Banana In A Nutshell

Through revealing that actors had in fact portrayed Polley’s family, the film sets out to emphasise the reliability and truthfulness of the documentary as well as the recounts. Without notifying the audience that such archival footage was fake and placing this revelation at the end of the film allows the audience to really consider what the “truth” is. When asked about the making of the film, Harry Gulkin, Polley’s biological father, states that the truth is a subjective narrative, that these “narratives are shaped in part by their relationship to the person who told it to them, and by the events” (Stories We Tell 2012). Additionally, Polley states, “the way her mother’s story changed depended on who was going the telling” (Vulture, 2013). This point is what resonates from the film and its purpose – that the there are different sides to the truth; one truth to one person is false to another.

Documentarians often want to get as close to their subject matter as possible. Some documentarians have an insider perspective which ignites a spark to create a piece that illuminates a specific topic or area of study. There are also documentarians that have no affiliation with said subject matter, but want to explore the topic in question. Finally, there are documentarians that have a foot in both worlds. Insider/outsider is a theory in which a documentarian can be close to a subject, but also possess characteristics or traits that make them distant from the topic in question (Coles, 1998). Such is the case with the directors of both Stranger with a Camera and The House I Live In. Due to their own location, both Eugene Jarecki and Elizabeth Barret exhibit characteristics that make them fall into the insider/outsider roles as directors. Robert Coles defines location by stating, “We notice what we notice because of who we are” (Coles, 1998, p. 7). Included in this is, a person’s education, race, class, and gender. Both directors realize they are outsiders and utilize a lens into a world in which they are not otherwise a part of. Jarecki’s lens comes in the form of Nanny Jeter, his family’s nanny from when he was a child. Barret’s lens for her documentary is the community that she shared with Ison. The two directors enter into a world that they are not a part of because of their location, but forge a connection to the subject matter through means of a lens.

The idea of a documentary being an artistic or even personalised expression of a director is long gone, or so it seems in recent times. In Michael Moore’s latest documentary, Bowling for Columbine, he attempts to get across to viewers his, and essentially only his point of view, on the topic of gun laws. Although what Moore is trying to say is not necessarily wrong, he is at the same time not taking into account the other side of the argument either; all he is trying to do, essentially is hypnotise viewers into thinking

The modern slang word ‘catfish’ was more popular after the release of the famous 2010 documentary film “Catfish”. Someone who takes false identity and character on social networking websites to take control or to deceive their target is known as a catfisher. The documentary is followed by the online connection between Nev Schulman and Angela Wesselman whose relationship grows throughout the film unexpectedly. It all begins when Nev receives a painting from an eight year old girl named Abby of one of his photographs which had been published in a magazine.

Richardson’s non-interventionist style is a prime example of observational documentary, and works specifically well in capturing and promulgating the subject of death. According to Nichols, observational documentaries started appearing in the 1960’s as result of more mobile and smaller equipment. Furthermore, observational documentary stresses non-intervention, as filmmakers objectively observe indirect speech, candidness in the form of long takes, and create a world out of historical reality not fabricated with

Premiering in November of 2012, Catfish: The TV Show is based off the movie Catfish which follows the personal, catfishing story of Yaniv “Nev” Schulman. Nev met Megan Faccio through mutual friends on Facebook and quickly became fond of each other. Shortly after virtually communicating, the both agreed to give the

A documentary is an expository text that informs its audience about an issue person or event using visual and auditory conventions to convey a message. Documentaries are often used to reveal an unusual, interesting or unknown angle. Topics are limited only by one's imagination. The documentary Blackfish is the story of Tilikum, a captive killer whale that has taken the lives of several people, it underscores problems within the sea-park industry, man's relationship to nature, and how little has been learned about these highly intelligent mammals. This documentary was directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The ideas that orcas are wild and unpredictable, Seaworld’s treatment of orcas are inhumane and Seaworld’s was negligent in their training of their trainers. These ideas are shown throughout the documentary as visual techniques of Celebrity figure, expert opinion, audio codes, the documentary technique of interviews, archival footage and written codes. I think these ideas in the documentary are quite true and are well proven throughout the documentary.

Humphrey Jennings’s and Stewart McAllister’s Listen to Britain is a short British propaganda documentary. Within the twenty-minute film, it presented characteristics that fit the expository, observational, and poetic style of documentary. At the beginning of the film, there is a narrator that directly addresses the audience. This forward narration is one of the key characteristics of an expository documentary. Narration appears again later in the film in the form of a montage of radio news clips. The documentary is also an observational one as in most scenes the camera served as a fly on the wall that allowed the audience to feel as if they were physically in the scenes. At the beginning, these shots were presented in an order that were used to help the narrative. The audience sees a woman place a candle

The novel Documentary Storytelling by Sheila Curran Bernard delves deep into the behind the scenes of the development of documentary. She writes powerfully and informatively on the structure of documentary and how time on screen can be used. In the chapter entitled Planning and Pitching, Bernard discusses the importance of selecting a cast of experts with a wide range of viewpoints (Bernard 148). I agree with Bernard that having a diverse range of opinions may add credibility to the film, but I must argue that having too large an amount will undermine the direction of the film. While having a wide range of viewpoints may balance the film, those viewpoints may contradict each other and make the concept of the film difficult to understand.

One way to categorize the documentary is through the characteristics of the participatory mode. Alex Pitstra is not only the director and producer of the film, but he documents his own life and journey. Therefore, he is part of the events and does not just observe them. Moreover, the viewer is fully aware of this interaction and his presence.

One of the most widely used documentary techniques is interviews. Interviews reflect opinions from different viewpoints creating an almost 3 dimensional story. Its helps the audience feel more engaged as it is coming from a person 's point of view who was involved in the events making it feel more realistic. The audience can be assured that the story is not made up. Interviews give a sense of realism. Man on wire is a good example of the interview style being used to reflect feelings of the time Petit was on his way to making his dream come a reality. The emotions at some point were exaggerating maybe because he is a performer. But this made us as viewers feel apart of the film being able to sympathize with the characters and storyline. Marsh uses a technique where we see the subject talking on screen but we do not hear the interviewer talking or asking questions.

Errol Morris’ signature style is seen through his use of an “interrotron”. The device allows the audience to engage with his films through, persuasion, emotions and desire. Both the “Fog of War” and “Tabloid” by Morris However, it does not allow the film to be more truthful but it allows the film to become more desirable. Errol Morris’ device, the “interrotron” allows for a personal connection with the film as it voids the third party and provides the audience with a sense of engagement with the documentary.

In the film “The Truman Show”, directed by Peter Weir, many techniques are strategically used to position the audience to respond emotionally to Truman Burbank. Techniques such as lighting, music, camera shots and angles are used in three specific scenes throughout the film co-ordinated by the shows director Christof. He uses these techniques to encourage the show’s audience to believe that what they are watching is unscripted and real.

In addition to that, it is the filmmaker who decides what is shown although not even he can "claim to be able to see and hear everything, or even claim to be able to notice all that truly matters" (Coles, p.89). These decisions are affected by the filmmaker's desire to tell a coherent and interesting story, which can be difficult to find in an observation of life, which is rarely as structured as a dramatic story. This means that the filmmaker constructs the reality of the film, thereby distancing it further from the actuality he is ethically obliged to represent. This ability of manipulation goes as far as the editing of the documentary, "[offering] equal opportunities for creativity" (Winston, 2006, p.25). In his famous documentary Nanook of the North (1922, dir. Robert Flaherty), Flaherty was very involved in the construction of events as he printed film so that his subjects "would be able to see and understand wherever mistakes were

According to Pare Lorentz, a documentary film is ‘factual film which is dramatic’ 7 (7 Wikipedia). The freeonlinedictionary defines a documentary film as ‘a film or TV program presenting the facts about a person or event’. 8 (8http://www.thefreedictionary.com/documentary+film). Dziga Vertov opined that documentaries present "life as it is" (that is, life filmed surreptitiously) and "life caught unaware" (life surprised by the camera). 9 (9 http://documentaryarchive.com/defining_documentary.html). According to Film theorist Paul Rotha, “documentary defines not subject or style, but approach. It denies neither trained actors nor the advantages of staging. It justifies the use of every known technical artifice to gain its effect on the spectator....To the documentary director the appearance of things and people is only superficial. It is the meaning behind the thing and the significance underlying the person that occupy his attention....Documentary approach to cinema differs from that of story-film not in its disregard for craftsmanship, but in the purpose to which that craftsmanship is put. Documentary is a trade just as carpentry or pot-making. The pot-maker makes pots, and the documentarian documentaries." 11 (11 Ellis, Jack C. The Documentary Idea: A Critical History of