Creative Digital Media

Transcription

1 Creative Digital Media DMED H2014 Digital Video 1 Assignment 2 Essay Brief Choose one Documentary made in the 1950 s or 1960 s and one recent documentary. Write a word essay comparing and contrasting the documentary style and cinematic techniques used in both documentaries. Include also the historical significance of both films. Submission Date: 8 th November 2012 Niall O' Sullivan -

2 Introduction The aims of the Assignment To research documentary styles and techniques and to research and write about the techniques used in the chosen documentaries. Documentaries Chosen Thursday s Child Directed by Lindsay Anderson Screenplay by Guy Brenton Cinematography by Walter Lassally. & This 21 minute, black and white documentary won the Academy Award for the Best Documentary Short of The subject deals with the children at The Royal School for the Deaf in Margate, Kent. The deaf children are shown what words are through exercises and games, practicing lip-reading and finally speech. Richard Burton narrates the documentary. 2

3 Bullyproof Firebrand productions for RTE This is a three part series for RTÉ Education, where Clinical Psychologist David Coleman explores the issue of teenage bullying in Ireland. David offers his therapeutic support to a number of teens and pre-teens, and their families, who have been affected by bullying - either as a target or as a bully. and on RTE player. 3

4 Background to Documentaries What is a Documentary Film? A documentary is a factual production, one that generally incorporates interviews with the people involved with the subject and actual footage of what has taken place. (Extract from college notes.) The word documentary was first used in 1925 when John Grierson was reviewing Roberts Flaherty s film Moana for the New York Times. Grierson s observations were that cinema s potential for observing life could be used in a new art form as a creative treatment of actuality. Dziga Vertov stated that the documentary should present life as it is (life filmed), and life caught unaware (surprised by the camera). The first attempts at film making by the Lumier Brothers could be termed documentaries, with exapmples such as The Arrival of a Train at the Station (1895) and Workers Leaving the Lumiere Facotory (1895) "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station," 1895, by Auguste and Louis Lumière, YouTube 4

5 Thursday s Child Directed by Lindsay Anderson Screenplay by Guy Brenton Cinematography by Walter Lassally. This documentary won the Academy Award for the Best Documentary Short of The subject deals with the children at The Royal School for the Deaf in Margate, Kent. Of the six different documentary mode types theorist Bill Nicols identified (i.e. Poetic, Expository, Observational, Participatory, Reflexive, Performative) the director Lindsay Anderson uses the Expository Mode. Here the narrator, in this case Richard Burton, speaks directly to the viewer with a very authoritative commentary. We never see the narrator in the documentary and the use of rhetoric helps deliver the message. This commentary is sometimes known as voice-of-god. Anderson was a critic and journalist in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and became a major force in the reshaping of British cinema. As mentioned above he won the Academy award in 1954 and moved into feature film work in 1963 with This Sporting Life, If..., O Lucky Man!, and Britannia Hospital Lindsay Anderson. 5

6 The techniques used to shoot the film falls under the movement of Cinema Verite. The introduction of lightweight cameras and sound equipment in the 1950 s brought this new style which is more noted for its revealing content than technical precision or aesthetic sophistication. The documentary was made on location at The Royal School for the Deaf in Margate, Kent, where the children attended school. The teacher is recorded talking to the children during actual classes. All the people used in the documentary are real people (not actors). Only natural light was used, thereby giving little or no disruption to the activities of the class. The goal of the documentary is to show the real life reality of how the children are taught to lip read and speak even tough they are deaf. The cameras are unobtrusive, we never see them and the children and teacher never seem bothered by their presence. There is no script for the children or teacher in the documentary, they are simply going about their daily lives at school for the deaf. The goal of the documentary is truly realised by hooking the viewer in. The tone of the documentary is soft and sympathetic to the children and the music used gives empathy to the children. Other key films that are part of this movement are Chronicle of a Summer (1961), Jean Rouch and Breathless (1960), Jean-Luc Godard and Primary (1950). 6

7 Bullyproof Firebrand productions for RTE This is a three part series for RTÉ Education, where Clinical Psychologist David Coleman explores the issue of teenage bullying. He does this by working with and speaking openly on the documentary with children who have been bullied. We learn how the bulling was carried out and its effect on the children. We see the children cry as they recall the incidents and how they are trying to come to terms with what has happened to them and their self confidence. Interview scene from Bullyproof. The documentary is shot in colour, however, black and white is sometimes introduced when reconstructions are used. This black and white suggests it is an image from the persons memory. Bullyproof is shot in Participatory Mode. This Mode draws on the act of filmmaking influences or alters the events being filmed. Clinical Psychologist David Coleman interacts with the people in the documentary (the people being bullied) and the encounter between him and the subject is recorded and analysed. Mr. Coleman s actions alter and shape the people and events on the documentary. The goal of the documentary is to show how the subjects self esteem can be helped by the filmmaker and how their journey can be a healing process over the duration of the documentary. 7

8 The documentary techniques used to shoot Bullyproof would be considered part of the Direct Cinema style, this was developed and preferred by trend-setting filmmakers like Michel Brailt, Pierre Perrault, Richard Leacock, Frederick Wiseman, Albert and David Maysles. With the Direct Cinema style, the filmmakers are divided into two sections, all shoot for reality, however, those like Michael Moore enter the story and influence its outcome, while those like D.A. Pennebaker remain objective observers who watch and film as the story develops. In Bullyproof, Clinical Psychologist David Coleman definitely enters the story and influences the outcome. The Direct Cinema style involves following a person or group through an event, often a crisis. Handheld cameras are used to get up close and capture reactions as situations unfold. Scene from Bullyproof. 8

9 Digital Video 1 Summary In comparing and contrasting the two documentaries studied, the Thursday s Child documentary is unobtrusive to the real people in the documentary (the deaf children in the school), some scenes may be slightly staged, the narration is very obvious and suggestive. However, the filmmakers in general do not alter or partake in the events that unfold in the documentary. The above is in stark contrast to Bullyproof where the filmmakers enter the events and alter the outcome of the documentary to deliver their message. They interview the participants, appear on camera, offer guidance and make comments. Screen shot of David Coleman appearing in the documentary Bullyproof. 9