Wk 8 – What is documentary?

WK 8 – “What is documentary?: culture and organization”- SG2051

News and SocietyDr. Carolina MatosLecturer in Media and CommunicationsDepartment of SociologyCity University London

Readings for week 8 • Required:• Kilborn, Richard and Izod, John (1997) “Mapping the Terrain: What is

Documentary?” in An Introduction to Television Documentary: Confronting Reality, Manchester University Press

• Nichols, Bill (2001) “How Can We Define Documentary Film?” in Introduction to Documentary, Indiana University Press, 1- 42

• Additional:• Chaney, David and Pickering, Michael (1986) “ Authorship in Documentary:

Sociology as an Art Form in Mass Observation” in Corner, John (ed.) Documentary and the Mass Media, London: Arnold, 29-41

• Creeber, Glen, Miller, Toby and Tulloch, J. (eds.) (2008) The Television Studies Genre Book, BFI, see sections on “news” and “documentary”

• Nichols, B. (2001) “How have documentaries addressed social and political issues?” in Introduction to Documentary, Indiana University Press

Key themes• News versus documentary• What is documentary: definitions and ambiguities• Documentary as an intervention in social and political

issues• British television: the PSB tradition and quality

journalism (and documentary)• Mapping the documentary terrain • Case studies: Herzog’s Grizzly Man and Supersize Me• Conclusions• Essay questions• Seminar activities• Readings for week 9

Images of news and documentary

News versus documentary: questions asked

• What are the differences between news and documentary? • Why do people watch documentaries? • Is documentary a “higher art form” than news, and is it somewhere

in between news and film? • How can we define documentaries? • What are the similarities with news? And film?• Can documentaries engage better with social and political issues than

news, or even films? • Is documentary a more “objective” representation of reality? • Can documentary borrow from fiction, and can “real” events be

fictionalised and dramatized? • How has the medium of television and new technologies shaped the

development of the documentary form?

Mapping out the terrain: what is documentary? (Kilborn and Izod, 1997)

• “One of its most important tasks is to tell us something about the workings of the socio-historical world. The task of the documentarist is not only to record reality but also to give the recorded material a form…..The documentarist collects, frames and edits the material in such a way as to change it from a mere record of actuality into a form which we can refer to as ‘documentary discourse.’”

• Documentaries can never be more than a representation or an interpretation of events and issues in the real world.

• “…for all their claims to present the world as it is and their attempts to engage the attention of their audiences by the force of their argument, documentaries can never attain the level of objectivity to which they sometimes aspire to.”

• Viewers are inclined to believe in the truthfulness of the account, but they also are aware that what is offered comes from a particular perspective.

Documentary: some definitions and challenges

• The dictionary definition tends to highlight the idea of any account, presentation or performance that mobilises visual or verbal evidence to chronicle an event (Kilborn and Izod, 1997).

• Golden Age of Documentaries has taken off since the 1980’s - As Nichols (2001, 2010) has argued, an “abundance of films has breathed new life into an old form and prompted serious thought about how to define this type of filmmaking.”

• Why are we discussing documentary?:• According to Nichols (2001), at a time when the major media

recycle the same stories on the same subjects, risking little in innovation, being at the mercy of sponsors with their own political agendas, “it is the independent documentary film that has brought a fresh eye to the events of the world and told stories….that broaden and awaken new possibilities.”

Mapping out the terrain: what is documentary? (Kilborn and Izod, 1997)

• Documentary is traditionally associated with having a special social function

• Definition of documentary first proposed in the 1930’s: • The term “documentary” was first coined in 1926 by John Grierson,

Documentary was seen as “the creative treatment of actuality”• For John Grierson, the primary function of documentary was to

allow the citizen to become involved in the general social process. Some believed that these type of films should heighten viewer’s social and political awareness.

• Two tendencies in documentary: the actuality component, where the text is claiming our attention on the strength of its ability to reproduce or represent events which have occurred in the external world and the creative component.

• Documentary can thus be applied to a 30 min piece of investigative reportage, TV or a full length feature film (i.e. Grizzly Man)

Development of documentary and issues of authorship

• The “classic documentary” style: • Chaney and Pickering (1986) have referred to Gustav Klause, who

identified five basic components of the documentary of the 1930’s: • Among them were an emphasis on the ordinary rather than

extraordinary people; a concern with social conditions, but treated in mainly an apolitical way; a focus upon the factual and a populist orientation towards what some might call a sociology from below

• Author-audience tensions: • As the authors also point out, the ideology of authorship, which is

committed to some form of social command, is also confronted with problems in attempting to respond to the anonymity of a “mass audience”

• Film Studies has tended to regard documentary film as being a “realism” text, one which is linked to particular political and social intentions

Origins and development of the documentary (in Nichols, 2001)

• Documentary has developed into many different styles since the 1920’s

• Different regions have different documentary traditions and styles, including European and Latin American styles of documentary

• I.e. Luis Bunel’s Land without Bread (1933), Soviet Union documentaries of the 1930’s

• British and North American filmmakers for instance have tended to place more emphasis on “objective” and observational forms

• British documentary movement of the 1930’s; Free Cinema of the 1950’s.

• Digital technologies have made it possible to manipulate, transform and distort any recorded image. Digital technology can permit the integration of different sources, or introduce computer-generated images into traditional modes of filming.

Grierson’s Night Mail (1936)

• (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_oekWnniDU)

Origins and development of the documentary (in Nichols, 2001)

• The 1960s saw a period where documentaries developed a far more participatory approach, signifying a break with the documentary styles of the 30’s to the 50’s

• I.e. Introduction in the 1960’s of light-weight, hand-held cameras • In the 1970’s and 1980’s, documentary looked at the past and

used archival film material and interviews to give a new perspective on past events

• I.e. De Antonio combined a variety of archival source material with interviews to recount the background to the Vietnam war which was at odds with the American government’s official version.

• Another successful documentary which has explored this period has been The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, 2009)

BBC and the documentary tradition• As Kilborn and Izod (1997) underline, the history of documentary

since the late 1940s is closely associated with the development of TV, and some of the more interesting developments in the documentary category have been attributed to the new styles and genres of television programming in their quest to increase audience share

• Public television in the UK:• BBC model has been recognised for its success in managing to blend

both serious information with entertainment. • Links between documentary and broadcast journalism: • Documentaries have often been regarded as an antidote to the more

entertainment-oriented part of TV, a type of programming on par with broadcast journalism

• Documentary has not entirely shaken off its reputation of being a serious but “boring” form of programming, which is why traditional forms of documentary are not given high priority on TV schedules

Documentary tradition in the UK and PSB (in Matos, 2012 and Creeber et al, 2001)

• As Creeber et al (2001) have noted, documentary in the UK was supported by the long and distinguished tradition of PSB

• Documentary was inserted in the discussion since the 1990’s about the future for PSB in an increasingly commercialised broadcasting environment

• The emergence of forms such as reality TV, docu-soap and docu-drama seemed to pose a “threat” to the more “serious” socially and politically inclined classic documentaries

• Popular TV genres versus “hard news” and documentary:• The genres associated to entertainment (i.e. talk-shows, sit-coms, fantasy,

sci-fi, see Table 1) have an advantage over the ‘serious’ television material (i.e. historical narratives, documentaries and in depth reporting).

What constitutes “quality programming” and to whom? (in Matos, 2012)

• Documentaries have been part of a tradition of “quality” programming:

• There are difficulties when one wants to establish the boundaries between ‘elite’ and ‘popular’ culture, and a lot of anxiety on how to provide ‘quality culture’ for a mainstream audience without ‘boring’ them.

• As Bignell and Orleber (2005) note, there is a lot of controversy amongst academics and professionals on how to judge quality. Critics have defined it differently (Brusdon, 1997:134-6), either referring to the public service function or to aesthetic criteria, professional expertise to ‘experimentation’.

• Different understanding of what “quality” is according to ideological positions:

• “Thus for conservative market liberals, ‘quality’ is judged by ratings. The popularity of a programme can be seen as already an indication that the programme has quality, whereas public sphere liberals and others understand ‘quality’ as being associated with…impartiality.., high production costs.., accurate information and/or challenging…texts”.

Documentary: genre and style• Documentary can also be used in the adjective sense: “the film used

some very innovative documentary techniques.” (Kilborn and Izod, 1997).

• Documentary as non-fiction?:• Documentary can also be seen as genre, much like the western or the

science-fiction film. • Documentary films can make use of a variety of fictional and

dramatic techniques. Some have even argued that all documentaries are to a certain extent a fictional construction

• What are the generic features of documentary?:• As Dai Vaughan has argued, it has proved difficult to define

documentary due to its shifting stylistic practices because the term “documentary” describes a mode of response to film material.

• Documentaries have thus been broken down into sub-genres

Documentary sub-genres and modes • There is no general accepted view as to whether documentary can be

seen as a genre. These have included the natural history documentary and docu-drama

• Nichols talks about six modes of documentary, which are: • 1) Poetic – Emphasises visual associations and rhythmic qualities,

and bears a close proximity with experimental and avant-garde filmmaking (i.e. Night and Fog (1955); Grizzly Man (2006).

• 2) Expository mode – Verbal commentary and an argumentative logic, which is the mode that most people associate with what a documentary is about (I.e. Trance and Dance in Bali (1952)

• 3) Observational mode - Engages with the everyday life of subjects through an unobtrusive camera (i.e. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004).

• 4) Participatory mode – Emphasises the interaction between film-maker and the subject (i.e. Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room (2003).

Six modes of documentary and impact of new technologies

• 5) Reflexive mode – Calls attention to the conventions that govern documentary filmmaking, increasing our awareness of how the text represents reality (i.e. Land without Bread (1933)

• 6) Performative mode – Emphasises the subjective aspect of the filmmaker’s own involvement, rejecting notions of objectivity (i.e. Waltz with Bashir (2008).

• There can be a mixing of modes, and practitioners can also make experimental or fiction films (i.e. Blair Witch Project, 1999)

• New technologies and increasing commercialization of television has also had an impact on the documentary, with documentaries adapting to new trends and also being influenced by the demands of the market

• Oscar runners since the mid-1980’s have given impulse to the documentary as a popular and compelling form

• (i.e. The Times of Harvey Milk (1984); Down and Out in America (1986).

Style and mode: some examples

Authorship and the voice of the film-makers

• Narration in documentary versus realism:• Many documentaries rely on the voice of the film-maker, speaking

directly to the viewer on what he has learned and seen, and thus interpreting the images for the audience and giving them meaning

• Documentaries, like news, also include a selection of shots, editing, choices made on who to interview and who not to (sources), the mixing of sounds, not to mention a use of a series of technology devices, including computer-generated images and the juxtaposition of scenes

• Between fiction and fact? - tensions between “creative treatment” and “actuality”

• We hear the spoken voices of film-makers in Supersize Me (2004), Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) and Sicko (2007), as well as Herzog’s Grizzly Man (2006), which is a documentary done on top of someone else’s footage.

Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me• Supersize Me is an American documentary directed by and starring

Morgan Spurlock. It follows a 30 day period (February to March, 2003) during which he ate only McDonald’s food.

• It opened in the US in 2004, and grossed a total of $ 20.641.054 worldwide, making it the 12th highest-grossing documentary film of all time.

• Some questions: • Can Supersize Me be seen as a “classic documentary”? Does it

resemble more a film? Why? What are some of its “documentary elements”? What is its style and narrative? Does it explore well a current contemporary social issue (i.e. the health of the population and the negative impact of fast food)?

Issues of ideology , authorship and “fiction” in documentaries

• Documentaries capture images of people and events that belong to our current world rather than present characters and actions which are invented in the imagery world of fiction

• Blurring of the boundaries between fact and fiction: • Nonetheless, fiction films sometimes also claim to be about “real”

people, and dramatize “true life events”• A more accurate account of what documentaries are would

emphasise that they are about real people who do not play roles• However, in Grizzly Man for instance, Timothy was a former actor,

and some of the people who were interviewed seemed to be playing a part

• When documentaries tell stories, whose story is it? The film-maker’s, or the subject of the documentary? What is the “ideology” behind the documentary? What is it trying to convince us about?

Herzog: authorship and documentaries• Why is Grizzly Man an interesting case to look at?• Ambiguities over authorship (Timothy’s footage or Herzog’s point

of view?)• Does Herzog intervene in reality? To what extent does his narration

contribute to give meaning to the images that are being presented? Is it possible to call this a “documentary”? What are some of the features that make it be classified as a “documentary”?

• Facts and figures: • Werner Herzog is considered one of the world’s most important

filmmakers (i.e. Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, My Son, My Son, What Have ye Done?)

• Known for using locals to achieve “ecstatic truth”, as well as footage of non-actors playing roles and being themselves

• Has 100 hours of archival footage, seen by many as poem to man’s relationship with nature.

Herzog’s Grizzly Man

• (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUsoVGj1Ta0)

Some conclusions and questions for thought

• Both simple and more complex definitions of documentary have their problems, and “documentary” has become something difficult to define, especially in an age of new technologies, demands placed by television on the production of documentaries, as well as different expectations shared by audiences

• The documentary has encountered many challenges due to the increasing commercialization of television, but it has also learned to re-invent itself

• There are modes of documentary and styles, and it can also be understood as adjective and genre (i.e. similar to science-fiction)

• The documentary has also developed into many sub-documentary types, including the docu-drama, mockdocumentary among others

• How is documentary different from news, and from film?• What does the future hold for documentaries?

Essay questions• 1. Choose between news or documentary and discuss the ways in which it is

essential to the development of public opinion. Discuss with reference to theories of the public sphere.

• 2.To what extent does news production influence news content? Support your

answer by addressing key theories as well as examples from either the press or television.

 • 3. In what way does documentary construct a particular version of reality?

Answer with reference to a particular documentary of your choice. • 4. How does news reproduce dominant ideologies? Answer with reference to

theories on news and the cultures of professionalism in journalism, using as an example a particular news programme or press coverage of an event.

Seminar questions and activities• 1) Using the texts that you had to read for this week, discuss the ambiguities

surrounding the definitions of documentary. In your view, what are some of the essential features it needs to have? In what way is a documentary different from a news broadcast? Can documentaries represent reality better and be “closer to the truth”? How has television changed the environment for documentary production?

• 2) What are some of the common sense assumptions regarding documentaries referred to in Nichols’ text? From the selection of ideas that are presented, which define better what documentary is? Can documentaries represent social and political issues better than news?

• 3) Choose either Grizzly Man or Supersize Me to examine critically. What makes these texts a documentary, and what does not? Have they been successful in addressing the social issues that they are tackling (i.e. environment and fast food consumption)? Would a news reportage, or a more traditional form of documentary, have been more appropriate?

Readings for week 9• Required:• Creeber, Glen, Miller, Toby and Tulloch, J. (eds.) (2008) The Television

Studies Genre Book, BFI, see section on “reality TV”• Fiske, John (1999) ‘The Codes of Television’ in Marris and Thornham (ed.)

Media Studies: A Reader, Edinburgh University Press. pp220-231• Holmes, S. and Jermyn, D. (eds.), ‘Introduction: Understanding Reality TV’

in Understanding Reality TV, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp.1 -32.

• Additional: • Dovey, Jon (2009) ‘Simulating the Public Sphere’ in Austin and De Jong

(ed.) Rethinking Documentary: New Perspectives, New Practices Open University Press, pp. 246-258

• Golding and Elliot “News Values and News Production” in Marris and Thornham (ed.) Media Studies: a Reader, 2n, Edinburgh University Press

• Matos, C. (2012) Media and politics in Latin America: globalization, democracy and identity, London: I.B. Tauris, p. 114-139