ReachingPeopleWithTheirStories:AReviewoftheCurrentPublishedLiterature

Everydocumentary,from
ManwithaMovieCamera
(1929)to
GreyGardens
(1975)to
Dreamcatcher
(2015),hasonepurposetosharetherealitiesoftheworldtothemasses.Sharing
theserealstoriesonfilm,
hasthepowertoplantquestionsinpeoplesminds.Ithasthepowerto
makeyouempathizewiththingswhichyouneverreallyknewyoucouldempathizewith
(
CapturingReality,
SabihaSumar).Thisemotionalmediumisnotintellectual,itisallabout
engagementandsentiment.Buthowcanafilmimpactapersoninsuchaway?Theansweris,
whenadocumentarysinterviews,visuals,sound,andeditingarehonestandtrue,astorycanbe
told,onethatisnotonlyaccessible,butimpactfultoanaudience.
Aninterviewisanextremelytrickything.Talkinginfrontofacameraisaveryunnatural
thingtodo.However,acamerahasanaffectonyouthatsomehow,becauseoftheartificiality
ofthesituation,youremorehonest,andmoretruthful,ratherthanlesshonestandtruthful
(
CapturingReality,
KevinMacdonald).Thisisbecauseoftheappealofaneutrallisteneritis
compellingtoimmediatelyhavesomebodytojustlistentoyou.Whilesomepeoplehavethe
abilitytobethemselveswhilebeinginterviewed,othershaveahardtime,sofilmmakershave
discoveredadifferentkindofwaytodocumentatruestoryobservationalcinema.Observational
cinemaiswhenafilmisshotby
placingtheviewerintheroleofanobserver,awitnessof
events.Theyareessentiallyrevelatoryratherthanillustrative,fortheyexploresubstancebefore
theory(
PrinciplesofVisualAnthropology
DavidMacDougall
,
116).Observational
filmmakersbelievethatintimacycomeswhenthecameraisintegratedwithagroupforsolong
thattheynolongercarethatitisthere,butalsotocatchpeopleontheirmostunexpected
moments,likewhentheyanswerthedoor,orwhenyouwakeup.Thetraditionofsettingupa

chairwithfancylightingandaprettybackgroundisnowthoughtofasdestructive,not
professionalorstylistic.Whenaninterviewisconductedinsuchaway,afilmmakerhopesto
revealunprecedentedandunpredictablemoments,becausethosearetheverythingsthatmake
photagehonestandtrue
Aninterviewisafundamentalexchangeaboutlife.Itsacinematic
space(
CapturingReality,
PatricioGuzman).
Thevisualaspectofadocumentarycanbejustasimportantastheinterview.Whena
photographorvisualmediaisdisplayedasapartofthefilm,it
servesboth[asa]testimonyto
pasteventsandasanexpressiveresourceforvisualstorytelling...Thephotographicimagesignals
thepresenceofthecameraonthesceneatthehistoricalmomentofimagecapture.Thearchival
imageappearstobetheclosestwecangettotheoriginalhistoricalreality,asortof
seconddegreeoriginal(
DocumentaryFilmandHistory,
DesmondBell).Inrelationtoa
documentaryfeaturingagenocide,oragruesomeevent,apictureistrulythebestthingtouseto
insureanempatheticresponsefromanaudience.KevinMacdonaldsaid,
Asastoryteller,you
wanttoimpactyouraudienceandshowthemhowterriblethiseventwas...ifyouwantpeopleto
feelthatsomeoneisreallytoblame,youneedtoshowthemwhatthey'retoblamefor
(
CapturingReality
).Ifthevisualmediaisusedinsuchaway,thetruestorycanbesuccessfully
told.
Soundisthetrickiestofalloftheaspectsofwhatgoesintomakinganhonest
documentary.Theuseofsoundisoneofthemajorthingsthataredebatedbetweenfilmmakers.
Mostofthepuristfilmmakers,likeStanNeumannandPatricioGuzman,donotfeelthatmusic
andsoundeffectshaveaplaceindocumentaryfilmmaking.Theybelieveittobedistractingand
aformofimpressionism,notrealism(tothemadocumentaryshouldbeaformofrealism,not

impressionism).Theythinkthatattimes,musicindocumentariesaretheretotellyouwhatto
think,andthatitiswrongtoattempttoemphasizethedramaofasituationbyaddingmusic.
However,othersthinkdifferently.KimLonginottosaid,Ithinkthesoundistheheartbeatofthe
film.Ifthesoundisntgood,thanthefilmisthin,youknowthesoundiswhereyougetthe
emotionofthefilm(
CapturingReality
).Iagreewiththenewerthinkersofdocumentary
filmmaking,believingthatmusicgivesnewinsightsandperspectives,allimportantinorderto
tellastory.
Somefilmmakersarescaredtosendtheirfootageofftotheediting/cuttingroombecause
theyareterrifiedthattheirexperiencesandstorythattheywantedtotellwilldisappear.Through
thetimeandeffortthatisputintomakingadocumentary,thefilmmakernaturallygetsextremely
attachedtothefilmitself,butmoreimportantly,thestorytheyaretelling.Thesubjectofthe
filmsstoryisnolongerhisorhers,butthefilmmakerstoo.Whilethismightbeterrifyingfor
thefilmmakertoaccept,theeditingroomprovestobeoneofthemostimportantplacesinthe
processofcreatingadocumentary.Thecuttingroomisaplaceforsimplificationyoufind
themesandargumentsinthematerialtomakeitmoreobvious,andthereforemakeitmore
accessibleforanaudiencetowatchandunderstand.Whendone,agreaterimpactismade.
audience.
Allfouraspectsofdocumentaryfilmmakingareimperativetoitsportrayalofhonesty
whentellingthestoryathand.Thesetruthfuldocumentaries,becauseoftheelementsputinto
them,havetheabilitytoreachpeoplewiththeirstories,amediumthatisfoundationaltoour
society.Whenafilmsinterviews,visuals,sound,andeditingcancohesivelyimpacttheir
audience,cinemamagicismade.