Documentary Film Essays (Examples)

Film: A Class Divided
The documentary film A Class Divided has become a standard for exploring the origin of racial prejudice in a diverse society. Jane Elliott was a third-grade teacher in 1968 at the time of Reverend Martin Luther King's assassination. Elliott devised an exercise to conduct with her students to help them understand how racism and stereotyping emerge and are maintained in groups of people. Using eye color as a substitute for race, Elliott requested that the children in her classroom behavior in a prejudiced manner toward children whose eyes were a different color than their own. Essentially, Elliott replicated the behaviors observed in the larger society by providing her students with scripts, which negatively or positively labeled children according to eye color, and that were to govern the behavior of the classmates.

The exercise had a powerful effect on the children, leaving them astonished at their own…

The way that it uses John Alpert, a therapist who consulted a great deal of important all Street figures, with the purpose of showing how these people were basically no different from ordinary criminals (seeing prostitutes and using cocaine) when considering the way they spent money further contributes to increasing the terror of the thought that they were in charge of the world's finances. More precisely, it provided very clear and documented information that would be easily verifiable. Martin Feldstein's interview is especially intriguing when considering verifiable data as it makes it possible for viewers to understand that the financial crisis was anticipated by a great deal of influential individuals in the financial industry. At the same time, the way in which the film was directed triggered a sense of further inquiry (especially in cases in which the interviewee requests that, upon answering a difficult question, to turn off the…

(Berardinelli)
Overall, the movies received lots of appreciation and did great business on the box office. Film was also shown in Iran where American films are not supposed to be shown. Film also received positive response by the critics. Most of them also felt that the movie depicted one side of point-of-view but in spite of that, it was worth watching. Fahrenheit 9/11 became the highest grossing documentary of all time, which grossed over $222 million. Apart from the Palme d'Or award, which this film received in the Cannes Film Festival it also, received People's Choice Awards and four azzies for its performances. (Youngs)

The most vibrant thing about this movie were the interviews that were or given an emotional touch to show the viewpoint of the citizens of the United States of America. Like interview with Lila Lipscomb, whose son Michael died in Iraq and interview with another woman…

From this came our insistence on the drama of the doorstep" (cited by Hardy 14-15).
Grierson also notes that the early documentary filmmakers were concerned about the way the world was going and wanted to use all the tools at hand to push the public towards greater civic participation.

ith the success of Drifters, Grierson was able to further his ideas, but rather than directing other films, he devoted his time to building up a film unit and training its members, gathering young men of like mind, including Basil right, Arthur Elton, Stuart Legg, Paul Rotha, John Taylor, Harry att, Donald Taylor, Edgar Anstey, and more. these men were "united by a common enthusiasm and a common aim" (Hardy 15). The E.M.B. Film Unit in the early 1930s had an atmosphere that was energizing and inspirational, with Grierson being one of the main reasons for this state of affairs. He…

Richardis a documentary film made by Al Pacino in 1996 and is based on the historical play Richard III written by William Shakespeare. Richard III remained the King of England for just two years only (1483-1485). In Richard III, Shakespeare has sketched how Machiavellian tendency of Richard III enabled him to gain power despite his brother Clarence being prior to Richard III in line of succession. Since Richard III was one of the longest plays of Shakespeare and was indirectly connected to the events in Henry VI plays of the same writer, whenever Richard III was directed and acted out, there were significant abridgments in original version and context of several parts of Richard III was difficult to absorb by audiences. The three central values of Richard III are power, manipulation, and corruption. These three values have got creatively reshaped in Looking for Richard.
Introduction to topics

Power and control…

asteland
In the documentary film The asteland, researchers traced the dangers of environmental damage caused by human beings. It further explores a modern artist named Vik Muniz who works in South America taking materials which have been thrown away and turning them into pieces of art. For two years, Muniz looked and scavenged at Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest landfill. He takes the trash and repurposes it, covering the trash pickers and making them into living works of art. Muniz uses garbage to create mosaic portraits which have been sold at auction and hung at museums around the world. His work is an example of what can be taken and recreated from all the material that humans throw away. More than this, the artwork illustrates exactly how people have thought about waste and garbage in the past, or more specifically how these things have not been taken into consideration.

The…

They didn't think a city girl would make a good farmer's wife. But test through time, Juanita is able to prove her worth. She greatly contributed in the survival of their land. She made good financial decisions which Darrel has little knowledge of.
Family as fulfillment is an ideal in the family too that doesn't seem to apply in real life. The problems they are facing don't brighten up their social landscape but has family problems are source of their gloomy day. Having to think of what lies ahead of them, uncertain about their future, their land at stake of being taken by government and barely enough food to pass the day, Juanita and Darrel spends their day mostly wondering and working so hard to get them by and sustain their family.

Family is also connoted as sanctuary, an escape from outside world. However, true life dictates that family is…

The PBS Frontline documentary Ghosts of Rwanda shows how music enhances the medium of documentary film. Judicious scoring enables the story of the Rwandan genocide to unfold, even though the film is heavily editorialized. The film opens with the dramatic statement of truth, that 800,000 people were “slaughtered by their own government” in Rwanda. The Hutus and the Tutsis were supposed to sign a peace agreement. That agreement was to be brokered and supervised by an international team led by UN force commander General Romeo Dallaire. However, the deal was systematically sabotaged. Ghosts of Rwanda chronicles how the genocide unfolded since the breakdown of the peace process. Because the film addresses the grim realities of genocide, music needs to be judicious and tasteful. Silence accompanies many of the shots, and also allows many of the speakers and the narrator to speak their truth unaided by the emotional pull of music.…

This does not mean that the documentary filmmaker is not taking a perspective; it means that the presentation of a perspective is original within the subject matter. It does not mean that the filmmaker has not sought to understand and to capture that perspective, much the way that Scranton captured the perspective of the soldiers and Longley captured the perspective of the vying groups in Iraq.

Audiences of all stripes do what they will with images, no matter how instrumental their makers. (Rabinowitz 1)." This is the goal of documentary filmmaking. It places the information, the perspective, into the sphere of the viewer, and the viewer is then inclined, or not, to act or to develop his or her own view with the support of the documentary film's information. It does not mean that the viewer is not going to seek to inform his or herself with other sources of…

However, in spite of the fact that the film was promoted as a motion picture displaying real-life events, it appears that the director did not hesitate to modify a series of aspects about the environment that he shot in and the story itself. The protagonist's wife and children were not actually his and Flaherty correctly believed that audiences would be more deeply impressed if he presented the story from a more spectacular point-of-view. Even with this, one can still claim that the film is a documentary because it presents viewers with its own creation.
Many individuals took advantage of the fact that documentary films were very influential and devised propaganda strategies using motion pictures. Many individuals involved in this affair considered that fiction films no longer had a strong appeal and that society was more concerned about seeing 'cinema verite'. Many filmmakers got actively engaged in creating films discussing political…

Men described how they would make a throat cutting gesture toward the incoming Jews as they arrived in the death camps, but some said that they made that gestured a warning and others made it in order to taunt. Survivors talked about a deceiving cordiality from the guards, while the others talked about a brutal experience filled with confusion. Due to this the truth becomes almost irrelevant, the effect that those people's experiences have had on them is easily observed. It seems like somehow the past is defined by the present.
Healing seems to be tied in with the process of forgetting for these people, and since they are not capable to overlook the terror they experienced, healing seems impossible, until it becomes apparent that many of the people questioned have become distanced from their stories because they have told them over and over again.

Shoah" tells the story of…

Popular Film Cultures Have Propelled Civil and Social Rights
Culture is referred as shared interaction, patterns, cognitive constructs, behaviors as well as effective understanding learned through socialization and transferred from one generation to the other. In the United States and outside the United States, films have become a powerful tool to transmit cultures. In 2009, there were more than 6.8 billion films released compared to the world population that was roughly the same number. Moreover, films have produced revenue of more than $30 billion annually, and its impact on films on people's behaviors is staggering. For example, many people across the world are imitating American culture by watching their movies. Moreover, films have become a powerful tool for propelling civil and social rights.[footnoteRef:1] The social civil rights are the class of rights and freedoms people demand from the government, private individuals or social organizations. Civil rights movements protect people from…

film Sarah and James by Nikowa Namate offers an opportunity to reflect on the deeper themes in light of several film theories including Freudian theory, Queer theory, and an understanding of realism, naturalism, and kitchen sink drama. This essay will offer a nuanced and thorough analysis of my role in the filmmaking experience. In Sarah and James, I played the role of James, one of the title characters. As the title of the film suggests, though, James is not the only protagonist. The interplay between James and his sister Sarah is the foundation of the film, which addresses the way mental illness impacts intimate relationships. Moreover, I was in charge of lighting during the production of Sarah and James and will discuss elements related to lighting during the production of the film. This essay will hinge on the application of realism, naturalism, Freudian theory, and queer theory to my experience…

Film Awards
The film industry produces experience goods for consumer enjoyment and consumption, and substantively relies on consumer differentiation for the economic success of movies. Moviegoers appear to differentiate films primarily on the basis of genre, starring actors, exposure to promotion, recommendations from other moviegoers and film critics, and -- for the dedicated film buffs and connoisseurs -- directors, cinematographers, and even screenwriters associated with the film production (Albert 1998, De Vany 2004, Eliashberg and Shugan 1997, Hand 2002, Krider and Weinberg 1998, Nelson et al. 2001, avid 1999, Smith and Smith 1986, Wallace, Steigermann and Holbrook 1993). Access to information about films is related to the resources and networks that moviegoers enjoy, and on the attention that films garner, as expressed by the media and through social networks. Information about films is accessed by moviegoers from many sources: 1) The genre of the film; 2) the rating of the…

Ethics of Film Production
It goes without saying that film producers owe a certain level of responsibility to not only those being filmed but also to the audience. During production, a number of key considerations should ideally be taken into account in regard to how the film will impact on those who happen to be part of it i.e. during its production, those who will view it on release as well as any other pre and post production stakeholders. Hence during filmmaking, producers owe all these constituencies a responsibility. In this text, I concern myself with the ethics of film production. In so doing, I will also shine a spotlight on both copyright and legal issues.

Ethics of Film Production

According to Barbash and Taylor, "ethical issues are rarely discussed in film production manuals" (48). This in the authors' opinion is largely as a result of the discomfort ethical issues…

In the first post-World War decade, Maya Deren stood out among her experimental filmmaking contemporaries by collaborating with her husband Alexander Hammid on one of the most famous of all American avant-garde films, Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) in which a woman portrayed by Deren herself experiences a series of "mysterious encounters with a hooded figure whose face is in a mirror. She passes through chambers, splits into several personalities and eventually dies" (490). In this instance, the abstract imagery used in this film is focused upon the mirror which reflects the personalities of Deren, much like the common theme of Jekyll and Hyde, a type of doppleganger construction. This film also projects a dream structure, meaning that the images of part of the dream state and lie beyond reality. Deren also experimented with psychodramas which contain strong cues for the audience that "the images are projections of the heroine's…

Running head: Mexican historyaccording to Narco Cultura film Mexican historyaccording to Narco Cultura film 9Mexican history, according to Narco Cultura filmThe Mexican drug war has been going on for more than a decade, but it has little to no success. Beheadings, mass hangings of bodies, killings of innocent citizens, car bombings, abuse, and assassination attempts of various community members, including reporters and political figures, are part of Mexicos drug war. More than three hundred thousandhomicides have been committed since 2006, when the government declared war on the cartels. Besides these crimes, the violence has spread deep into Mexicos interior, with organized crime groups diversifying their criminal activities to extortion, kidnapping, auto theft, and other illicit enterprises (Bietell, 2013). Violence is a central feature in the trade of illegal drugs. Many criminal organizations use violence to settle disputes and maintain employee discipline and is directed towards the government and news media.The…

Super Size Me is a documentary film from 2004 by Morgan Spurlock. It focuses on what it would be like to consume nothing but McDonald’s fast food for an entire month. That is the outlandish premise of the film—and it is more than likely to appeal to two types of people: 1) the health-nutritionist type of person who will approach the film with type of confirmation bias, expecting his or her point of view about how bad for one’s health fast food is to be fully validated, and 2) the extreme spectator type of individual—i.e., a person who is interested in alternative or fringe experiences, things that go against the status quo, experiences that challenge the establishment, and so on. This documentary appeals to a niche market in this respect; however, in another respect it also tackles one of the fundamental tenets of modern America: fast food is a pillar…

Battlefields and Big Macs
Documentaries

A Comparative Analysis of Documentary Styles

The role of documentary film in helping to shape and inform American culture has become increasingly apparent, especially in the last decade. The ability of nearly anyone to create and distribute documentaries cheaply and effectively using home computer software and video sharing sites like YouTube has created a diverse body of documentaries available with the click of a button. They are not all good, not all accurate, and some may not even be ethically or legally sound, but if they are powerful enough and relevant enough, they can move people and even governments to act. We have seen this recently with the independently produced documentary "Kony 2012," a 29-minute film that portrays the atrocities committed by Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony. Posted on YouTube in early March, the film got over 100 million hits in one week, and prompted…

1. Describe Ben Kurokis early childhood and young adulthood. Be sure to include location and how he eventually joined the military. The documentary film Most Honorable Son is about Nebraska-born Ben Kuroki, the first Japanese-American war hero. Kurokis early childhood was spent in a small farming community in Nebraska. He did well in school, but if it were not for the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Kuroki might not have pursued a military career. The bombing of Pearl Harbor inspired the entire Kuroki family to fight for their country, the United States, partly driven out of shame and a need to prove their honor and loyalty. Kurokis father encouraged him and several of his brothers to enlist, but they were turned away due to growing anti-Japanese sentiments. Eventually they were able to enlist, and Kuroki was assigned to a post in England. He pursued a specialty as a B-series air pilot…

Dirt Movie
Dirt is a documentary film about, as the title suggests, dirt. It may seem funny to make a whole movie about dirt, but as the filmmakers show, the dirt we take for granted in the ground is the foundation of all life. The movie was based on a book that describes dirt as "the skin of the earth," which is one way of looking at this surface material. Like skin, the dirt breathes. It is like the surface organ of the planet. As such, dirt needs to be respected. The film, narrated by food activist and actor Jamie Lee Curtis, elevates dirt to a political level by showing how modern agro-business has neutered or killed dirt, rendering parts of the globe infertile.

Dirt is not "dirty" in the sense that it is unclean. Rather, dirt is filled with energy and potency. People who have gardens are at least…

" It is something that the film, in showing Marie's response to gossip in the news about her, refutes. She also refutes having said, "Let them eat cake," saying, "I wouldn't have said that." However, that is the most likely response a young woman who did not realize the citizens being out of bread meant they were starving, and who, herself would have replaced a shortage of bread with a cake, would have logically said.
Coppola's film is a commitment to portraying the character and personality of the Queen, not the stories, rumors, or to engage in debate about conspiracies. Perhaps that is why Coppola does not go into the details or depict the beheading of the Queen.

orks Cited

Coppola, S., (dir.), 2006, Marie Antoinette, Motion Picture, Columbia Pictures

Corporation, USA.

Grubin, D., (dir), 2006, PBS, Marie Antoinette, Documentary Film, David Grubin

Productions, USA/France.

The Birth of Marie Antoinette:…

Cold War dominated American culture, consciousness, politics and policy for most of the 20th century. Even after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which symbolized the fall of the Iron Curtain and therefore finale of the Cold War, Cold War rhetoric and politics continued especially in the War on Terror. Depictions of the Cold War in American literature and film parallel the changes that took place in American ways of thinking about its own domestic policies as well as American perceptions of the alien enemy or "Other." Tracing the evolution of American film and literature from the end of World War Two until the 1980s reveals trends in thought. Early depictions of the Cold War were modernist in their approach, with clear distinctions between good and evil and no moral ambiguity whatsoever. Clear delineations between right/wrong and good/evil prevailed, a form of political propaganda and even brainwashing that prepped the…

The NC-17 rating, of course, is a compromise to avoid serious films being given the 'X' rating associated with pornography possessing no artistic value. But having any rating system at all means that filmmakers who want their films to reach a wide audience, and need a wide audience to pay back their backers may feel pressured to compromise their artistic integrity for the sake of getting a more desirable rating, because R-rated films can draw in more movie goers.
The subjective nature of film ratings even under the MPAA is evident when one considers that certain things we take for granted, like nudity, for example, were originally prohibited by the Hayes Commission. Foreign films from nations with different sexual standards, documentaries about important subjects, and other films that contain taboo topics can be effectively censored by being given a NC-17 rating, while violent, major Hollywood blockbusters with little artistic pretentions…

The ultimate proof of the film's tendency to utilize hyperbole to portray the author as someone whose morality was questionable due to his own pursuit of success, wealth and fame lies in the quantity of interactions that Capote had with the two prisoners. There is certainly evidence in Clarke's biography that implies there was a fondness and physical attraction between the author and Smith. However, the sheer number of visits that the movie portrays is certainly erroneous. In actuality, the writer's "extended prison sojourns in the film are…fictionalized. In five years, Capote…visited his subjects no more than half a dozen times, though he did correspond with [them] weekly... He…was less interested in dealing with the defendants as people (Gibbons)."
As such, it becomes fairly obvious that the film Capote exaggerated a number of different facets of his personality and behavior in order to render the author as a consummate perfectionist…

Reality TV is in a way like a documentary, because the viewer is led to believe that things are happening in real life just as it is being presented.
But the documentary usually opens with a narrator explaining to the audience why that audience should believe what is about to be shown. In the documentary "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan," the viewers know that the documentary was done by a famous filmmaker, Martin Scorsese. There sits the famous rock singer, Bob Dylan, answering questions. This is definitely real to the audience. The audience sees Dylan in concert, the audience sees Dylan during press conferences at the beginning of his career when Dylan rejected the "mainstream" media's questions because those reporters did not understand his lyrics.

The point here is this documentary gives every indication of being real, whereas the movie with Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There," is a slick production…

movie ( snapshot). Then, elaborate Typeface printin
The 2009 film Typeface, which was directed by Justine Nagan and produced by Kartemquin Films, is a thoroughly fascinating documentary about the decline of traditional woodblock type and printing. The movie also focuses on the ramifications of that decline, which occurred in the wake of the transition to digital type and modern printing presses. There is a great deal of history in this film, which is centered on the Hamilton ood Type and Printing Museum located in Two Rivers, isconsin. Most importantly, the movie highlights some of the intangible benefits of traditional wood type that are not found in the technologies used today. The result is the viewer gets a comprehensive overview of the benefits of the traditional method, and the reasons why it was forsaken for contemporary ones.

Another fairly intriguing aspect about this film is the fact that, despite the patent…

It also says a lot about our society that so many people went to see the film and endorsed the film. It is not because this film is about heroes or heroism. It is because the film's ultimate message is to never forget the people who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was a time when the people of the country came together in support and grief, and a time that made the country and its people just a bit closer to one another. It was an epic time in history and this film makes everyone remember, ultimately so they will never forget.
In conclusion, this is an important and emotional film. It is certainly not easy to watch, and it is easy to demonize the terrorists and fault the military because of their scrambled messages and inaction. However, the director does not demonize the terrorists or…

movie proposals. These would be the mission for the firm and its basic proposals, the company's "must" objectives, the company's "want" objectives and the estimated ROI for each of the for movies. This report will evaluate each of the movies as perceived by the four criteria previously mentioned and will subsequently make an overall evaluation and reason the best choice for the company.
The first movie, "My Life with Dalai Lama," perfectly complies with the main ideas of the company's mission. First of all, from a creative point-of-view, the idea to present the life of a personality through the eyes of a snake and through the eyes of other animals befriending him is new, interesting and creatively a positive aspect. Further more, to some degree it is also championing environmental concerns by presenting the role of animals in the life of a personality of 20th century history, bringing the animal…

In this respect, it relishes on surprises that you find David Gamut missing in the movie, while Munro dies and Alice commits suicide. Indeed, it makes the reader doubt on whether or not he has skipped some parts in reading the novel. However, once the confusion is solved and the reader is able to let go of any regrets that the screening does not follow the plot of the book entirely, the result is a good script, following a coherent course of actions with well conceived settings. In this particular case, that the historical truth in Cooper's book was no followed accurately by Mann seems to have helped the latter into creating indeed a movie and not a documentary. Without the element of surprise, without the drama, the humor, or the love story, the script would have least resembled a movie.
In fairness, the only possible way to enjoy the…

film Instrument: Ten Years with the Band Fugazi, directed by Jem Cohen, at first seems, unlike many 'rock-us-mentaries,' to have no particular perspective upon its subject. But when a viewer looks at the film more closely and carefully applies a critical cinematic eye to the filmmaking process, a solidified interpretation begins to become clear. By not having an ostentatiously obvious 'take' on this punk band and the particular music the band has produced, the director has revealed his own moral orientation in favor of personal simplicity and a lack of hype in the production of music. The director has chosen to focus on the band because Fugazi is one of the supreme manifestations of the punk scene, a scene that emerged as a radical movement in youth music but largely became commercialized. Fugazi stands apart in sharp contrast to all of descents into commercialization, however, and still remains pure and…

ree of Life: New Age Seminal Film
Well into the second century of the fictionalized, narrative films, groundbreaking ideas materialized in seminal masterpieces of the film genre are not easy to come by. A list of these usually ends up with 2009, when Avatar was released. "he ree of Life" is an out of the ordinary film that exceeds the category of "pretentious" artsy, intellectual films that nobody understand, but many are willing to watch only to brag about having seen. he film cannot be qualified as "seminal" because it does not necessarily bring new techniques or ways to express in this art form on the table, but it is definitely representative of the film in this day and age.

During the last decade, more and more artistic films from the big budget realm have been noted to take more and more serious note, even those hat announce themselves "comedies."…

Documentary Part 1
1. This film follows the daily workings of retailers in the dying bricks and mortar retail centers of an urban area. It pays particular attention to the piling inventory and the slowing sales. It shows the emptiness of stores and alludes to the ominous presence of e-commerce and Amazon hanging over the heads of these bricks and mortar retailers.
2. This will be an informative documentary that will include aspects of the talking heads form as well as the journalistic form. Ken Burns’ documentaries are always inspiring for me but I want this one to be contemporary.
3. Yes, I will be doing interviews: a) I will interview bricks and mortar retailers and customers; b) I will find them by going to the urban area and talking to them; c) to make the film visually interesting, I will use shots of these stores while interviewees’ words are…

Film Reflection: Happy (2011)
The 2011 documentary Happy seeks to understand a very simple question—what makes people happy? As well as interviewing professionals in the field of psychology, the filmmaker Roko Belic solicited the opinion of a wide range of individuals, spanning from a rickshaw driver, a victim of a car accident, and individuals from a variety of nations, occupations, and socio-economic statuses. Belic’s search was spawned by the fact that while some individuals in the developed world enjoy high levels of affluence, they are very rarely happy. How is it possible that someone can be happier as an impoverished Cajun fisherman or a rickshaw driver in India than someone with all of the material comforts one could want in an American suburb?

Belic found that community and a sense of purpose was the driving factor in what made people happy. For example, the rickshaw driver he interviewed said that…

Another ebsite ("Historical Inaccuracies in Film") points out the same thing, that the final battle scene with Lt. Col. Moore leading the brave charge at the North Vietnamese headquarters did not take place in reality or in the book. There was no helicopter coming to the aid of Moore's assault. In fact the 7th Air Cavalry division was given an airlift out of the area and the next day a different division was brought in fresh and that division was ambushed.

In the ebsite "Movie Mistakes" a number of small but nonetheless significant inaccuracies are pointed out. In the film Lt. Col. Moore fires his rifle many times; he is shooting at North Vietnamese (NVA) soldiers near the command post that had been set up by the Americans. However, in the book Moore does not fire his weapon and there were no NVA tools within the command post area.

A…

Of note, Out of the Past was released in Europe and Great Britain as Build My Gallows High. It seems that both films could have been subtitled with this alternative note, particularly when we focus upon the editing -- each piece is but a plank in the construction of the gallows and when the camera has had enough of these nefarious people they are then cast aside as they do others (Homes).

Editing Example 2 -- Geometric vs. Sound-Based Editing- Geometric editing is essentially a technique that uses the positions of the camera, one following each other, when put together, form a geometric shape or picture of the action. For example, the interaction of close ups (when the policemen are talking, for instance) with long shots, of traffic and the city, in The Line Up. In addition, the geometry of the editing moved from box to box, almost in a…

Scorsese equates him with "a magician enchanted by his own magic." This freedom allowed Welles to create from narrative techniques and filmic devices a masterpiece that is self-aware of its own form. It intends to communicate this self-consciousness to the audience, thus contradicting the classical canons of filmmaking whereby the camera ought not to be noticed and the shots should be seamless. In other words, Welles expanded the art form of cinema, using the camera the way a poet uses a pen. He even created fake news footage in unique ways to enhance the film's appearance. His immense influence can be seen more on the art form as later with Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Censorship was still rife in Hollywood. The league of decency suppressed adult themes. Elia Kazan's adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) was censored. What we would see now as almost innocent -- a…

Perceiving Helvetica
Gary Hustwit's film Helvetica is about the font after which the film is titled. The film is more than a simple documentary about the history and use of the font Helvetica. The film uses the example of this font as a meditation upon the extent to which an element of visual culture, such as this font has upon the world on an array of levels. Hustwit's film is in some ways what one would expect, that is to say that there is some portions of the film that typify a documentary, aesthetically and content wise. This kind of content, such as when viewers watch as a designer narrates the process of designing typeface, provides exposition and builds the context within which Hustwit's more subtle and metaphysical ideas about fonts and visual culture work well. The content shows great variation than that of a typical documentary, involving montages of…

The film is about rather ordinary events taking place in an environment that experiences a forceful change. Adults practically contrast children through their thinking and the way that they behave, considering that in spite of the fact that they talk while the children are on a silent strike, they fail to put across thorough thought and only manage to fuel each-other's prejudiced nature. Isamu and Minoru are intriguing through the fact that they manage to display clever and sincere acting, demonstrating that they had a special relationship with the director and that they collaborated in making it possible for the film to express authentic feelings. The fact that their actual role in the film regards their interest in criticizing their parents over their reluctance to say what they think when they think it adds to the thought that the children take on a more rational character. This makes their parents…

Chinese Film
The Evolution of the Chinese Film Industry

Contemporary Chinese Film Poster (Chinese Films)

For literally thousands of years, the Culture of China has inspired people and been a source of awe and excitement for people all over the world. The Chinese culture is rather unique and elegant with elements that are not commonly found in other cultures. Part of the cultures attraction is undoubtedly because it is one of the oldest cultures in the world and had has thousands and thousands of years to evolve into what it is today. It has drawn so much interest that it is integrating with other cultures. Although much of the ancient traditions have been somewhat overcome by various estern influences and modernization, traces of various aspects of the previous cultures still manage to stand the test of time and can still be seen today.

Many changes have occurred in the Chinese…

His floating away at the end of the movie seems to suggest that he is indeed dead, and that the film has been the final moments of his brain creating illusory perceptions. The fact that this is not explicitly decided reveals the film's perspective that this doesn't really mater -- perception is the method we use to interact with "reality;" the realizations that Wiley comes to and the knowledge he receives is not mad any less valid or important by the fact that none of the encounters he experiences might actually have happened.
The fact that we have such strong intellectual and emotional responses to fictive films is an indicator that perception, to a large degree, creates reality. The nature of truth is also explored in the documentary Standard Operating Procedure. The main philosophical issue in this film is how the framing of an event can affect truth, or at…

Apocalypto
The film Apocalypto is described by its makers, Mel Gibson and Farhad Safinia, as reflecting the time at the end of the Mayan civilization. The final scene in the movie depicts the arrival of Spanish conquistadores. The movie was controversial for its depictions of Mayan civilization. The criticism spanned two major themes. The first was historical accuracy and the second was balance in its depiction of Mayan culture. In particular, critics were concerned that movie would be viewed by many people unfamiliar with Mayan culture who may otherwise absorb incorrect ideas about the real nature of Mayan culture. On both of these dimensions, one can argue that the movie does a disservice to history. The alternate argument is that Apocalypto is not a documentary, an thus there should not be an expectation of historical accuracy any more than one might critique Hamlet's portrayal of medieval Danish society or Johnny…

A Documentary Filmmaking Experience Aim and Accomplishment
Renov (1993) states that there are four fundamental purposes of a documentary: “1) to record, reveal, or preserve; 2) to persuade or promote; 3) to analyze or interrogate; and 4) to express” (p. 21). In my documentary, Palestine, her story, my aim was to observe—i.e., to record, reveal and preserve—the stories of the Palestinian women who served as the subject of my film. The film is therefore an observational documentary.
Looking back on my original proposal, I can say that I have completed at least a portion of my original project. The focus of my 20-minute film is on the three Palestinian women who live a successful life in London. Each woman is of a different generation and thus each one has a different experience to share, a different story to tell. Yet they also have one thing in common, which is Palestine.…

Devising a Documentary Project PART 1 
1.
I would like to make a documentary about working in a busy movie theater. It will show what it is like for employees working behind the scenes of the movie-going experience: from the people running the projections booths, to the concessionists serving popcorn and cold drinks, to the ushers cleaning up after patrons when the movie is over. The documentary will highlight the more humorous sequences and areas that result from working in the service-related area and often being invisible to the public.
2.
This mode will be a combination of direct cinema and aesthetic/experiential. I do not plan on doing voice over: I want the scenes to speak for themselves, but I also want the scenes to be real and authentic, so there will be a lot of following of the crew around before shooting begins.
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Blade Runner directed in 1982 y Ridley Scott, is a film which examines the nature of reality, something that it plays with very heavily using factors like visuals and memory design. The film features Deckard, the protagonist who hunts replicants. However, over time, it ecomes clear that Deckard is not too different from those he hunts (Reagle, 1996). "The replicants rely on photographs and implanted memories to olster their nascent and fragile emotions. After Deckard tells Rachael that her photos and memories are merely copies of those that elong to Tyrell's niece, he falls asleep amidst his own childhood photographs" (Reagle, 1996). This demonstrates oth the sanctity and falliility of memory has a whole and how memory, along with the visual elements of one's collective reality can do a great deal when it comes to shaping one's perspective. Memory can distort, the film gently reminds one, and this distortion can…

sound technologies and sound design in Film
Sound in films

Experiments in Early Age

Developments

Crucial innovations

Commercialization of sound cinema: U.S., Europe, and Japan

Sound Design

Unified sound in film production

Sound designers in Cinematography

Sound Recording Technologies

History of Sound Recording Technology

Film sound technology

Modern Digital Technology

History of sound in films

Developments

Sound Design

Sound Recording Technologies

The film industry is a significant beneficiary of performing arts. The liberal arts combined with latest techniques and advancements experienced a number of stages. The introduction of films and sound in films was a significant development of its times. The introduction of first film along with sound was a unique event and it revolutionized the industry in such a way that it influenced every individual related to the industry to start thinking on creative and innovative grounds for improvements. The stages of films can be identified as silent films…

A perfect example of this is located in Chapter three. Chapter three opens with the camera zooming steadily in on a window. The shot then cuts to a shot of streetlights, establishing the time of day as early morning. Even though simply not enough of the room is exhibited to demonstrate what exactly exists within it, the shot following the streetlight is of a woman in bed, strongly suggesting it was her bedroom that the camera was stealthily creeping up to in order to peep through the lace curtains unbeknownst to the sleeping woman.

This voyeurism keeps going even as the aforementioned woman gets up, washes and dresses in various sequences interspersed in chapter three. Vertov's camera cuts from the sleeping woman to the painting on the wall of an old man, located and leering as if he too were watching her sleep.

This voyeurism is further emphasized by the…

Even five years ago, this was not the case. Moore uses his own brand of investigative, and sometimes highly charged and emotionally biased journalism to make his points. He causes people to violently disagree with his determinations, but he causes people to think, something that many filmmakers simply avoid. Moore's documentaries are more than entertainment, they get people talking about and investigating issues on their own. His message may not appeal to everyone, but his methods are some of the best in filmmaking. He creates films that people remember, and this is an important aspect of the process. He uses emotional, controversial, social, and meaningful themes to "stir the pot," and will certainly be one of the 21st centuries most remembered filmmakers.
Steven Spielberg is probably the most influential and important filmmaker today. His films are much more than entertainment, they are thought provoking, artistic, and stunningly memorable. From "The…

Beautiful Mind" -- a Film
John Forbes Nash, Jr., an American Nobel Prize-winning mathematician, is such a notable individual that he is the subject of a book, a PBS documentary and a film. The film A Beautiful Mind (Crowe, et al. 2006) eliminates aspects of Nash's life and rewrites other aspects revealed in the book and documentary, possibly to make Nash a more sympathetic character for the audience. However, the film remains true to a consistent theme: in an individual's quest for satisfaction through self-fulfillment, the abnormal can also be the extraordinary.

The book and PBS documentary tell John Forbes Nash, Jr.'s story "from the outside looking in," immediately noting his abnormality in that he is a paranoid schizophrenic. The film takes a different approach, "from the inside looking out," so we experience the world as Nash experiences it and do not realize until half-way through the film that he…

It was filmed in Aboriginal languages, with all of the characters speaking a variety of languages that were native to the people of Australia before the Europeans came. This helps connect aboriginal people from today with the past that they are trying not to lose. There are always the subtitles, to allow everyone to understand the dialogue of the characters in the story. Yet, it is filmed in aboriginal languages in order to revitalize an ethnic community that has been plagued by racism seen under a colonial structure. The Europeans took away the everyday use of such unique languages, and the film helps try to reconnect modern aboriginals with the past that could be fading away faster than anyone ever want. This essentially brings a new life to a culture that would otherwise be fading away. It is a modern movement to reach back before the time of colonialism and…

As Baigent and Leigh point out, von Stauffenberg's co-conspirators were "aristocratic" men who despised what they now knew to be a murderous regime (26). However, it was Stauffenberg who was "the most active leader in the conspiracy against Hitler," which is exactly how Operation Valkyrie is portrayed (Hoffman xiv). The close relationship between Nina Stauffenberg and her husband is rendered thinly but at least accurately in the film, based on what historian Hoffman has to say. Although there are several other ancillary characters that were not addressed or developed in Valkyrie, the filmmakers chose what are arguably some of the most historically important in terms of the attempted assassination of Hitler.
Of course, the central event of Valkyrie is the attempted but failed assassination of Hitler. Interviews with Berthold von Stauffenberg, the Colonel's son, verify the accuracy of the historical events that shaped his father's life. For instance, Jones claims…

Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb's 2011 film This is Not a Film is a remarkable declaration of how oppression cannot stifle human creativity, self-expression, or political activism. As an Iranian viewer, I am particularly moved by Panahi's vision and determination to make This is Not a Film. Although This is Not a Film is a film in the most absolute definition, the documentary has no traditional narrative format with a beginning, a middle, or an end. It bears no resemblance to a Hollywood movie. Its untraditional elements underscore the meaning of This is Not a Film. However, the most important meaning of the title of Panahi's and Mirtahmasb's film refers to the fact that the filmmaker is banned from making movies for a period of twenty years. Panahi has served prison time for making films in the past, has been accused of plotting against the government, and is currently on…

In addition, the producers and writers took some situations and dramatized them to make the film more meaningful and memorable. The whipping scene is one of those situations. Whipping was banned in the Army, and Shaw does not seem like the kind of person that would use that punishment, anyway. However, it showed how blacks were treated by their owners at the time, and it helped add drama to the film. It may not have been historically accurate, but it did have a purpose.
The film did portray the training and organization of troops fairly accurately, too, and it portrayed the Battle at Fort Wagner accurately for the most part, too. Shaw did die at the battle, but there are accounts that he died on the top of the Fort, and his body actually fell inside. Many of the 54th were killed that day. Most of the soldiers in the…

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
The film, documentaries and the last docudrama are exceptional production pieces by notable directors and producers. Crouching tiger-hidden dragon defies the usual mantra of strength only attributed to men. Jen effectively acts as person having higher morals. The martial arts performance was exceptional, an unusual feature in Hollywood. Islam, the empire of faith is another documentary made on the rise of Islamic empire and the life of Prophet Mohammad having a great impact on establishment of religion. 'Gandhi' also remains an unquestioned production classic that eloquently portrays Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the unquestioned leader of India. The film sheds light on Hinduism as a religion and its faith and dogmas. Lastly, Kundan is a docudrama based on life of Dalai Lama. 'Kundan' might not have justified the stature of Buddhism in history of mankind but the piece of production remains an earnest effort on part of Martin…

French New Wave cinema was established by film critics, who founded the Cahiers du Cinema, whom felt cinema had become too commercialized, formulaic, and unoriginal. This group of critics would come to identify two major characteristics of the New Wave movement, which included the manner in which mise-en-scene was utilized in the film and how their auteur theory could be applied to work of art created. A contemporary film that incorporates French New Wave cinema elements into its production and design is the 2009 film District 9.
Among the major elements used in French New Wave film are loose story plots; improvised dialogue; erratic character behavior; unique use of jump cuts; and the use of natural lighting, location, and direct sound recording. District 9's unique documentary style and editing allows Neill Blomkamp to successfully incorporate these elements into the film's narrative while maintaining a cohesive feel.

Additionally, District 9 is…

Fall of Fujimori
The film Fall of Fujimori captures the modern dictatorship of President Alberto Fujimori in Peru. Fujimori comes to rise in 1990 when insurgents and poverty appears to be dominating Peru, and he represents the poor and the disenfranchised population. The support Fujimori gained from this faction of people helped him win the elections for the office of the Presidency. Though, after being sworn in as President, the President launches a "War on Terror" against the guerrilla organization called Shining Path, which he wins. Ten years after the beginning of his reign, Fujimori is accessed of "kidnapping, murder and corruption" and flees from Peru to Japan, "where was in exile for four years" (PS, Documentaries with a Point-of-View, 2006). The documentary illuminates Fujimori in a rather personal light by interviewing him one-on-one, where it is noted that he was "nervous, gracious, diffident and anxious to tell his story"…

1. Deviance is relative, and refers to behavioral deviation from established social norms within a specific community (Schaefer, 2016). Therefore, what is deviant in one period of time will become normative in another and vice-versa. Likewise, what is deviant in one culture may not be considered deviant in another. Although deviance is typically framed as maladaptive behavior that either leads to or is categorized as criminal, deviance can also be constructive, productive, and “positive,” (Hughes & Coakley, 1991, p. 307). In fact, athletes engage in what is known as “positive deviance,” in that their behaviors constitute a cohesive “sport ethic” that includes taking risks, pushing past personal limits, and making sacrifices for the greater good of the game (Hughes & Coakley, 1991, p. 307). The 2010 documentary I Am Alive is about the Uruguayan rugby team’s remarkable survival in the Andes, and is a perfect example of positive deviance in…

At the same time, there are reasons to question many of these claims. It has long been argued that the Canadian system is not as good as believed, for instance, though the film suggests otherwise. The truth about the Canadian and British systems in particular is unclear because of contrasting claims, and a more through investigation of the economics involved is required to be sure that what is said in the film is correct. This is true of the French system as well, though that system is not as well-known in the United States and does not feature in as many discussions of the issue. Moore meets with a group of Americans living in France, and while they seem to be clear about why they like the French system, an while it might seem that Moore just met them and asked them questions, what is not as clear is if…

After some ineffective negotiating with the police both Sandro and a passenger on board of the bus get killed.
The main concept of the movie revolves around the unjust system; the blind Brazilian authorities that single-handedly create criminals by neglecting and aggressing most of the poor people instead of creating ways of improving their lives.

Favela Rising" is yet another motion picture intended to expose the truth concerning the Latin-American slums. The action again takes place in Rio de Janeiro, but the intriguing part about the film is that it is a documentary which tells the story of Anderson Sa, a former drug dealer from the Vigario Geral district.

Anderson had been living in a favela in Rio de Janeiro when he heard that his brother has been accidentally shot in the middle of a gang war. Just as the characters in the previous movies and in Carolina's book, Anderson…

Road to Guantanamo
The docudrama, the Road to Guantanamo, the 2006 film by Matt Whitecross and Michael Winterbottom provided a unique look at the complexities and difficulties of enforcing international cooperation. This thrilling tale of the now famous "Tipton Three" British men of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin who, through a combination of poor decision-making and violations of international law, allows the viewer to examine these modern problems using the war on terrorism as a means of telling the story. The purpose of this essay is to examine this film and highlight five separate violations of international cooperation using the articles of the Geneva Conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a guide and authority of the discussion.

The first violation of international cooperation is evident at the beginning of the film. The film is taking place under the conditions at the beginning of the war on terror in…