history of documentaries

1. The History of Documentaries.

2. John Grierson
John Grierson was an establishing Scottish Documentary maker in the 1930’s. At this
time Documentaries were were produced for a cinema audience as televisions were
not yet made.
‘In documentary we deal with the actual and in one sense with the real. But the really
real, if i may use that phrase, is something deeper than that. The only reality which
counts in the end is the interpretation which is profound’ - John Grierson
Here, Grierson is saying that a documentary can not be the real thing, although its
factual. The only real thing about documentaries is that it's an interpretation of the
real, factual, subject. This is because people’s beliefs, age, culture, ethnicity, tradition,
gender and country will impact someone's opinion which will thus affect their
interpretation of the real.

3. Examples
https://youtu.be/1_ddTCcr1Nw
For example, there are many documentaries about the 9/11 devastation. Many
argue that it was terrorist attack, however there have been other documentaries
made that try to persuade the audience that it was down to the Government.
These are both interpretations of a real incident but each are influenced by their
own opinions

4. Although Grierson was an important part of documentary making, there is a history
about documentaries before him.
Documentaries developed from the first films that were invented by the Lumiere
brothers in 1895. Theirs films were very short, unedited clips of the life around them.
These short films were called ‘actualities’. It was John Grierson who invented the name
‘documentary’ to describe the film ‘Nanook of the North’ created by Robert Flaherty in
1922. This was the first feature length factual film.
Before John Grierson

5. Direct Cinema
Direct Cinema was a further development of documentaries in the 1950’s to the 1960’s.
It was a movement that took place in the united states, it aimed to present social and
political issues in an unmediated way, making it seem the events were recorded exactly
as it happened with the help of a filmmaker or editor.
The ‘Hand Held’ camera was invented around this this time to make it easier for news
camera men to film.

6. Cinema Verite
At the same time as Direct Cinema was being developed, Cinema Verite (cinema
Truth) was being developed in France. This is a style of filmmaking that conveys a ‘real
life’ sense. A few techniques used to achieve this style is by using a handheld camera,
natural lighting, location filming and direct sound. Jean Rouch is an example of a
documentarian who adopted this style in the 1960’s.
https://youtu.be/WktfKeVA9ac
https://youtu.be/VgCOW8V0-1c

7. Drama documentaries
Documentaries further developed into ‘drama-documentary’. This is due to the
Cinema Verite style and techniques. These techniques have been used by drama film
makers - such as Ken Loach.
The result of this technique, although many documentarians used it for
documentaries, was used in films to make them appear ‘real’ and in more recent times,
filmmakers have used this convention to persuade the audience that the film is factual
when it isn't. This is called ‘mockumentary’

8. Why the history of documentaries is important
It is important that I know the history of the documentaries to investigate trends, how
documentaries have changed and improved and what works well and what doesn't
work well. This will aid me when i am creating my own documentary as I can use
techniques that I have explored from the history of documentaries that were
successful. I can also explore certain types of documentaries that have been developed
such a ‘drama-documentary’ and re create this type of documentary if it's necessary. I
can also use the codes and conventions that are used to achieve certain types of styles
that i have researched. Overall this will result in a more professional, accurate and
successful documentary as i will understand what specific techniques are used to
achieve a desired style