BUT the human mind is not a film which registers once and for all each impression that comes through its shutters and lenses. The human mind is endlessly and persistently creative. The pictures fade or combine, are sharpened here, condensed there, as we make them more completely our own. They do not lie inert upon the surface of the mind, but are reworked by the poetic faculty into a personal expression of ourselves. We distribute the emphasis and participate in the action.
—Lippman, Public Opinion
The Worst of Times and the Weather Underground
Some may remember the times and maybe even some of the events recounted in the film, The Weather Underground. It was a time of terrible unrest, yet I venture to guess that most remember the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination more strongly than other events of the era.
We all know about the war in Vietnam, regardless of whether we understood anything about it or felt strongly about it one way or another at the time. Yet, how many also remember the domestic terrorism that went on for years and years in our country?
The film, The Weather Underground, is especially timely because of the recent terrorist bombings at the Boston Marathon. It is also a good example for studying the techniques of documentary filmmaking. [Note: Is it reasonable that this film’s MPAA rating is “Unrated”?]
Sam Green, its director and producer studied documentary film at the UC Berkeley. Its co-director and producer, Bill Siegel, Chicago-based educator and documentary filmmaker, says this about the purpose of the film:
The goal of The Weather Underground is not so much to give answers but to raise questions. By exploring this controversial subject with depth and balance, we hope to encourage a broad debate of some of the most important issues of our time. What would real social justice look like not just in America, but throughout the world? What is our responsibility as Americans for the inequalities of globalism? How do we as a society define violence and terrorism?
This is what Netflix said about it:
This sobering documentary about the Weather Underground chronicles the global trend of revolution. The Weathermen didn’t just march or sit in: They rioted and bombed—not to change the American political scene but rather to destroy it.
This particular description underscores one of the pursuits of our evening together. We don’t know who wrote the summary for Netflix. However, we do wish to question the last phrase, “not to change the American political scene but rather to destroy it”? Does this state a fact or an opinion?
To Define Documentary: The Claim of Truth
Contemporary communication via the documentary form of filmmaking provides a narrative that claims to interpret actual events, e.g., as in representing reality, “a documentary film tells a story about real life, with claims to truthfulness” (Aufderheide, 2007, KL 279-280).
In addition, one might say that a documentary film attempts to represent real life and not manipulate it. However, there is no way to produce a film without manipulating the information. The topic choice, the camera focus, the frame, the angle, etc. direct the viewer’s attention and create bias.
Over the years, documentary films have come to include a very broad and diverse class of films. Dirks (2011) provides the following examples:
- About a living or dead person-biography (Madonna, John Lennon, Muhammad Ali – When We Were Kings (1996), Robert Crumb, Stephen Hawking – A Brief History of Time (1992), Theory of Everything (2015);
- About a well-known event – Waco, Texas incident, the Holocaust, the Shackleton expedition to the Antarctic;
- About a concert or rock festival – Woodstock or Altamont rock concerts (Woodstock (1970) and Gimme Shelter (1970), Stop Making Sense (1984), Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991);
- A comedy show – Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy shows;
- A live performance – Cuban musicians as in Buena Vista Social Club (1998), or the stage show Cirque du Soleil in Journey of Man (2000);
- A sociological or ethnographic examination following a person over time, e.g., Michael Apted’s series of films – 28 Up (1984), 35 Up (1992), or Steve James’ Hoop Dreams (1994);
- An exposé including interviews, e.g., Michael Moore’s social concerns films;
- A sports documentary – extreme sports such as in Extreme (1999) or surfing, such as in The Endless Summer (1966);
- A compilation film of collected footage from government sources;
- A “making of” film such as the filming of Apocalypse Now (1979) or Fitzcarraldo (1982);
- A specific subject area examined, e.g., nature or science-related themes;
- Historical surveys, such as The Civil War, Jazz, Baseball, or World War II, etc.
The History of Documentary Film
The documentary genre begins at the end of the 19th century with the first films ever projected (Aufderheide, 2007, KL 257). The term “documentary” has been described as a “filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception” that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries (Nichols, 1997).
The documentary genre has a range of purposes, from the simple choice and recording of events (a snapshot or unedited holiday video) to a polemic text that attempts to persuade the audience into a specific set of opinions, as in Gasland (Fox, 2010). Audiences must identify the purpose at the outset and can therefore decode documentary texts differently compared to fictional narratives (Wilson, 2009).
Broad interest in actual events is demonstrated by the continuing success of reality television, as well as the positive response to different forms of documentary film. Over the last decade, the documentary has gained stature in the box office through films such as Academy Award winners An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim, 2006) and Inside Job (Ferguson, 2010). These films were allegedly created to provide information (i.e., facts) for raising awareness of social issues. We might classify many of these recent films as “protest art” or “agitprop”.
When we recall that the late 1960s and early 1970s also saw a documentary resurgence, the current foment begins to look less like a coincidence and more like a movement. One might even propose that Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Arlo Guthrie in the 1960s (and perhaps also Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger in the 1940s) could be compared to documentary filmmakers today, and that in our age of “the visual,” the camera has replaced the guitar as a medium of political and social dissent (Higgins, n.d.) .
Are documentary films like films in other genres in their incorporation of the arts? As you watch this film, try to notice how film arts are used to help tell the story: music, editing, color palette/ cinematography, costumes, dialogue, set design/locations.
Glossary
Documentary
Documentary film is an evolving concept, but the genre encompasses those media texts that can be generally classified as non-fiction. One online dictionary defines the adjective “documentary” as “presenting facts objectively without editorializing or inserting fictional matter, as in a book or film” (The Free Dictionary, 2003).
Cinema
For many viewers and critics, cinema (movies, films) is storytelling, historically relying on lens-based recordings of reality. The camera’s basic motion is to open the shutter and to start the film rolling, recording whatever happens to be in front of the lens. However, during cinema’s history, a whole repertoire of techniques (lighting, art direction, the use of different film stocks and lens, etc.) was developed to change the basic record obtained by a camera.
A Film
A film, or motion picture, is a cultural artifact created by a specific culture, which reflects those cultures, and, in turn, affects them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating — or indoctrinating — citizens. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication.
REFERENCES
Aufderheide, P. (2007). Documentary film: A very short introduction (Vol. 175): Oxford University Press.
Dirks, T. (2011). Documentary films. Filmsite. Retrieved from https://www.filmsite.org/docfilms.html
Ferguson, C. (Writer). (2010). Inside job [Motion picture]. A. Marrs & C. Ferguson (Producer). USA: Sony Pictures Classics.
Fox, J. (Director). (2010). Gasland [Motion picture]. USA: HBO.
Green, S., & Siegel, B. (Directors). (2002). The weather underground [Motion picture]. USA: PBS Independent Lens.
Green, S. (2002, Nov 21). The weather underground | Sam Green. Retrieved from https://samgreen.to/weather-underground/
Guggenheim, D. (Writer) (2006). An inconvenient truth. [Motion picture]. Lawrence Bender Productions & Participant Productions (Producer). USA: Paramount Home Entertainment.
Higgins, L. A. (n.d.) Documentary in an age of terror. Retrieved from http://www.documentaryisneverneutral.com/words/docuterr.html
Independent lens: The weather underground. (2002). PBS. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/weatherunderground/film.html
Lippman, W. (1922). Public opinion. New York, New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Nichols, B. (1997). Foreword. In B. K. Grant & J. Sloniowski (Eds.), Documenting the documentary: Close readings of documentary film and video. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
Nichols, B. (2010). Introduction to documentary (2nd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
The free dictionary: The world’s most comprehensive dictionary. (2003). Huntingdon Valley, PA: Farlex, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.thefreedictionary.com
Wilson, K. (2009). Documentary – A definition for the digital age. Retrieved from https://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/Documentary/docu_index.php?pageID=definitions./
