A historical timeline of documentary By Michael Collins

Facts

In 1919 a filmmaker by the name of Dziga Vertov made the suggestion that the future of cinema is to report on the truth/facts. In 1928, He made the film “The man with the movie camera” which focused on life in Russia using a variety of techniques.

John Grierson in 1928, described the film Moana as a documentary which was the first instance of the word being used in this way.

1984 brought along the concept of a mockumentary with “This is Spinal Tap”

The 2000s saw a rise in reality tv documenting different subjects. The first reality show aired in 1973 (An American Family).http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/6836

Facts

Prior to the establishment of documentary as a genre, they were known as actualities.

In 1950, cameras were now lighter and could now be handheld.

1980, Sony began to sell cameras to the public

1922 Nanook of the North by Robert Flaherty

This is considered to be one of the first feature length documentaries made and it's also an example of a silent film. It mixed both elements of actuality and drama together which lead to some criticism of the director faking or dramatizing certain scenes. It was recorded over a period of one year from 1920 to 1921 after the original negatives were destroyed.

Triumph of the will by Leni Riefenstahl

The propaganda film was made in 1935 and was directed, produced and co-written by Riefenstahl. It documents Germany’s rise back to power and that it was Hitler who brought the country that far. Despite its status of being Nazi propaganda, the film is credited as being groundbreaking for its use of music and cinematography which continues to influence filmmakers today although, due to censorship laws in Germany, the film is banned there due its references to the Nazi’s and depiction of the swastika.

Leni Riefenstahl

During the 1930s, Riefenstahl was a popular actress in Germany. Both her admiration with Hitler and Hitler's appreciation of her film Das Blaue Lacht lead to her meeting with him which would then result in her being commissioned to make the Triumph of the will although she was reluctant to do so. Riefenstahl has been criticised directly due to her involvement with Hitler despite her claims of being un aware of the Nazis true motivation and that the film is not propaganda.

Why we fight by Frank CapraThis series of documentaries was the U.S. own propaganda response to Triumph of the will. There were 7 films released between 1942 and 1945 and was meant to convince the American Public and U.S. soldiers that it was time to get involved in WW2 with some influence coming from Disney. The film's attempt to show the power of the Nazis and the lack of sense of not getting involved in the war. Capra described Riefenstahl as being a terrifying creation which did not need to drop a bomb to influence people.

Titicut Follies 1967 by Frederick Wiseman

Wiseman is one of the most influential documentary filmmakers of all time. An example of this is the film Titicut Follies which was among the first of his documentaries. It depicted the lives of inmates of Bridgewater mental asylum and exposed the system which allowed the inmates to be severely mistreated. The government of Massachusetts with the backing of the U.S supreme court managed to get the film banned for reasons relating to “privacy”. In 1969, Wiseman managed to convince the Judicial court of massachusetts to show the film to Lawyers and medical staff only. In 1991, the film was finally released to the public.

Bibliographyhttp://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/docexhibit/docuchron.htm

http://www.slideshare.net/jontowlson/a-short-history-of-documentary

http://www.slideshare.net/acarvin/documentary-making-101

http://transom.org/2014/brief-history-of-documentary-forms/

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/6836

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titicut_Follies