Documentary research: fictions of documentary

This article of research is titled 'The Fictions of Documentary' and it was written by Julia Lesage. I chose this article as it discusses the use media manipulation and the film maker's inputs on a documentary, along with the difficulties revolving around this.

The article begins with a statement on how documentaries and fictional films merge in essence through the way film makers 'manipulate images and sounds, as well as how they choose their subject matter'. I  most certainly agree with Lesage's statement as imagery and sound has been used to help further the message of many documentaries as they are fundamental assets within film making and so it is logical for documentaries to adopt these ideas as documentaries are just a natural extension from traditional film making. One example of the manipulation of imagery and sound can be found within the Netflix documentary Blackfish. Within this documentary the use of interviews that shed light on the treatment of the whales makes the archived footage of performances that accompany it seem darker and more sinister due to the added context presented; In addition to this, the lower quality of the footage audio gives the connotation of it being outdated or behind the times, contributing to the film's message on the treatment of the whales.

Through mentioning the work of Loretta Campbell, 'Hurting women' a written article covering three documentaries that were made to combat the abuse of women, Lesage raises the point engagement. The term 'engagement' refers to the film maker's 'personal and political engagement with the subject matter and the people filmed'. This argument, put forth initially by Anne Fischel, claims that this 'engagement' is what makes the in-depth portrayals provided by documentaries possible. I am inclined to agree with the argument promoted by this article due to several documentaries that evidently reflect this. 'Bowling for Columbine', a documentary directed and headed by Michael Moore, reflects his political stance and beliefs in which he uses to explore the gun culture of america and the scapegoats it creates. In this scene Michael Moore interviews Charlton Heston which creates an in depth portrayal of the issue by featuring people with vastly different views on the issue of gun violence and gun control in the US, albeit this portrayal is a victim of bias as Michael Moore is the director of the documentary and so it is very easy for him to manipulate the situation into his favour.

Additionally, Lesage presents the concept of a cultural 'meta-theme' and the difficulty it makes for documentaries, particularly ones of controversial or taboo nature, as the film makers Owen Shapiro Thomas Friedman initially discovered with their article 'their holocaust upon watching ours'. The idea of a 'meta-theme' refers to the 'certain issues', 'certain images and cinematic forms' that are expected to be used when covering a culturally sensitive topic such as the holocaust. I partly agree with the argument presented by Shapiro, which was further promoted and discussed by Lesage, because while certain images do carry have connotations within certain topic areas, documentaries that break from this 'meta theme' aren't met with scorn as often as perceived. This is exemplified by 'Supersize me' as it's portrayal of fast food doesn't primarily showcase the damage fast food has on kids, with only one minor point within the film addressing a specific case of childhood obesity; Instead, it aims to show the long term damaging effect of a fast food diet or a diet that involves fast food on a frequent basis.