Documentaries Research 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

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

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

To address the questions comprehensively, the researcher conducted a historical research that blended the research elements of documentary research and content analysis. The use of historical research provided opportunity to travel through time and trace the origin and evolution of

Journalist Stephanie Collins addresses the worldwide phenomenon of the 2013 documentary Blackfish and discusses the constructed truth we are persuaded to believe. The bias presented in this documentary works very effectively and the audience is left to feel the pity for the killer whales of SeaWorld. However, can we believe everything director Gabriela Cowperthwaite presents to us? Have we just fallen victim to the constructed truth of extreme animal activists? Documentaries are known for constructing their own version of the truth they wish to portray.

The Holding Ground documentary was powerful and highly effective in showing the struggle of the Dudley Street and the Roxbury neighborhood and their struggle to in effect take back their neighborhoods. The people in the video were passionate about their community and faced many obstacles like illegal dumping and arson for profit as well as a committee of people who had no idea about the community making decisions without having anyone in the community representing them. In the documentary, Robert Holmes, Jr a Trustee at the Riley Foundation discussed how the board was having a community meeting. He originally thought that Che Madyun was sent in as an agitator. He then realized that she was just passion about her community and had valid points.

Sugar is a very common thing we can find in our modern world. It’s in the majority of what we eat, drink, and snack on. Convenience is its best friend, because it can be found anywhere we look. We can find it at our corner gas station, our local supermarket, favorite movie theater, and in our own homes. Sugar is so closely related to the obesity crisis, and is believed to be the number one reason obesity exists.

There are many different definitions of the word documentary. One definition I found is, according to wisegeek.org, “a documentary film is a movie that attempts to document reality…the scenes are carefully chosen…may rely on voice-over narration to describe what is happening” which sums it up pretty well and is very clear in my mind. It was difficult

As a victim of sexual assault, this documentary was far from easy to watch. Not only did I relive the terrors of my own personal experience, but I was also able to capture the emotions behind the experiences of each victim that told their story throughout the documentary. The Hunting Ground was a true eye opener in regards to what truly goes on behind closed doors and how relentlessly one could turn their back on the situation. The Hunting Ground follows the stories of undergraduate rape survivors and their journey to justice. The documentary also sheds light upon the victim’s Universities and Colleges and how their school’s Sexual Misconduct and Violence policies had deeply failed them.

As humans living in a modern sociological time period, the truth can be cleverly and ingeniously twisted by film directors to convince us that their sole opinions are factual. This is most definitely no exception regarding Academy- Award winning filmmaker Michael Moore and his documentary Bowling for Columbine. Michael Moore explores the lead up to the Columbine massacre and more broadly, the proliferation of guns and rapidly growing homicide rate in America. Moore also investigates the reason as to why Canada, in comparison to America, does not have the same rate of gun related crimes.

Daniel Ryan Carr Prof. Erica Peterson ENGL 1320 19 April 2016 Essay Four: Documentary Analysis In the United States, there is an epidemic that is rapidly growing and it needs to be solved as soon as possible. The documentary Fed Up set out to find the truth behind the U.S.’ food problem. The documentary states that there is corruption in our food industry and that it could be causing our citizens to gain weight and become obese.

This week’s Core Friday was not a lecture, but a documentary named The Pluto Files, which was coordinated by one of Core’s co-coordinator, Tom Hothem. The purpose documentary was that Pluto lacked a well-defined criteria to determine if it was or was not a planet. The documentary followed Neil Tyson as he traveled to different states in finding out the truth and views about Pluto being a planet and not a planet. There were many controversies about this topic when it was concluded that Pluto would no longer be considered a planet. This issue relates to how we must evaluate the Drake Equation in the Quantitative Essay. It connects because both lack a well-defined criteria that allow us to determine what is and what is not. It makes us question

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

The way we are shaped by the media and the way it shapes us is a constant cycle. The way the media affects us changes how we shape the media. However, the media impacts people in a higher quantity and at a faster rate than we can shape the media, which puts the media in control. For example, Miss Representation described how the images in movies and tv shows impact girls. The majority of women that we see on tv are young and wear makeup and revealing clothing.