The first set of documentary films were created in the late 19th century and to this day, remain popular works of scientific works of art. However, the documentaries made back in the late 19th century and the early 20th century do not mirror those made in the late 20th century, as technology and social events spurred changes within the documentary film world.
Early Documentary Films
The earliest form of documentary films were created by Gheorghe Marinescu in the late 19th century, as he documented science in his neurology clinic in Bucharest between 1898 and 1901. These films were the first films to show real life on film and the trend carried on, as John Grierson coined the term documentary in 1926. By this point in time, filming reality encompassed non-fictional films, including instructional films. These films were also called ‘actuality’ films.
Travelogues also became popular forms of documentaries, particular those that focused on re-enactments. This led to the romantic period, also in the early 20th century, where the focus was on the settings and set-up of the camera. This opened up for new and more diverse ideas and concepts – Cinéma Vérité.
Cinéma Vérité became popular around the 1920’s, particularly in Europe, where the French decided to define the term as ‘cinema of truth’. This style is popular because it combines naturalistic techniques with the cinematic devices of editing and camera set-up, stage set-up and the use of all of these to provoke subjects in question. At this point in time, documentaries are not just about presenting a topic or an issue, but more about taking a provocative stand.
Dziga Vertov was a strong supporter of the Cinéma Vérité and believed that the camera – with its various lenses, its ability to ‘shot edit’, time-lapse, slow motion, and fast motion – could make the subject in question more real than what the eye itself could perceive.
Docu-Traditions
Throughout the following decades, documentary films began taking on traditions within the realm of film. It can be argued that this is because resources became readily available, technology within the field expanded and advanced, and there was a higher demand to document and film everything from movies to news.
In terms of reporting, the newsreel tradition became highly popular as it consisted of re-enacting events and news shortly after they had occurred, as part of a newscast. These types of traditions are also seen in the late 20th century and early 21st century in terms of newscasts that report accidents and crime scenes, or the documentary series 48 Hours, where re-enactments are often used to showthe events.
Following closely, was the propaganda tradition which was mostly used when trying to persuade an audience to support an idea or stand. At times, this is done through creating awareness on any given topic, but mostly done to present an idea and supporting arguments, as to why one should support this idea. This is seen during the 1960’s and 1970’s when documentaries were often used as political weapons, such as fighting capitalism and politics.
The Documentary Film Movement – a movement surfacing out of Britain, blends propaganda, information and education in an attempt to present a topic in a more aesthetically pleasing manner. This movement attempted to capture most of the previous traditions created within the realm of documentary films and putting them all together in one large mixing bowl. The result is the modern day documentary. The docu-film wave surfaces out of this mixing bowl, which - like a documentary - presents stories and true facts, but does it in the form of a full-length movie with actors.
The modern documentaries tend to present a purpose or an issue by appealing to the emotional aspect of human beings, whether it would be through love, joy, fear, thrills or terror. Some use the documentary to inform and spread fear, while others want to present nature in its beauty and normality. Despite the topic, the modern documentary uses the British Film Movement and its ideas as a springboard and jumps into the limitlessness that is known today.
Source: Ellis, Jack C. A New History of Documentary Film. New York, 2006.
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