INtroduction

1. Spectatorship and
Documentary
Thursday 3rd
February 2011

2. Documentary
“Introduction to Documentary” Bill Nichols
(2001)
Documentaries engage with the World by representing
it, and it does so in three ways:
1) Documentaries offer us a likeness or depiction of the
world that bears a recognizable familiarity
2) Documentaries stand for or represent the interests of
others
3) Documentaries may represent the world in the same
way a lawyer may represent a clients interests

3. • What the Principle films are for
your exam
• The definition of a documentary
and some key ideologies related to
the enjoyment of a documentary
• The different modes of
documentary filmmaking that you
must learn for the exam
Why?
You must study how different
modes of documentary
impact the spectator.
What you will learn in today’s lesson?

4. Principle Texts
1) ‘9/11’ (2002) Dir. Jules and Gideon
Naudet
2) ‘Super Size Me’ (2004) Morgan Spurlock
3) ‘An Inconvenient truth’ (2006) Al Gore
We will also analyse other
documentaries briefly to establish the
codes and conventions of the 4 modes
you will need to refer to.

5. History of Documentary filmmaking
and key quotes to consider
• Documentary is ‘the creative use of actuality’
(John Grierson)
• Documentary is a form of
social representation
• “Representation is not only about viewing
ourselves, but also about viewing others”
(Wendy Helsby - 2005)
o “Fiction films are trying to imitate reality, while
documentaries are reality” (Helen Dugdale –
MediaMagazine Sept. 2003)

6. Boleshaw Mutuszewski
Documentary is a…
“museum of contemporary life”

7. Modes of Documentary
• Expository Mode
A strong emphasis on verbal commentary (“Voice of God”) and an identifiable
logic
• Observational Mode
Direct engagement with the everyday life of the subject(s) through an
‘Unobtrusive camera’
• Participatory Mode
Interaction between ‘Filmmaker’ and ‘Subject’ – Techniques such as Interviews,
archival footage or even direct involvement
• Performative Mode
Subject matter has a stronger emphasis on their (filmmaker/institution)
emotional and social impact on an audience

8. Task
Watch the following clip of
‘The Osbournes’ and ‘Sicko’ (2007) Dir. Michael Moore.
Use the information provided on the different modes of
documentary to determine what each documentary is and
why.
Remember – Each documentary could use similar
conventions normally associated to other documentaries. If
they do, note them down!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
YouTube - The Osbournes - Xmas Special Part2

9. Homework
• Learn the conventions of each
documentary for a test next lesson and
quotes.

10. Homework
• Learn the conventions of each
documentary for a test next lesson and
quotes.