Documentary

Question 1

Documentary

Answer 1

• narrative, categorical, or rhetorical
• “creative treatment of actuality.”
• implicit contract that exists between those who produce and distribute documentaries and those who watch them, both of whom regard documentary as fundamentally truthful

Question 2

documentary style

Answer 2

• contributes substantially to our experience, perception + response
• historically to be associated with truthfulness
• expository, observational, participatory
• conventions used to elicit trust
• detachment makes us feel like they are objective

Question 3

Expository

Answer 3

-characterized by verbal commentary and a presentational mode

Question 4

Observational

Answer 4

• characterized by an invisible camera and a world that “speaks itself”
• 1950s: direct cinema wanted world to speak for itself
• ppl don’t look at camera, invisible spectators

Question 5

Participatory

Answer 5

• characterized by the filmmaker’s presence on camera and a frank acknowledgement of the filmmaking process
• calls attention to conventions of documentary
• relationship betw. filmmaker + subject

Question 6

reflexive

Answer 6

• most truthful: lay bare process + relationship with subject
• becomes part of movie
• investigatory process
• no way to be an invisible spectator
• calls attention assumptions + conventions that govern documentary filmmaking

Question 7

evidentiary editing

Answer 7

• allows for creation of rhetoric
• organized in a way that is around logic
• not concerned with space + time, but in logic
• expository

Question 8

categorical

Answer 8

• provide info
• convey categorized info
• groupings to organize knowledge of world

Question 9

rhetorical

Answer 9

-persuade viewer
-make argument
1)adresses viewer openly
2)matter of opinion: presents evidence+arguments, expression of ideology
3)appeals to our emotions
4persuade you to make a choice

Question 10

cinema verite

Answer 10

• filmmaker is more involved, provokes action
• 180s-present, Michael Moore
• reflexivity

Question 11

actuality

Answer 11

-social reality

Question 12

creative treatment

Answer 12

• transforms raw data creatively

- choices on film stock, lens, framing, sound shapes view actuality

Question 13

Re-presentation + Representation

Answer 13

• re-presentation: index, semiotics-material bond to something else
• cinema can preserve world + re-present it
• represent: shaping of what is presented, dictated by technical choices + view of filmmakers/idea of the world
• re-presentation supported by representation

Question 14

August + Louis Lumiere

Answer 14

• founded cinema
• 1895 started screening short mundane films
• filmed around the world + screened it

Question 15

actualite

Answer 15

-film real life, little staging, taking slice of life

Question 16

voice-over narration

Answer 16

• never appears on screen=voice of God narration

- on screen=expert

Question 17

direct

Answer 17

-records ongoing events as it happens

Question 18

interview

Answer 18

-testimonies about events/social movements

Question 19

compilation

Answer 19

-assembling images from archival sources

Question 20

rhetorical: types of argument

Answer 20

1) from source: relies on reliable sources of info
- present experts+knowledgable testimonies
2) subject centred: appeals to beliefs common at the time
- relies on evidence: stats, research, polls, usually through footage
- enthymemes: rely on widespread opinion+conceal crucial assumptions
3) viewer-centred: taps into emotion