UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Where Truth Lies: Political Documentary Film & Digital Media, 2000-2010 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8bn6d098 Author Fallon, Kris Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Where%Truth%Lies:%% Political%Documentary%Film%and%Digital%Media,%2000=2010% % % By% % % Kristopher%Damien%Fallon% % A%dissertation%submitted%in%partial%satisfaction%of%the%% % requirements%for%the%degree%of%% % Doctor%of%Philosophy%% % in% % Film%and%Media% % and%the%Designated%Emphasis%% % in%% % New%Media% % in%the%% % Graduate%Division% % of%the%% % University%of%California,%Berkeley% % % % % Committee%in%charge:% % Professor%Linda%Williams,%Chair% Professor%Kristen%Whissel% Professor%Jeffrey%Skoller% Professor%Martin%Jay% % % Spring%2013% % % Where%Truth%Lies:% % Political%Documentary%Film%and%Digital%Media,%2000=2010% % % ©2013%% by%% Kristopher%Damien%Fallon Abstract! ! Where!Truth!Lies:!Political!Documentary!Film!and!Digital!Media,!2000@2010! ! By! !! Kristopher!Damien!Fallon!! ! Doctor!of!Philosophy!in!Film!and!Media!! ! and!the!Designated!Emphasis!in!New!Media!! ! University!of!California,!Berkeley!! ! Professor!Linda!Williams,!Chair! ! Recent! scholarship! treats! the! transition! to! the! digital! format! in! documentary! film! as! a! straightforward! change! in! production! practices! or! distribution! channels,! ignoring! the! deeper!implications!of!digital!technology!for!non@fiction!moving!image!media.!!Far!from!a! simple!transition!in!the!technology!used!to!shoot!and!produce!these!films,!however,!digital! technology!has!altered,!and!been!altered!by,!documentary!film!to!a!far!greater!extent!than! any!previous!period!in!its!history.!!The!first!decade!of!the!twenty!first!century!gave!rise!to! dramatic! technological,! aesthetic! and! political! revolutions! around! the! globe,! dramatic! events!mirrored!in!the!rapid!evolution!of!documentary!form!across!the!same!time!period.!!! ! This! project! focuses! on! the! emergence! of! digital! documentary! in! the! context! of! the! ideological! shifts! and! social! conflicts! of! the! early! 21st!century.!!As!blogs,!social!networks! and! mobile! technologies! became! the! connective! tissue! of! political! dissent! and! social! mobilization!over!this!period,!these!technologies!utilized!documentary’s!unique!synthesis! of! visible! evidence! and! rhetorical! argument,! while! pushing! its! traditional! form! in! unexpected!new!directions.!In!the!polarized!climate!surrounding!contentious!events!such! as!the!war!on!terror!and!the!invasion!of!Iraq,!new!modes!of!visual!representation!became! both!viable!and!desirable.!!Data!visualization!and!virtual!environments!began!picturing!the! world! alongside,! and! even! within! feature@length! films.!! Beyond! simply! providing! visual! content! on! newly! digital! platforms,! documentary! film! now! provides! a! conceptual! framework! for! understanding! much! of! the! social! impulse! of! political! activism! today.!! Conversely,! computational! forms! of! representation! and! social! organization! radically! undermine! the! privileged! if! problematic! role! optical! media! once! claimed! in! representing! reality.!!By!identifying!the!moments!of!rupture!where!prior!forms!of!representation!and! persuasion!were!discarded!or!discredited,!I!demonstrate!that!‘truth’!now!lies!in!a!new!set! of! discursive! practices! emerging! and! coalescing! over! the! last! 10! years,! standards! which! implicitly!shape!the!documentation!of!everything!from!widespread!social!movements!like! Occupy!to!isolated,!viral!phenomena!like!the!“Kony!2012”!video.! ! ! 1! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! To#Alisa# ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! i! ! ! ! ! ! Where!Truth!Lies:!! Political!Documentary!Film!and!Digital!Media,!2000=2010! ! By!Kristopher!Damien!Fallon! ! Table!of!Contents! ! Introduction.! “Seeing!in!the!Dark”! 1! ! Chapter!1.! “We!see!what!we!want!to!believe”:!Archival!Logic!and!Database! 16! Aesthetics!in!the!War!Films!of!Errol!Morris! ! Chapter!2.! Networked!Audiences:!MoveOn.org!and!Brave!New!Films! 46! ! Chapter!3.! “‘States!of!Exception’:!The!Paradox!of!Virtual!Documentary! 74! Representation”! ! Chapter!4.!!! Technology,!Transparency!and!the!Digital!Presidency! 89! ! Conclusion! ! 126! ! End!Notes! ! 129! ! Works!Cited! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ii! ! ! List!of!Figures! ! 0.1! “Bush/Truth”!Banner!on!the!Plaza!Hotel.! 1! ! 1.1! A!soldier!scans!the!horizon!in!Fog#of#War.# 19! # 1.2! Taking!Aim.! 19! ! 1.3! ‘Over^eager’!sonar!men.! 23! ! 1.4! The!domino!theory!in!action.! 23! ! 1.5! The!Observer!and!the!Observed.! 25! and! ! ! 1.6! ! ! 1.7! Falling!Statistics.! 27! ! 1.8! Graphic!superimposition!on!Tokyo.! 28! ! 1.9! The!cloud!of!images!in!Standard#Operating#Procedure.# 39! # 1.10! The!database!of!images.! 40! ! 1.11! The!accompanying!metadata.! 40! ! 1.12! Images!compared!by!timecode.! 40! ! 1.13! Fox!News!take!on!the!‘hooded!man’!image.! 43! ! 1.14! The#Economist#Cover!featuring!the!‘hooded!man’.! 44! ! 2.1! MoveOn.org!logo.! 46! ! 2.2! ‘Fox!Attacks!’!cover!for!Outfoxed.# 46! # 2.3! Cover!for!Unprecedented.# 51! # 2.4! Cover!for!Uncovered.# 51! # 2.5! Cover!for!Unconstitutional.# 51! # 2.6^2.8! Screen!shots!from!Elinor!and!MoveOn’s!‘Host!a!Party’!on!YouTube.! 62! iii! ! ! 3.1! Photograph!of!prisoners!in!Guantanamo!Bay!Prison!Camp.! 76! ! 3.2! Screen!shot!from!Gone#Gitmo.# 76! # 3.3! Teenagers!playing!America’s#Army#at!the!Army!Experience!Center.! 84! ! 3.4! Arcade!version!of!America’s#Army.# 84! # 4.1! NYTimes.com!infographic.! 89! ! 4.2! Wordle!graphic.! 91! ! 4.3! PowerPoint!version!of!cancer!rates.! 96! ! 4.4! Tabular!version!of!cancer!rates.! 96! ! 4.5! The!initial!Recovery.gov!homepage.! 105! ! 4.6! The!more!data^driven!version.! 106! ! 4.7! Screenshot!from!The#River.# 108! # 4.8! Mapping!recovery!funds.! 108! ! 4.9! Data!‘uplift’!on!recovery.gov.! 110! ! 4.10! IED!attacks!visualized!by!The#Guardian# 123! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! iv! ! Acknowledgments! ! ! First! and! foremost! I! would! like! to! acknowledge! the! unflagging! guidance! and! inspiration!of!my!chair,!Linda!Williams,!for!her!insight!and!input!on!the!overall!shape!and! direction! of! the! dissertation.! ! Her! ability! to! provide! frank! but! supportive! feedback! on! innumerable! drafts! and! her! repeated! injunctions! to! “make! it! exciting”! and! “keep! going”! both!pushed!this!text!far!beyond!what!it!would!have!been!without!her.!!Her!dedication!to! her!students,!her!energetic!enthusiasm!for!the!field!and!her!generous!engagement!with!my! work! provide! an! excellent! example! on! which! I! can! only! hope! to! base! my! career! going! forward.!!! One!of!the!privileges!of!completing!this!project!at!Berkeley!was!the!opportunity!to! create! a! “dream! team”! of! world! class! scholars! with! specialties! in! its! various! sub^topics:! digital!media,!documentary!film!and!visual!culture,!and!I!am!humbly!indebted!to!Kristen! Whissel,!Jeffrey!Skoller!and!Martin!Jay!for!being!that!team.!!Kristen’s!ability!to!read!at!the! level! of! style! and! syntax! while! keeping! an! eye! on! larger! theoretical! questions! was! invaluable! for! the! dissertation,! and! her! professional! guidance! and! input! as! Graduate! Advisor! provided! much! needed! sanity! and! clarity! in! the! various! stages! of! my! graduate! career.!!Jeffrey’s!ability!to!combine!theory!and!praxis!with!a!passion!for!the!medium!and!a! catalogic!knowledge!of!the!field!of!documentary!and!experimental!film!provided!essential! links!in!my!thinking,!as!did!our!many!spirited!debates!of!the!relative!merits!of!the!various! works! I! discuss! here.! ! And! finally,! Martin’s! unparalleled! knowledge! of! critical! and! visual! theory! as! well! as! his! seminars! on! historiography! and! photography! were! of! enormous! benefit!in!placing!my!study!in!touch!with!a!wider!field!of!discussion.!! Anton!Kaes’!early!seminar!on!German!Documentary!and!his!creative!and!capacious! approach!to!my!exam!field!on!the!history!of!political!documentary!both!shaped!this!project! in!formative!ways.!!Christiane!Paul’s!seminar!on!the!history!and!theory!of!new!media!and! her! assistance! on! a! presentation! at! the! Leanardo! Big! Bang! helped! enormously! with! incorporating! digital! media! into! my! work.! ! Special! thanks! also! go! to! Ken! Goldberg! for! providing!endless!research!and!teaching!opportunities!for!me!across!his!amazing!array!of! projects.! ! The! “Art,! Technology! and! Culture”! colloquium! and! seminar! have! provided! a! fertile!ground!of!ideas!for!the!last!five!years,!as!did!the!course!we!co^taught!with!Hubert! Dreyfus! on! Heidegger! and! Technology.! ! The! opportunity! to! participate! in! the! Rashomon! Project!and!the!Data!&!Democracy!Initiative!offered!essential!hands!on!experience!mixing! politics! and! technology,! as! did! our! collaboration! for!the! Arts! Research! Center! fellowship! where!key!parts!of!Chapter!4!were!completed!and!presented.!!Ken’s!willingness!to!invite!a! soft^headed!humanist!along!for!the!ride!speaks!to!the!depth!of!his!support!for!my!work.! For!the!last!seven!years!the!Berkeley!Center!for!New!Media!has!been!a!home!away! from!home,!and!I!am!deeply!grateful!for!both!the!work!space!it!has!provided!as!well!as!the! invaluable! community! of! scholars! it! has! assembled,! all! of! whom! provided! insight! and! inspiration! in! one! way! or! another,! including! Reggie! Royston,! Caitlin! Marshall,!