when we sit down to watch our much loved Grey’s Anatomy or Desperate Housewives, we know for a fact they are fictional dramas which allow us to escape the reality and boredom of our lives. We also realise the scripted shows use many tactics to manipulate our thinking. The producer does this to position us towards a specific view of life. But what do we expect from a documentary? We know documentaries to be faithful recounts of events; however, these events may be subject to just as much manipulation as the intriguing plots in our addictive shows.

The purpose of a documentary is to promote one's views or beliefs, in order to provoke change in society. This is evident in Michael Moore’s documentary Bowling for Columbine and Louie Psihoyos, The Cove. Both documentaries manipulate the audience into taking the composers side of the argument. Bowling for Columbine uses satirical humour and interviewing techniques to make an extremely persuasive argument highlighting issues such as gun violence levels in America and the Columbine High School massacre itself. Louie Psihoyos’ The Cove uses statistics and archival footage to persuade the audience that dolphins are beginning unnecessarily slaughtered, and there is something underhanded going on in Taiji, Japan.

Everyday experience, suggests Edgerton, like documentary, arises from the interplay of two realms; one hidden and one perceived. This duality, encompassing both the darkroom of the film developer and dark theater where the film is screened, pertains not only to documentary but to life as we live it. Masked by our “inherent inability to see,” and curled inside timescales we cannot untangle, a bizarre world plays out, contained by, yet isolated from that which we live in (Edgerton. 1970 1-2). Nevertheless, this domain remains intimately connected to ours, accessible only through the lens of ongoing technological advancement. Similar to the convoluted relationship between adjacent timescales, documentary and truth also share an

A remarkably influential tool filmmakers utilise to portray a version of reality is their assortment of interviewees. These careful selections can severely influence the documentaries depiction of true-to-life

The way that the two narratives are structured around voyeurism in terms of watching and being watched, also places emphasis on the method of these films’ enunciation. Typically, classical narrative employs specific techniques to mask the “nuts and bolts of a films construction” (Wells 42), meaning that it appears as though the film flows

In the last few years, the number of cyber-attacks happening in the world today has increased significantly and it is something that is not going to go away any time soon. In the most recent case that has happened, a group called the Impact Team has claimed to have complete access to Avid Life Media’s database for the website Ashley Madison. Throughout this entire case there are very few things that are ethical and legal. Besides, Avid Life Media pursuing the hackers for stealing private data, the only other action that I believe falls into this category are users pursuing legal action against Ashley Madison now for not fully deleting their data. If Ashley Madison had actually deleted most of their user’s data and only kept the metadata,