Class Notes: Monday, Sept 15

Documentary>Short Histort
Creative Assignment> Finish 2 paragraphs.
Sept 29 - No Clas


Doc series of technical movements.

What is documentary?
-Docs are about real life but not real life
-Portraits of real life using real life as raw material
-Constructed by Artist & Technicians who make subjective decisions about what story to tell and to whom and for what purpose
stray about real life with claims to truthfulness

Nature of the beast
-Doc shifts over time w/ business and market pressures
technological and formal innovations
-genre always has two crtitical elements that are in tension
representation and reality
throughout history, makers, critics, and viewers about what constitutes trustworthy storytelling.
The early conventions of the genre often arose from the need to convince views of authenticity.

Many journalists came to documentary... a lot from news depts.

early docs had to convince views of authenticity.

Emerging From History
----
Emerged awkwardly out of early practice in the form of educationals, actualities, interest films, travel films
- Documentary is the creative treatment of reality - John Grierson
-Documentary was always imagined as having civic potential and tied to the public.
Documentary is grand in real life & makes claims telling us something worth knowing

-Why should I spent 10-15 min looking at your film. What are you telling me about the human condition?

--Documentary Movements

--- The Prophet: early inventors of cinema; included every of from showmen to scientist. who felt the need to document some phenomenon or action. 1880 and beyond. "Poetry of the ordinary"
Lumiere.
-- The explorer: Robert Flaherty, new worlds, beyond our access... Nannook of the north
"The cheerful happy go lucky  Eskimo"

-- The reporter: Dziego Vertov "Man with a Movie Camera" heavily influenced by futuris...

stressed construvtion in montage
 - The Painter - 1920s artist infiltrated film world. Interested in light and texture
cineclubs
Berlin Symphony an example.
-usually played with live music - didn't always have the same music.
"Possible birth of poetic documentary"
-- The Advocate - - John Grierson/Father of ...
Documentary has civic potential. Art as hammer.

---
Workers + Film + Photo League
Pare Lorentz - Voice of God Narration
Clip - Drifters - early 1920s

George Stoney - trying to get people to support the new deal.

The River ... respond to technical demand ..

VO narration was style...
Very few had location sound.

What wats/what aesthetic contend
Influencesthis film.