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Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Reflecting reality in film documentaries Essay

The paradox of reality stems from the fact that it is a combination of abstract and concrete concepts. nobble since different kinds of reality bed be subjectively formed and understood. It cannot be quantified from a single perspective alone. In the meantime, reality is concrete since it is mostthing that for each one and every individual mustiness readily confront. Reality is begin of human races constant struggle. The puzzling complexity that embodies the spirit of reality is nonetheless more felt on how it is represent, presented or articulated in otherwise forms.Literature exploits the power of words to explain reality, singers capitalize on music. merely the task be cums even harder as for the case of demand makers who argon judge to utilize both visual and musical ele handsts to represent reality. In ingest-making, it cannot be denied that the use of different technologies somehow affect how reality is shown. For every filmmaker, thither is the challenge to ma ke their works of art convincingconvincing, in the gumption that a film seems to devoid of any technological mediation and incarnate interestand at the same time retaining the subject matter in its nice and organic form.With this pursuit, the emergence of film documentaries came into life. Kibborn once noted that film documentaries aim to offer a window of the world (p. 53). This would not come as a surprise since films, whether they are created for commercial purposes are therefore reflections of a much wider world view. Some filmmakers have fared well, while some, unfortunately, failed. On the other hand, there are others, who have seen film documentaries as a tool to immortalize not only their works scarcely withal their names. The film industry owes it all to the Lumiere Brothers.This generation would not experience the beaut and artistry of films if not for these two. Since early film tools and equipments are not that school during that time, silent films tend to dominat e the (big screen). However, what is even more amazing in this context is the manner in which the Lumiere Brothers have managed to present reality with pure visual images alone. Films do communicate and try to reach to their respective audiences. only when then again, the absence of sounds seems to make the presentation a bit complex and difficult.However, if one would stick to the principle in which reality is comprised of events that are experient in everyday lives, situations that are commonly confronted by ordinary pile, it can be fairly said that the Lumiere Brothers stand out. If one has to take a closer look at Arrival of a Train (Nichols 83), such(prenominal) event is commonly encountered. The camera focuses on the train and the people that stimulate in the station. A close digging is chosen as if trying to tell every intricate sequence and details of the said event. unwitting and unscripted, the actors are seen in their most natural ways and manners. Such proficiency is likewise used in Nanook of the North by Robert Flaherty. However, Flaherty incorporated some texts. Perhaps it can be argued that the Flaherty wants to make the a more undimmed and descriptive storytelling approach. There is the intention to relate to the audience what is positively accident rather than to interpret the stories on their own. There is a impression in the film wherein the boat is being covered with a piece of textile before going down the river.In this case, a close shot was again used, in order to show how intricate the processes are. Yet, during the part wherein the actual trek is going on, a long shot was utilized, thus readily evoking a feeling that the group is on their journey. The characters looked small during that shot and the notion of space and distance were further highlighted. From documenting everyday routines to inserting texts in the film, documentaries are in like manner flavored with the directors political perspective as for the case of Dz iga Vertov.Hicks even described Vertov as the so-called genie of propaganda films primarily because of its strong Marxist beliefs and visions (8). Taylor described that Vertov ushered reality through the montage technique (74). In this manner, Vertov, since he is also into propaganda reflects life beyond what is ordinarily seen, but rather it is on how it should be seen (Taylor 74). In the film, Three Songs of Lenin, different scenes are patched together. There is the part wherein a group of marching men were shown and followed by a scene that focuses on three statues.Another group of marching people is presented but this time, women, with holding high powered guns are also shown, then it goes cover song to the three statues. Vertov, as a propagandist who wanted to tell the people what life should be seem to purport that equality between men and women must be readily observed. At the same time, the three statues that are constantly shown is reflective of an ideology or school of thought that must be readily followed and practiced. In the meantime, John Grierson is a film amateur who is one of those who laid down the foundations of realism theories in films (Aitken 162).Elis and Mclane noted that Grierson readily influenced many film makers (73). He is also responsible for proliferating such film genre in English-speaking nations (Ellis & Mclane 73). Grierson firmly believes that in order to depict reality properly, reality should be free from all forms of manipulationthat it should be captured in its raw form rather than mastered in man-made environments (Aitken 167). Works Cited Aitken, Ian. European Film Theory and Cinema A detailed Introduction. Scotland Edinburgh Press, 2001Ellis, Jack and Betsy McLane. A New History of Film Documentary. London Continuum worldwide Publishing, 2005 Hicks, Jeremy. Dziga Vertov Defining Documentary Film. London I. B Tauris Publishers, 2007 Kibborn, Richard. Staging the Real factual TV Programming in the Age of Big Brot her. Oxford, UK Manchester University Press, 2003 Nichols, Bill. Introduction to Documentary. Bloomington atomic number 49 University Press, 2001 Taylor, Richard. Film Propaganda Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. London I. B Tauris Publishers, 1998

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