The Distinct Style of Documentary
Documentary
is a distinct style within the realm of cinema. However, the techniques and
tools used by filmmakers that create documentaries are the exact same tools used by filmmakers that create
fiction films. Thus, the question of what makes a documentary film distinct
from other forms of cinema must be asked.
The elements of a documentary film are the film’s characteristics, modes of documentary
filmmaking — informing logic, ethics and
voice.
It has been argued
in the past that documentary film did not possess a precise definition. However,
there is a definition that was created in the 1930’s
by John Grierson which states that documentary is the “creative treatment of
actuality” (Nichols, 2010). Bill Nicholas augments Grierson’s definition by
adding that documentary films depict reality and things that have actually occurred, real people, and tell
stories about what happens in the world (Nichols, 2010). Now that a definition
has been established, the next question is to ask whose story is being depicted, the filmmakers or the social subject’s.
In fiction films, the story is strictly the
filmmakers. In documentary film, the ownership
of a story can belong to the filmmaker, the social subject, or both. In many cases, this comes down to the informing logic
of a documentary. In the film Cameraperson
by Kirsten Johnson, she formulated her film to showcase different people and their
lives. The film transitions from observing the excitement and beauty of life to
tragedy and death. Though the film focused mostly on the lives of others, the film was formulated as a memoir of her experiences with other people.
The informing documentary logic of the film stems from the observational, participatory
and performative modes.
A documentary can be
organized into one or multiple of six modes. The modes of organization
are expository, observational, participatory, reflexive, poetic, and
performative. Each mode adheres to a specific purpose that represents viable methods of using cinematic
resources. The expository mode emphasizes verbal commentary and an
argumentative logic; observational
emphasizes a direct engagement with the everyday lives of people through an
unobtrusive camera while participatory emphasizes the interaction between the
filmmaker and the subject via interviews, conversation, and provocations. The
reflexive mode acts as a call to action for the discussion of documentary
ethics, poetic emphasizes visual associations, tonal/rhythmic qualities,
descriptive passages, as well as formal organization, and performative
emphasizes the subjective or expressive aspect of the filmmaker’s own involvement with a subject (Nichols, 2010).
The performative mode is often mistaken for the participatory mode due to the
filmmaker’s involvement with the film. Nicholas states that the difference
between the two is that the performative mode constructs subjective truths that are significant to the filmmaker
and the participatory mode constructs truths that are supposed to be evident by
the audience (Nichols, 2010).
A documentary’s ethics and methods of representation
also set this style of film apart from
fiction film. A documentary is supposed
to offer the audience a sense of recognizable familiarity of the world,
represent the interests of others, and propose an interpretation to win consent
or influence opinion (Nichols, 2010). The existence of ethics in the field of documentary was established to govern conduct over
matters where fast rules or laws will not do. Nichols states that ethics are a measure of the ways negotiations between the
filmmakers and social subject take place (Nichols, 2010). This is necessary to identify the consequences
for subjects as well as the audience. The principle of informed consent was
introduced to relay the consequences of a social subject’s actions. In addition, three formulaic approaches were
introduced to documentary photography to make sure that all parties involved in
a documentary are represented appropriately.
These approaches involve relationships that take place between the filmmaker,
social subjects, and audience. The first approach occurs when the filmmaker takes
on a persona and addresses the audience directly. This process can also occur
through a surrogate voice-of-God narrator. The filmmaker closes the gap of separation,
that is typical, between the subject and the audience. The second approach occurs
when the filmmaker speaks about the social subject to the audience. The second
approach is the most common in documentary filmmaking and can be subclassifications.
The first subclassification betrays the sense of separation than can occur between the social subject and
the audience. The film appears to be addressed
to the audience. The second subclassification puts the filmmaker on the same
level as the social subject. The specific name of this subclass is
autoethnography—the efforts of indigenous people to make films and videos about
there own culture so that they may represent it to the audience (Nichols,
2010).
Lastly, the voice of a documentary showcases a
distinctive style. Everything that the audience sees and hears represents how
the filmmaker wants to speak about the world. It derives from the director’s method
of portraying their take on reality. The
voice of a documentary has the ability to
make claims, propose perspectives and evoke feelings. Documentary voice also relies on the same cinematic film techniques
as fiction film style. The editing, sounds, the source
of footage, timeline portrayal and the mode of documentary
all play a role in documentary voice. Voice can also be divided into two categories of address; that of direct and indirect address. In regard to issues that require the debate of morally, value,
interpretation, and judgment a rhetorical method of thinking and speaking must
be used. Rhetoric must be credible, convincing and compelling. Classical
rhetoric thinking involves a films invention—the construction and argument of
the world, arrangement—gathering evidence and how it’s put in order, style—cinematic tools that the filmmaker uses to
speak to an audience, memory—the recollection of participants and interviewees
and delivery—the final result.
In conclusion, documentary
is a distinctive style that uses portrays reality using modes of documentary filmmaking—informing
logic, ethics and voice. Modes are used
to organize and represent information and subjects. Ethics are used to govern groups
in scenarios where fast rule and laws will not do. Lastly, documentary voice can be used directly or
indirectly through different methods of formulation. These methods always involve
the three-way relationship between the filmmaker, social subjects, and
audience. In regard to issues that
require debate, classical rhetoric thinking must be applied using the five divisions
of rhetoric: invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery.
Sources
Nichols, B. (2010). Introduction to documentary (2nd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
