Papers / Research / Questions. Extra Credit

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1 Papers / Research / Questions Extra Credit You can earn 10 points for two film comments -- at least 100 words each. Must be completed by Tues. November 9. Go to On the top right of the page, click on Register. Use your First name and Last name for a Username: ex. for me it would Nico Maestu (you need to follow this so that I know it's you). Fill out your information. Log in with your Username and Password. Go to the review you want to write a comment about. At the bottom of the review is a space for you to write the comment. Click "Add your Comment" and you're done. Then me, letting me know what class you are in, to let me know you wrote the two comments. Once I approve it, the comment will be on the site.

2 Direct Cinema in the U.S. > late 1950s to 1960s A new Truth Claim > Observational Mode A desire for a new cinematic realism Direct Cinema > U.S. Cinema Verite > France Goals: Capture a selected selection of reality Use light weight equipment Capture footage as events are happening Provide a feeling of being there Find the truth in the event Technological innovations: Lighter equipment > use of plastic parts 16mm. Instead of 35mm. > WWII docs Cameras made less noise: Éclair NPR (Noiseless Portable Relfex) Film that could be exposed in low light conditions (up to 1000 ASA) Light magnetic tape sound recorders: Nagra Crystal synchronization: cable Nagra portable audio recorder Direct Cinema in the U.S. Characteristics: Immediacy and intimacy with the subject Concern with human life, as opposed to institutions, governments, etc. Usually told in chronological order Usually a moment of crisis, with a beginning, middle, and end > adds drama, and allows the subject to be less conscious of the camera Crisis structure > climax at the end of the film Feeling of spontaneity / Fly-on-the-wall Filmmaker is not seen and does not interact with social actors No narrator Primacy of editing over cinematography Uncontrolled filmmaking > control in editing Often long takes Camera operator is often the director Decisions are made in the moment Camera follows social actors wherever they go No script No staging Revealed reality

3 Drew Associates / through TV > ABC > series Close Up!: Early 1960s Robert Drew (producer) Richard Leacock Don Allen Pennebaker Albert and David Maysles 19 films produced Primary (1960) Eddie (1961) Jane (1962) Crisis: Behind the Presidential Commitment (1963) Direct Cinema in the U.S. Later Don t Look Back (D.A. Pennebaker, 1967) Direct Cinema in the U.S. Considerations: Does the filmmaker get close enough? Or too close? Can the social actor disregard the camera? Is the social actor performing for the camera? Does the camera cause the crisis? Is the film a construction or a slice of reality? Are the social actors represented fairly? Can we trust the representations?

4 Cinema Verite in France Early 1960s Same technology and similar approach as Direct Cinema But, Cinema as a Catalyst Filmmaker is part of the film, and interacts with the social actors Filmmakers can discuss the results of the film, in the film Kino Pravda = Cinema Verite // Reflexive cinema Eric Barnouw: The direct cinema documentarist took his camera to a situation of tension and waited hopefully for a crisis; the Rouch version of cinema verite tried to precipitate one. Direct cinema found its truth in events available to the camera. Cinema verite was committed to a paradox: that artificial circumstances could bring hidden truth to the surface Cinema Verite in France > Early 1960s Direct Cinema: Truth (authenticity) is possible because of the unobtrusive camera > fly-on-the-wall. Cinema Verite: this unobtrusive camera will not reveal any authentic behavior/attitude from the social actors only when the camera and the filmmaker confront the social actors will a possible truth be revealed The camera is then a catalyst for authenticity When confronted by the camera, the social actor cannot act Jean Rouch: Ethnographic films > films that present other cultures with a minimum of interpretation, ex: Les Maitres Fous (1955) Chronicle of a Summer ( Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, 1961, France) > looking at France in a time of change, as a different culture

5 Classical Hollywood is falling apart in the 1960s: Youth Films The Trip (Roger Corman, 1967) Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969) About different cultures in the U.S. > about the cultural and ideological divisions Produced for $375,000 Earned over $50 million at the box office This encouraged Hollywood to embrace the youth market. Music became crucial as it was in the The Graduate Youth cult explosion was extremely brief But it led to Concert Documentaries Concert Films in U.S. 1960s > increase awareness of a Youth Market Monterey Pop (D.A. Pennebaker, 1968, USA) Monterey Pop Festival of 1967 Multiple camera operators: Richard Leacock, Albert Maysles and others The Mamas & The Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Jimi Hendrix Woodstock (Michael Wadleigh, 1970, USA) Best Documentary Oscar Martin Scorsese was one of the editors and assistant director

6 Don t Look Back (D.A. Pennebaker, 1967, USA) Week 9 Questions: responses to filmst121@sbcc.edu Minimum 500 words, no attachments, do not rewrite the questions but # each question. Explain the difference between Direct Cinema and Cinema Verite. How are they similar? How are they different? How is Direct Cinema stating that authenticity can be achieved in a documentary film? Provide an example. How is Cinema Verite stating that authenticity can be achieved in a documentary film? Provide an example. What was your reaction to Don t Look Back? Is this film more closely aligned with the characteristics of Direct Cinema or with those of Cinema Verite? Explain.

7 Bill Nichols Documentary Modes Poetic Mode: social actors not full characters; no voice over; place and time may not be continuous; source material transformed by the filmmaker; subjective impressions. Expository Mode: rhetorical argument; attempts to convince the viewer of what is presented; voice-of-god narration (male authoritative voice); voice organizes the images; impression of objectivity; often large claims about the world, not individuals. Observational Mode: observe without intervention; no staging or reenactments; truth is revealed in the world ; viewer is more active, needs to interpret the images and sounds; voyeuristic. Participatory Mode: interactive, engages with the social actors; records events and the interactions with the filmmaker; records the alteration of the world because of the filmmaker; interviews; filmmaker is visible to the audience. Reflexive Mode: interaction and construction of documentary is made evident to the viewer; how the world is represented; questions the truth of documentary. Performative Mode: emphasizes the subjective and affective dimension of the world; creates an emotional response with the viewer; audience understands through the emotion. Post-Direct Cinema: 1970s An American Family, (Gilbert, Raymond, 1973, USA) 1st Reality TV show: 1973 The Loud family in Santa Barbara: husband, wife, and five children Susan and Alan Raymond lived with the family The footage was edited and shown on PBS as a 12 part series of 1 hour episodes. Divorce, homosexuality, the typical family is represented as dysfunctional

8 Post-Direct Cinema: 1970s A Married Couple (Allan King, 1969) A couple and their son in their everyday lives Divorce Performance / Direct Cinema? No Lies (Mitchell Block, 1974) UCLA student filmmaker Conventions of cinema verite What is the purpose of this film? Sherman s March (Ross McElwee, 1986): USA Ross McElwee (b. 1947) First-person nonfiction films > autobiographical films about his family (from the South) and personal life, in relation to some sort of journey. Studied at Brown, then MIT with Richard Leacock (who had worked with Flaherty, and was one of the Drew Direct Cinema members) His films all experiment with the highly personal filmmaking (6 feature length films) Full title: Sherman's March: A Mediation to the Possibility of Romantic Love in the South During an Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation (1986) Opening of film directly comments on Direct Cinema (ironic voice-over by Leacock) Won Grand Jury Prize 1987 Sundance Film Festival Bright Leaves (2003): about the association his family had in the past with the Tobacco industry.

9 Week 10 Questions: responses to Minimum 500 words, no attachments, do not rewrite the questions but # each question. What are some of the issues related to Direct Cinema and its observational mode? When could this style of documentary be effective? What different issues are connected to Cinema Verite and its participatory mode? Who does the audience identify with and why would this be effective in convincing the audience of the film s point-ofview? What was your reaction to Sherman s March? What style of documentary filmmaking is this film using: Direct Cinema and/or Cinema Verite? What documentary mode is used? What ethical concerns might the audience have? The social actors? The filmmakers? What is this film about? What truth claim is it making?