evolution of documentary

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EVOLUTION OF DOCUMENTARY Kelly Chalk

+GRIERSON

John Grierson was a filmmaker and started off making poetic documentaries, but then felt like they were better made as an educational source, rather than a form of entertainment. Some say the he created the word Documentary and since has been use as a description for factual films.

+Propaganda (World War 2)

In World War 2, the Nazi party made the most out of the media to get its message to the entirety of the German populace. Media such as: Triumph of the Will, 1935, was shown across Germany and the world, to show the ‘morals’ of the Nazi party, sowing the hard working party and citizens working together. This film, along with many other forms of media within Germany at this time was directly influenced by Hitler.

Grierson, along with many others responded to this with their own form of propaganda. Grierson achieved this with the assistance of his Canadian national film commission.

+ Direct cinema (Cinema Verite)

Around 1950, Cinema Verite came into consideration. Originally a French movement, direct cinema (or cinema vérité) moved away from leading information and staged drama, but instead attempted to create ‘real’ footage, showing ‘real’ people doing ‘real’ activities.

+Political Weaponry

Between the 1960-70’s , politicians began using film as a weapon to tarnish or oppose political agendas. This style of film was also used to document a change of power, such as in the early 70’s production ‘Chile: A Special Report’

+DOCUMENTARIES THAT MADE AN IMPACT

Nightmail (1936) Wright and Watt

Housing Problems (1935) Elton Anstey

Coalface (1936) Cavalcanti

Nanook of the North (1921) Flaherty

+SCHEDULE AND CHANNELS

Channel 4 – Known for their controversial subjects.

BBC – Factual, mostly famous for their nature and science documentaries such as Planet Earth.

Sky One – Mostly entertainment themed documetaries