comments

1. Cindy Scroggins on March 2nd, 2011 at 2:08 pm

   You mean film projects that have been crowdsourced or films that document the concept? I can think of plenty of the first, none of the second.

2. Deron Bauman on March 2nd, 2011 at 2:12 pm

   Sorry, the crowd-sourcing just meant I needed everyone’s help. I’m looking for documentary genres, and the movies that exemplify them.

3. Cindy Scroggins on March 2nd, 2011 at 2:16 pm

   Oh. Sorry. I caught your autism for a minute.

4. Deron Bauman on March 2nd, 2011 at 2:17 pm

   I’m thinking about getting a new hard drive.

5. Cindy Scroggins on March 2nd, 2011 at 2:23 pm

   Good luck coming up with a name for it.

   Okay, there have been some really good documentaries about the food industry in the last few years: The Future of Food; Food, Inc.; Super Size Me; The Real Dirt on Farmer John.

   I’m fixin’ to go, but I have lots of documentary lists in my head and will get them to you when I get a chance.

6. Cindy Scroggins on March 2nd, 2011 at 2:29 pm

   I really love documentaries that depict an individual spirit at odds with those around him. Good examples are The Real Dirt on Farmer John and A Man Named Pearl.

7. Sheila Ryan on March 2nd, 2011 at 2:41 pm

   I’m not sure this is a genre, but there is what I think of as the absence-at-the-center documentary, in which difficulty or inability to present the subject directly makes for a revealing story unto itself. Michael Moore’s “Roger and Me,” of course, but also Maximilian Schell’s 1984 film, “Marlene,” wherein Marlene Dietrich refuses to appear on camera and frequently gives oblique answers to questions.

   If you have not seen the Schell film, do. I recommend it.

8. Deron Bauman on March 2nd, 2011 at 2:42 pm

   Gracias.

   A few examples of what’s in my head: Cinéma vérité, what I am loosely thinking of as Eames Studio-esque documentaries, how to classify the differences between films like Helvetica and Brother’s Keeper, and on and on.

   How to classify them? . . . Examples of other genres. . . . Etc.

   I want some reference points for thinking about different approaches/stylistic choices. The various aesthetics of documentary films through their history.

9. Sheila Ryan on March 2nd, 2011 at 3:00 pm

   That’s kind of what I thought you had in mind, Deron — aesthetic choices — and that’s how I’m approaching how to think about your question.

   Still thinking.

   About dramatic structure, narrative voice (whether literal or not), reliance on authorial voice-over, reliance on visual links and cues. Et cetera.

10. Deron Bauman on March 2nd, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    Exactly.

    I’m seeing ranges along lines that extend from the literal on the one end to the cinematic on the other — informational vs. emotive, historical vs. fanciful. That sort of thing. I can’t quite figure out how to map it.

11. Sheila Ryan on March 2nd, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    The use of “contemporaneous” footage and archival footage, the one offering commentary on the other. One of the epic — and dare I say dialectical? — examples being The Sorrow and the Pity by Marcel Opuls.

    I’m trying to think of other examples wherein the mix operates differently.

12. Sheila Ryan on March 2nd, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    And then there are documentaries that riff on various documentary conventions, such as Buñuel’s “Land Without Bread” and Welles’s “F for Fake.” An interesting way to look at genres and conventions.

13. Sheila Ryan on March 2nd, 2011 at 3:27 pm

    This pushes any definition you might offer of “documentary,” but you might want to look at segments of Syberberg’s Our Hitler. (I may be the only flocker who has seen the entire seven-hour film — in a theater. There was an intermission, as I recall.) Check it out, though. If you have not seen it, at least look at portions via the link above. I think it may have some relevance to some ideas you are toying with.

14. Deron Bauman on March 2nd, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    Thank you.

    I put out the call on Twitter as well.

15. Sheila Ryan on March 2nd, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    (Both a teaser and, apparently, the complete film Hitler, ein Film aus Deutschland are available via the Syberberg link in my previous comment. If you’re not familiar with the film, you might glance at a general source to get an idea of why I suggest you look at parts of it. It’s not that I’m reluctant to explain, just that it might be more efficient that way. Also, less boring to others.)

16. Sheila Ryan on March 2nd, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    A film I want to see is the recent documentary inspired by Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn.

    A notion I’m trying to wrap my head around.

17. Pete Ashton on March 2nd, 2011 at 4:37 pm

    Dunno what the genre might be called – maybe Gonzo – but I’m thinking of those by the likes of Nick Broomfield. Wikipedia calls it “reflexive film-making” where the film maker is as important as the subject.

18. Deron Bauman on March 2nd, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    Good one.

19. Sheila Ryan on March 2nd, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    Oh, yes, Pete. Films like “Tongues Untied” (Marlon Riggs).

20. Pete Ashton on March 2nd, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    [grins]

21. Sheila Ryan on March 2nd, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    Yep, there’s a whole spectrum within the realm of “self-reflexivity” and “personal narrative”!

    Broomfield is a good example — a good inclusion within this catalogue of documentary styles.

22. Sheila Ryan on March 2nd, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    Jon Ronson’s Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes. Not sure where nor how to peg it.

23. Pete Ashton on March 2nd, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    Ronson’s stuff, film and prints, strike me as close to autobiography at times. Or maybe it’s blogging (in the Rebecca Blood sense) – talking about a subject through your journey into that subject.

24. Sheila Ryan on March 2nd, 2011 at 5:15 pm

    Yes, blogging in the [archaic] sense of weblogging.

25. Amanda Mae on March 2nd, 2011 at 5:19 pm

    The Feel Good Documentary About An Outsidery Group Succeeding – Mad Hot Ballroom, Spellbound, Young At Heart

    The Doom and Gloom – Waiting for Superman,

    The Foreign Doom and Gloom – Invisible Children, Born into Brothels, The Sold Project

    The Documentarian as Subject Intertwined With History – the work of Ross McElwee: Bright Leaves, Sherman’s March

    Single Subject – Buck

    Call to Action Films – An Inconvenient Truth, Supersize Me

26. Tycho on March 3rd, 2011 at 8:32 am

    Deron, I recommend you find some BBC science documentaries. I recently watched a show called first life. It’s narrated and hosted by David Attenborough and it represents the very edge of what we know about the fossil record and evolution.

27. Sheila Ryan on May 16th, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    Deron, this reply is a day late and a dollar short, but I know that you still have documentary styles on the brain — and I figure I may as well throw this out in public.

    Documentaries: There’s Bill Morrison, about whom I recently posted.

    And also Adam Curtis. See: One of many samples on YouTube.

28. Deron Bauman on May 16th, 2011 at 5:18 pm

    Thank you, Sheila. Good stuff. I also looked at the one on Freud.

29. Sheila Ryan on May 16th, 2011 at 5:21 pm

    Cool. For contrast with the more typical Adam Curtis films, look at a few minutes of It Felt Like a Kiss. No voice-over.

30. Deron Bauman on May 16th, 2011 at 11:54 pm

    Damn, Sheila. I’m just settling in to watch this. Damn.

31. Amanda Mae on May 16th, 2011 at 11:59 pm

    Deron that reminds me that you should watch “I Think We’re Alone Now” I bet you will really really find it fascinating.

32. Deron Bauman on May 17th, 2011 at 12:54 am

    That looks really good, Amanda. Sheila, 3/6 of the Curtis isn’t available, but damn that’s good.

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