Overview
This lecture explores the challenge of defining "documentary film," critiques common assumptions, and outlines criteria and modes for identifying documentaries.
Student Definitions and Common Views
- Students often describe documentaries as films showing real events, real people, and truth without actors or artificial narratives.
- Documentaries are contrasted with fiction and associated with facts, truth, and realism.
- Some believe simply recording reality (like surveillance video) is not sufficient for a film to be a documentary.
The Need for Artistic Intent and Perspective
- Documentaries require an artistic point of view, message, or ideological purpose, not just mechanical recording.
- Filmmaking involves choices in recording and editing to present a perspective or provoke change.
- Like fiction films, documentaries can be subjective and aim to enlighten or change the audience.
Problems with Strict Definitions
- Defining documentaries solely by "representing reality" is inadequate; "reality" is complex and contested.
- Both documentaries and fiction involve selection, editing, and presentation, not mere mirroring of events.
- Objective facts alone do not capture the power structures and intentions in documentary filmmaking.
Truth and Creativity in Documentary
- Documentaries strive for truth but not necessarily in presenting only facts; they may seek emotional or thematic truths.
- The origin of "documentary" is from the Latin "docere," meaning to teach or instruct.
- John Grierson defined documentaries as "creative treatment of actuality," emphasizing creativity even in early documentaries.
Modes and Functions of Documentary Film
- Functions include prophet, explorer, painter, advocate, bugler, prosecutor, observer, catalyst, guerrilla, performer, therapist, and spin doctor.
- Modes of documentary:
- Expository (didactic, explanatory voice-over)
- Observational ("fly on the wall")
- Participatory (filmmaker involved in events)
- Reflexive (shows its own filmmaking process)
- Performative (creates events for the film)
- Poetic (focus on form and aesthetics)
Criteria for Identifying Documentaries
- Obligation to truth, understood as:
- Correspondence (matching facts)
- Coherence (logical whole)
- Pragmatic/conventionalist (matches accepted discourse)
- Relativism/constructivism (meaning is constructed)
- Illumination (inspires insight)
- Filmmaker’s intentions: to explore, inform, or make a difference.
- Subject matter: relevance, significance, historical or social importance.
- Audience expectations: authenticity, insight, real people, and real issues.
- Ethics: truthfulness, openness, and balance; avoiding propaganda.
- Communicative function: to inform, engage, enlighten, rather than just entertain.
- Use context: educational, public service, campaigns, or debate.
- Style/form: realism, natural settings, often rough style, focus on argumentation.
- Recordings: real locations, real people, events not staged.
- Editing: rhetorical structure prioritized over dramatic continuity.
- Distribution context: educational TV, festivals, or institutions.
- Contribution: aims to make society better or more informed.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Documentary Film — A film genre aiming to inform, enlighten, or provoke change using real events and people, with creative and ethical intent.
- Expository Mode — Documentary style focusing on direct explanation, often with voice-over narration.
- Observational Mode — Filming events unobtrusively as they happen, with minimal filmmaker intervention.
- Participatory Mode — The filmmaker is visible or interacts with subjects.
- Reflexive Mode — The film reveals its own production process and filmmaking choices.
- Performative Mode — The filmmaker actively shapes events for the film.
- Poetic Mode — Emphasizes form, aesthetics, and emotional resonance over straightforward narrative.
- Correspondence Theory of Truth — Truth means alignment with verifiable facts.
- Coherence Theory of Truth — Truth means logical consistency within the film.
- Propaganda — Documentary that distorts truth to serve the filmmaker’s own agenda.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Reflect on the different criteria and modes when analyzing or categorizing documentaries.
- Consider watching examples of different documentary modes mentioned for deeper understanding.
- Be prepared to discuss the evolving definition of documentary film in future classes.