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General Considerations General considerations Documentary is not reality. Documentary films are constructions: Building blocks: Scenes. Director: Creates shapes and forms. Arquitect? Filmmakers create a time experience. A basic aspect is how time lives and passes in your film. Time as a structural element. General considerations John Grierson (the father of documentary) defined documentary as: CREATIVE TREATMENT OF ACTUALITY. You are a director, a subjectivity. Not a camera. You are not there to record reality. Interpreting reality is key. Types of Documentaries Expository Documentaries – aims to persuade and inform, often through “Voice of God” narration. EX: The City (Ralph Steiner, WilliardVan Dyke, 1939) https://archive.org/details/0545_City_The Observational Documentaries – “simply” observes the world EX: Edificio España (Victor Moreno, 2012) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEIv2cYiIK4 EX: Nice Time (Alain Tanner, Claud Goretta, 1957) Reflexive Documentaries – includes the filmmaker but focuses solely on the act of making the film. EX: Chronicle of a Summer (Jean Rouch, 1960) https://mubi.com/es/films/chronicle-of-a-summer/trailer Types of Documentaries Poetic Documentaries – focuses on experiences and images to create a feeling rather than a truth. EX: Rain (Joris Ivens, 1929) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNNI7knvh8o Participatory Documentaries – includes the filmmaker who influences the major actions of the narrative. EX: The Lift (Marc Isaac, 2001) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJNAvyLCTik Performative Documentaries – Performative subjects (Unmade Beds) or the “Michael Moore” style that put the filmmaker as central performer in the film. EX: Unmade Beds (Nicholas Barker, 1997) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqOrER1mQ9o EX: The Leader, His Driver and The Driver’s Wife (Nick Broomfield, 1991) - {Eugène Terre'Blanche} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJy9MuYcIBM&feature=emb_logo What is a creative documentary? By Noé Mendelle Telling a story with reality that involves emotions rather than information. Ex: Diary (Tim Heatherington, 2010) https://www.artforum.com/video/tim-hetherington-diary-2010-28040 We remember in different ways but the more we experience the more we remember. EX: Maria’s Way (Anne Milne) https://vimeo.com/31699881 What is a creative documentary? Compelling story. Compelling characters. Compelling situation. Unique access. Compelling ways of telling the story. TOPICS DO NOT MAKE STORIES! What makes a creative doc? creating layers Idea characters research storylines story What is a creative documentary? MAKE A PLAN: • Create an outline. • Think about how you are going to tell the story. • Ask yourself what are the core story points. • What are the aspects of your story that makes you tingle with intrigue. • Make choices along the way…And question them! RESEARCH: • When researching dig and dig until you find something at an universal level: Spend time with characters; with the situation or the world you are entering. BEFORE FILMING: • Create a shot list (i.e. moments that will happen; moments that could happen; moments that you wish will happen) • Anticipate what it might happen. For each possibility you need to think how you will react to it. Be Ready to the Unexpected …And try to incorporate it creatively. EX: I Shot the Mayor (or: Plan B) (Astrid Bussink, 2007) https://vimeo.com/458167652 pw: stories2020 City Symphonies Characteristic of 1920s and 1930s. Related to avant-garde movements: Surrealism, Futurism. Also known as City Films or City Poems. Metropolis and urban societies are the subjects and protagonists. City Symphonies Some Examples Manhatta (Paul Strand,1921) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qduvk4zu_hs Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (Walter Ruttman,1927) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY5GdeqOkfc&t=366s The Man with the Movie Camera (DzigaVertov, 1929) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtTlgxtoqhg https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21992b La Ciudad Oculta (Victor Moreno, 2018) A symphony of the underground. https://www.documentamadrid.com/peliculas/la-ciudad-oculta Other examples: https://mubi.com/es/lists/city-symphonies Other Examples The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (Chad Freidrichs, 2011) http://www.pruitt-igoe.com The Parking Lot Movie (Meghan Eckman, 2010) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSvZXidLJ3U&feature=emb_logo Highrise (Katerina Cizek, 2010) (Multimedia collaborative documentary) http://highrise.nfb.ca Edificio Master (Eduardo Coutinho, 2002) https://limagris.com/edificio-master-2002-eduardo-coutinho/ What’s the time in Vyborg? (Liisa Roberts, 2001-2004) https://ateneum.fi/tapahtumat/film-screening-whats-the-time-in-vyborg/?lang=en Yumen (Xu Ruotao, Huang Xiang, J.P. Sniadecki, 2013) https://vimeo.com/64248671.
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