Assignment #11- Documentary Film

I . History of Documentary Film

A. Pre-1900- They used to be called "Actuality" films, the term "Documentary" wasn't introduced until the 1920's. Most of the films weren't even over a minute due to the technology at the time. Many of the first films were made by Auguste and Louis Lumiere.

B. 1900–1920- The most popular types of film at the time were Travelogue films. Films about native americans were also very popular at the time. Early color films were also starting to be introduced.

C. 1920s- 

1. Romanticism - This era of film was all about romanticism, and a lot of actors used this in there films. Robert J. Flaherty a famous filmed at the time showed man 100 years earlier. They would actually kill animals for the effect in the movie.

2. The City of Symphony - These focused on humans the most, and the environments were made by humans. The point of them was to show people as products of there environment.

3. Kino Pravda- These kind of films featured varied lenses, shot- counter shot editing, and time lapse. Rendering was also easier during this film period.

4. Newsreel Tradition - These were usually staged and not real.  The would re-enactment events that had already transpired. They would film after things had already happened.

D. 1920s–1940s- This time period was full of propaganda films that were used to get people to believe something. The nazi's were very influential and used propaganda films to the extreme. The 1920's was a great time period for governments.

E. 1950s–1970s- Now that they had more technical advances they were able to do more stuff. The directors would take different viewpoints on there subjects. The shooting ratio for this era of film was very high standing at 80.

1) Cinéma-vérité- The would follow people around to capture more personal reactions. After they were finished filming editors would finish the film up. There were no sit-down interviews it was all in real time.

2) Political weapons- Documentaries were used as political weapons to put down and bash other types of government. It kinda of relates to the 1940's propaganda era where documentaries were used to put down other people. These films often showed the countries they portrayed in a negative light.

3) Modern documentaries- This is one of the most successful types of film in the modern industry. They are made with lower budgets then top notch films but are still successful. Modern day documentaries tend to show things in a different light then what people thought they were.

4) Documentaries without words- There isn't any talking or spoken word in these. They are still able to get there point across though. They can cover a large range of topics.