1. Poetic documentaries (Artistic expression) which first appeared in the 1920’s, moved away from
Rain (1928), whose subject is a passing summer shower over Amsterdam; Laszlo Moholy-Nagy’s
Play of Light: Black, White, Grey
(1930), in which he films one of his own kinetic sculptures,
emphasizing not the sculpture itself but the play of light around it;
Oskar Fischinger’s abstract animated films; Francis Thompson’s
N.Y., N.Y. (1957), a city symphony film; Chris Marker’s
Sans Soleil (1982).
continuity editing and instead organized images of the
material world by means of associations and patterns, both in terms of
time and space. Examples: Joris Ivens’
2. Expository documentaries (Voice of God) speak directly to the viewer, often
in the form of an authoritative commentary employing voiceover or
titles, proposing a strong argument and point of view. These films are
rhetorical, and try to persuade the viewer. (They may use a rich and
sonorous male voice.)Examples: TV shows and films like A&E
Biography;
America’s Most Wanted; many science and nature documentaries; Ken Burns’
The Civil War (1990); Robert Hughes’
The Shock of the New (1980); John Berger’s
Ways Of Seeing (1974).
3. Cinéma vérité (
Observational) is a term, referring to a style of documentary filmmaking,
Observational documentaries (like
Cinéma vérité ) to simply and
spontaneously observe lived life with a minimum of intervention.
Filmmakers who worked in this sub-genre often saw the poetic mode as too
abstract and the expository mode as too didactic. this mode of film eschewed voice-over commentary, post-synchronized
dialogue and music, or re-enactments. The films aimed for immediacy,
intimacy, and revelation of individual human character in ordinary life
situations. Examples: Frederick Wiseman’s films, e.g.
High School (1968); Gilles Groulx and Michel Brault’s
Les Racquetteurs (1958); Albert & David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin's
Gimme Shelter (1970); D.A. Pennebaker's
Don’t Look Back (1967), about Dylan’s tour of England.
invented by Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about Kino-Pravda and influenced by Robert Flaherty’s films.
4. Participatory documentaries believe that it is impossible for the act of filmmaking to
not
The Man with a Movie Camera (1929); Rouch and Morin’s
Chronicle of a Summer (1960); Ross McElwee’s
Sherman’s March
(1985); Nick Broomfield’s films. I suspect Michael Moore’s films would
also belong here, although they have a strong ‘expository’ bent as well.
influence or alter the events being filmed. Nichols:
“The filmmaker steps out from behind the cloak of voice-over
commentary, steps away from poetic meditation, steps down from a
fly-on-the-wall perch, and becomes a social actor (almost) like any
other. (Almost like any other because the filmmaker retains the camera,
and with it, a certain degree of potential power and control over
events.)”Examples: Vertov’s
