Chapter Six

Question 6: How Can We Differentiate among Documentaries? Categories, Models, and the Expository and Poetic Modes of Documentary Film

   

Within this chapter Nichols discusses the need to classify documentaries, documentary film and its relationship to other kinds of film, models for and mode of documentary film, the poetic mode, and the expository mode. He starts with differentiating between documentaries. To do this we need to review a few definitions:

           1.    We define documentary as a form of cinema that speaks to us about actual situations and events.

          2.   Documentaries involve real people (social actors0), who present themselves to us in stories that convey a plausible proposal about or perspective on the lives and situations, and events portrayed.  

          3.   All with distinct points of view of the filmmakers which shapes the story.

These definitions help us distinguish different types of documentaries. We also might see films clustered into both fiction and non-fiction films. A few examples of this are neo-realism, reenactments, mockumentaries, and docudramas. This goes for documentary and non-documentary as well, including mere footage, newsreels, TV news reports, industrial or sponsored films.

Next, Nichols gives us two major ways of dividing up documentaries:

           1.    Preexisting nonfiction models. Documentaries adopt models such as the diary, biography, or essay. These continue to change and evolve, for example, reports, manifestos, blogs, etc.

          2.   Distinct, cinematic modes. Documentaries adopt modes such as the expository or observational mode. They select and arrange sounds and images in distinct ways, using specifically cinematic techniques and conventions. (Nichols 148)

Emphasis lies with the modes of documentary, however we can classify any one documentary in either of two ways: 

•        What model it adopts from other media
•          What mode it contributes to as Cinema

The classifications are not mutually exclusive they are complementary (Nichols 148).

Pages 146-153 list some of the major models and modes for Documentary films. However, this chapter focuses on two, the poetic mode and the expository mode. The Poetic Mode was discussed a little bit in the first chapter; “it emphasizes visual associations, tonal or rhythmic qualities, descriptive passages, and formal organization” (Nichols 31). It also shared a common terrain with the modernist avant-grade. Some specific qualities of poetic mode are:

•      It is an alternative to fiction and exposition.
•      It is limited by formal abstractions that lose touch with historical reality.
•      It treats knowledge as affective, a new way to see and comprehend the world; see the familiar in a fresh way.
•      The sound is expressive, used for pattern and rhythm but with filmmaker holding a high degree of control as in the expository mode.
•      Time and space is discontinuous, uses images that build mood or pattern without full regard for their original proximity.
•       When it comes to ethical concerns, poetic mode uses actual people, places, and things without regard for their individual identity; may distort or exaggerate for aesthetic effect.
•         The voice is characterized by an expressive desire to give new forms and fresh perspectives to the world represented. (Nichols 210-11)

The Expository Mode was also discussed in the first chapter; it “emphasizes verbal commentary and an argumentative logic” (Nichols 31). This mode assembles fragments of the historical world into a more rhetorical frame than an aesthetic or poetic one. It is the mode that first combined the four basic elements of documentary film, indexical images of reality, affective association, story-telling qualities, and rhetorical persuasiveness. Some specific qualities of expository mode are:

•      It is an alternative to fiction and avant-garde.
•        It is limited by didacticism.
•       It treats knowledge as disembodied or abstract ideas, concepts, or perspectives. 
•        The sound is expressive and cognitive, fully under the control of the filmmaker; no indexical link to the image it supports; often in a voice-over form. 
•      Time and space is discontinuous, uses images from many different times and places to illustrate a perspective or argument.
• ·     When it comes to ethical concerns, historical accuracy and verifiability; fair representation of other, avoid making people into helpless victims; develop the viewer’s trust.
•         The voice is characterize by a classic oration in pursuit of the truth and seeking to inform and move an audience. (Nichols 210-11)