Creative Treatment of Actuality - Term Paper Example

CREATIVE TREATMENT OF ACTUALITY: CRITICAL REVIEW INTRODUCTION The traditional cinema gained hold around the world at the turn of the 20th Century. Many communities around the world built different niches within which motion picture was developed and enhanced in order to promote this art form (Benson, 2013). Primarily, the main role of motion picture was to entertain viewers (Benson, 2013). However, with time, the use of television and other forms of motion picture to educate people was enhanced and promoted throughout communities around the world. One of the earliest views of documentaries was the concept of creative treatment of actuality. This was presented by John Grieson who viewed it as a system of using some degree of creativity to present factual and non-fictional storylines in a way and manner that maintained the originality of the cinema and also educated viewers of the matter that needed to be discussed. This paper examines the concept of creative treatment of actuality and how it applies to the media. It will involve the critical review of two documentaries of the 1930s in which the idea of critical treatment of actuality was applied. CREATIVE TREATMENT OF ACTUALITY The concept of the creative treatment of actuality is about observing life in an art form that brings out the natural aspects of society and this is done through factual films presented in a dramatic form (De Jong, 2013). The creative treatment of actuality was first propounded by John Grieson who viewed it as a form of journalism, presented through the media process. Later on, this concept played a role in defining the actual role and processes of documentaries. “Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or the other to ‘document’ reality” (Killborn & Izod, 2013, p. 29). In John Grieson’s pioneering work, he sought to document the life of a Polynesian girl and her family in 1926. This was done through the use of words, music, images and sound effects that were meant to create an aesthetic and factual appeal (Killborn & Izod, 2013). This is meant to present a lively view of a given situation in order to present a message in a strong way and manner and bring about a high degree of realism to the documentary. However, this includes some creative components that will work together to attain specific objectives and ends. A documentary presents a creative and holistic view of a given phenomenon (Kerrigan & McIntyre, 2010). This implies presenting a given social system or an ethnographic research in a way and manner that is done through a creative process. This presents the truth of a given situation but in a way and manner in which some creative and additional contents are added to make it sound appropriate (De Jong, 2013). Two fundamental elements add up to the creative treatment of actuality and these are: 1. Credibility and 2. Serendipity (De Jong, 2013). Credibility means maintaining the elements and aspects of the reality or the actual situation in which the phenomenon being presented occurs. This includes the presentation of the natural setting and the procedures within which the phenomenon under review occurs in its normal sense. Serendipity is about the natural surprises or unexpected events that have significant influences and results. In other words, the essence of the creative treatment of actuality involves the presentation of a given phenomenon to the viewer. And the best way of doing this is to show groundbreaking and significant things that occur in the natural process that is being captured. Therefore, there is the need for the producer of the film to show important things that will play a major role in shaping the views, understanding and opinions of the viewer. Hence, the significant issues and matters ought to be presented in a way and manner that will provide the best instances of the situation at hand. Since documentaries are meant to inform viewers about things in a given social system, there is the need to present a taste of reality in conveying the message (Bluemel, 2011). “For Grierson, although documentaries will in all likelihoods be based on recorded footage or ‘natural material’ as he terms it, it is in the creative interventions made by the filmmaker (specific use of sound, certain edited juxtapositions) that is the documentary resides.” (Nelmes, 2012, p. 218). This implies that the use of artful processes and systems describes the surface value of the subject. And the procedure is such that it must reveal the realities and provide an emotional connection to the viewer in order to convey the message of a given storyline. Thus the creative treatment of actuality is more about presenting non-fiction through a truth-claim that builds on actual history but uses the benefit of the camera’s techniques and the producer’s creativity and abilities to present the story in a unique way (Higley & Weinstock, 2010). This means that information is presented as it is presented but the producer will have to use some level of creativity and skills in cinema arts to put the pieces together and present the documentary in a good and appropriate manner that sparks a lot of positive reactions in the viewer. This is mainly about informing the viewer and giving the viewer the understanding that a person who has seen the situation first-hand would feel within the duration of the documentary. The fiction element addresses the emotions and thoughts of viewers and presents facts by presenting persistent elements of the society and re-arranging and interpreting life (Jaffe, 2012). Therefore, documentaries assume prerogatives ascribed by the producers and people who put together the films. Documentaries therefore split off from the aspects of the main elements of normal fictional films (Paget, 2012). This is because documentaries create a hybrid system that presents fiction as well as non-fictional aspects of a given situation. The viewer can identify with the documentary and also learn important things that are being presented through such features. This means that the creative treatment of actuality is based on the authority of the producer and also the presentation of several views and the prerogative of the producer who puts together the documentary (Chapman, 2010). The creative treatment if actuality is about setting targets and meeting these targets (Corner, 2010). This is because the producer needs to set targets about the ends that ought to be met. This involves the creation of a given system and a given end and this end must be measurable through the compilation process and the viewing process. The documentary employs the creative treatment of actuality through the presentation of the apparent facts. This is done by presenting things as they occur naturally in the setting of the issue being captured. And this is presented through various narrations and presentations that will be similar to what an ordinary person will see and feel when s/he lives in the natural and normal setting of the video. Also, the documentary’s employment of creative actuality must be done through the use of extraordinary elaboration and this is done through the presentation of the actual issue through various techniques and tools that enables the producer to present ideas and views in a technically advanced way. This will involve the combination of various components of cinematography in order to present a strong effect on viewers and the audiences. NIGHT MAIL (1936) – THE CREATIVE TREATMENT OF ACTUALITY Creativity Serendipity Artful mix of sound, images and shots Specific use of sound & edited juxtapositions Reality Extraordinary elaboration Presentation of the apparent Meet Targets Address an Issue 5.How satisfactorily do Night Mail (1936) and Coal Face (1935) represent examples of ‘the creative treatment of actuality’? Read More