Jasmine's ジャスミン College Year 1

26th January 2012

Post with 2 notes

Factuality (Part 1) - What Is Documentary?

Documentary -

Here are different definitions of the word ‘Documentary’:

- 1. Consisting of, concerning, or based on documents. 2. Presenting facts objectively without editorializing or inserting fictional matter, as in a book or film. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/documentary)

- Documentary texts are supposedly those which aim to document reality, attempting veracity in their depiction of people, places and events. (http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/Documentary/docu_index.php)

- 1. Also, doc·u·men·tal, pertaining to, consisting of, or derived from documents: a documentary history of France. 2. Movies, Television . based on or re-creating an actual event, era, life story, etc., that purports to be factually accurate and contains no fictional elements: a documentary life of Gandhi. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/documentary)

- 1. being or consisting of documents : contained or certified in writing <documentary evidence> 2. of, relating to, or employing documentation in literature or art; broadly : factual, objective <a documentary film of the war> (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/documentary)

- Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film)

John Grierson -

John Grierson was a Scottish Documentarian who was also known as ‘The Moviegoer’ was known to have coined up the word ‘Documentary’. John Grierson believed that observing life could be shown in a new art form by having the original scene with the original character. He believed this would allows the audience to get a better and more real understanding than something that has been re-enacted.

Dziga Vertov - 

David Abelevich Kaufman better known as Dziga Vertov was also a documentary film director as well as a newreels and cinema theorist. His filming actually had a huge empact on cinema’s because of his style of documentation.

Below is a list of some of the famous Documentaries I have watched:

- Justin Lee Colin’s: Turning Japanese (http://www.channel5.com/shows/justin-lee-collins-turning-japanese)

- Planet Earth (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mywy)

- How Bruce Lee Changed The World (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H684-xAMOZE)

 (See Factuality (Part 2))

Tagged: DocumentaryDocumentary FilmDziga VertovJohn GriersonWhat Is DocumentaryFactuality