Looking at documentaries

1. A historical timeline of
documentary
By Michael Collins

2. Facts
In 1919 a filmmaker by the name of Dziga Vertov made the suggestion that the future of
cinema is to report on the truth/facts. In 1928, He made the film “The man with the
movie camera” which focused on life in Russia using a variety of techniques.
John Grierson in 1928, described the film Moana as a documentary which was the first
instance of the word being used in this way.
1984 brought along the concept of a mockumentary with “This is Spinal Tap”
The 2000s saw a rise in reality tv documenting different subjects. The first reality show
aired in 1973 (An American Family).

3. Facts
Prior to the establishment of documentary as a genre, they were known as
actualities.
In 1950, cameras were now lighter and could now be handheld.
1980, Sony began to sell cameras to the public

4. 1922 Nanook of the North by Robert
Flaherty
This is considered to be one of the first feature length documentaries made
and it's also an example of a silent film. It mixed both elements of actuality and
drama together which lead to some criticism of the director faking or
dramatizing certain scenes. It was recorded over a period of one year from
1920 to 1921 after the original negatives were destroyed.

5. Triumph of the will by Leni Riefenstahl
The propaganda film was made in 1935 and was
directed, produced and co-written by Riefenstahl.
It documents Germany’s rise back to power and
that it was Hitler who brought the country that
far. Despite its status of being Nazi propaganda,
the film is credited as being groundbreaking for
its use of music and cinematography which
continues to influence filmmakers today
although, due to censorship laws in Germany, the
film is banned there due its references to the
Nazi’s and depiction of the swastika.

6. Leni Riefenstahl
During the 1930s, Riefenstahl was a popular actress in Germany. Both her
admiration with Hitler and Hitler's appreciation of her film Das Blaue Lacht lead
to her meeting with him which would then result in her being commissioned to
make the Triumph of the will although she was reluctant to do so. Riefenstahl
has been criticised directly due to her involvement with Hitler despite her
claims of being un aware of the Nazis true motivation and that the film is not
propaganda.

7. Why we fight by Frank Capra
This series of documentaries was the U.S. own
propaganda response to Triumph of the will. There were
7 films released between 1942 and 1945 and was meant
to convince the American Public and U.S. soldiers that it
was time to get involved in WW2 with some influence
coming from Disney. The film's attempt to show the
power of the Nazis and the lack of sense of not getting
involved in the war. Capra described Riefenstahl as being
a terrifying creation which did not need to drop a bomb to
influence people.

8. Titicut Follies 1967 by Frederick Wiseman
Wiseman is one of the most influential documentary filmmakers of all time. An example
of this is the film Titicut Follies which was among the first of his documentaries. It
depicted the lives of inmates of Bridgewater mental asylum and exposed the system
which allowed the inmates to be severely mistreated. The government of Massachusetts
with the backing of the U.S supreme court managed to get the film banned for reasons
relating to “privacy”. In 1969, Wiseman managed to convince the Judicial court of
massachusetts to show the film to Lawyers and medical staff only. In 1991, the film was
finally released to the public.

9. Bibliography
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/docexhibit/docuchron.htm
http://www.slideshare.net/jontowlson/a-short-history-of-documentary
http://www.slideshare.net/acarvin/documentary-making-101
http://transom.org/2014/brief-history-of-documentary-forms/
http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/6836
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titicut_Follies