history of docs sim g4

1. THE HISTORY OF
DOCUMENTARIES
sim

2. • Documentaries were invented around
about the time films (the late 1800s)
by the Lumeire brothers, they shot
unedited clips that captures the
essence of real life – actualities.
The word ‘documentary’ was created by
John Grierson.
‘The creativity of actuality’.

3. • Documentary began with “Nanook of The North”
made by Robert Flaherty in 1992.
• Nanook of The North was the first feature length
factual film and the first to use ‘the creative
interpretation of reality’, as described by Grierson.

4. • Grierson became a major in poetic-realist approaches to
documentary.
• One of his first informational films, “Nightmail” (1936)
outlined the mail train from London to Edinburgh
• Some criticised Grierson of neglecting social and political
issues in his filmmaking.

5. • Direct Cinema began in the US, this aimed to address social and political
issues in a direct manner to give a sense of actuality without a filmmaker.
• This was achieved by the development of a smaller, more lightweight
filter for cameras that allowed the camera to be hand held.
• Keys names in this movement include the Mayles brothers and Fred
Wiseman.

6. Modern documentaries such as “Supersize Me”
originated from direct cinema.

7. • At the same time of Direct Cinema, Cinema Verite occurred.
• Cinema Verite is a minimalist style of film that gives the viewer
the feeling of actually being present .
• Verite favours hand-held camera. Natural lighting and direct sound.
• Verite filmmakers include, Ken Loach and Jean Rouch.
• Verite makes film seem more realistic and truthful as oppose to
the recently used mockumentary.

8. • An example of Verite filming in documentary is
Channel 4’s ‘Benefits Street’.

9. DOCUMENTARIES: a chronology

10. Notable documentaries through time
The Thin Blue
Line
A documentary that
argued that a man
was wrongly
convicted for
murder by a corrupt
justice system in
Dallas County, Texas.
Hoop Dreams
Follows the lives of
two Chicagoan boys
who struggle to
become college
basketball players on
the road to going
professional.
March of the
Penguins
In the Antarctic,
every March since
the beginning of
time, the quest
begins to find the
perfect mate and
start a family.
O.J: Made in
America
“A chronicle of the rise and
fall of O.J. Simpson, whose
high-profile murder trial
exposed the extent of
American racial tensions,
revealing a fractured and
divided nation.”