Documentary - Week 1

Documentary Module Introduction

In week 1 of the Documentary module, we were introduced to the module and the idea of how stories can be told in the Documentary form in a number of different ways. A few examples were screened,each of which took a different approach to the subject and told the core story in a unique way.

Interest in Documentary

Documentary is where my main interest lies within filmmaking. Something that personally interests me about the Documentary module is that whilst once Documentary filmmaking was very set up, with all dialogue scripted and studio based, in the recent years there has been a lot more variation and room for experimentation with form and storytelling within the Documentary genre. I find this change in Documentary filmmaking and storytelling exciting, and experimenting with form and showing a story in a new and interesting way is something that I would like to be able to focus on within the module, and that I would like the finished film project to reflect upon. The documentary films that interest me most are often ones which stand out in some way due to their unique style and way of approaching and retelling a story, such as the highly cinematic and interesting style of recent documentary films such as The Imposter (Dir. Bart Layton, 2012.) I also have an interest in Documentaries that approach quite ordinary or regularly documented events or subjects, but are driven from an outside point of view, for example documentaries that focus on an individual subject's issue or personal story, but that are told from the perspective of somebody else instead of themselves, and their take on how the issue affects them, instead of focusing primarily on the subject themselves, which I think is done quite a lot in many documentaries and can sometimes be a bit too predictable and less of an original approach.

Seminar Screenings

Example 1 - Touching The Void (Dir.Kevin MacDonald, 2003.)

Touching The Void (Dir. Kevin MacDonald, 2003.) tells the true story of two climbers ambitious yet almost fatal climb of the Siula Grande mountain in 1985. Their story is told through a highly dramatic reconstruction of the events and experiences encountered, with the filmmaker choosing to take a cinematic and dramatised approach, allowing the viewer to stay engaged with the story by employing some of the same techniques used within the creation and telling of a fictional narrative.
The filmmaker shows little of the character's backgrounds and personalities, instead choosing to allow the characters to naturally become known and understood by the viewers by their reactions and abilities to deal with such a difficult and dangerous situation. This style of documentary filmmaking works in engaging viewers, as at times it doesn't necessarily feel as if the viewer is watching a documentary film, however on the other hand this type of documentary filmmaking can be perceived as controversial as it's docudrama style can be seen to sometimes exaggerate the truth and show real events in an almost fictionally constructed way.


Example 2 - Grizzly Man - (Dir. Werner Herzog, 2005.)

Grizzly Man (Dir. Werner Herzog, 2005.) tells the story of animal and nature enthusiast Timothy Treadwell, who was amazed by the life of the grizzly bear, until one day he and his girlfriend were tragically killed by the animal - all of which was captured within the footage. The film is driven by a series of diary entry style video clips taken by Timothy Treadwell during his time in the wild, as he documents his daily encounters with the grizzly bears. Werner Herzog's way of retelling his story from a filmmaker's point of view is unique, as essentially he is producing another person's film, but putting his own take on the series of events contained within the found footage, and producing it in the way that he feels works best. This style and approach is also open to controversy, as although Werner Herzog has gained permission from Timothy Treadwell's family for the footage to be made into a film, at the same time no one truly knows what Timothy's own intentions for his footage were, and whether or not he would have allowed full access to the content, or agreed with the way that the finished film is presented. I think the film works in allowing the viewer to gain a true insight into Timothy's character and journey, by showing footage not only of his interactions with the bears, but also more personal video diary entries in which Timothy openly discusses other aspects of his life and personality. The way that Werner Herzog includes these, yet also successfully puts his own style to the film works in allowing the viewer to see the story from both the subject's point of view as well as the filmmakers, making it a unique approach.


Example 3 - Tarnation - (Dir. Jonathon Caouette, 2003.)

Tarnation (Dir. Jonathon Caouette, 2003.) documents the personal story of filmmaker Jonathon Caouette's upbringing with his schizophrenic mother. The film is very interesting in terms of it's experimentation with form and it's highly creative way of storytelling. The film includes a range of content, switching between snapshot images, video diary entries, voice messages and short films made by the filmmaker gradually over a 19 year period. I found this film to be extremely interesting and intriguing, as well as unique in it's storytelling format. Having an experimental approach to the subject and containing such a wide variety of different material within it's content makes the film unique and the fact that it was made on iMovie is also interesting, as it's low budget and varying quality in content did not once distract me from the subject of the film and the events that were being documented/story that was being told. Very early on in the film, the full story is displayed on screen in brief text displays and clips of early home recorded footage. This part of the film particularly stood out to me, as it was almost as if a trailer for the film had been placed inside of the documentary itself, yet it successfully worked in telling the story, without giving the full picture of the outcome of events, and instead allowing the film to naturally and progressively unfold the story.


Example 4 - The Alcohol Years - (Dir. Carol Morley, 2000.)

The Alcohol Years (Dir. Carol Morley, 2000.) is a personal film which includes a series of short moments from the filmmaker's past, in an attempt for her to piece together what her life consisted of and what people she knew thought of her and remember her as from her life in Manchester in the 1980s, during which time she spent a lot of her time out drinking. The film is a funny account of five years of her life during this time, told from the perspective of other people who knew her personally during that period of time. The film consists of a series of short interviews with her friends, who tell their account of nights and incidents that they clearly remember and associate with Carol Morley, whilst it also reveals some history to Manchester and the nightlife culture. The Alcohol Years is quite a light-hearted documentary, although it stays interesting as the reasons for making the film and it's actual story are a bit mysterious and unknown, as is highlighted by one of it's interviewee's at one point, yet the film is still entertaining and remains intriguing to watch.