Final Exam Flashcards
(74 cards)
1
Q
- What is the basic definition of documentary? What are the common misconceptions about what defines
a documentary?
A
A Balance Of Actuality, and Barratuvem The Subject matter is Actuality
2
Q
o How does the film “Lift” (2001) help us make distinctions between documentary and narrative
fiction film?
A
What separates a documentary from a narrative fiction is when the subject of a film is actuality.
3
Q
- How does “Muybridge’s Horse” (1878) demonstrate the historical conflation of narrative fiction and
documentary?
A
We learn that film has the power to document reality for the study of objective truth. In this photographic experiment, Muybridge shows that empirical evidence can be cultivated on film. Film can produce aspects of reality, non-fiction, and actuality.
4
Q
- Who are the Lumierè brothers? What kind of technology did they invent? And how did their technology
influence documentary and narrative fiction cinema?
A
The Lumières invented a hand-cranked, the lightweight camera mounted on a tripod. Their camera was mobile, an important uniqueness. They saw the profit potential in taking the camera around the globe, bringing films of the world back to France, and offering their customers a chance to see the world at a much cheaper price than taking a vacation (and without the hassle of traveling).
5
Q
- Who is Thomas Edison? What technology did he invent, as it pertains to cinema? What is his Black
Maria? How did Edison technology influence documentary and narrative cinema?
A
Thomas Edison is an inventor who was behind the creation of the first film studio, the black mario. His black maria was a giant camera which was immobile, and focused solely on the actors placed in front of it. Edison’s work had a more powerful influence on narrative fiction film because of the environmental and scenario control.
6
Q
- How did the following films showcase the differences between the Lumuierès and Edison?
o “Workers Leaving a Factory” (1895)
o “Arrival of a Train” (1895)
o “The May-Irwin Kiss” (1896)
A
The Location, and backgrounds were the major differences, as lumiere’s were portable, able to view different locations. Edison’s was immobile, with a black background to focus soley on the actors inside
7
Q
- What is witness-agency?
A
Documentaries give you Witness Agency, presenting materials creates the idea that its all truly happening
8
Q
- What is the definition of Ethnographic film?
A
Ethnographical either studies or depicts other peoples, cultures, or customs
9
Q
- What innovative techniques are associated with this ethnographic sub-genre?
Process and duration:
A
Seeing the entire thing done as a learning mechanism
10
Q
- What innovative techniques are associated with this ethnographic sub-genre?
Landscape shots:
A
Any cinematic shot where landscape itself is the subject over the subject itself
11
Q
- What innovative techniques are associated with this ethnographic sub-genre?
Setting as character:
A
Setting itself gives on extra meaning, and is important to the story
12
Q
- What innovative techniques are associated with this ethnographic sub-genre?
Closeups:
A
Focus on a character’s face
13
Q
- What innovative techniques are associated with this ethnographic sub-genre?
Cutaways:
A
Focus on something other than the character
14
Q
- What innovative techniques are associated with this ethnographic sub-genre?
Reverse angles:
A
Cutting to a reversed angles
15
Q
- What innovative techniques are associated with this ethnographic sub-genre?
4th wall break:
A
Any acknowledgment of the camera, or audience of the flim
16
Q
- What innovative techniques are associated with this ethnographic sub-genre?
Voice of god:
A
Omnipresent narration with complete understanding of the events on screen. Whether by inter titles or by Voiceover
17
Q
- What innovative techniques are associated with this ethnographic sub-genre?
Human Vs nature:
A
Will the character(s) survive in ____ environment?
18
Q
- What innovative techniques are associated with this ethnographic sub-genre?
No deliberate story telling (“and then” storytelling)
A
No clear storyline or direction
19
Q
- What ethical issues face a filmmaker looking to make an Ethnographic film?
Filmmaker/subject relationship:
Who’s getting paid and how?:
Reflective purpose:
Accurate representation
Is it description, or story driven:
Selectively stereotype:
If salvage, is it accurate? Who allowed it?:
A
The relationship the filmmaker has with the subjects being filmed
Typically companies get larger sums than the actors. The most ethical pay is to pay everyone equally
Why the creator made the film for historic purposes (Opening statements, reflective evaluation by experts)
is representation accurate?
Description is more enlightening, while story focuses more to be entertaining.
Are they projecting bias?
Credibility
20
Q
- What is a Salvage Ethnographic documentary? How does that differ from a Romantic Salvage
Ethnographic documentary?:
A
A salvage documentary is a documentary that focuses on a dying culture, a romantic salvage documentary is one where the culture has already ended
21
Q
- Who is Robert Flaherty and why is his film Nanook of the North significant to documentary history?
What aspects of his film were contrivances?:
A
Robert Fatherly was an American filmmaker who shot to international fame with His first film, 1922’s Nanook of the North, which was then crowned the world’s first feature-length documentary.
22
Q
- Know the content of the following clips and what discussions followed their viewing in LECTURE?
o In the Land of the Headhunters (1914)
o “In the Land of the War Canoes” (1973)
o The Hunters (1957)
o Nanook of the North (1922)
A
Film about the natives in america, butchered in racial editing
A corrected version of land of the headhunters
Film about hunters in africa
Film about the eskimo
23
Q
- What is the basic definition of avant-garde documentary?
A
Avant-Garde is an attempt to disrupt dominant discourse
24
Q
- What is the historical context to avant-garde cinematic beginnings?
A
Avant Garde was brought up after the end of world war 1, with the rise of anti-war sentiment. While the strong anti-war sentiment swept the country, Paris became an epicenter for artists and intellectuals who shared anti-war views.
25
* What are the defining features of the following common types of avant-garde documentary?
o City Symphony
o Dadaism
o Surrealism
o Poetic Realism
Time (Dawn-Dusk), Symphonic Score, Subjectivity (makes a character of the city)
Chaos, Nonsense
Seems Normal, has an element to make it Dreamlike
Glamorized aesthetic to something that isnt glamorized
26
* Avant-Garde documentary is said to expose assumptions or ethical issues about documentary film at
large. What are those issues?
The Investment in cinema over subject welfare
The culpability of viewer Inaction
The human experience becomes an aesthetic spectacle for consumption (AKA Dehumanizing)
27
* What are the innovative techniques associated with avant-garde documentary?
Collision Montage
Animation
Repeat Action
Reverse Action
Photogénie
Freeze Frame/Thawed Frame
Superimposition
28
* Know the content of the following clips and what discussions followed their viewing in LECTURE?
o “The Mechanical Ballet” (1923)
o Berlin, Symphony of a Great City (1923)
o “Rain” (1929)
o “Jean Taris, Swimming Champion” (1931)
o Land without Bread (1933)
The genre is dadaism, The mannequin legs mean violence, Cinema is naturally objectifying, Different facial views inspired by cubism, repeat action of a woman going upstairs, The soundtrack is abrupt, more skincrawly, 5 million dollar necklace makes someone cattle
The score compliments the city, its an antithesis of avant-garde, utilizing techniques, but not upholding the purpose.
Poetic-realist, its avant-garde by utilizing patterns to create a unique cinematic experience
It focuses on his breathing in Photogénie manner, it gets playful at the end from the surrealism (Reverse clip of him difing in the pool) and him in the suit walking into the pool,
Violence of facts, it utilizes surrealism due to something being off, and its obviously satire
29
* What historical circumstances gave rise to the Soviet Cinema’s focus on editing?
The Political situation gave rise to the focus on editing. After The russian revolution, the soviets focused on cinema as a propaganda outlet to raise morale, and hatred for the previous monarchy, and its religious roots.
30
* What is the Kuleshov Effect?
This concept suggests that editing can create narrative, intellectual, or emotional reactions from the viewer via a third meaning.
31
What are the definitions of the following terms?
o Intellectual montage
o Explanatory montage
o Lyrical montage
o Rhythmic montage
o Dialectical montage
o Intellectual montage
This type of montage, as its name suggests, explains needed information to the viewer.
o Explanatory montage
the juxtaposition of unlike images
o Lyrical montage
when the juxtaposed images are so unlike, any comprehensible understanding of the connection between images is elusive. Everyone’s interpretation will be different
o Rhythmic montage
any montage that cuts in-time with notes or beats of accompanying music or sound.
o Dialectical montage
any montage with a political message, focusing on government.
32
* Know the directorial tendencies that mark Esther Schub and Dziga Vertov. How do their films
demonstrate the spectrum of montage found in the Kino-Pravda and Moscow School movements?
Vertov utilized kino eye, and honesty to show how living in the union truly was, while schub was making pure propaganda
33
* What are the four ideologies and goals of the Kino-Pravda movement?
"Fragments of actuality" - new raw or non-fiction material is preferred
"Life unawares" - candid filming is preferred so performance isn't influenced
Post-human futurism - the camera and film production equipment empower the user beyond their own human capacity
Proletariat suturing - intellectual montage forces the viewer into an empowering response of self-created meaning
34
* Know the content of the following clips and what discussions followed their viewing in LECTURE?
o Stride Soviet (1926)
o The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1927)
o Salt for Svanetia (1930)
o Stride Soviet (1926)
movie with the animated bread
o The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1927)
movie talking against the romanov tsardom
o Salt for Svanetia (1930)
Movie about miners working
35
* What features differentiate modern Kino-Pravda films?
Where Vertov sought to celebrate and endorse the augmenting power of technology as a luxury for the betterment of human life, modern Kino-Pravda film often focuses on the healing powers of humanism and/or outright rejects technology's role in modern society as a dehumanizing and destructive force.
36
* What historical circumstances influenced the expressionism of Nazi propaganda documentary?
The Defeat of world war 1 and the treaty of versailles left the citizens of the new weimar republic spiteful, and angry. This was only accelerated by the growing inflation, causing the citizens to feel truly oppressed by not only their leadership, but the allies as well.
37
* Define the innovative techniques (to documentary) associated with the expressionism of German WWII
documentary:
o Mass ornament
o Expressionistic mise-en-scené
o Location sound
o Visual effects
o Mass ornament
quite simply, mass ornament is any frame overpopulated with a single type of information
o Expressionistic mise-en-scené
everything that makes up the physical materials, such as costumes, décor, etc. of the film's world--known as the diegesis
o Location sound
used in favor of voice-of-god narration. By hearing the synchronized sound of the actual location, the Witness Agency value of the images increased.
o Visual effects
used to display what would otherwise be impossible with traditional shooting methods
38
* Know the content of the following clips and what discussions followed their viewing in LECTURE?
o Victory of Faith (1933)
o Olympia (1938)
o Triumph of the Will (1935)
o Victory of Faith (1933)
Film about the production of things between 1932 and the assumed growth in 37
o Olympia (1938)
Olympic film
o Triumph of the Will (1935)
You know what it is.
39
* What innovative techniques are associated with American WWII propaganda?
Thesis-driven
Focus on the context of history
Animated maps and visual information
Stirring music
Excerpts from fiction films
Bait/switch presentation of ideas
Captured/candid footage
40
* What are directorial differences between Frank Capra’s and John Huston’s work making documentaries
for the U.S. Government during the war?
much of john huston’s films weren't released by the U.S. Government for fear of dissuading Americans from wanting to continue participation in the war and the Cold War proxy wars
41
* What did André Bazin say about the rhetorical power of Capra’s Why We Fight Series?
[they] crated a new genre: the edited ideological documentary. These were abstract but paradoxically logical films that use the most concrete kind of documentary newsreel.
42
* Know the content of the following clips and what discussions followed their viewing in LECTURE?
o “The Plow that Broke the Plains” (1936)
o “Prelude to War” - Why We Fight (1942)
o “The Plow that Broke the Plains” (1936)
Movie about central america, and its crops
o “Prelude to War” - Why We Fight (1942)
Movie about differences between nazi germany and US
o “The Battle of San Pietro” (1945)
o Let there be Light (1946)
43
* What techniques were associated with Direct Cinema and which marked the sub-genre as a unique and
new form of documentary? Including but not limited to:
o Hidden continuity editing—film time vs. real time
o Hand-held camera aesthetic
o Sync-sound
Observation only
Continuous take
Atypical human-interest stories
Performers ignoring the camera
Voice
Subject specific attributes
44
* What major effects does Direct Cinema have, as discussed in LECTURE?
Insight into dominant customs
Complex emotions, ideas, and presentation
Meaning and ideas are ambiguous and up to the viewer
45
* What are the general histories, goals, and philosophies of the various Direct Cinema movements? What
inventions and developments lead to the rise of Direct Cinema?
All over the world, filmmaking during and shortly after World War II was wrenched out of the hands of the artists as governments dictated content for the purposes of furthering their national causes. This was made simple by the expansion of film technology.
At its heart, Direct Cinema is an improvised cinema which seeks filmic truth by shooting the spontaneity of the here-and-now.
DC is documentary which utilizes the camera as a completely non-participatory and passive observer that captures a single subject's reality as it happens with no planned narrative.
46
* What ethical issues does Direct Cinema raise regarding voice and performance?
Power of invisible editing and what happens off screen
Are characters performing for the camera?
The human voice
47
* What are the common types of characters in a Direct Cinema film?
Characters that speak for themselves, usually those who have stereotypes surrounding them
48
o Primary (1960)
o Salesman (1969)
o Primary (1960)
Film about JFK and the other guy running against each other
o Salesman (1969)
Movie centered around the salesmen as they attempt selling bibles
49
* What is the singular unique feature that differentiates this genre from Direct Cinema?
Provocation is the Major difference between Cinema verite and Direct Cinema
50
* Who directed Chronicle of a Summer (1961)? What were their goals for the sub-genre? What history led
to their experiments?
Edgar Morin directed the film, it was made due to his rocky history with ethnography, he wanted to drop ethnography due to it’s racial backlash, in making Chronicle of a summer He offers an unusual caveat to the artificiality of interviews and editing, saying that at least the subjects were able to talk for themselves, which is more than other forms of cinema allow.
51
* What innovative techniques were discussed when we studied cinéma vérité?
Participation of a provoking filmmaker (Filmmaker asking questions is included to give context as an example)
The testimonial (there is an interviewer and interviewee(
Shot/reverse (Shot behind the shoulder of a speaking individual)
Dialogue-driven and not especially aesthetic
Improvisation (Improvised to solicit brand new responses)
52
* What is the paradox of cinéma vérité?
Because of it’s artificial circumstances, it is difficult to discern the accuracy of any of the events beyond audience speculation of what might be true.
53
* What ethical issues are raised by cinéma vérité filmmaking?
Part becomes representative of whole (Think a news page with the title being “twitter is angry!” with only 2-3 tweets involved, it gives minor context, but generalizes the subjects)
Solves the camera’s effect on performance unacknowledged by direct cinema
54
* Know the content of the following clips and what discussions followed their viewing in LECTURE?
o Chronicle of a Summer (1961)
o F for Fake (1973)
o Bowling for Columbine (1999)
o The Act of Killing (2012)
o Chronicle of a Summer (1961)
Film about racism in the french-Algerian War
o F for Fake (1973)
Orson welles film on homo man who forges art
o Bowling for Columbine (1999)
Film about people going against kmart after columbine
o The Act of Killing (2012)
Film about indonesian genocide
55
* What is a general definition of found footage documentary?
A combination of footage found to use for a documentary
56
* What four common types of found footage documentary did we discuss in LECTURE? What are their
defining features?
Historical
Archival historical elements of history, voice of god as structural device.
Recontextualized
Repurposed footage, think of fall of romanov
Reconstructed
When a director is hired to cover another’s footage, think of grizzly man
collage
Raw footage is clipped and edited, uses intellectual montage to allow viewer to make their own decisions
57
* Know the content of the following clips and what discussions followed their viewing in LECTURE?
o Atomic Café (1982)
o Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
o Grizzly Man (2005)
o Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016)
o Cameraperson (2016)
o Atomic Café (1982)
Movie about atomic bomb
o Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
Movie about family drama with father being accused of crime
o Grizzly Man (2005)
Man who loves bears wound up getting eaten by one
o Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016)
Film about lost footage to fires
o Cameraperson (2016)
58
* What defines a Personal documentary? Why is this genre more prone to conversation about direct vs.
metaphorical representation?
Representative of filmmaker
includes/focused on ‘representational artifacts’ while implementing a non-actuality cinematic presentation tool
59
* What is a representational artifact? What are examples?
a non-actuality representational mode--perhaps it is animated, staged, re-enacted, etc.
Interviews
Conversations
Speeches
Memories
Music
Written Documents
Raw Sound
Witness Testimony
60
What is penetrative animation?
Penetrating characters to help us understand who they are
61
* What is Furniss’ concept of Mimesis and Abstraction?
She argues that all documentary oscillates on a spectrum between 1) mimesis: having a high verisimilitude or being an incredibly accurate facsimile of reality, and 2) abstraction: a creative representation that does not look like reality
62
* What ethics are raised or assumptions are revealed because of Personal documentary? How is this kind
of documentary self-reflexive?
1 Assumptions about the “authenticity” of spontaneous live action
2 Recovery and revelation, reveal a new history
3 Who judges the value of authenticity?
4 The revelation that the authenticity of live action is illusionary
63
* Know the content of the following clips and what discussions followed their viewing in LECTURE?
o Ryan (2004)
o Waltz with Bashir (2008)
o The Missing Picture (2013)
o Faces/Places (2017)
o This is Not a Film (2011)
o Ryan (2004)
Movie about the animator who lost his job due to alcoholism, strange animation
o Waltz with Bashir (2008)
Movie about israli soldier in palestinian genocide
o The Missing Picture (2013)
Fiml about the genocide in cambodia
o Faces/Places (2017)
Movie about Agnès Varda and JR as they paste people on walls
o This is Not a Film (2011)
Film about guy trapped in home by the iranian government
64
* What are the definitions and differences between biographical and historical documentary? What about
revisionist films?
A biographic documentary is any documentary whose subject is a historic person or people, showcasing highlighted parts of their life or their entire life. Frequently, biographic documentaries are intended to bring closure to the spectator's understanding the subject at large or of particular aspect of their lives under scrutiny.
65
* What are the three common subjects of biographical documentaries?
Histories (event, era, or group of people)
Revisionist (Change Dominant Narratives)
Biographies (Time, life, or events of a particular person’s life)
66
* What is the major ethical concern facing biographical or historical documentary?
Documentaries typically reach a larger audience than academic historians, so it is important to ask: to what degree are experts used in the film? If the subject calls for expert opinion, it goes without saying that the film's content has better authority if it includes a multitude of respected and peer-supported experts.
67
* What are common techniques of Biographical Documentary?
Testimonials
Representational artifacts
Archival or found footage
Newly created material
68
* Know the content of the following clips and what discussions followed their viewing in LECTURE?
o Hoop Dreams (1994)
o OJ: Made in America (2016)
o Tabloid (2010)
o Life Itself (2014)
o Bombshell (2017)
o Whitney (2018)
o RBG (2018)
o Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
o Hoop Dreams (1994)
Movie about kids going to basketball, historical biography
o OJ: Made in America (2016)
Movie about football player
o Tabloid (2010)
Film about woman who kidnapps a mormon man who agreed to marry her,
o Life Itself (2014)
Movie about the journalist that was disabled (think stephen hawking voice and lower jaw removed),
o Bombshell (2017)
o Whitney (2018)
Movie about houston, a black woman and church.
o RBG (2018)
Film about a lawyer woman
o Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
69
* What are the common characteristics and defining features of an agit-prop documentary?
Agit-Prop is short for Agitation-Propaganda. And this genre of documentary is defined by films that are produced for political or social causes by activists intending to motivate the viewer into political action.
70
* What three features make up an agit-prop documentary’s common construction?
Information dissemination
Participatory filmmaking
Idealism and pragmatism combined
Lack of human depth
71
* How does “participatory witness-agency” function in an agit-prop documentary?
If the agit-prop film in question has a participatory filmmaker, that filmmaker's insertion into the film creates a strengthened connection to the activism for the viewer. There is a greater sense that the filmmaker "speaks to them for us." It's as if they are on our side, and we feel a camaraderie with the filmmaker in our (now) combined effort to change the socio-political landscape.
72
* In what ways has agit-prop documentary revealed the pop-cultural value of documentary?
Documentaries about social activism often follow with real-world change. the documentary form is placed in the larger arena of social debate, contestation, and public exchange of ideas compared with most forms of entertainment or visual media.
73
* What are the ethical issues surrounding agit-prop documentaries?
Distortion, Omission, Deception and Misrepresentation
Identity Construction
74
* In what ways do agit-prop documentaries portray minimal human depth?
- the human characters are representative of the issues. What that means is that the psychological depth of a given character is usually reserved and serves the viewer's understanding of the film's subject.
