Documentary, a type of film that through the audience' eyes, the filmed events are not staged, thus providing an authentic look to it. For the audience, documentary films are non-fiction films that depict real events. Documentaries filmmakers are assumed to observe the events and make objective record of this events.
How do we approach to documentary film properly? If we are being objective towards documentary film that would be too harsh a standard to look at. It would be better to have documentary 'shape' events, instead of 'manipulate' events, i.e., like fiction filmmakers manipulate filmic techniques for narrative films.
As proposed by Bill Nichols, we should look at documentaries via the particular techniques selected by filmmakers when they record or shape the events such as the way they represent the documentary. According to Bill Nichols, he has suggested the theory of Six Modes of Representation for documentary films.
Six Modes of Representation
Poetic
Expository
Observational
Interactive
Reflexive
Performative
Poetic
Films of this mode breaks up time and space into multiple perspectives, denying coherence and accepting the unconscious, this mode stresses on fragmentation and chooses ambiguity as a prominent feature.
Expository
Films of this mode address audience directly, providing visibly information in the imagery and unseen information in the voiceover. A classic mode and is now common in TV documentaries. Overall effect of this mode is objectivity, a direct and transparent representation.
Observational
Films of this mode observe and record as the events unfold in real time, resulting in long takes and sound is recorded directly, establishing an intimate relationship with and a sense of the environment without manipulating and distorting the event, there are no dramatic nor unusual moments; making films of this mode significantly known as direct cinema. Overall effect is a neutral and non-judgemental appeal.
Interactive
Films of this mode allow the filmmaker's presence to be felt by the audience via interviews, posing questions on/off screen as a mediator for interviewees and audience. His power over the documentary is clearly shown, via questions posed as well as editing. The overall effect of this mode exposes the process by which the documentary is made, instead of hiding it like the previous modes. Objectivity is very much restrained at this mode.
Reflexive
Films of this mode focuses on film properties and film making process, reminding and informing audience, besides the represented issue, that they are also watching a film that is attempting to represent reality. Overall effect of this mode is lack of objectivity which does not necessarily compromise the impact of documentary but instead, provide more valuable views of the issue at hand.
Performative
Films of this mode evoke mood or atmosphere found in fiction films, representing of subject matter stylistically, evocative and expressively. Overall effect of this mode is lack of objectivity, aimed at encouraging audience to experience and feel the events while making audience question the integrity and accuracy of the filmed events.
This week, our objective is to find the evidence of any documentary elements in this film produced during the year of 2005 called, "March of the Penguins" by Luc Jacquet.
March of the Penguins, an animal documentary film that kick-started out at the end of each Antarctic Summer, the emperor penguins of the South Pole journey to their traditional breeding grounds in a fascinating mating ritual that is captured in this documentary by intrepid filmmaker Luc Jacquet. The journey across frozen tundra proves to be the simplest part of the ritual, as after the egg is hatched, the female must delicately transfer it to the male and make her way back to the distant sea to nourish herself and bring back food to her newborn chick.
In this film, one of the Six Modes of Representation has represented itself which is the Expository Mode of Representation.
At the very beginning of the film, a narration can be heard describing the imagery of the film. The narration was done by a famous narrator, Morgan Freeman. The director used his voice to romanticized the whole film, giving a "Voice-of-God" impression to help the audience to dwell deep in to the depth of the film.
This film showed the imagery of the penguins, where they march together as a group to ensure each other survival. The director filmed the penguins' movement to capture the similar action of human. The action of the human such as mating, taking care of their children, bringing food for their family gives the audience to relate in a personal level, where they are immersed into the film to think they are watching a real, authentic wildlife documentary film.
This film also showed the dangerous Mother Nature that tries to take down the penguins' march to the breeding ground. The narration further illustrates that how Mother Nature is a unrelenting force that can wreck havoc to the penguins' survival. An example can be given is the scene where the father penguins needed to survive the frozen cold blast of winds with their chick under their protection, many of the penguins joined together to keep each other warm and take turns to protect each chick of theirs in the same time struggles until the end of the harsh onslaught blast of cold winds.
To add on more "authentic" look to the film, the director put in the image of the cycle of nature's ecosystem, where the predator of the penguins come and hunt its prey. One scene where the mother penguins are trying to get food underwater, their predator. the leopard seals come out and hunt for them. When we almost see all of the mother penguins climbed a shore, one unlucky mother penguin got caught by the leopard seal and it is taken away under the deep cold, dark sea. Another scene is where the baby penguins are out learning how to walk under their mother's vigilance. The predator, a gull-like bird called Skuas hunt the baby penguins from high above. Same like the example from the predator leopard seal, one of the baby penguins was not fortunate enough to survive the attack of the Skuas.
In conclusion, this documentary film is intriguing to the fact that it does achieve the objectivity of the film by using the real footage of the penguins living accordingly to their own culture to ensure the survival of their own species. Using the right music and the right narrator for the narration adds bonus marks to the ability of capturing the attention of the audiences. For my opinion, this film gained its success from the real feelings that the director captured on the penguins where it shows that patience is the key to sustain many things such as relationship, love or even life itself.
To add on more "authentic" look to the film, the director put in the image of the cycle of nature's ecosystem, where the predator of the penguins come and hunt its prey. One scene where the mother penguins are trying to get food underwater, their predator. the leopard seals come out and hunt for them. When we almost see all of the mother penguins climbed a shore, one unlucky mother penguin got caught by the leopard seal and it is taken away under the deep cold, dark sea. Another scene is where the baby penguins are out learning how to walk under their mother's vigilance. The predator, a gull-like bird called Skuas hunt the baby penguins from high above. Same like the example from the predator leopard seal, one of the baby penguins was not fortunate enough to survive the attack of the Skuas.
In conclusion, this documentary film is intriguing to the fact that it does achieve the objectivity of the film by using the real footage of the penguins living accordingly to their own culture to ensure the survival of their own species. Using the right music and the right narrator for the narration adds bonus marks to the ability of capturing the attention of the audiences. For my opinion, this film gained its success from the real feelings that the director captured on the penguins where it shows that patience is the key to sustain many things such as relationship, love or even life itself.
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