THE DOCUMENTARY English 40S Transactional Class #1.

THE DOCUMENTARY

English 40S TransactionalClass #1

The Documentary

I don't know what truth is. Truth is something unattainable. We can't think we're creating truth with a camera. But what we can do, is reveal something to viewers that allows them to discover their own truth.

—Michel Brault

Class #1 – Objectives

What is a documentary? What are the elements (different parts)

of documentaries? What are the different types of

documentaries?

Discussion

What is a documentary? (provide a definition)

What are some documentaries you have seen? (not just the ones you have heard of)

What are the qualities or parts of a documentary? In other words, what makes a documentary a documentary?

What are the different types of documentaries?

What is the purpose of a documentary? Why do people make them?

What is Documentary?

Usually come with a label i.e. They say that they are a documentary

Expectation that the people/events/places were or are real

Factual information about the world

“Film Art: An Introduction” – pp. 350-351

Types of Documentaries

Expository Poetic Observational Participatory Reflexive Performative

Compilation Direct Cinema

(Cinema-Verite) Categorical Rhetorical

DOCUMENTARY FILM HISTORY


Class #2 Objectives

Where did the documentary come from? How has the documentary evolved over

the years?

Documentary Film History

Recall: The documentary is based on the idea of

‘documenting’ reality in one way or another This genre is constantly changing

http://documentaryarchive.com/documentary_history.html


Photography & Cinema

How exactly is a film made?

Chronological History

Pre-1900 The term documentary was used to refer to

any works of non-fiction film Travelogues Instructional films

The earliest ‘moving pictures’ were considered documentaries Single-shot moments captured on film Called ‘actuality’ films



The invention of photography in 1826 launched a series of discoveries that made cinema possible.

Early photographs – lengthy exposures 1870s – faster exposures, but only on glass

plates 1878 – Eadweard Muybridge (American

photographer) Made a series of photographs of a running horse by

using a series of cameras

“Film Art, An Introduction” p. 463

Eadweard Muybridge

'Muybridge and Athlete' Taken as part of a motion sequence at Pennsylvania University. © Kingston Museum and Heritage Service, 2010

http://www.eadweardmuybridge.co.uk/muybridge_image_and_context/introducing_muybridge/

Eadweard Muybridge

'Horse. (Occident) trot with sulky' An early image with painted areas to improve clarity.© Kingston Museum and Heritage Service, 2010

http://www.eadweardmuybridge.co.uk/muybridge_image_and_context/animal_in_motion/

Meet the Art – Eadweard Muybridge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYKZif9ooxs




1882 Etienne-Jules Marey

Not a photographer, but a physiologist (interested in the movement of the human body)

invented a camera that recorded 12 separate images on the edge of a revolving disc of film on glass

1888 – built first camera to use flexible strip of film on paper


Etienne-Jules Marey

http://www.exeter.ac.uk/bdc/young_bdc/movingpics/movingpics6.htm#

Edison vs. Lumière

1893 – “Edison Manufacturing Company in America” developed a camera that made short 35mm

films Kinetoscope – could show films to individual

viewers Thought that films were not going to last, so

they did not develop a way to show these films to more than one viewer


The Kinetoscope

http://www.malagent.com/archives/1408/kinetoscope

The Kinetoscope

http://reflexions.ulg.ac.be/cms/c_24658/kinetoscope

Kinetoscope Films

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmZ4VPmhAkw



Edison vs. Lumière

Invented their own camera independently Exposed a short roll of 35mm film and also

served as a projector December 28, 1895 – presented their film

on a screen at the Grand Café in Paris Edison followed their lead and abandoned

the Kinetoscope

“Film Art, An Introduction”

Lumière Brothers

Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlb3XKjn

ZkE L’Arroseur arrose

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlbiNuT7EDI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlb3XKjnZkE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlb3XKjnZkE



Méliès, Magic, and Fictional Narrative

Georges Méliès Stage magician by trade 1896 – built his own camera based on a projector

that he had bought First films were of everyday life Built elaborate settings to create fantasy worlds 1902 – Trip to the moon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYRemE9Oeso&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1

2011 – Hugo (trailer) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR-kP-olcpM




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR-kP-olcpM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR-kP-olcpM

1900-1920

Travelogue films ‘scenics’

In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914) Embraced primitivism and exoticism http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ithkKCpB

YlA South (1919)

Documentary about the failed Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton in 1914


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ithkKCpBYlA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ithkKCpBYlA

1920s

Romanticism Documentary film embraced romanticism Robert J. Flaherty’s Nanook of the North

(1922) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaDVovGjNO

c&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1 Heavily staged

Harpoons instead of guns Building a roofless igloo


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaDVovGjNOc&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaDVovGjNOc&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1

1920s

The city symphony Tend to feature people as products of their

environment Berlin, Symphony of a City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYKu5zegpfc&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1

Rien que les Heures Man with the Movie Camera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00ZciIC4JPw






1920s

Newsreel tradition Sometimes staged Usually re-enactments of events that had

already happened Battle footage – cameramen would arrive after

a major battle and re-enact scenes to film them


1920s

“Cinema truth” Dziga Vertov

Believed the camera could render reality more accurately than the human eye

Varied lenses Shot editing Time-lapse Slow motion Stop motion Fast motion


1930s-1940s: wartime propaganda

Leni Riefenstahl’s “Triumph of the Will” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHs2coAzLJ8

Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight” (US) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm3GsSWKys

o&feature=fvst Grierson, Film Board of Canada

http://www.nfb.ca/film/grierson (documentary on Grierson – 57 minutes)

Humphrey Jennings “ Fires were Started” and “A Diary for Timothy” (Britain) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UuaJPGee20


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHs2coAzLJ8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm3GsSWKyso&feature=fvst

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm3GsSWKyso&feature=fvst

http://www.nfb.ca/film/grierson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UuaJPGee20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UuaJPGee20

1950s – 1970s

“Cinema Truth” French “Cinema Verite” Contains little of the Vertovian special

techniques Shooting on location Smaller crews Using smaller cameras – better able to follow

‘action’ as it happens Les Raquetteurs, Showman, Salesman, The Children

Were Watching, Primary, Behind a Presidential Crisis, Grey Gardens


1950s – 1970s

“Direct Cinema” North American

Important Directors who use this technique include: French Canadian Michel Brault, Pierre Perrault, Americans Richard Leacock, Frederick Wiseman, and Albert and David Maysles

Take different viewpoints on their degree of involvement Non-involvement Direct involvment Provocation

Following a person during a crisis with a moving camera to capture more personal reactions

No sit-down interviews Usually an 80:1 shooting ratio


1950s – 1970s

Political weapons Used as a political weapon against

neocolonialism and capatialism (Latin America, Quebec) La Hora de los hornos (The Hour of the Furnaces,

1968)


Modern Documentaries

Becoming more successful in theatres Bowling for Columbine Super Size Me Fahrenheit 9/11 ($228 million, 3 million

DVDs) March of the Penguins An Inconvenient Truth


Modern Documentaries

Style has changed Stylized re-enactments (The Thin Blue Line) More interpretive control in the hands of

the director (Roger and Me) Commercial success (can they really be

called documentaries … ‘docu-ganda’) Funding still remains difficult


Other Documentary Forms

Compilation films “The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty” (1927)

by Esfir Schub “Point of Order” (1964) by Emile de Antonio “The Atomic Café” “The Last Cigarette”


FILM THEORY & TERMINOLOGY


Objectives

Range of tonalities Speed of motion Perspective Framing Creative decisions in camera/filming

techniques

KWL

K W L

Cinematography

“writing in movement” Depends on a large part to photography

The Range of Tonalities

Contrast The difference

between the darkest and lightest areas of the frame

Eyes are highly sensitive to differences of colour, shape, texture, and other aspects of a picture

http://www.danheller.com/images/Europe/Ireland/Leinster/Dublin/Bw/img1.html

Contrast

Many factors are used to control contrast: Lighting Filters Choice of film Laboratory processing Post-production work

Exposure

Exposure regulates how much light passes through the camera lens.

Sometimes you may want an unbalanced exposure Underexposure – shadowy Overexposure – bright Exposure can be affected by filters

Be careful if you use i-Movie

Changing Tonality after Filming Tonalities can be manipulated after

filming Tinting

Works on film that has been already developed Dark areas remain black and gray, while the

lighter areas pick up the colour of the tint Toning

Works on film during developing Darker areas are coloured, while lighter

portions remain white or only faintly coloured

Speed of Motion

The speed of the motion presented onscreen depends on the relation between the rate at which the film was shot and the rate of projection. Calculated in frames per second 1920s – 24 frames per second (fps)

Jerky movements Today – anywhere between 8 and 64 fps

Speed of Motion

Fast-motion Koyaanisquatsi by Godfrey Reggio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY4L5npPdao Supernatural Hectic pace Grab attention Accelerate the pace

Slow-motion Often functions to suggest that the action takes place

in a dream or fantasy To show enormous power For emphasis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY4L5npPdao

Speed of Motion

Time-lapse Sun set Flower sprouting Hundreds or thousands of frames per

second http://vimeo.com/22439234

http://vimeo.com/22439234

Perspective

The short-focal-length (wide-angle) lens Less than 35mm gauge Takes in a relatively wide field of view Distorts the edges of the frame, budging them

outward The middle-focal-length (medium) lens

50 mm Horizontal and vertical lines are rendered as straight

and perpendicular The long-focal-length (telephoto) lens

Take in a narrower angle of vision 100mm (+) often for sporting events

Depth of Field

Every lens has a specific depth of field – a range of distances within which objects can be photographed in sharp focus, given a certain exposure setting

If you are outside of the depth of field – the image will be out of focus!

Important to know the controls on the device in which you are using.

Framing

One of the most powerful cinematographic techniques

Think back to the Lumiere film The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station (1897) Oblique angle resulting in a dynamic composition

Shows that camera position shapes the way we perceive the filmed event

The act of framing has many implications The size and shape of the frame matter Framing creates a vantage point Framing can move in relation to what it films

Aspect Ratio

The ratio of the frame width to frame height is called the aspect ratio. An image that is twice as wide as it is high

is said to be in a 2:1 ratio. Academy ratio = 1.37:1 (common until

1950s) Aspect ratio = 1.85:1 (North American

ratio) Aspect ratio = 1.66:1 (European ratio) Aspect ratio = 2.2:1 (70mm widescreen)

Camera Angle

The frame positions us at some angle on the subject Straight-on angle High angle Low angle

Camera Level

Level – more or less parallel to the horizon

Canted – if the framing is tipped to one side or the other Also called a “Dutch angle” Can create a disruptive feeling

Camera Height

Height is related to camera angle. but if the angle is kept straight, you

crouching to take a shot will have a different composition than standing to take it.

Camera Distance

Extreme long shot Human figure is lost or tiny

Long shot Figures are more prominent, but the

background still dominates Medium Long Shot

Knees up Medium Shot

Waist up

Camera Distance

Medium close-up Chest up

Close-up Just the head, hands, feet, or a small object Emphasizes the facial expression, the

details of a gesture, or a significant object Extreme close-up

Singles out a portion of the face or isolates and magnifies an object

Mobile Framing

Allows the filmmaker to change the camera angle, level, height, or distance during the shot.

Aka camera movement Panning – moving from left to right or vice versa.

The camera itself does not move. Tilt – rotating up or down Tracking or Dolly shot Crane shot

Camera moves above ground level (elevator, plane) Zoom

Mobile Framing

Why? Can increase information about an image New information is revealed Greater value As a substitute for our movement Powerful cues

Assignment

Camera Shots and Film Composition Assignment See handout

METHODS OF PERSUASION


Objectives

Ethos, pathos and logos What are they? Constructing an effective argument using

these three methods of persuasion Identify these methods in film clips How can they be used in documentaries? Explain how they can work together to form

a strong argument

Methods of Persuasion

Ethos, Pathos, Logos Ancient Greek study of “Logic”

Used all the time & everywhere! Television Print media

Many advertisements use all three methods

Also used in documentaries

Logos

Logic Facts Reason Rationality Almost an academic approach People need factual reasons why they

should belive your argument Cite: Charts, data, graphs, etc.

Ethos

Credibility & Trust Quotes The power of authority on your side Not necessarily rationality Cite: Famous people, Dr’s, judges, etc Have some power because of their ‘status’

in society

Pathos

Pity/Emotion/Imagination If your argument can not appeal to logos

or ethos, you can still use pathos as a means of winning your argument Appeal to senses Appeal to memory Appeal to a common experience

More of a poetic way to get people on your side

Cite the underdog, those who have it bad

Let’s try out these methods

Working in small groups, design the arguments that would be used in a tv commercial to sell knives. How would you appeal to logos? How would you appeal to pathos? How would you appeal to ethos?

Identifying Ethos, Pathos & Logos in Print Media

Using the computer, locate 2 news articles and print them. Identify characteristics of ethos, pathos, and logos in each one using the handout provided. You may jot down words, phrases, or whole sentences. Then answer the questions that follow in your handout.

THE POWER OF PERSUASION


Objectives

introduce and discuss methods of ethos, pathos, and logos in creating an effective argument

identify methods of ethos, pathos, and logos in film clips

explain how these three main styles of persuasion are used in documentary films

explain how these three forms of persuasion can work together to create a strong point of view

determine a director's intent and purpose for filming

observe how persuasion is used in documentaries

Parts of a Documentary

Visual Track Audio Track Text Track

RESEARCH

English 40S TransactionalClass #6 & #7

Objectives

be familiar with researching techniques using the Winnipeg Public Library search engine

understand what type of information is 'credible'

be able to collect a variety of sources of information (not just websites)

Be able to follow APA formatting guidelines

English 40S - Transactional

Formatting Guidelines (APA)

Cover Page

First page No page number Title (creative) – centre of page – size

20 font Your name – underneath title My Name (Barbara Reimer),

Transactional English 40S, Date – all in lower right hand corner (single spaced)

Body

1” margins Title – upper left corner Page # - upper right corner (cover page does

not count as page 1) double line spacing Headings for each section – be creative!!

Can be in bold – left hand side In-text citations (quotations, paraphrases) –

just put page # in brackets (24).

In-Text Citations

Must include the author and date of the sources, either within the sentence or in parentheses. According to a 2002 essay by Patrick

Marshall … According to a recent essay by Patrick

Marshall (2002) … According to a recent essay (Marshall,

2002) …

In-Text Citations

Place the author’s last name and the date of the work in parentheses. If you site a specific part, give the page number. Gene therapy holds great promise for the

future (Gormann, 2003, p. 48).

References

Title – References – at the top of the page – centre, bold

APA formatting: Author’s last name, Initials. (year). Book

Title. Location: Publisher.

Integrating Quotations

Never have a quotation standing alone as a complete sentence, or worse, as in incomplete sentence!

If a quotation is not connected by one of your own sentences, it will seem disconnected from your thoughts and from the flow of your sentences.

Short Quotations

There are three ways to integrate short quotations: Introduce the quotation with a complete

sentence and a colon. Use an introductory or explanatory phrase, but

not a complete sentence, separated from the quotation with a comma.

Use short quotations (only a few words) as part of your sentence.

Complete sentence/colon

In “The Most Dangerous Game,” Rainsford realizes that no one aboard the yacht realizes his situation, and that they will not rescue him: “The lights of the yacht became faint and ever-vanishing fireflies; then they were blotted out entirely by the night.”

Phrase/comma

According to Thoreau, “We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us.”

Punctuating Quotations

Periods and commas should be placed INSIDE the quotation marks.

Colons and semicolons should stay OUTSIDE the quotation marks.

Cite information using APA formatting (which we will discuss tomorrow).

Do not change the grammar in the quotation.

Punctuating Quotations

Do not quote more than you need. Use [ ] to indicate changes to a quote

(for example, adding in a word or changing the form of a word).

Use ellipses (…) to indicate missing parts of a quotation

Winnipeg Public Library

http://support.epnet.com/training/flash_videos/intro_to_ehost/intro_to_ehost.html



PREPRODUCTION


Objectives

be familiar with the purpose of a storyboard

have experience using a storyboard for a short film or documentary

be familiar with the purpose of a treatment

create a treatment for a short film or documentary

Video Proposal Form

Type of video Topic Length Title (tentative) Content Summary

(brief) Rationale:

Purpose Audience

Locations Actors Script Audio Graphics Other

Treatment & Plot Explanation Begin your treatment with a short

description of the project (this can be done in a few sentences). Then include a more in depth plot description (a few paragraphs).

Include a description of all of the necessary materials you will need for each of the different scenes.

include a listing of all of the necessary items for each of the characters (clothing, makeup, props, hair, etc).

Plot Graph

Exposition

Conflict

Climax

Resolution

What is a storyboard?

A storyboard is a sketch of how to organize a story and of the shots you want to take for your film

Example

http://accad.osu.edu/womenandtech/Storyboard%20Resource/

Storyboard Template

WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER


Objectives

Learn to use Movie Maker Without wanting to throw your computer!

HAVE FUN!!

The Basics

Importing your video clips Importing your audio Arranging your clips Modifying your clips Inserting transitions Modifying audio HAVE FUN!!!

THE DOCUMENTARY English 40S Transactional Class #1.

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