Chapter One

Question One: How Can We Define Documentary Film?

            To answer this question Nichols uses seven different sections. The first one is called, “Enter the Golden Age”. In this section he discusses the current Golden Age of documentaries, which began in the 1980s and continues today. “Documentary has become the flagship for a cinema of social engagement and distinctive vision,” says Nicholas (2). He then discusses the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and their acknowledgement of many bold and Oscar winning documentaries of the Golden Age, including The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) and Down and Out in America (1986). In the next section, “The Search for Common Ground: Defining Documentary Film” Nichols repeats the idea that “documentaries are a distinct form of cinema but perhaps not as completely distinct as we at first imagine” (Nichols 6). Nichols then gives us John Grierson’s definition of documentary, “creative treatment of actuality” (Nichols 6). This definition balances the creative with respect to the historical world. However, commonsense ideas about documentary prove a useful point. Three commonsense assumptions about documentary are:

•     Documentaries are about reality; they’re not about something that actually happened.
•       Documentaries are about real people.
•    Documentaries tell stories about what happens in the real world.

        Giving us a definition something like this, “Documentary film speaks about situations and events involving real people (social actors) who present themselves to us as themselves in stories that convey a plausible proposal about, or perspective on, the lives, situations, and events portrayed. The distinct point of view of the filmmaker shapes this story into a way of seeing the historical would directly rather than into a fictional allegory” (Nichols 14). In “Fuzzy Concepts & the Process of Change,” Nichols talks about how documentaries cluster into different types or modes. He also reminds us that definitions of documentaries are always playing catch-up and adapting to changes in what counts as a documentary and why. The reason for most change occurs because of what goes on in one or more of the following four arenas:

1.    Institutions that support documentary production and reception

2.   The creative efforts of filmmakers

3.   The lasting influence of specific films

4.   The expectations of audiences

        The next three sections contain extended discussion of these four factors, institutions, filmmakers, films, and audiences. Lastly, in one of these sections, “A Corpus of Texts: Conventions, Periods, Movements, and Modes” Nichols discusses the six principal modes of documentary filmmaking. They are:

•       Poetic Mode—emphasizes visual associations, tonal or rhythmic qualities, descriptive passages, and formal organization.
•        Expository Mode—emphasizes verbal commentary and an argumentative logic.
•        Observational Mode—emphasizes a direct engagement with everyday life of subjects as observed by an unobtrusive camera.
•        Participatory Mode—emphasizes the interaction between filmmaker and subject.
•        Reflective Mode—calls attention to the assumptions and convention that govern documentary filmmaking.
•        Performative Mode—emphasizes the subjective or expressive aspect of the filmmaker’s own involvement with a subject; it strives to heighten the audience’s responsiveness to this involvement.   

“In a time when the major media recycle the same stories on the same subjects over and over, when they risk little in formal innovation, when they remain beholden to powerful sponsors with their own political agendas and restrictive demands, it is the independent documentary film that has brought a fresh eye to the events of the world and told stories, with verve and imagination, that broaden limited horizons and awaken new possibilities.”

                                                 --Bill Nichols