Point of View of Early Documentary Filmmakers and Implications - Essay Example

The principles of documentary films and especially as exercised by early documentary filmmakers stand out as crucial distinguishers of these forms of films in comparison to the other representations (NICHOLS, 2003, p. 234). One of the major principles by Grieson includes the fact that the potential of cinemas in looking at life may be in a new art form. The original actor and scene are better than the fiction counterparts are and materials from the ‘raw’ are more real compared to the acted material.

A documentary from the previous work of Grieson is, therefore, the creative treatment of the actual world. It is also the representation of factual events but in a dramatic setting. A documentary stands out from the rest of other non-fictional films since it provides a well-defined opinion, has facts, and has a specific message (NICHOLS, 2003, p. 235). The process of creating documentary projects is simply the documentary practice. It is a complex procedure done by people in order to explain the creative, ethical and conceptual problems arising from the process of making documentaries (Erik, 1993, p. 56). Observational Cinema, which is also Cinema Verite, refers to a style in the filmmaking of documentaries.

It is a combination of the power of improvisation and the use of a camera in the activity of unveiling the truth. Jean Rouch is the founder of this style and Robert Flaherty is the most popular user of the style in his films. It may involve interactions and set-ups between the filmmaker and the subject under surveillance to a point of provocation. The technique is widely used over the years like in 1963 where Pierre Perrault asked old people to fish for a whale and then filmed them. However, critics argue that this style of filming is a deceptive pseudo-natural formation of reality.

Just as research shows the two ways to present a cinema of the real, one is pretending of one’s ability to present reality and the second the ability to show the problem of reality. The same is true for Cinema Verite with the first way being the pretense of bringing forth the truth and posing the problem of the truth (Erik, 1993, p. 58). It is true of what they say that making a film involves the elimination of the non-essentials. In the film-making industry and especially in documentary filmmaking, the documentary mode is exceedingly crucial.

This refers to a scheme developed by Bill Nicholas that distinguishes conventions and traits of the many documentary films. The styles applied in documentary filming differ in various ways depending on the purpose and the audience of the documentary. Early documentary filmmakers had a distinct way of representing their subjects from a distinct point of view, which led to their success and fame in presenting their ideology and uncompromised truth as compared to others as the text will later discuss (Erik, 1993, p. 59). The History of Documentaries The history of documentaries is long and engrossing and various phases of their evolution are crucial in its study.

Documentary filmmaking has seen a series of evolution stages dating back to the extreme historical time until the emergence of the most current and technological forms (Michael, 2003, p. 34). Before 1900 During this time in history the art of filmmaking was new and at its initial stages. The basic and commonly used style in this period was the single-shot moments that were exceedingly short in length.