modes of documentary Bill Nichols research post Daniel Eve

The article of research i have chosen is a chapter from the book 'Introduction to Documentary, Third Edition' by Bill Nichols, who pioneered research into documentaries through his establishment of the various 'modes' of documentary. I chose this article so i can get a basis of information to build upon with later research as it would be more difficult to look into the conventions of documentary and the effect it has on audiences without knowing the basics of documentaries.

Chapter 1 covers how to define a documentary, in which Nichols outlines three key criteria. The first piece of criteria is that a documentary is about reality, clarifying to mean something that has actually happened; he expands on this by comparing the works of fiction to documentaries because 'within an alternative fictional world, a story unfolds' whilst 'documentary films, though, refer directly to the Historical world. I agree with Nichols as documentaries need to retain a basis on facts otherwise they become films as all that remains is a narrative to entertain others. However to expand on Nichols' point, while documentary does represent reality often much more accurately than any WW2 action film, it is hard to ignore that the director can add meaning and warp the narrative without losing that factual credibility. One example of this can be found in 'Bowling for Columbine', a documentary made by Michael Moore that looks into the scapegoats and potential causes behind the Columbine shootings and gun violence within the US; One early scene shows Moore going into a bank where he receives a gun after setting up an account, However the film plays down or misses out details of the security checks involved as while it appears that Moore got the gun that day, he in fact got it weeks after applying for the account.

The second key criteria for documentaries are that it must be about real people, expanding on this initial outline by stating that 'Documentaries are about real people who do not play or perform roles as actors do' with those who participate in documentaries 'expressing his or her personality, character and individual traits rather than suppressing them to adopt an assigned role'. Again I agree with this criteria presented by Nichols, as documentaries as a medium are excellent for informing and exploring obscure or contentious topics, therefore an emphasis on people playing themselves in the presence of a camera is important to maintain accuracy and credibility. One example of people playing themselves can be seen in the Documentary 'Super Size Me' by Morgan Spurlock. In an early scene he is given a medical examination by a group of different doctors to determine his health before his experiment begins, in which they determine he is perfectly healthy, the assessment and its results feel real and genuine which allows the viewer to more easily follow the course of events and be more accepting of Spurlock's message.

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The third piece of criteria outlined by Nichols is that documentaries tell stories about what happens in the real world, going on to explain that 'they tell us about change that takes place over time, with a beginning, a middle and an end'. In addition to this Nichols comments and the 'tools of engagement' used by documentaries to 'tell us about the world by telling stories or commenting on the situation'. I support Nichols argument here as it is very difficult if not impossible for a film to not use a narrative and so it falls on the film maker to build the narrative to best inform or explore the topic, as if the documentary does not engage viewers they might as well have not have watched for how long its message is going to remain with them. A documentary that uses 'tools of engagement' is the documentary 'Blackfish', directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. In which the film features many interviews coupled with archived Sea world footage to create a documentary that feels like a thriller. 

Overall the first chapter of Nichols' 'Introduction to Documentary, Third Edition' effectively outlined the criteria for a documentary whilst providing sufficient explanation of that criteria.