This weeks focus was documentary modes and focus. In the process of making a documentary a consideration of style is important, as it is connected to the purpose of the film. Michael Renov, a renowned documentary film-maker, claims documentaries use the functions of:
- Record, reveal, preserve
- Persuade or promote
- Analyse or interrogate
- Express
Ben Nichols aligns documentary film making with cause and purpose, through a variety of models. An example of a mode is ‘history’ which is defined as a “recount of what really happened”, a common model of documentary film making due to its foundations in truth. Whilst many contemporary films are fictional, the history of cinema began with the “documentation of daily life” as stated by Broderick Fox in ‘A Brief History of Documentary Movements and Modes”. Broderick links the history of film to the prevailing modes recognised today, those being:
Reflexive Mode
The act of making a documentary explicitly acknowledged or references within the work; calling attention to the constructed nature of film making rather than concealing it.
EXAMPLE: Louis Theroux’s ‘My Scientology Movie’ (2015). Louis Theroux is often in front of the camera and casually, elements of the reflexive mode.
Poetic Mode
Simple known as the act of making, the poetic mode seeks out new wats in which to frame the world, rendering the image to truly document reality.
Expository Mode
Where images equals truth and narration equals the ‘Voice of God’, to be considered as the undeniable truth.
EXAMPLE: Frank Capra’s ‘Battle of China’ (1944), a series of propaganda films commissioned by the United States government during World War II.
Observational Mode
To show life as it happened, as though the camera isn’t there.
EXAMPLE: Janus Metz Pederson ‘Armadillo’ (2010), this documentary tells the story of young soldiers from Denmark who are sent to Afghanistan; it contains no narrations, interview or voice over.
Participatory Mode
Awareness, active collaboration and interactions between the film maker and the subject.
EXAMPLE: Jean Rouch & Edgar Morin ‘Chronicle of Summer’ (1961), where real life people discuss topics on society.
Performative Mode
Shows the film makers experience in the making of the film, in the form of a performance.
EXAMPLE: Morgan Spurlock ‘Supersize Me’ (2004), follows the film maker as he conducts a social experiment on himself to show the negative effects of fast food.
Other less popular modes include autobiographical (the process of documenting your own experience), essay (explores questions and follows inquiry into a subject) and interactive (where the audience is able to modify the story based on their own choices).
Whilst each of the modes has its benefits, I am most interested by observational and participatory for my final assessment. I am intrigued by people and their hidden stories. Through the marriage of these two modes, I believe I will be able to accumulate authentic stories on the curators and volunteers at the museum. I plan to take portrait photos of each member as they conduct their daily tasks, in order to capture a realistic picture of who they are and interview the subjects in the medium of text. Through the application of the participatory mode, I will converse with the participants and chat as if it were not an interview but merely a conversation in order to to uphold the genuine theme of the photographs. The exhibition will have the portraits adjacent to the text. This way there is a mysterious link between the photos and the words, that the audience will have to find. This is a conscious technique, in order for viewers to formulate their own ideas on who these people are.
Though I am still developing my ideas, I am passionate about the topics of exploration and intend to delve further into the creation of my exhibition.
