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Un train arrivee
Lumiere brothers put short clips together that conveyed real life things, these were called "Actualites" The Lumiere brothers created a camera that could only hold 50 feet of film stock. Their first documentary was "Un Train Arrivee" which captured short unedited clips of a train arriving, It captured audiences due to the movement and details that they were able to see. -
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History of documentaries
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Poetic documentaries
First seen in the 1920s, Poetic Documentaries are very much what they sound like. They focus on experiences, images and showing the audience the world through a different set of eyes. Abstract and loose with narrative, the poetic sub-genre can be very unconventional and experimental in form and content. The ultimate goal is to create a feeling rather than a truth. -
The invention of the word "Documentary"
Documentary as seen today began with "Nanook of the North" by Robert Flaherty. It captured life in the north and how another culture lived. John Grierson invented the word documentary to describe this film, it was the first to use what Grierson described as a "creative interpretation of reality." Flaherty staged some the scenes in order to make it more dramatic and interesting for audiences. -
Developments of the television
In 1927, the first electronic tv came out and advancements in film came into place, The TV only really became popular in the 50s-60s which explains why the consumption of documentaries increased. -
"Poetic realism"
Grierson became head the GPO film unit in England in the 1930s and became more involved in the "poetic realist" approach to documentaries. -
Machinery over humans in documentary
Nightmail 1936, was a film that showed the way mail was delivered around England, it was poetic as the editing emphasised rythm, light, sound, movement and atmosphere. However, it was critisised for ignoring the social and political aspects of society, and not documenting things that truly matter in favour of a modernist approach. -
Development of Direct Cinema
Due to criticisms to films that didn't document societies issues in 1950's to 60s there was an increase in "direct cinema" a movement that began in the united states that shows events in a more unmediated way. Giving more of an impression that there isn't film maker influences, and the clips are real. Also film had become smaller (35mm to 16mm) making new cameras able to be handheld. This made it able to capture increasing social movements that happened in the 60s. -
Cinema Verite (Cinema Truth)
A similar movement was happening in France called "Cinema Verite" (Cinema truth) which was a minimalist approach to documentary that favoured natural lighting, diegetic sound, location filming and hand held camera. It's aim was to convey a direct view to the audience. Jean Rouch was an important documentarian int this style int the 60s. However was also used by Ken Loach leading to the term "Drama-Documentary" to describe films like Cathy Come Home. -
Expository/observational Documentaries (cinema truth)
Expository Documentaries are probably closest to what most people consider “documentaries.” A sharp contrast to poetic, these documentaries aim to inform or persuade. Often through omnipresent “Voice of God” narration over footage that isn't ambiguous or poetic. This mode includes the familiar Ken Burns and television (A&E, History Channel, etc…) styles. Observational Documentaries aim to simply observe the world around them. Originating in the 1960s with the advances in portable film equipment. -
The birth of Mockumentaries
Mockumentaries were popularized in the 80s, they're not always comedies but comedic mockumentaries are the most common from of mockumentary. In recent times, Mockumentaries utilise the codes and conventions of cinema verite to fool the audiences into thinking a film is factual when it isn't. Because mockumentaries demonstrate how easily conventions can be faked, they can often cause us as viewers to consider why we place so much faith in documentaries. -
Supersize me
"Supersize Me" 2004 has its origins in Direct Cinema. The film Maker usually has a social agenda and try to portray the events as "real" -
Streaming
Instead of watching a documentary in a cinema it could now be streamed online. Consumerism of documentaries have changed as now there are a collection of documentaries you can sive and search through on Netflix. Netflix now becoming not only a streaming application but a production company now making documentaries and allowing contemporary film makers experiment. Netflix create more docu-dramas and produce documentaries based around one person instead of social and political issues in society -
Youtube
Youtube allows for easy access to different types of documentaries. On famous channels like I-D or FADR etc there are utilisation of poetic realism and minimalism in documentaries. Contemporary film makers now focus on following artists/ unique people. Youtube has allowed the consumption of documenataries along with TV now being a cultural universal in society and streaming becoming increasingly popular.
