AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF “SUBJECTIVE

CAMERA” ON DOCUMENTARY FILMS: A CASE OF ABSOLUTE

JITI THE, BHUNDU BOYS STORY BY ELTON MUJANANA.

By

Katerere Timothy.

SUPERVISOR

Mr. P Mukwara

This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the University requirements for the
Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Theatre Arts.

MAY 2014
 DEDICATION

This is dedicated to my mother, father, sisters, brothers and the late Mr. Sambo.

i
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to exsert my sincere solemn appreciation to my mother and father Mr. and Mrs
Katerere for their kindly support in my academic studies.

To my dear school mates Charles, Zanele, Tariro, Miriam, Porita, Cyril, Tavonga, Naison,
Gwinyai,Julia, Fadzai, Tavonga, Rutendo. Not to forget Tafadzwa Sigauke, Chiedza Chinhanhu,
Ian Chiripanyanga my mentors. Tatenda Mangosho, Kelvin Chikonzo, Kudakwashe Sambo My
Sister Rudo manyange thank you for being at my account always, thank you for all the sacrifices
you made for my cause. May the Almighty God bless you!

Special thanks goes to my supervisor Mr. P. Mukwara for his mentorship for the motivation
when all seemed to be retrogressive and backward, I owe this success to your great advice and
guidance. May good wisdom flourish in all your endeavours.

I would like to thank Elton Mujanana, , for his assistance with case study, the librarian Sisi Maria
and Topsy, Mr. Rise Kagona and Mr. Anopa Makaka , Mr. Muwonwa, Mr. Chivandikwa for
their for their infinite co-operation and contribution. I salute you.

And above all glory be to God ALMIGHTY who gave life to all the above life to all, I thank
YOU!

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION...............................................................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................................II
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................V
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................1
1.1 AREA OF INVESTIGATION...............................................................................................1
1.2.RESEARCH QUESTIONS....................................................................................................2
1.3 OBJECTIVES........................................................................................................................2
1.4 JUSTIFICATION...................................................................................................................3
1.5 LITERATURE REVIEW......................................................................................................4
1.6 METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................................5
1.6.1 SCHOLARLY RESEARCH............................................................................................5
1.6.2 Interviews......................................................................................................................5
1.6.3 INTERNET RESEARCH................................................................................................5
1.6.4 LIBRARY RESEARCH...................................................................................................6
CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK...............................7
2.1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................7
2.2 DEFINITION AND BACKGROUND OF SUBJECTIVE CAMERA.....................................................7
2.3 SUBJECTIVE CAMERA TECHNIQUES............................................................................8
2.3.1 Dolly / Travelling shot.....................................................................................................8
2.3.2 Tracking/ Crabbing.......................................................................................................8
2.3.3 Arcing..............................................................................................................................9
2.3.4 Zooming...........................................................................................................................9
2.3.5 Close up shot...................................................................................................................9
2.4 SUBJECTIVE CAMERA ANGLES...................................................................................10
2.4.1 High Angle:..................................................................................................................10
2.4.2 Low Angle:...................................................................................................................10
2.4.3 Bird’s eye view..............................................................................................................10
2.5 BASIC PREMISES HELD ON FEATURES OF DOCUMENTARY FILMS..........................................11
2.5.1 Beveridge”s view on documentary................................................................................11
2.5.2 Bordwell and Thompson s” view...................................................................................11
2.5.3 Nichols” view................................................................................................................12
2.5.4 Winston’s view..............................................................................................................12
CHAPTER THREE:IMPLICATIONS OF SUBJECTIVE CAMERA .................................13

iii
 3.1 INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................13
3.2 BACKGROUND OF CASE STUDY.............................................................................................13
3.2.1 Historical background of Bhundu boys.........................................................................14
3.2.2 Camera angles...............................................................................................................16
3.3 SHOT SIZE AND VIEWER PERCEPTION...................................................................................17
3.4 AUTEURISTIC APPROACH IN ABSOLUTE JITI THE BUNDUBOY”STORY.........................18
3.5 IMPLICATIONS OF VOICE OVER NARRATION ON THE PICTURES............................................19
3.6 REALIST THEORIES AND FILM MAKING.................................................................................20
3.7 COMPILATION DOCUMENTARY VERSUS TRADITIONAL DOCUMENTARY AND REALIST
THEORISTS..................................................................................................................................20
3.8 ABSOLUTE JITI THEBUNDUBOY”STORY AND “ FREE INDIRECT SUBJECTIVITY’...........21
3.9 CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................22
CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS OF CASE STUDY................................................................23
4.1.0 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................23
4.2 CONTENT ANALYSIS.............................................................................................................23
4.3 “CAMERA AS NARRATOR”....................................................................................................24
4.4 VOICE-OVER NARRATION.....................................................................................................25
4.4 MONTAGE IN ABSOLUTE JITI................................................................................................26
4.5 DIRECT AND INDIRECT INTERVIEWS.....................................................................................26
4.6 EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUES IN ABSOLUTE JITI........................................................................27
4.6.1 Ken Burns effect..........................................................................................................27
4.7 SUBJECTIVE CAMERA ANGLES IN “THE BHUNDU BOYS STORY”..........................................28
4.7.1 Low angle......................................................................................................................28
4.7.2 High angles....................................................................................................................29
4.7.3 Tracking shot.................................................................................................................30
4.7.4 Zooming.........................................................................................................................30
4.8 CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................30
CHAPTER FIVE.........................................................................................................................32
5.1 SUMMARY.............................................................................................................................32
5.2 CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................33
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................35
Appendices....................................................................................................................................38

iv
 Abstract

Documentary films are generally understood to be factual and non-fictional films. Film is a

medium to tell stories both factual and fiction by its rapid progression of still images at a rate of

24 frames a second to create an illusion of real life movement. This study will follow Henri

Berson”s(1911) philosophy in his book “Creative evolution” which says that film does not

adequately engage with his concepts of time, space and duration, in fact for him duration has to

do with consciousness and time can be measured from a mechanical and psychological

viewpoint hence time is not a fixed entity that moves in strict linear measures as in film where it

is subject to different kinds of speed such as fast, normal and slow. He felt that nomatter how

films beautifully created movement utterly failed to express duration. Hence this study will seek

to analyse how the subjective camera help in undermining or enhance truth or factual truthness

of documentary films using The Bhundu boys story by Elton Mujanana. Chapter1 lays out the

statement problem of the research and gives the area of investigation. It also states the objectives

and questions of this research, together with the justification and literature review. Then chapter

two explores the theoretical framework under which the study will be done. Definition of

subjective camera, functions of the subjective camera in implicating images, its impact on

captured reality since the director can use film to simply imitate reality or interpret and evaluate

it as well, such as the use of close ups to accentuate certain features for the viewer, Basic

premises held by the early and later documentary film makers and the characteristics of a

documentary film such as Grierson, Rotha, Barnouw, Nicholls and others. Chapter 3 seeks to

explore the implications of the subjective camera techniques in Absolute jiti THE

BUNDUBOY”STORY ” by Elton Mujanana, also examining the extent to which the director

v
used the techniques to enhance or undermine truth telling and objectivity. This chapter will also

be for discussion of the findings in my research.

vi
 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 AREA OF INVESTIGATION

This research seeks to examine the disparities between subjective camera and factual truth in

documentary film “Absolute jiti “THE BUNDUBOYS STORY. The investigation emanates

from positions adopted by documentary filmmakers during the first century of the genre's

existence which are: the filmed events must be unstaged, non-fictional since they have to depict

the world as real and not imaginary Buckland,W (1998) . Bordwell and Thompson(1997) agree

to this by stating that “ the documentary film purports to present factual information about the

world outside the film.”

Monaco (1981) says that “documentary is hinged upon and thrives on reality (actuality footage)

which may include live recordings of events often’ and pressing ‘record’ on his or her camera”.

However the irony to be investigated in this research is the use of subjective camera in the

documentary film. Fourie (1988) says that the subjective camera “refers to the camera acting as

an eye of participant, persons or objects act in front of camera”. Compesi (2000) seems to agree

with the above by saying the camera acts as participant of the event rather than to simply observe

the event. Aspects of the subjective are as follows, “varying camera distances(close ups, long

shots, zoom shots) and camera movements (panning, dolly, crane, lens changes, filters, camera

heights)” as Fourie (1988;33) states.

This seems to make the documentary film personal and subjective their (directors) way of

expressing themselves is based on filming and arranging what they find, and the decisions they

take become the discourse that they broadcast to the world, which is always framed within their

1
individual subjectivity. Therefore this research seeks to analyse how the subjective camera helps

or undermines the authenticity of documentary film using a case“Absolute jiti “THE

BUNDUBOYS STORY” by Elton Mujanana ”

The documentary “Absolute jiti “THE BUNDUBOYS STORY” researched by Shylet Mtethwa

makes use of subjective camera techniques which include “tilt shot” of a static image of Mbuya

Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi, fast zooms of a white man on a horse, matebele warriors also

panned, the documentary also incorporates the violation of grammatical change of shot change

that is from an eye level to a bird”s eye shot, tracking shot to reveal the streets of Harare. One

can agree that these techniques are used at the mercy of the director of photography.

1.2.RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• Does the subjective camera enhance or undermine truth telling in documentary film?

• What implications does the subjective camera have on truth telling in documentary

film?

• Can the subjective camera be functional in truth telling and capturing reality ?

1.3 OBJECTIVES
• To examine whether the subjective camera is functional in capturing events objectively

and obtaining factual truth.

• To determine the disparities between subjective camera and factual truth in. documentary

film “Absolute jiti THE BUNDUBOY”STORY” by Elton Mujanana.

• To examine the ways in which the “subjective camera” can undermine or help the

documentary film makers achieve factual truth.

2
1.4 JUSTIFICATION
There is much literature in the Theatre Arts Department on documentary. Maedza Pedzisai

(2009) who wrote on analysing documentary film as an anti-state propaganda movement .

However he lack is how the documentary is created by the use of camera since the very presence

of the camera influences the filmed events. The methods they used however did not encompass

on how the camera itself tells a story. This research will also further what Buckland (2000) that

documentary film makers employ a wide variety of techniques in putting their films together,

what Fourie (1988) calls content of form and form of content. This study therefore seeks to

analyse how filmic techniques play the role of manipulating events, the technical choices which

include-Selecting the camera angle, camera lens, film stock, shooting to edit, shooting essential

detail and shooting for transitions and finally the editing.

This research uses Absolute jiti THE BUNDUBOYS”STORY” by Elton Mujanana as case

study. The case study also employs Elton Mujanana whose works was also researched

Chiripanyanga I (2013) a case study he used to equate documentary with journalism, yet this

study uses it for the filmic camera techniques that he used to capture and record the life of The

Bhundu Boys . This research will be useful to future makers of documentary films since it will

refer to documentary that has been done in our locality Zimbabwe, it will also help anyone who

wants to use the camera to narrate, describe and inform events using the camera. The case study

is also relevant to the research because it falls under the definition and category of the

expositional documentary as said by Buckland D (1998:132,133) The makers of the film used

by the case study are locally available in the country and easy to contact, the researcher is also

currently doing a course related to the research. The above literature does not interrogate how

the subjective camera enhance or undermine factual truth in documentary film making.

3
1.5 LITERATURE REVIEW
The literature in the Theatre arts explores various thematic concerns on film which include

gender, feminism, masculinity, western ideologies and propaganda. On gender masculinities and

femininities includes the works of Magudze (2010) whose research was an analysis of visual

images of women in films, she argued that in the case study women are represented as strong

willed and determined, she also interrogated whether women film makers create larger than life

characters or rather stereotypes, authenticity of images of women created by female film makers.

Magudze concludes that women create images about themselves in a positive way.

Nhongonhema(2012) also examined the portrayal of men in feminist films such as

Dangarembga”s Neria and Kare kare zvako, Sinclair”s flame, the extent to which feminist film

makers succeed in using film as an instrument for women empowerment against the background

of perceived male domination, she concluded that feminist film makers create bias in the

portrayal of men. Mudavanhu analysed the extent to which Studio 263 was influenced by

western soaps such as Sunset beach, santa Barbabara and concluded that it did not entirely copy

Rumbi Mudenge (2009) analyses absurdism as an expressive means and style in film. Shylet

Mthethwa (2008) also echoes the same sentiments focusing on the representation of women in

Zimbabwean films

Maedza (2009:8) attempts to define documentary film along the lines of what he terms cultural

verisimilitude citing camerawork (cinematography), adherence to the presentation of truth,

intentions and treatment (approach) of subject matter. Maedza in his dissertation on

documentary film as propaganda he notes that Cinematography relates to how shots are made

and the use of the camera. Although Mabweazara(2002) scrutinises on how the film Jit uses

western techniques of editing, light-colour effects and thematic concerns, This study has

4
employed “THE BHUNDU BOYS STORY” a documentary based on local musicians and filmed

by a local director. One can agree with Mboti (2010:320) who says that ‘The filmic function

results from the categorical fact that film is unable to copy reality.’ Reality cannot be copied. As

a matter of fact, cinema attains its highest point when it leaves off questing for the so-called

authority of the ‘real’. Hence the subjective camera sometimes distort and helps communicate

meaning in documentary film and this research seeks to achieve the extent to which the

‘subjective camera’ help documentary film makers in obtaining factual truth and filming real life

events ?

1.6 METHODOLOGY

1.6.1 SCHOLARLY RESEARCH

This research was conducted using scholarly research into several books and written material in

libraries such as books and journals and other dissertations with relevant and related material to

seek a wider view of investigation

1.6.2 Interviews
This research will use interviews which are a free flow of ideas and taking notes from practical

documentary film makers and much from the maker of case study Elton Mujanana Face to face

interview with open and ended questions. Telephone interviews as well since they are not prone

to geographical boundaries

1.6.3 INTERNET RESEARCH

This research will also make use of the internet to retrieve information from scholarly websites

since internet sources are increasingly becoming scholarly databases.

5
1.6.4 LIBRARY RESEARCH
The study will also obtain sources from the University library and the departmental library from

which Secondary sources such as scholarly papers, published and unpublished academic papers,

books and articles will be consulted

6
 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter explores the theoretical framework under which the study will be done. The aim of

this chapter is not to give an entire account of documentary’s historical evolution, nor to cover

the literature on how to make documentaries, but to pin down what makes a film, or a video, a

documentary rather than another narrative form and at most the basic premises held by the early

and later documentary film makers and the characteristics of a documentary film such as

Grierson(1931) , Rotha(1939), Barnouw(1995) although they all attempt to document reality,

they use completely different logics in doing so.. Nicholls and others. Definition of subjective

camera, functions of the subjective camera in implicating images, its impact on captured reality

since the director can use film to simply imitate reality or interpret and evaluate it as well, such

as the use of close ups to accentuate certain features for the viewer.

2.2 Definition and Background of Subjective camera

Compesi (2000) says that the subjective camera refers to the use of the camera as a participant in

the scene. This may take a number of forms, the camera can act as the eyes of the person in a

scene or the characters may talk directly into the camera. Proferes (2005;p41) states that “The

subjective camera should not be confused with simply using a point of view (POV) shot, which

is an approximation of what a character is seeing.” The audience see events in the eyes of a

character, that is from his point of view, when used properly the subjective camera is an

extremely powerful production technique. However care must be taken so that the technique is

not overused as overuse may as well diminish its effectiveness

7
2.3 SUBJECTIVE CAMERA TECHNIQUES
There are several techniques that can be used to achieve the subjective camera. Fourie

(1988;32,33) argues that in the case of active or subjective camera, the scene enacted before the

camera is seen from a specific perspective chosen by the director, the codes used include:

Varying camera distances (close ups, long shots, zoom shots) , Camera movements (panning,

dollying, crane, lens changes, filters, camera heights) According to Thompson(2009:

Since movies and television shows rely so heavily on their visual elements, you have to decide

very early on in the creation process what is important for the viewer to see and how they should

be shown that information, action, event, or detail. This choice of what to actually photograph

can be the result of input from many people involved in the project — from the writer to the

director to the director of photography to the actor to a producer. Regardless of who makes the

choice, someone will, and for your initial projects it will most likely be you.

2.3.1 Dolly / Travelling shot

Millerson (1979;72) argues that the effect of camera movement are more prominent when

shooting a static subject, movement impact is correspondingly lessened where the camera moves

with the subject by dollying the dynamic effect of movement will come largely from the passing

background whenever the camera and subject are heading towards or away from each other, the

overall impression is considerably heightened.

2.3.2 Tracking/ Crabbing

The camera is on a track that allows it to move with the action. The term also refers to any

camera mounted on a car, truck, or helicopter. This technique is associated with moving across

the scene parallel with it, it also becomes associated with an attitude of inspection, critical

observation, expectancy, intolerant appraisal. The lateral displacement of planes (parallactic

8
movement) introduces a strong illusion of depth and solidity but the restriction of the picture’s

frame becomes over apparent as tracking stops abruptly.

2.3.3 Arcing
Is a technique that involves circling round an object to see it from a different view point,

intended to be a self conscious move drawing attention to the action, sparious side slip effects

can arise,slight position change, can help a performer to mask or obscure the other

2.3.4 Zooming
It consists of making the objects or people come closer or become bigger is to(ZOOM IN) or go

further or become smaller is to (ZOOM OUT). According to Thompson(2009:p160) “The optical

shifting that a zoom lens allows is not possible with our human eyes so therefore the resulting

motion is alien to our normal visual processing and stands out rather vividly.” From this one can

conclude that zooming is subjective and always controlled by the film maker.

2.3.5 Close up shot

The close shot shows the most important element in the scene, it show a small part of the scene

such as a character’s face in greater detail such that it fills the screen, it abstracts the subject from

the content A close up shot focuses very little to any locale and concentrates on a relatively small

object like the human face, and is generally shot from the mid- torso up. In close ups shots, the

subject dominates the frame, and close up magnifies the size of an object, it tends to elevate the

importance of things, often suggesting a symbolic significance. A close up shot focuses very

little to any locale and concentrates on a relatively small object like the human face, and is

generally shot from the mid- torso up. In close ups shots, the subject dominates the frame, and

close up magnifies the size of an object, it tends to elevate the importance of things, often

suggesting a symbolic significance.

9
According to Giannetti notes that the extreme close up is a variation of this shot. Thus instead of

a face, the extreme close up might show only a person’s eyes or mouth. Extreme close ups are

more dramatic than long or medium shots. They are normally preferred when conveying

someone’s emotion or to create intimacy from the characters. The person will be framed just

above head to upper chest. Roy Thompson alludes that the close-up is the intimate shot. Close-up

shots provide a magnified view of some person, object or action. As result, it can yield rather

than specific detailed information to the viewer. Again object size, proximity, and magnification

(lens optics at play) will help one to generate this frame filled with a larger rendering of the

object. A close-up shot can also be used to focus on an object as a way of highlighting the

importance of that object in the story. Close ups hold the audience very tightly to the screen and

are often used to pump up the drama of a certain moment.

2.4 SUBJECTIVE CAMERA ANGLES

2.4.1 High Angle:

The camera is above the subject. This usually has the effect of making the subject look smaller

than normal, giving him or her the appearance of being weak, powerless, and trapped.

2.4.2 Low Angle:

The camera films the subject from below. This usually has the effect of making the subject look

larger than normal, and therefore strong, powerful, and threatening.

2.4.3 Bird’s eye view

Bird’s eye view is when the camera is placed above the subject, looking down toward the subject

and the ground. Bird’s eye shot can be seemed disorienting because it is rarely the way the

audience see the world. It has impact on dramatic comment on a scene or character.

10
2.5 Basic premises held on features of documentary films
Several scholars have written on what qualifies a film to be a documentary film, on identifying

what makes a film a documentary Buckland(1998) he begins with the basic premises film

spectators hold about documentaries. He says that the events must be unstaged, that is the events

must exist above and beyond the activity of filming them, unlike fiction films in which events

are staged for express of purpose of being filmed. Documentary films are understood

conventionally to be non fiction films, in other words they must be sharply distinguished from

fiction films, the world they depict is real not imaginary. The documentary film maker simply

observes and make an objective record of real events.

“Even in its infancy, when films were composed of a single shot and lasted less than a minute,

cinema was divided in two camps: those who looked to the real world for their subject matter,

and those who filmed performances” (Cousins and Macdonald, 1998:4).

In this light one can note that from the two camps in documentary film making it can be seen in

terms of the power that the filmmaker exercises while filming hence the form is always subject

to the film maker.

2.5.1 Beveridge”s view on documentary

In the book Script writing for short films Beveridge notes that “ a documentary film purpotes to

tell a story about real life problems and real life people and consequently must be able to stand

up to scrutiny”

2.5.2 Bordwell and Thompson s” view

Bordwell and Thompson are of the view that “A documentary film purports to present factual

information about the world outside film”, they further assert that, this in turn lead us to assume

that the persons, places and events are real and they exit(ed) and also that the information

11
presented about them is trustworthy. Bordwell and Thompson(pp43) argues that in carrying out

its purpose in presenting factual information a documentary may utilize many devices; firstly the

film maker can record events as they actually occur, secondly the film maker can stage certain

events for the camera to record and lastly events can be recorded without scripting or staging

them for example having an interview with an eye witness.

2.5.3 Nichols” view

Nichols (1991:27). The documentary is often perceived as realist, the assumption of the viewer

is that things have happened in front of the camera as they would have happened if the camera

had not been there. Whether this assumption is true or false is irrelevant here, what counts is the

expectation of the viewer.

2.5.4 Winston’s view

Film critique Winston has dedicated several books, the most famous being Claiming the Real, to

argue that documentary does no tie with realism but with subjectivity, but this does not mean that

his views have reached, nor persuaded, the majority of documentary viewers. His notion has the

advantage of showing the possible contrasting g expectations between the filmmaker and the

viewer, but it is very subjective and cultural specific, and it depends on the viewer’s

acquaintance with a specific style. This being said one can note that the idea of including the

viewer or user in the definition of an artefact, it puts the emphasis on the artefact as a relational

object and diminishes the importance of ownership of the artefact

12
 CHAPTER THREE: IMPLICATIONS OF SUBJECTIVE CAMERA

3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter seeks to analyse the implications of the subjective camera techniques in Absolute

jiti THE BUNDUBOY”STORY ” by Elton Mujanana, also examining the extent to which the

director used the techniques to enhance or undermine truth telling and objectivity. This chapter

will also discuss the findings in my research in relation to the theoretical framework in the

previous chapter

3.2 Background of case study

Absolute jiti THE BUNDUBOY”STORY ” by Elton Mujanana is a documentary film about the

life and story of the Bundu boys, the Bhundu Boys recorded their first 7 vinyl single at Shed

Studios in Harare on 1 February 1983, as part of the Studio's drive to sponsor more local music.

They were one of a number of more adventurous bands that had not been contracted by the two

record labels. Shed Studios was a collaboration between Steve Roskilly, Martin Norris and

Bothwell Nyamhondera. The Bhundu Boys reached the top of the Zimbabwean music scene on

Shed Studio's Rugare Label, with four number one hits ("Baba munini Francis", "Wenhamo

Haaneti", "Hatisitose", and "Tsvimbodzemoto") between 1981 and 1984. They attracted the

attention of Owen Elias and his colleague, musician Champion Doug Veitch, who released an EP

by the band in the UK under licence from Shed Studios in 1985. This attracted the attention of

DJ's John Peel and Andy Kershaw who promoted the band. Under further licence from Shed

Studios, their first UK album, Shabhini, was released on the Discafrique label in 1986. The band

travelled to UK in 1986 for a live tour organised by Elias, and Scottish graphic artist Gordon

Muir became their manager. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhundu_Boys According to Elton

13
Mujanana “The film was produced starting in 2005 and it was released in 2007”. Mujanana, E.

(2014, April 10). Elton also said that he was motivated to do the documentary because the Bundu

boys were stereotyped to have died of AIDS and he chose to do a documentary to tell the other

side of the story. The writer, director was Elton Mujanana, the producer was Anopa Makaka, the

camera work was done by James Jemwa and Anopa Makaka, The documentary commentary was

done by Thomas Musoni, researched by Shylet Mthetwa, Elton Mjanana, Tafara Mbaya and

Anopa Makaka.

3.2.1 Historical background of Bhundu boys

The Bhundu Boys were a Zimbabwean band that played a mixture of chimurenga music with

American rock and roll, disco, country, and pop influences. Their style became known as jit, and

is quite popular across Africa, with some international success, and has influenced later groups

like Nehoreka and Mokoomba. The name came from bhundu (meaning "Bush" or "jungle"), in

reference to the young boys who used to aid the nationalist guerrilla fighters in the 1970s war

against the white minority government of what was then Rhodesia. Lead singer Biggie Tembo

(Biggie Rodwell Tembo Marasha) was a Bhundu boy. The Bhundu Boys recorded their first 7"

vinyl single at Shed Studios in Harare on 1 February 1983, as part of the Studio's drive to

sponsor more local music. They were one of a number of more adventurous bands that had not

been contracted by the two record labels. Shed Studios was a collaboration between Steve

Roskilly, Martin Norris and Bothwell Nyamhondera. The Bhundu Boys reached the top of the

Zimbabwean music scene on Shed Studio's Rugare Label, with four number one hits ("Baba

munini Francis", "Wenhamo Haaneti", "Hatisitose", and "Tsvimbodzemoto") between 1981 and

1984. They attracted the attention of Owen Elias and his colleague, musician Champion Doug

Veitch, who released an EP by the band in the UK under licence from Shed Studios in 1985. This

attracted the attention of DJ's John Peel and Andy Kershaw who promoted the band. Under
14
further licence from Shed Studios, their first UK album, Shabhini, was released on the

Discafrique label in 1986. The band travelled to UK in 1986 for a live tour organised by Elias,

and Scottish graphic artist Gordon Muir became their manager. After touring the UK for a year,

the band appeared to be on the brink of a major commercial breakthrough. They were feted by

Eric Clapton and Elvis Costello and Madonna asked them to be her support act at Wembley

Stadium. In 1987, just as their second UK album Tsvimbodzemoto was released by Elias, on the

Discafrique label, The Bhundu Boys broke their contract with Shed Studios and signed to

Warner Bros. Their first album True Jit, produced by Robin Millar was considered too far a jump

in style from their original recordings and was unfavourably received. The band began a long

period of further live appearances, releasing other independent CDs but started to fall apart.

Leader Biggie Tembo achieved some celebrity on TV and in the press, which irritated the rest of

the band, especially the leader Rise Kagona, and Tembo was asked to leave the band in 1990.

[citation needed] The band continued in the 1990s but David Mankaba, his replacement

Shepherd Munyama, and Shakespeare Kangwena, all died of AIDS. Without the writing and

vocal talents of Tembo, the band never again produced the same reception by the music press or

by the public. Tembo tried a comeback by collaborating with a Bristol band, Startled Insects,

without success. Returning to Zimbabwe, he tried to produce some more music at Shed Studios,

but hanged himself in 1995 in a psychiatric hospital.[1] The band soldiered on, recording two

more albums, before calling it quits in 2000 after bassist Washington Kavhai was jailed on an

aggravated assault conviction. Guitarist Rise Kagona currently lives in Scotland and plays in the

newly formed Rise Kagona and the Jit Jive Band, who played at the Ben and Jerry's Sundae

Festival in June 2011. He co-wrote and sang on "She Told You So" on Ben Avison's 2013 Good

Day Mr. Magpie album.

15
Kuda Matimba lives in London and plays with Harare, a group he started in 2005 together with

Kenny Chitsvatsva. In 2001, Shed Studios issued a compilation album of all the Bhundu Boys

recordings made in Zimbabwe, entitled The Shed Sessions, for release in UK on a double CD,

under licence to Gordon Muir. Moyo Tembo formed a group called The Chinhoyi Superstars,

who released their debut single "Woiteyiko". Biggie Tembo Jnr, the son of Biggie Tembo, has

followed in his father's footsteps and released his debut album, Rwendo in 2010.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhundu_Boys

3.2.2 Camera angles

In an interview with Elton Mujanana(4/10/2014) he said that he employed several camera angle

techniques as in fiction film deliberately because he is radical to the old traditions of

documentary film making of John Grierson. He further said as long as one sticks to the factual

truth the employment of fiction techniques would not matter. According to Giannetti (1972)

there are basically five angles in the cinema these are the bird’s eye view, the high angle, the

eye level shot the low angle shot and the oblique angle. Giannett further notes that the angle

from which an object is photographed can often save as an authorial commentary on the subject

matter. Mujanana in the interview responded to the question of why he chose a low angle on

framing Gordon which One can suspect that he has more authority as compared to most

interviewees framed at an eye level, he responded by saying that it was just for adding variety

and not imparting meaning for viewers.

Giannetti (1972) also says that angles often reflect the writer’s attitude toward a subject. If the

angle is slight, it can serve as subtle form of emotional coloration. If the angle is extreme, it can

represent the major meaning of an image. An individual photographed from a high angle position

actually suggests an opposite interpretation from an image of the same person photographed

16
from a low angle. Also connotations of the angles can be manipulated by the filmmaker on the

aspect that is the filmmaker a formalist or realist. Camera angles as from movies, the angle at

which a character is shot in a film can dramatically affect how we perceive that character.

Cinematographer’s choose to shoot characters using different angles in order to make an

authorial comment on the role and importance of that person in a film.

3.3 Shot size and viewer perception

Berson argues that nomatter how long or short camera shots are inadequate to tell “total truth’

because film is incapable of representing the nearly infinite multiplicities of how our daily lives

emerge as we go through life. He also says that there are a lot of details and he argues also that

the illusion of movement in film does not come from the subject matter but from the mechanical

apparatus that is the passage or progression of still images or chopped up single frames creating

some assemblance of reality is exacerbating because it is what we are doing in real life because

our psychology requires us to project the illusion of continuity since it allows us to see things in

continuity and sequence round and fall. By and large he says that time and reality are filled with

giant holes and discontinuities all kinds of disruptions and disjunctions many which happen

outside our awareness and many are forced outside our awareness by our unconscious minds so

painful to deal with because of our chaotic world hence film is a false image already precipitated

by our false image of the world. Basically a long take is a shot of long duration, that is the on

screen takes more time before changing to another shot.

“Even in its infancy, when films were composed of a single shot and

lasted less than a minute, cinema was divided in two camps: those who

looked to the real world for their subject matter, and those who filmed

17
 performances” (Cousins and Macdonald, 1998:4).

From the quotation above one can note that authenticity of captured reality is governed by the

amount of time the action lasts on the screen. In an interview with Rise Kagona a member of the

Bhundu boys he argued the documentary by Elton Mujanana was not very authentic in

presenting the life of Bhundu boys because he should not have given Biggie Thembo”s son time

to speak the Bhundu boys arguing that he did not have any knowledge of the life of Bhundu boys

and he must not have been given a long time to speak on the interview of the documentary.The

long take is also treated with great prominence with the subjects being shot entirely in a fixed

frame for the duration of their speech giving it a level of actuality and neutrality.

3.4 Auteuristic approach in Absolute jiti THE BUNDUBOY”STORY

The auteur theory is a way of reading and appraising films through the imprint of an auteur

(author), usually meant to be the director, The director must have control over and responsibility

for the myriad of tasks required to make a film, and combine them to fulfil one voice and one

vision (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/jeanrenoir/AUTEUR%20THEORY.htm)

From the above one can note that the documentary just like any film has a crew led by a director

to achieve a certain objective, the director ultimately controls shot size, angle and duration,

object placement. The documentary had a crew the writer, director was Elton Mujanana, the

producer was Anopa Makaka, the camera work was done by James Jemwa and Anopa Makaka,

the commentary was done by Thomas Musoni, researched by Shylet Mthetwa, Elton Mjanana,

Tafara Mbaya and Anopa Makaka. In an interview with Elton Mujanana he said that he wanted

to produce the documentary by what he called “mixed style” in which he would employ

techniques from fiction such as camera angles and several editing techniques and the crew

18
helped him in fulfilling his vision also stating that documentary is not easier to define than

“love” or “culture”, since it is always relational, comparative and culture specific, Elton gets the

support of Nichols (2001:21) who proposes to give a multiple definition of what is for him a

“fuzzy concept” that is prone to contestation and change. Rabiger M (2009 states matter-of-factly

that: ‘Because you can’t choose your identity, some of your film’s style will take care of itself’

The film maker Elton had all control over the images in the documentary, that is all camera

positions, angles, object placement, lens choice were in his control making the documentary

personal and subjective. In an interview he says that as a film maker he had to be free of a

confined style of shooting and had to use various angles and techniques. (2014, April 10)

3.5 Implications of voice over narration on the pictures

“ Even if documentary cannot be just defined as not-fictional, the expectation of the viewers is

generally that that which occurred in front of the camera remains identical to the actual event we

could have witnessed in the historical world” Nichols (1991:25) However this tends to be

debatable because in many cases the documentary is presented in pictures and sound which both

have an implication on factual truth. The voice over narration usually narration that comes from

an unseen, off screen voice, character, or narrator that can be heard by the audience but not by

the film characters presented by an “omniscient narrator also puts more meaning to an image. It

often makes use of the omniscient narrator as some kind of Griot to tell the story using extensive

verbal commentary interpreting the images laden on screen and augmented also by subtitles, thus

imposing a particular slant and meaning upon the viewer(s). It usually assumes a logical

argument. Nichols (1991) Cinema scholar Carl Plantinga points out that ‘in the absence of truth

claims, one cannot sensibly ask whether a film is lying’ (1996, p. 94). Therefore, the design of

the video is based on the idea that audiences’ questioning must be triggered by some kind of

19
audiovisual truth claim. In this study, the texture, look, and style of these images are part of the

assumed truth claim by Elton and his production team.

3.6 Realist theories and film making

Film is a language used to tell stories, and the narrator of those stories is the camera. Above all

the director is the ultimate storyteller, but the voice he or she will use is that of the camera. There

are six variables a director can control with the camera. In all six, composition within the frame

is a primary factor. angle image size (which affects scale and field of view Motion (up, down,

tracking) Compesi (2000:82) mentions depth of field whether normal, compressed or deep,

affected by focal length of lens and f stop Focus selective within the frame speed normal, fast, or

slow motion. The director will manipulate and integrate these possibilities to create the sentences

used to tell the cinematic story, and will then organize the sentences into “paragraphs” complete

narrative or dramatic blocks that will rely heavily on compression, elaboration, and a third

extremely powerful narrative or dramatic element and the reveal. In film there are two basic

schools of thought basically there is realism in which film theorists such as Andre Barzin who is

primarily concerned with raw material, that is reality itself, they advocate a relatively

conservative use of the camera, which is an instrument that should objectively record the events

enacted. “They argue in favour of films that reproduce reality undiluted, imitating it as closely as

possible, the director or communicator, filmic techniques should not interfere with the viewer’s

own interpretation of the events”

3.7 Compilation documentary versus traditional documentary and realist theorists

In realist film, the camera should record “nature caught in the act” as Siegfried Kracauer notes.

“Film cannot be an art for it does nothing but reproduce reality mechanically” Arnheim R, (1966:

312). Naturality and objectivity are key to realist theories. Fourie P.J, (1988) notes that the art of

20
film consists of its ability to present an imitation of reality. However it is now a common place to

argue that an authentic documentary can be made by making use of archival footage,

newspapers, biographies. Buckland ( 1998) is against the idea of using the “objectivity thesis) of

Andre Bazin by saying that “All films necessarily involve selection and editing, No film is

therefore purely objective’

One can also use Buckland”s argument to critic the notion of “nature caught in the act” by that if

by objectivity it means that the events are seen from no particular perspective, . Buckland ( 1998)

‘This is an unreasonable standard by which to judge documentary films” Bordwell (1997:46)

argues that, “a film can fuse documentary and fiction” Elton the director of Absolute jiti

THEBUNDUBOY”STORY also inserted images of Mbuya Nehanda and matebele warriors and

cuts to the pictures of the main subjects that is the Bhundu boys in the narrative progression of

the documentary.

3.8 Absolute jiti THEBUNDUBOY”STORY and “ Free indirect subjectivity’

A film director and film theorist Pierre Pasolini wrote his theory in the cinema of poetry, in

which he said that film has a poetic strategy that makes it more poetic than poetry itself. He also

said that in the novel or poetry there is what he coins as free indirect subjectivity in which the

author penetrates entirely in the story and characters’ language and through the power of the

book to direct the viewer on how to see the story. By free indirect subjectivity it is not about the

story but how the audience” eye would jump across the screen not only to get the story but how

it is told using cinematic techniques. Pierre also argues that free indirect subjectivity gives

cinema a double nature, on one level there is dominant material into which a viewer’s mind

immerses at the level of dialogue and various stress points of the narrative but behind the main

21
level of this experience is what Pasolini calls a second film hence poetry, biographies and

novels can do such with words but film can do so with images (scriptcastle.com)

From the above the researcher has discovered that Elton’s documentary could not have included

the entire life of the Bhundu boys because reality cannot fit in the cinematic frame and one can

spare the term ‘manipulation of the story’ and rather say he shaped the story of the Bhudu boys

because the story was scripted and had a production team Assegai Promotions. Therefore the

assumption that Buckland (1998:131) normally held by film makers and spectators pertaining to

makes a film a documentary that “the documentary film maker simply observes and make an

objective record of real events” was surpassed by Elton Mujanana. This is because Elton

employed several techniques in putting the film together he did not simply point the camera and

let it roll but he employed various technical choices such as selecting camera angles, camera

lens, object placement which seems to make the documentary personal and subjective

3.9 Conclusion
This chapter has outlined the several techniques used in the documentary of Absolute jiti

THEBUNDUBOY”STORY in putting the film together which means the film maker did not

simply point the camera and let it roll but rather he employed various technical choices such as

selecting camera angles, camera lens, object placement which seems to make the documentary

personal and subjective.

22
 CHAPTER FOUR

4.1.0 Introduction
This chapter seeks to explore the implications of the subjective camera techniques in Absolute

jiti THE BUNDUBOY”STORY ” by Elton Mujanana, also examining the extent to which the

director used the techniques to enhance or undermine truth telling and objectivity. This chapter

will also discuss the findings in my research Although scholars such as Fourie, Compesi (2000)

have generated much research implications of subjective camera, much of it has failed to explore

how visual production elements shape viewer response in documentary films. This study

examines the impact of one increasingly common technique, subjective camera on one”s

interpretation of documentary films

4.2 Content analysis

An American film maker and director Alfred Hitchcock (1964) in distinguishing content and

technique he gives an analogy of a painter painting a landscape or a bowel of fruits, the painter is

not interested in the apples for themselves but on the technique of his work which stimulates the

emotion of the viewer of his work, in film it is not the pure manner of the story but what the film

maker does with it and people get to see a story from a directors point of story telling using

techniques such as camera angles, focus and editing ultimately. According to Makaka (2013)

“the Bhundu Boys is a musical group from Zimbabwe who were prominent in the 80's. they

opened for Madonna through the label of Warner Records. After years of touring and partying

most of the band died of HIV and AIDS and succumbed to mental illness. Here i tried to get as

much as could on this tragic story.” The Bhundu Boys recorded their first 7" vinyl single at Shed

Studios in Harare on 1 February 1983, as part of the Studio's drive to sponsor more local music.

23
They were one of a number of more adventurous bands that had not been contracted by the two

record labels. Shed Studios was a collaboration between Steve Roskilly, Martin Norris and

Bothwell Nyamhondera. The Bhundu Boys reached the top of the Zimbabwean music scene on

Shed Studio's Rugare Label, with four number one hits ("Baba munini Francis", "Wenhamo

Haaneti", "Hatisitose", and "Tsvimbodzemoto") between 1981 and 1984. They attracted the

attention of Owen Elias and his colleague, musician Champion Doug Veitch, who released an EP

by the band in the UK under licence from Shed Studios in 1985. This attracted the attention of

DJ's John Peel and Andy Kershaw who promoted the band. Under further licence from Shed

Studios, their first UK album, Shabhini, was released on the Discafrique label in 1986. The band

travelled to UK in 1986 for a live tour organised by Elias, and Scottish graphic artist Gordon

Muir became their manager.

4.3 “Camera as narrator”

According to Proferes (2005) Film is a language used to tell stories, and the narrator of those

stories is the camera. Yes, the director is the ultimate storyteller, but the “voice” she will use is

that of the camera. In the documentary of the Bhundu boys the director was in control of the

filmed events or mis en scene shots viewers see where Mujanana wants them to see and what he

wants them to hear by his use of camera and voice over respectively. Berson argues that

nomatter how long or short camera shots are inadequate to tell “total truth’ because film is

incapable of representing the nearly infinite multiplicities of how our daily lives emerge as we go

through life. He also says that there are a lot of details and he argues also that the illusion of

movement in film does not come from the subject matter but from the mechanical apparatus that

is the passage or progression of still images or chopped up single frames creating some

assemblance of reality is exacerbating because it is what we are doing in real life because our

24
psychology requires us to project the illusion of continuity since it allows us to see things in

continuity and sequence round and fall. By and large he says that time and reality are filled with

giant holes and discontinuities all kinds of disruptions and disjunctions many which happen

outside our awareness and many are forced outside our awareness by our unconscious minds so

painful to deal with because of our chaotic world hence film is a false image already precipitated

by our false image of the world. Mboti (2010:318) says that one cannot do with film what a film

cannot do: there is no film outside the filmic function. In fact, the filmic function is at its weakest

when attempting to authorise itself as true. Hence what Mujanana filmed on Bhundu boys can

not be true as far as filmic images are concerned the subjectivity does not only imply on subject

matter but the mechanical apparatus of film of projecting images at 24 frames a second yet

reality isnot this way.

4.4 Voice-over narration

According to Wikipedia “The voice-over in a documentary is a commentary by the filmmaker,

spoken while the camera is filming, or added to the soundtrack during the production. Through

this the filmmaker can speak directly to the viewer, offering information, explanations and

opinions...” Elton Mujana used this technique in his documentary as part of the narrative

progression of the film. The voice over begins by the narrator saying that “ In 1986 5five young

men from Harare arrived in the UK, their first ever trip outside their native Zimbabwe, let alone

anywhere across the seas all they had was their music embedded in their souls, their massive

talent and burning desire to leave a lasting impression on world music, they called themselves

the Bhundu boys.” The voice over was accompanied by some archival footage of the Bhundu

boys at their tour in the UK playing live, this one cannot deny that it is not true and the narrator

is not commenting on abstract images, some of the words he used on voice over were derived

25
from newspaper headlines from Los Angeles Herald examiner of 1988 of Monday 11th of April

1988 that appear on screen as he talks. When one asks the question such as in representing

historical events, how does a non-fiction filmmaker think about accuracy? One can safely say

that images portrayed and the voice over must be complimentary.

4.4 Montage in Absolute Jiti

A montage sequence conveys ideas visually by putting them in a specific order in the film. Elton

combines shots of newspaper images, live shows, interviews to inform, entertain and educate the

viewers on the part of life of Bhundu boys he used arrative montages in planning the sequence of

shots to indicate changes in time and place within the film, for example shots of Mbuya

Nehanda and Kaguvi, Matebele soldiers and footages of second chimurenga are combined by

fast cuts, zoom in, zoom out as music of Thomas Mapfumo plays. This gave an impression of

continuity up he employs the voice over to say that the Bhundu boys was formed after

independence. Elton Mujanana used montage montage sequences to link actions with words, in

his documentary. A different positioning of shots conveys different ideas to the viewer. For

example, a montage containing a negative theme followed by a positive theme may give the

viewer the idea that the positive theme is the main theme of the montage. Montages in

documentaries are usually linked with words that characters say . This visual representation of

the characters thoughts helps position the viewer in the story, and helps the viewer better

understand what the character is saying. It visually presents a progression of ideas on a screen.

4.5 Direct and Indirect Interviews

The interview is a common documentary technique and was heavily used by Elton. It allows

people being filmed to speak directly about events, prompted by the questions asked by the

filmmaker various people were interviewed by Mujanana such as Rise Kagona, the wife and

26
Kumbirai Tembo the son of Biggie Tembo. An interview may take place on screen, or off screen,

on a different set. Interviews in a documentary give the viewer a sense of realism and the wife of

Biggie Thembo even cries when narrating about the death of Biggie Tembo a former Bhundu

Boys member , making the documentary maker’s views mutually shared by another person or

source, and thus more valid. To achieve this much detail from the interview of more than one

hour long clips of only a few minutes are shown. Interviews on opposing sides of an issue where

shown to give the viewer comprehensive information about the topic, for example the

documentary shows an establishing shot of shed studios and cut to interior where Steve Roskilly

the producer of Shed studio records. When he talks there is background music of Bhundu boys

probably added in post production. In no more than two minutes the camera cuts to an interview

with Bothwell Nyamhondera an engineer and producer at Shed studios who talks of how they

recorded single tracks such as Kuroja Chete and other albums.

4.6 Expressive techniques in Absolute Jiti

Elton agrees that in his documentary he did not simply point the camera towards his subject and

let the camera roll, rather he is confined to what Buckland (1996;131) argues that “documentary

film makers employ a wide variety of techniques in putting their film together…” This section

will discuss and outline the techniques that Mujanana used in coming up with the documentary

Absolute Jiti.

4.6.1 Ken Burns effect

The Ken Burns effect is a type of panning and zooming effect used in video production from still

imagery.The name derives from extensive use of the technique by American documentarian Ken

Burns. The feature enables a widely used technique of embedding still photographs in motion

pictures, displayed with slow zooming and panning effects, and fading transitions between

27
frames. (Wikipedia16/09/2013 at 16:25.) At the beginning of The Bhundu boys story there is a

till shot of a still image of Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi, and a zoom shot of white settler

soldiers, zoom in zoom out of Shona warriors of first chimurenga, pan shot of the same drawing

of shona warriors, fast cuts of Zimbabwe guerilla fighters training and shooting with cannons.

The joining of these unrelated images coupled with voice over narration gave the impression of

Zimbabwe from colonial to independence era and soldiers fighting in the bush (Bhundu) is where

the Bhundu boys adopted their title. Hence the technique provided aesthetic and helped compress

time and space without distorting the factual value of the documentary.

4.7 Subjective camera angles in “The Bhundu boys story”

http://www.skwirk.com.au says that “It is important that you do not confuse camera angles and

camera shots. Camera shots are used to demonstrate different aspects of setting, themes and

characters. Camera angles are used to position the viewer so that they can understand the

relationships between the characters. These are very important for shaping meaning in film as

well as in other visual texts.” This section will outline and discuss the subjective angles in the

documentary by Elton Mujanana and their impact on the factual truth of the documentary since

camera angles can change the messages, ideas and emotions towards cinematic images.

4.7.1 Low angle

According to Graham Roberts and Heather Wallis alludes that a low angle means pointing up. In

certain aspects the shot is usually taken when the subject is given power or threatening but with

empowerment. In the documentary Mujana juxtaposes two shots, the first one of Rise Kagona

explaining that the boys did not need a house and in London framed with eye level then another

shot of an interviewee Doug Vietch a co- owner of DiscAfrique label framed with a low angle

which one can suspect or declare that Mujanana wanted to impose power on the character

28
explain that Biggie Tembo wanted the house so as to move his family there, Despite the

subjective nature of that choice of angle Mujanana argues that it was for aesthetic purposes. The

low angle looking upwards has the opposite effect of a high angle shot. It tends to focus attention

on the size and significance of a character or object .Usually the director’s use this kind of an

angle to announce the power and authority of one of their characters without telling the audience

literally telling the audience this information. This tended to exaggerate the importance of Doug

Vietch a co- owner of DiscAfrique label , making that him to appear larger than life.

4.7.2 High angles

According to Giannetti ordinary high angle shots are not so extreme, and therefore not so

disorienting. The camera is placed on the crane, or some natural high promontory, but the sense

of audience omnipotence is not overwhelming. Covering any shot of a person or action from a

higher vantage point immediately informs the audience of an implied meaning. In the

documentary during the live shows of the Bhundu boys the crowd is framed with high angles and

in explaining why Elton says that the shots are from archival footages and it was not his choice

of framing but incorporated them so as to support that the boys were a band and had audiences

in their shows. Thompson, R (2009:42), notes that the grammar of a high angle shot often yields

an understanding within the viewer that who they are seeing on screen is smaller, weaker,

subservient, diminutive, or is currently in a less powerful or compromised position. Through

foreshortening and through “compressing” the character into the floor or ground aroundthem, the

camera keeps the subject down and makes him or her physically appear shorter or smaller.

Graham Roberts and Heather Wallis, notes that high angle shots means that the camera is

pointing down. Thus the subject is smaller possible threatened and clearly drained power and

creating more dynamic engagement with the action.

29
4.7.3 Tracking shot
The camera is on a track that allows it to move with the action. The term also refers to any

camera mounted on a car, truck, or helicopter. In the documentary the film maker used this

technique to reveal the streets of Harare there was restless camera movement. This technique is

associated with moving across the scene parallel with it, it also becomes associated with an

attitude of inspection, critical observation, expectancy, intolerant appraisal. The lateral

displacement of planes (parallactic movement) introduces a strong illusion of depth and solidity

but the restriction of the picture’s frame becomes over apparent as tracking stops abruptly.

However one can agree that despite using this subjective technique Mujanana achieved to reveal

the streets without imparting any fiction. This technique is so deviated from the “norm” in

documentary making the shot more dynamic, dramatic and energetic

4.7.4 Zooming
It consists of making the objects or people come closer or become bigger is to(ZOOM IN) or go

further or become smaller is to (ZOOM OUT). According to Thompson(2009:p160) “The optical

shifting that a zoom lens allows is not possible with our human eyes so therefore the resulting

motion is alien to our normal visual processing and stands out rather vividly.” From this one can

conclude that zooming is subjective and always controlled by the film maker. In reality people”s

eyes do not zoom images, Mujanana used this technique on images of Mbuya Nehanda and

Matebele warriors, However Mujanana says that it was for aesthetic purposes, despite its

disorienting nature on viewer perception.

4.8 Conclusion
This chapter has sought to explore the implications of the subjective camera techniques in

Absolute jiti THE BUNDUBOY”STORY ” by Elton Mujanana, also examining the extent to

which the director used the techniques to enhance or undermine truth telling and objectivity. This
30
chapter examined the impact of one increasingly common technique, subjective camera on one’s

interpretation of documentary films

31
 CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 Summary
This study has finally come to agree that the subjective camera has no much impact in

undermining truth telling. Staging of events in documentary in front of a camera served a larger

function of presenting factual information, such that whenever techniques such as pans, zooms,

tracking shots were used they were consoled by a voice over that relied on factual material such

as newspapers, news bulletins and archival video footage. Despite individuals such as Rise

Kagona arguing that the documentary was not factual by relying on some evidence provided by

Kumbirai Tembo, this does not turn the documentary into a fiction, just as there are inaccurate

and misleading news stories there are inaccurate news documentaries. Bordwell (1997;44). This

study also gives the category into which the documentary “The Bhundu boys story will fit into,

According to Buckland (1998) “each type of documentary is defined and distinguished

according to how it shapes events being filmed by means of particular techniques selected by the

film maker” Therefore the techniques identified by this research identifies this documentary as

compilation reflexive documentary because Elton Mujanana went one step further of employing

subjective camera techniques which are more compatible to fiction film and also attempted to

expose the viewers the conventions of documentary such as voice over, interviews and archival

footage. Mujanana also challenged the documentary’s ability of revealing the truth, rather than

focusing on events and people filmed, he put more emphasis on how they are filmed making the

properties of the film and the filming becoming the main emphatic point.

32
5.2 Conclusion
The documentary Absolute Jiti the Bhundu boys story sought to blur the lines bordering

documentary and fiction. For example he employed the techniques borrowed from fiction and the

documentary film techniques and fused them but still the film maintaining its position as a

documentary film because it was thematically driven and purports to present factual information

that is evident and can be traced in primary sources, relied more on diegetic sound and use of

natural light and many shots maintained the eye level. To a larger extent any film maker of

documentary films has to understand that truth is not universal in understanding documentary

films but the term documentary is a construct of film makers, viewers and analysts is just what

Mboti (2010) says that behind every film there is a gaze and gazes are not objective, nor do they

really need to be. Rather, gazes are part of communities of meaning that have no inherent

validity, but must of necessity be contested, celebrated, or fought over. Gazes not only imply a

source and a sender, but have never had the capacity to show the world as it is. In any case, truth

– whatever it is – cannot fit a cinematic frame, but merely exceeds it. To escape this the

researcher leaves a quote from Berson “ In order to advance with the moving reality you must

replace yourself within it, install yourself within change and you will grasp it once both change

itself and the successive states in which it might at any instance be immobilized” Nonetheless,

one must still answer the following question: Was Elton documentary able to capture life of

Bhundu boys? there is no, and has never been, a A Bhundu boys story anywhere in the world,

what then is that the audience saw? The answer is as follows: that what viewers saw is an image,

a specific product of Elton Mujana” structuring gaze, or imagination. Real, however, is what, in

filmic terms, The bhundu boys story is not and cannot be real. In point of fact, The bhundu boys

story can only be ‘real’ after systematic restraint of its film-ness and the subsequent

33
overprovision of ideology in the image. Indeed, the more such types of films purport and try to

be ‘real’.

34
 Bibliography

Berson, H (1911) Creative evolution tr. Arthur Mitchell. New York: Henry Holt and Company

Beveridge, J,A (1975) Scriptwriting for short films. Paris Unesco

Bordwell, D. & Thompson, K. (1987). The Film Art An Introduction. Prentice-Hall Inc: New

Jersey.

Buckland W (1998) Film studies, London: Mc Graw-Hill.

Chalmers,r.(2005, Friday july 5th).bhundu boys:lost boys. The Zimbabwean independent extra

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Gianneti L, D, Understanding Movies. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, INC

Graham, R and Wallis, H (2001) Introducing Film, Oxford: Oxford University press

Grierson, J. (1976). “First Principles of Documentary,” from Richard Barsam (Ed.), Nonfiction

Film Theory and Criticism. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co.

(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/jeanrenoir/AUTEUR%20THEORY.htm)

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhundu_Boys

Mabweazara, H, M (2002) B.A Dissertation, and An Investigation of the influences of Western

Aesthetics on Post-Independence Zimbabwean Film: A case of Michael Raeburn’s of Law,

Theatre Arts Department, University of Zimbabwe

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Maedza, P. (2009). The documentary film as propaganda in Zimbabwe: a case of Hard Earth:

Land rights in Zimbabwe. Unpublished BA Honours Dissertation, Theatre Arts Department,

University of Zimbabwe.

Magaudze P, (2010), B.A Dissertation, Perceiving Alternative Images’ of Women in Films

Directed by Female Filmmakers: The case of Dangarembwa’s growing stronger, Theatre Arts

Department, University of Zimbabwe

Mboti (2010) To show the world as it is, or as it is not: the gaze of Hollywood films about

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may 2013)

Millerson, G (1979) The technique of Television Production, Focal press: London.

Monaco, J. ( 1981). How to read a film: the art, technology, language, history, and theory of

film. New York: Oxford University Press.

Mthetwa S, (2008), B.A, Dissertation, Imagining Women: The Representation of Women in

Zimbabwean Film: A case of Tanyararadzwa, Theatre Arts Department, University of

Zimbabwe.

Mudavanhu, S (2004) Immitation or Innovation? : A case of Studio 263 Theatre Arts

Department, University of Zimbabwe.

Nichols, B. (2001). “How Do Documentaries Differ from Other Types of Film,” from

Introduction to Documentary. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Proferes, T,N (2005) Film directing fundamentals. Oxford: Elsevier: Inc

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Rotha, P. (1952). Documentary Film. Hastings House. New York.

Winston, B. (1996) Claiming the Real: The Documentary Film Revisited. London: BFI.

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 Appendices

According to the word web dictionary appendix is “supplementary material that is collected and
appended at the back of a book, article or document” The researcher has written an assignment
that relates to the study undertaken and got a 90%

NAME : TIMOTHY KATERERE

REG NO : RII7458R

COURSE : FILM and MEDIA THEORY

CODE : 0520

LECTURER : MR CHIKONZO

QUESTION : ‘There is a lot that distinguishes documentaries from realist

films’ Discuss.

DUE DATE : 9 May 2014

38
The notion that “ There is a lot that distinguishes documentaries from realist films” came about
probably because there no clear cut distinctions between documentaries and realist films. There
fore it is important to define what a documentary is and also what a realist film is, also to
mention the characteristics of a documentary and of realist films. According to Bordwell
(1997:42) “A documentary film purports to present factual information about the world outside
the film” on defining realist films he says that a realist film does not mean it is completely
unrelated to actuality, However with realist films the characters and their activities remain
fictional, with history and geography providing a context for the made up elements. It is also
important to highlight that documentaries are more thematically driven, conservative use of
camera techniques and editing techniques relies on diegetic sound, use natural light on the other
hand realist films are plot driven, use real people but the events are staged for the sake of filming
them and they follow a particular narrative plot structure. This essay will give the distinctions
that separate documentaries from realist films from the point of view of several film makers,
scholars and critics hold on documentaries and realist films. The include Bill Nicholls, Robert
Flaherty, Grierson and realist film makers such as Francis Ford Coppolla, Jean Luc Godard,
Ford, Hawks, Martin Scorcerse, Francois Traffaut and critics such as Andre Bazin. The aim is
not to give a full account of documentary’s historical evolution, nor to cover the literature on
how to make documentaries, but to pin down what makes a film, or a video, a documentary
rather than another narrative form. This essay drives through addressing questions of realism,
reality, truth, indexicality and the boundary between fiction and non-fiction

According to Buckland (1998;131) the basic facets that distinguish a documentary from other
films, or what makes one film a documentary which are, the events must be unstaged that is the
events must exist above and beyond the activity of filming. This feature has come under attack
by film critics who argue that this can be difficult sometimes because the very presence of
camera influences filmed events, reality can also be obtained from archival footage, newspapers,
memoirs and staged or reproduced without distorting their authenticity. Traditional
documentarists such as Flaherty, Grierson, Rotha defend that the un staged nature of events
suggest that they have an existence independent of cinema.

“Even in its infancy, when films were composed of a single shot and
lasted less than a minute, cinema was divided in two camps: those who
looked to the real world for their subject matter, and those who filmed
performances” (Cousins and Macdonald, 1998:4).

From the above quotation, Grierson’s somewhat contradictory definition of documentary as ‘the
creative treatment of actuality’ relied heavily on a distinction between the ‘real’ (abstract and
general) and the ‘phenomenal’ empirical and particular” Winston(1996) . one can note that
vision of earlier documentarists were just as some realist filmmakers of the Italian neorealism
were inspired to make films portraying Italy socio economic conditions after the second world

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war, however for filming performances as Cousins says is more celebrated by makers of
documentaries such as Frederick Wiseman who made an observational documentary called High
School (1968) who aimed to observe and capture day to day events that took place at North East
High school and no dramatic or unusual events took place in the film.

A realist film called The Bicycle Thieves by Vittorio De Sica used non-professional actors, and
gave the audience and critics a reasonably strong sense of place. However of course the sound is
dubbed and there is still a relatively strong plot such is, a man loses his bicycle and desperately
tries to get it back, without it he cannot work, and without work his family cannot eat. This been
said, even if documentary cannot be just defined as not-fictional, the expectation of the viewers
is generally that ‘that which occurred in front of the camera remains identical to the actual event
we could have witnessed in the historical world’ (Nichols, 1991:25). Hence one can agree that
there are no seamless disparities between documentary and the realist films.

One can also argue that there is not much that distinguishes documentary from realist films
especially when one discovers Mboti (2010) radical commentary that “The function of cinematic
images is to communicate specific ways gazes of seeing the world.” Behind every film, then, is a
gaze, or a conscious attempt to see the world in a certain way. Gazes are not objective, nor do
they really need to be. Rather, gazes are part of communities of meaning that have no inherent
validity, but must of necessity be contested, celebrated, or fought over. Gazes not only imply a
source and a sender, but have never had the capacity to show the world as it is. In any case, truth
whatever it is cannot fit a cinematic frame, but merely exceeds it. Therefore both realist films
and documentary are an attempt of presenting the world realistically and factually respectively.
However this essay maintains that a documentary is non fictional even if it cannot present
reliable information it is still a documentary film, just as there are inaccurate and misleading
news stories which sometimes are the very primary sources for documentaries.

It is also important to highlight that despite both films being said to use conservative and
minimal camera effects, smooth editing and use of Objective camera as Bazin comprehends, the
documentary film is said to be simply an observation and make an objective record of real
events. Buckland denounces by saying that if by objectivity we mean that events are seen from
no particular perspective then it is an unreasonable way to judge films because documentaries
shape events and realist films manipulate events because of plot structure. Mboti (ibid) says that
“when someone presses record on a camera, reality is systematically ‘peeled’ off, leaving a
construct. That construct is a filmic image. Because of its status as a construct, the filmic image
is in the process of being purposely prepared to suit the film-maker’s gaze.” This writer argues
that, since they are representations, films need only have a filmic function. Anything else is
really in excess of this specific function. Indeed, any function that is in excess of the filmic
function belongs to the realm of the ideological – it expresses the ideological function. The
ideological function is here defined as that which film-makers, through careful manipulation of
the properties of the image, graft onto the filmic function – especially via the subtle, specific
operation of gazes.

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A documentary can be distinguished from a realist films simply as an artefact produced by
someone that considers himself a documentary filmmaker, and second it can be seen in terms of
the power that the filmmaker exercises while filming. A common way of defining documentary
is to see documentary filmmakers exercising less control over their subjects than their realist
fictional counterparts. Another possibility is to define documentary as a film genre as many
others, in other words as a type of ‘text’ (Nichols, 1991:18). On this issue Mboti says “We are
told, for instance, that Hotel Rwanda is based on a true story1 – as if the film is not really a film
at all, but an actual ‘slice of life’ (whatever ‘slice of life’ should mean). The ‘fact’ that Terry
George’s film is based on a true story is here being specifically deployed as a ground for causing
the film text to shed its being-a-film and to become an essence. Through the pseudo-
transposition of reality onto the screen, the appeal to ‘truth’ and ‘essence’ operates as a
persuasive device for helping to build a form of one-sided image with few or no internal
contradictions. Moreover the problem with this approach is that it implies assessing which
characteristics films must have in order to be part of this genre this would mean over simplifying
the different styles that documentary had during the past century and cutting out any attempt to
do things differently such as contemporary compilation documentaries

Another option is to distinguish from realist films from documentary from the point of view of
the viewers. One fundamental expectation of documentary is ‘that its sounds and images bear an

indexical relation to the historical world’ (Nichols, 1991:27). The documentary is often
perceived as realist, the assumption of the viewer is that things have happened in front of the
camera as they would have happened if the camera had not been there. Whether this assumption
is true or false is irrelevant here, what counts is the expectation of the viewer Just as Film
critique Brian Winston has dedicated several books, the most famous being Claiming the Real, to
argue that documentary does no tie with realism but with subjectivity, but this does not mean that
his views have reached, nor persuaded, the majority of documentary viewers. This definition has
the advantage of showing the possible contrasting expectations between the filmmaker and the
viewer, but it is very subjective and cultural specific, and it depends on the viewer’s
acquaintance with a specific style. This being said there is the idea of including the viewer or
user in the definition of an artefact, it puts the emphasis on the artefact as a relational object and
diminishes the importance of ownership of the artefact.

Another disparity between documentary film and realist film is that a realist film tends to bring
an added measure of reality to the screen, this can gain favour of Mel Gibson”s Passion of Christ

In which the visuals and sounds are heightened to enhance realism Such an ‘added measure of
reality’, Bazin suggests, will be achieved wholly or partly by means of depth of focus as used in
the films of Luchino Visconti and Orson Welles, Jean Luc Godard, Francois Traffaaut non-

41
professional actors as in the film Bicycle thief and the gradual ‘disappearance of the set’ (Bazin
1971, p. 57). Film maker and critique John Grierson, in the 1930’s, had defined documentary as
"creative treatment of actuality" highlight the possibility of staging and re-enacting filmed
scenes, but the as documentary making style evolved towards a less interventionist style “Direct
Cinem”a in the 60’s, and later realism of the 80’s where the idea of staging reality became less
popular.

(Cormer, 2007:2). sustains that a documentary is not a word that simply describes an end
product, but a set of relations: “Specific production practices, forms and functions all work to
‘hold together’ (or not) the documentary identity at different times and places. Briefly put, they
concern how a film or programme was made (according to what recipes, methods and ethics),
how it looks and sounds, and what job it was designed to do…” Cormer agrees with Barnow who
says that “Maybe what is important here is not to think of documentary as a set of rules dictating
the form, but a series of possibilities that accepts, while we are in the realm of truth rather than
fiction, the truth-seeking can be manifold.

The issue that documentary films use real people as distinguishing it from realist films has
become debatable in the contemporary world. For example there are several crime
documentaries such as CSI: New York in which the crimes are narrated from the point of view of
real offenders and victims but they are acted by trained actors and they come labelled as
documentaries. On the same perspective when one takes a closer look of films such as the Last
King of Scottland which was a biograph of Idi Amin, However one can not deny that the film
followed a particular narrative structure and a polished script.

Documentaries present themselves as factually trustworthy, however Bordwell (1997) argues

that any documentary can prove to be unreliable, he further forwards that throughout film history
many documentaries have been challenged to be inaccurate and giving unreliable information
Gianneti (1976) quoted Godard who is a maker of both film and documentary,

‘ Beauty and splendour of truth has two poles. The director who seek
the truth, which if they find , will necessarily be beautiful, others seek
beauty which if they find , it will also be true’
Hence one can find these two poles in documentary and fiction, hence the use of the objective
camera can make documentaries authentic. For instance if the camera maintains eye level, this
makes the viewer and subject equal in terms of their respective height. Compessi also gives an
example of news bulletins and on-site interviews as being neutral and objective. Gianneti
perceives that’ for this reasons documentarists are sometimes suspicious of carefully framed and
artistically composed images’ Tucker (1994) argues that ‘ placing a camera at the back of the
auditorium records only what happens but not a true account of all the events of theatre
experience. One can take for example Hotel Rwanda, it has accolades for being a film that
depicts the events that happened in the 1994 genocide, but the director Terry George was not in
Rwanda at the time of the genocide nonetheless the film uses both objective and subjective

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techniques, Bordwell and Thompson in explaining the types of films also talks of the
documentary film Roger and me in which the film maker Michael Moore was accused of
presenting unreliable information despite no critic disputing that all the events took place, they
charged him for leading audience to believe that the events took place in the order they appeared,
however Bordwell and Thompson(1997;44) declare that even if the charges were true it would
not turn the film into fiction by saying that “just as there are inaccurate and misleading news
stories documentaries can be misleading as well”

One can agree with Mboti (2010:320) who says that ‘The filmic function results from the
categorical fact that film is unable to copy reality.’ Reality cannot be copied. As a matter of fact,
cinema attains its highest point when it leaves off questing for the so-called authority of the
‘real’. On the other hand, it reaches its lowest point when audiences accept texts at face value –
since to watch film as if one were watching ‘truth’ is to miss the whole point of cinema. First,
exactness has no place in film Representations are not exact things. Second, it does not matter
that represented things seem ‘life like’ to us. The image of a rose is not and has never been a
rose. As suggested, the issue is less about what Hotel Rwanda seems to seem to us but that it is
not what it seems. Just as there are no roses in pictures, there is no hotel and no Rwanda at the
movies. Monaco (1981) proposes that if one wants to see a rose, the worst choice for a place to
go to would be the cinema.

Monaco (1981) also asserts that ‘It is important that the human eye be taught to see a picture as a
picture, documentary is hinged upon and thrives on reality (actuality footage) which may include
live recordings of events often’ Only then can it be freed to evaluate the choices that the film-
maker has when framing, composing and pressing ‘record’ on his or her camera. For instance,
the photographer might control the quality and intensity of the light falling on the ‘rose’. He or
she could prefer hard specular light, or might go for softer shades and tones, depending on the
type of lens he or she would be using, the weather, and the time of day during which the
photograph is taken, among a host of other factors. The viewer should also consider that it would
be possible for a picture editor to reduce or increase, if they want, the brightness range of the
picture of the rose. This would totally alter the meaning of the ‘rose’. Or one might even create a
‘rose’ from nothing, using computer graphics. The crucial point to note is that Monaco’s rose has
become a signification – it now exists in a relation of signification where its full power now lies
in its potential to signify and express a range of meanings. This will cement what Fourie (1988)
indicates that ‘in the first case the use of camera expresses how the communicator perceives and
interprets about the events enacted.’ consequently this makes the camera to be subjective

To put in a summary this essay has given the constructed argument of what separates a
documentary from a realist film, The essay has elaborated and has countered the counter
arguments of the defenders of the so called ‘objective camera’ which has gained support in the
writings of Barzin (1971, p. 27)’ Documentaries are appreciated when they have conservative

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camera techniques and continuity editing, use of long takes, deep focus techniques, diegetic
sounds rather than sound effects. This essay disagreed with the notion that there is a lot that
separates documentary from realist films.

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