Nanook was the first ever-documentary movie to have been published and released in theaters. It tells the story of an Alaskan family and their everyday struggles. Most of the filming was done with a hand held camera with very simple framing. The editing was simple cuts and the sound was music played by an orchestra. It was basic type of documentary filmmaking compared to what we see today. The writing, cinematography, sound, modern cameras, and editing have all changed dramatically since Nanook was released over 94 years ago. Documentary film has evolved, and not for the worse!
Bob Dylan- Don’t Look Back, is a documentary following the life of Bob Dylan. The filming style puts you as if you are in the same room with the famous Bob himself. It is told from the perspective of Bob and how he sees everything on this journey through life. Compared to Nanook, Don’t Look Back gives you the insight of what Bob and his friends are thinking. The sound is mostly an overlap of Bob’s voice talking or singing along to his guitar and harmonica. It opens up the spectrum to many new ways of documentary filmmaking.
Sound and Fury introduced the two sides of a documentary. One side dealing with what your subject is dealing with, and the other side dealing with the opposing side. The filming style lets you understand what both sides are fighting for, even though you may favor one side over the other. You still end up feeling empathy for the other side because their story was told. The sound in this film brings in people to do voice-overs for the people who are deaf instead of just using subtitles. With this type of editing, you aren’t being taken out of the film by reading the whole time. It also helps by putting you there with the subjects. Many people who watch the movie will not be deaf and so, they needed a way to relate to the people who were going to see the movie. It was a simple but yet very functional trick in documentary filmmaking.
Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go, follows the lives of many kids. Instead of just following an individual kid around and learning about his life. This film gives you an understanding of what all these kids are having to go through. It shows the bad and it doesn’t try to cover it up. In my opinion, this film has been my favorite one we have watched. It shows you the good an the bad. True documentary filmmaking doesn’t try to cover anything up. It shows life as it really is.
I see many future documentary’s being filmed from a first person point of view. With GoPros everywhere you look, it is bound to have an impact on film. First person documentaries would show you exactly what the person sees and does everyday. It literality puts you in their shoes. The future for film though is hard to discuss. Everyday ways of writing, cinematography, sound, modern cameras, and editing are changing. We just have to keep on believing in a better future for film.
We try new ways of filming everyday and we keep our eyes open for our next big story. Nanook was the starting point of it all for documentary filming, but we never knew it would take us this far.
