Participatory Modes

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

A documentary is a genre of film that provides a factual report on a particular story, viewpoint, message or experience. In this essay, two documentaries, Bowling for columbine by Michael Moore and Made in Bangladesh by CBC news will be explored to show how persuasive techniques are used to make an audience feel a particular way.

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

Documentary Movies: Key types – factual films (present people, places, or processes in straightforward ways meant to entertain and instruct without influencing audiences), instructional films (educate viewers about common interests, rather than persuading them to accept particular ideas), persuasive films (addresses social injustices), propaganda films (systematically disseminate deceptive or distorted information), direct cinema (eschew interviews and even limit the use of narrators).

My first step to my documentary, I decided to go on the internet to research and understand my topic. I looked up some

One of the most widely used documentary techniques is interviews. Interviews reflect opinions from different viewpoints creating an almost 3 dimensional story. Its helps the audience feel more engaged as it is coming from a person 's point of view who was involved in the events making it feel more realistic. The audience can be assured that the story is not made up. Interviews give a sense of realism. Man on wire is a good example of the interview style being used to reflect feelings of the time Petit was on his way to making his dream come a reality. The emotions at some point were exaggerating maybe because he is a performer. But this made us as viewers feel apart of the film being able to sympathize with the characters and storyline. Marsh uses a technique where we see the subject talking on screen but we do not hear the interviewer talking or asking questions.

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.

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

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 more difference of watching a documentary versus watching a fiction film is how the viewer choses to interpret the scenes in the film. In a documentary the viewer looks that the images in the film as part of educational material that is meant to analyzed and studied, while in a fiction film because the film is preordained to be entertaining the viewer is more likely to allow the scenes to provoke emotions and relate to some aspect of the viewers life. For example the film Life is beautiful it’s a fiction film about the holocaust, the film expresses some of the same main points as the documentary Night and Fog also about the holocaust. They both provide two important scenes, the first one showing the train filled with people being carried off to concentration

There are various ways to deal with making documentaries, to telling the story and making the point, and subsequently the a wide range of components such camerawork, music, lighting, music, enhancements and altering differ from piece to piece.

What a documentary is in its purest form is the telling of a story. It’s may be biased or exaggerated but in its essence it is the simple of act of a story being told. The Oxford Dictionary defines documentary as 'using pictures or interviews with people involved in real events to provide a factual report on a particular subject' It’s second definition is ‘A film or television or radio programme that provides a factual report on a particular subject’. Film being used to document real life; Being Elmo is documenting the events of Kevin’s life.

Ideal subjects for documentaries according to the direct cinema ethos were: 1) A person who is interesting; 2) A person who is in an interesting situation which s/he cares deeply about; 3) A subject where a conclusion can be arrived at in a limited time; and 4) A subject where there is easy access to events.