212 Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding MediaWhen documentaries are produced today, choices of sequence of events,
of authenticity, and of staging activities can be debated hotly by participants
and viewers alike. When his fi lm Roger and Me came out in 1989, fi lmmaker
Michael Moore elicited unfavorable responses from some critics, because
the order of certain incidents in the movie depicted the timeline of events
inaccurately. Later, his fi lms have been accompanied by extensive footnoting
and meticulous research to support the essay-like approach of documentaries
such as Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) and Sicko (2007).Just Turn the Camera On
As described in Chapter 2, the fi rst motion pictures introduced two particular
forms for moving images: the documentation of real events through recorded
light and the depiction of narrative through a staged fi lming. Essentially,
documentary and narrative fi ction fi lms were born in their most elemental
of forms.Figure 6-3 Michael Moore
(in hat) framing a shot for
Roger and Me. (Courtesy
Warner Bros./Photofest)- Have you seen a documentary or journalistic
show recently? How could you tell that these were
in a non-fiction format? - What types of formats can you think of that
present non-fiction moving images to an
audience? Are there particular types that interest
you the most? Are there some that you find more
effective than others?- What techniques do you usually see in
documentary motion pictures? In what way are
they crafted to express a particular point of view?
Do they present the images very directly or was
there considerable editing and commentary to
present the moving image documents in a distinct
manner?
- What techniques do you usually see in
Framing the Discussion
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