Abstract
This paper discusses documentaries as a form of expression which were introduced in the New Deal era and the Depression era. These were times when the nation needed hope and needed to understand the tragedy and stress they were going through. Documentaries were also a mode of transcribing history and revealing realistic the situation to gain a future understanding of the time. The documentary mode of expression was as much for the people as it was for the government. This paper studies this matter in-depth and concludes that the documentaries and history at the time were stated clearly from the governmental point of view.

From the Paper
"When we view the media forms of the times we realize the strength the people had in that era. As the generation of the future we realize that while the generation of the past was termed as the "Greatest generation" it can also be called and at times is termed as the "Lost Generation." Today, the youth are shown as disgruntled and violent but though the nationalism prominent in the past may overshadow the turbulence, the fact remains that a thorough analysis of the documentaries will show that the past too had its share of problems. It is said that the media of every era will portray the society and culture of its times. A study of the 1930s media reports shows that the Depression era was not as 'great' for the people living in it. ''(A) generation, numbering in the millions, has gone so far in decay that it acts without thought of social responsibility,'' historians George Leighton and Richard Hellman proclaimed in a much-quoted Harper' s Monthly article in 1936. ''High-school kids are armed, out for what they can get . . . . The Lost Generation is even now rotting before our eyes.'' In 1935, Columbia University President Nicholas Butler summed up the grave ''youth problem'': ''Day by day the newspapers report one grave crime after another, one moral delinquency after another, and one dereliction of duty after another.'' "

Tags:Great, Depression, cultural, governmental, society, documentary, expression, New, Deal, documentary

Abstract
This paper use the documentary film, "Capturing the Friedmans", to define and examine the documentary film genre. The paper analyzes "Capturing the Friedmans", and discusses what the family's home movies reveal about contemporary American family life and the dynamics of the family relationships.

From the Paper
"According to Bill Nichols, every film is essentially a documentary, but true documentaries, as opposed to wish-fulfillment fictions, represent a unique genre of film that engages with the world as it exists in reality. Nichols says that the documentary engages with the world by representing it in one of three ways. First, documentaries offer a likeness or depiction of the world that bears a recognizable familiarity. Secondly, these films stand for or represent the interests of others. Third, some documentaries may represent the world..."

Tags:Documentary film, Capturing the Friedmans

Abstract
This essay examines the question of the presentation of film and looks at the topic of truth within the documentary film. The writer considers the words of Errol Morris, the director of 'The Thin Blue Line', who believes that documentaries can be as personal as fiction film making. The writer discusses that Morris challenges the concept that objective truth may be captured through film.

From the Paper
"Errol Morris, director of 'The Thin Blue Line', has criticized the cinema verite style of documentary, arguing that: "There is no reason why documentaries can't be as personal as fiction filmmaking and bear the imprint of those who made them. Truth isn't guaranteed by style or expression. It isn't guaranteed by anything". In making this argument, Morris is not only challenging the idea that objective truth can be captured through film, but that the generic line between fictional film and documentary film can often be extraordinarily blurred."

Tags:film, documentary, truth

Abstract
The paper looks at the African American rapper, Tupac Shakur. It gives a critique of the 2003 MTV documentary of his life and premature death and also examines the themes that run through this programme.

From the Paper
"Tupac Resurrection is an MTV funded 2003 documentary in a long line of posthumous examinations of rapper Tupac Shakur, murdered at age 25 in 1996. The documentary is distinctive in that having its subject as the narrator, it provides surprising depth on the topics of Tupac's childhood his upbringing his celebrity his run-ins with the law and his opinions on every topic under the sun."

Tags:tupac, shakur, documentary

Abstract
This paper focuses on the development of documentary films. The paper first looks at the role of John Grierson in the development of the documentary film in the 1930s and examines his documentary called "The Drifters". The paper then looks at how Germans utilized the documentary film during World War II, specifically those films made by Leni Riefenstahl. Finally, the paper discusses the development of neorealism during and after World War II and how it borrowed a good deal from the documentary film.

Outline:
John Grierson and the Documentary Film Movement
The Documentary Film in Germany
The Development of Neorealism

From the Paper
"John Grierson was a key figure in the development of the documentary film in the 1930s and beyond, helping to create and operate a number of documentary film units in Britain and Canada and himself directing a key documentary in 1930 called The Drifters. Grierson also wrote a good deal about the documentary, and while he never wrote a comprehensive aesthetic of the documentary, one can be gleaned from the many writings he did do."

Tags:John, Grierson, Leni, Riefenstahl, Germans, propaganda, neorealism

Abstract
In this paper, the author examines and discusses the development of modern day documentary film makers, especially since the US led invasion of Iraq. According to the author, the ability today to bring to almost every home, events occurring many thousands of miles away, almost instantaneously has changed the way journalists report news and specifically how they approach the making of a documentary film. One of the contentions made by the author is that documentary film politics is usually one of the most purely unbiased, democratic politics available to the public because the nature of the documentary is one that lends itself to the voice of the subject of the documentary. The writer goes on to examine various documentary film makers and discusses their work, finally concluding that today, given the environment of politics and corporate ratings and individual ambitions, documentary film may be the most pure form of unedited and unbiased information available to the public.

From the Paper
"One such documentary filmmaker was Deborah Scranton (2006), who went 180 degree turn left of the traditional media, and chose what she refers to as "virtual" embedding with the troops (WBH Forum 2006). Speaking before the WBH Forum about the "process" of making the documentary, Scranton explained that the New Hampshire National Guard offered here the opportunity to document their Guard in Iraq. Scranton decided that the film needed to be from the perspective of the soldier, and instead of traveling to Iraq, she would equip the troops with cameras, and the reporting and the film would be 100% the story of the soldiers based on their experiences. Scranton discussed at length the soldier's concerns when she met with them and explained her idea. Their concerns were that their stories would become lost in her personal agenda. This suggests that the soldiers had their own experiences with, and impressions of previous embedded reporting."

Tags:iraq, war, bush, america, cinematography, journalism, unbiased, soldier, national, guard, director, ethic, news, information, invasion

Abstract
The paper discusses the value of Bill Nichols' system of documentary modes and outlines the "Poetic Mode", "The Observational Mode", and "The Participatory Mode". The paper shows how not all of his modes fit exactly into a neat category. The paper also explains why viewers place faith in documentaries, more so than other formats and then shows why a good, ethical documentary can engender tangible change.

Outline:
The Value of Nichols' System of Documentary Modes
Why Viewers Place Faith in Documentaries - More So than Other Formats
The Assumption is that a Good, Ethical Documentary can "Engender Tangible Change."

From the Paper
"The value first of all is in the fact that Nichols' system puts a microscope on the topic of documentaries. Nichols slows down the process of how critics and reviewers tell the movie-going public about certain films that are non-fiction films. Nichols attempts to break the discussion down into sections (components) that people can understand.
"For example, the Nichols' "Poetic Mode" offers clarification that this form of documentary is probably what people would call "arty." That is, it will be slow and maybe dull. And historical material will probably be in this documentary, and it will be done in a "lyrical form, usually associated with the 1920s and modernist ideas," according to Nichols. Right there is value because if a teacher, for example, is looking for an interesting documentary to show to high school students, and that teacher has a copy of Nichols' Introduction to Documentary, he or she will definitely avoid a documentary that has "Poetic Mode" written on it by reviewers."

Tags:Poetic, Mode, Observational, Mode, Participatory, Mode, ethics

Abstract
In this paper, the problem between documentary and non-documentary filming has been analyzed within the context of the "protest era" in 1960s and 1970s Japan. The films by Shinsuke and Hara provide a context in which films in the late 60s define the problems with objectivity in filming protest events due to the affect he camera has on people. While Shinsuke does provide a deeper context for filming on site at the village, the political message of the 1960s appears to be contrived through his own vision of protest, rather than that of the village he filmed.

From the Paper
Thank you for purchasing a customized research paper from Essay Experts LLC. We strive to deliver to our customers the most accurate and up-to-date research each and every time we prepare a custom work. Your Writer ID: #255 Order ID: 16161 Topic: Film Studies Disclaimer: This document should be used in precisely the same way you would use any article you might find in your local research library. Remember, you must cite it properly just like you would any other source listed in your bibliography. If you have any questions regarding citing

Tags:business, film, japan

Abstract
This paper discusses the concept of the 'accidental' documentary. It examines Abraham Zapruder's home video of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, entitled "Assassination of John F. Kennedy." The paper then compares the images and the style of the accidental documentary with Bruce Connor's 1967 documentary "Report," which also focuses on the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

From the Paper
"Both the Zapruder and the Connor films never change, but the audience is changed, every time the images are seen. The Connor film's transposition of early 1960s naivete about Camelot with images of the funeral creates a kind of conscious memorial to a lost time in American history, while there is no depicted return, no sense of memorial in the Zapruder. Zapruder was innocent, after all, when he made his film. The memorialization in Zapruder solely exists in the individual's mind, as a witness to the artifact of history. Zapruder captures a public death and through the lens of his "personal viewing experience" and what the viewer sees is dependant upon his or her own personal view of the 1960s and Kennedy, or simply the death of a man, while Connor demands that the viewer accompany a filmmaker on his personal vision of what the death of Kennedy means (Bruzzi 16). But although one film is seemingly objective and accidental, the other subjective and deliberate, in trying to discover what the assassination, even what 'death' means, they are perhaps best viewed together, both highlighting the potential as well as the limits of visual culture to render the end of human life and the end of an era in our history."

Tags:JFK images, home video

Abstract
This paper explains that that Leni Riefenstahl's film of the 1936 Olympic documentary is propaganda, focusing more on German and German-sympathetic athletes and the ambiance of the Berlin stadium, seen in its new Nazi grandeur; whereas, in the most stunning photography, Ton Ichikawa's film of the 1964 Tokyo Olympiad is a salute of the exertion of the athletes regardless of race, nationality or ethnic background. The author points out that "Tokyo Olympiad 1964" is not a "sports documentary" in the traditional sense of showing races, winners and celebrating crowds but rather a technically and emotionally gripping documentary about the effort of preparation and the Olympic spirit. The paper concludes that, in a sense, this film is just as much a propaganda piece about Japan's new maturity as was Olympia 1936 but in a way that the glorification politics do not interfere with the presentation of the athletics.

From the Paper
"There is no real story line easy to follow, even though this nearly three-hour film opens with buildings being demolished to make way for the Olympic stadiums and arenas, and training areas as well as housing. As we see this, there is a voice-over which gives the other previous Olympic locations and dates. One of the next scenes is the obligatory Olympic documentary one of the torch reaching Japan, and the following thew various runners in the countryside, running to bring the torch to Tokyo and its new Olympic stadium. For Americans, the win of the Native American, Billy Mills, in the 10,000 meter race is a highlight. But, interestingly enough, the camera stays at the finish line until every racer has finished. There is also a somewhat poignant story line about the single athlete from Chad, who shares no common language with any other athlete, and trains alone. When he loses in the semi-final heat, Ahmed Isa is ignored by the crowd, but not Ichikawa. Here is loneliness amid the shouts of tens of thousands."

Tags:propaganda, germany, japan, race, spirit