CIN270Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Titicut Follies, Richard Leacock, Dont Look Back
11 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017
CIN270Y1
CLASS 15
Documentary in the 1960s
• A surge in documentaries – why?
1) Political and social upheaval
- In moments of crisis, documentary thrives
- The 1930s and 1940s were also times of political commitment
- But 1960s upheavals are dramatic
2) Television
- TV brought non-fiction into millions of American homes
- News programs “CBS Reports”, “See it Now”, and “The Twentieth
Century”
- 1960s viewers were prepared for documentary film
3) New Technology
- Portability, lightweight 16mm cameras
- Mobility made “observational” filmmaking possible
- New sound recording equipment direct, synchronized sound technology
1960s Documentary vs. TV
• TV News: a mode of assertion
• Viewers were told what was meaningful
• Meaning explained by some authority (usually a narrator explaining meaning)
Direct Cinema: Key Figures
• Richard Leacock: Happy Mother’s Day (1963)
• Robert Drew: Primary (1960)
• D.A. Penebaker: Don’t Look Back (1967), Monterey Pop (1967)
• Frederick Wiseman: Titicut Follies (1967)
• Albert and David Maysles: Salesman, Gimme Shelter
Direct Cinema
• Challenge to existing modes of documentary making
• The Maysles, Penebaker, Drew, Leacock, et al rejected tenets of earlier docs
• “premeditation” (“planning”); voice-over, interviews, etc. – imposition of “authority” on
the material
“Surrogacy”
• when someone acts in for the filmmaker and poses the types of questions that they should
be posing
• subjects become SURROGATES for the documentary filmmaker
• Surrogate interviewers Ex. Dylan, the bible salesman in Salesman
• Filmmakers won’t “intervene”
• Filmmakers delegate these acts of intervention in their films
• Commentary and analysis are done by the films’ subjects
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Documentary in the 1960s: a surge in documentaries why, political and social upheaval. The 1930s and 1940s were also times of political commitment. But 1960s upheavals are dramatic: television. Tv brought non-fiction into millions of american homes. News programs cbs reports , see it now , and the twentieth. 1960s viewers were prepared for documentary film: new technology. New sound recording equipment direct, synchronized sound technology. 1960s documentary vs. tv: tv news: a mode of assertion, viewers were told what was meaningful, meaning explained by some authority (usually a narrator explaining meaning) Direct cinema: key figures: richard leacock: happy mother"s day (1963, robert drew: primary (1960, d. a. Penebaker: don"t look back (1967), monterey pop (1967: frederick wiseman: titicut follies (1967, albert and david maysles: salesman, gimme shelter. Direct cinema: challenge to existing modes of documentary making, the maysles, penebaker, drew, leacock, et al rejected tenets of earlier docs, premeditation ( planning ); voice-over, interviews, etc.
