Lecture 13 Beyond the Feature Film Bowling For

Lecture 13 Beyond the Feature Film Bowling For Columbine (2002) Directed by Michael Moore Professor Michael Green 1

Previous Lecture • Style • Authorship • Some Notable Auteurs 2

This Lecture • Documentary Film • Experimental Film • Animated Film Waking Life (2001) Directed by Richard Linklater 3

Documentary Film The Fog of War (2003) Directed by Errol Morris Lecture 13: Part I 4

Distinguishing Types of Film • We commonly distinguish documentary from fiction, experimental films from mainstream fare, and animation from liveaction filmmaking. • Though the lines between each kind of form are often blurry. 5

Making Assumptions • In each case, we make assumptions about how the material to be filmed was chosen or arranged, how the filming was done, and how the filmmakers intended the finished work to affect the viewer. 6

What is a Documentary? • A documentary usually comes identified as such – by its title, publicity, press coverage, word of mouth, and subject matter. • The label leads us to expect that the persons, places and events shown to us exist and that the information presented about them will be trustworthy. 7

“Facts” About the World • Every doc. aims to present facts about the world, but the ways in which this can be done are as varied as for fiction films. 8

Recording Events Vs. Staging • In some cases the filmmakers are able to record events as they actually occur. • But the documentary may convey information in other ways as well – through charts, maps and other visual aids, or through staging. 9

Subjective Choice • Sometimes events are staged to recreate an approximation of what might have happened, and sometimes filmmakers just let their subjects talk. Either way, the finished product is the result of subjective choice. 10

Reliability Varies • Both viewers and filmmakers regard some staging as legitimate in a documentary if the staging serves the larger purpose of presenting information. • Regardless of the details of the production, documentaries ask us to assume that they present trustworthy info. about their topic. • Still, documentaries many not prove reliable. Throughout film history, many documentaries have been challenged as inaccurate. 11

Functions of Documentaries • A documentary may: – Take a stand – State an opinion, – Advocate a solution to a problem – Do all three simultaneously • Documentaries often use rhetoric to persuade an audience. • Documentaries marshal evidence, and put forth the evidence as being factual and reliable – even if it is partisan or biased. 12

Example An Inconvenient Truth (2006) Directed by Davis Guggenheim 13

Types of Documentary • Like fiction films, documentaries have their own genres. They include: – The compilation film, produced by assembling images from archival sources (Ken Burns). – Direct-cinema or cinema-vérité, which records an ongoing event as it happens, with minimal interference from the filmmaker. – The nature documentary (PBS, Discovery) – The portrait documentary (History Channel, A&E). – The synthetic documentary, which mixes forms. 14

Blurring Fact and Fiction • As you might expect, filmmakers have sometimes sought to blur the lines separating documentary and fiction. Mitchell Block’s No Lies is an example. • Mockumentaries such as This is Spinal Tap, are another blurred form. They imitate the conventions of documentaries but do not try to fool people into thinking they portray actuality. • JFK and Forrest Gump are other examples. 15

Types of Documentary Form • Most documentaries are organized as narratives, just as fiction films are. • Categorical form is a type of filmic organization in which the parts treat distinct subsets of a topic. For example, a film about the United States might be organized into 50 parts, each devoted to a state. • Rhetorical form is a type of filmic organization in which the parts create and support an argument – The Thin Blue Line. 16

Categorical Form • If a documentary filmmaker wants to convey some information about the world to audiences, categories and sub-categories may provide the basis for organization. • In categorical form, the patterns of development will usually be simple. The challenge of the filmmaker often is to keep things interesting for the viewer. 17

Mixing the Form • Many documentaries are a mix of categorical and rhetorical form, providing a wealth of information and than making an ideological point about it. – Watch the clip from The Celluloid Closet 18

Rhetorical Form • With rhetorical form, the filmmaker presents a persuasive argument. The goal in such a film is to persuade the audience to adopt an opinion about the subject matter and perhaps to act on that opinion. 19

Errol Morris • Errol Morris is a prominent documentarian: – The Fog of War (2003) – Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter Jr. (1999) – Fast, Cheap and Out of Control (1997) – A Brief History of Time (1991) – The Thin Blue Line (1988) – Gates of Heaven (1978) 20

The Fog of War (2003) • About Robert Mc. Namara, the Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War. • Won the Oscar for Best Documentary. • Mixes a number of documentary techniques including compilation and portrait and is a mixture of both the categorical and the rhetorical forms. – Watch the clip from The Fog of War. 21

Experimental Film Koyaanisquati (1982) Directed by Godfrey Reggio Lecture 13: Part II 22

Non-Conformist Film • Another type of film is willfully non-conformist. In opposition to dominant, or mainstream cinema, some films set out to challenge orthodox notions of what a movie can show and how it can show it. • These filmmakers work independently of the studio system, and often they work alone. • Their films are hard to classify, but often they are called experimental or avant-garde. 23

The Purpose of Experimental Film • Experimental films are made for many reasons. The filmmaker may wish to express personal experiences or viewpoints in ways that would seem eccentric in a mainstream context. The filmmaker may also wish to explore some possibilities of the medium itself. Experimental films often have no story, and try to create poetic images. • • – Watch the clip from Koyaanisquati (1982) 24

Experimental Film in the Mainstream • • Impossible to define in capsule formula, avant-garde cinema is recognizable by its efforts at self-expression or experimentation outside the mainstream. Yet the boundary lines can be breached. Techniques associated with the avantgarde have been deployed in feature films, music videos and other forms by Michel Gondry, Derek Jarman and others. 25

Abstract Experimental Form • • When we watch a film that tells a story, or surveys categories, or makes an argument, we often pay little attention to the pictorial qualities of the shots. Yet it is possible to organize an entire movie around colors, shapes, sizes and movements and rhythm in the images. This is known as abstract form and movies in this form are usually organized in theme and variations. 26

Andy Warhol • Andy Warhol was a mid-twentieth century artist who was a central figure in the movement known as pop art. He was also an experimental filmmaker who made more than sixty films. He experimented with both form and content and tried to push the boundaries. • • – Watch the clip from Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film. 27

Animated Film Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) Directed by Steve Box Lecture 13: Part III 28

The Animated Film • • Most fiction and documentary films photograph people and objects in fullsized, three-dimensional spaces. As we have seen, the standard shooting speed for such live-action filmmaking is typically 24 frames per second. Animated films are distinguished from liveaction films by the unusual kinds of work done at the production stage. 29

One Frame at a Time • • Instead of continuously filming an ongoing action in real time, animators create a series of images by shooting one frame at a time. Between the exposure of each frame, the animator changes the subject being filmed. When projected, the images create illusory motion comparable to live-action. 30

Drawn Animation • The most familiar type of animation is drawn animation. From almost the start of the cinema, animators drew and photographed long series of cartoon images. 31

Drawn Animation • During the 1910 s, studio animators introduced clear rectangular sheets of celluloid called cels. The cel process allowed animators to save time and spilt up the labor among assembly lines of people drawing, coloring, photographing, etc. • – Watch the clip. 32

Modern Animation • • • This system, with a few additional laborsaving techniques, is still in use today, though 3 -D computer technology is increasingly used for Hollywood animated features. The process is usually split between full animation and limited animation. Cut-outs involve two-dimensional images. South Park employs this deliberately crude look. 33

Clay Animation • Although clay animation has been used since the early years of the 20 th century, it has grown enormously in popularity since the mid-1970 s. Nick Park’s Wallace and Gromit series contain extraordinarily complex lighting and camera movements. • – Watch the clip.

Computer Imaging • Computer imaging has revolutionized animation. On a mundane level, the computer can perform the repetitive tasks of making the many slightly altered images needed to give a sense of movement. On a creative level, computer animation can open up whole new worlds, as we’ve seen with the Pixar films such as Finding Nemo, Wall-E and Up. – Watch the clip.

End of Lesson 14 Next Lecture: Adaptation 36