This dissertation formulates a poetics of performance in nonfiction film and television. Building on a large body of converging research that calls for an acknowledgment of: the constructedness of documentary texts; the performative nature of identity; and the significance of screen performance, I illustrate the way in which documentary subjects must finally be seen as creative agents who (consciously or not) play a significant role in determining the meanings, functions, and effects of the films in which they appear. A first chapter lays the groundwork for this discussion, setting out a means of understanding and investigating the documentary performer’s work. It is argued that nonfiction performance is a three-tiered process, wherein everyday performative activity (tier #1) is shaped by and often tailored to the camera (tier #2) within specific nonfiction film frameworks (tier #3). In addition to providing a flexible and generally applicable model of what the nonfiction subject’s work entails, this conceptualization suggests an appropriate means of analysing individual documentary performances, indicating the necessity of attending to the way in which twice modified everyday self-presentational tools serve as signifiers in any given nonfiction text. Subsequent chapters turn from the issue of what nonfiction performance involves to a consideration of what it accomplishes. Drawing from scholarship devoted to each of the three levels of the documentary ‘social actor’s’ work, I posit three major functions for nonfiction performance. Chapter 2 demonstrates the way in which the individuals who appear in documentaries play a significant role in the construction of ‘characters’, which, in turn, exert an indelible influence on the meaning(s) of the texts in which they figure. Chapter 3 argues that nonfiction performance helps to bolster and/or to destabilize normative understandings of identity categories such as gender, sexuality, age, ethnicity, race, class and dis/ability. Finally, the concluding chapter discusses the way in which documentary performers help to invite affective reactions from spectators, and – in so doing – contribute significantly to nonfiction texts’ ability to effectuate social change. Detailed analyses of a wide range of documentaries provide support for these contentions.

This dissertation formulates a poetics of performance in nonfiction film and television. Building on a large body of converging research that calls for an acknowledgment of: the constructedness of documentary texts; the performative nature of identity; and the significance of screen performance, I illustrate the way in which documentary subjects must finally be seen as creative agents who (consciously or not) play a significant role in determining the meanings, functions, and effects of the films in which they appear. A first chapter lays the groundwork for this discussion, setting out a means of understanding and investigating the documentary performer’s work. It is argued that nonfiction performance is a three-tiered process, wherein everyday performative activity (tier #1) is shaped by and often tailored to the camera (tier #2) within specific nonfiction film frameworks (tier #3). In addition to providing a flexible and generally applicable model of what the nonfiction subject’s work entails, this conceptualization suggests an appropriate means of analysing individual documentary performances, indicating the necessity of attending to the way in which twice modified everyday self-presentational tools serve as signifiers in any given nonfiction text. Subsequent chapters turn from the issue of what nonfiction performance involves to a consideration of what it accomplishes. Drawing from scholarship devoted to each of the three levels of the documentary ‘social actor’s’ work, I posit three major functions for nonfiction performance. Chapter 2 demonstrates the way in which the individuals who appear in documentaries play a significant role in the construction of ‘characters’, which, in turn, exert an indelible influence on the meaning(s) of the texts in which they figure. Chapter 3 argues that nonfiction performance helps to bolster and/or to destabilize normative understandings of identity categories such as gender, sexuality, age, ethnicity, race, class and dis/ability. Finally, the concluding chapter discusses the way in which documentary performers help to invite affective reactions from spectators, and – in so doing – contribute significantly to nonfiction texts’ ability to effectuate social change. Detailed analyses of a wide range of documentaries provide support for these contentions.

There are two distinct but related parts to this exegesis. Firstly there is the production of a fifty-five minute documentary Return of the Trojan Horse, and secondly a written exegesis. The latter advances an academic argument centred around the research question - how to motivate the role of the expository documentary at a time when the documentary field is dominated by the debate between philosophical scepticism and empirical realism, while in aesthetic terms, the documentary mode itself is led by perfomative/interactive documentaries such as Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. My response to this question is informed in theoretical terms by the Critical Realist paradigm. The use of Critical Realism enables the exegesis to supply an integrated approach which seeks to transcend both the sceptical and the empirical realist positions. In doing so, the exegesis makes a contribution both to documentary theory and the Critical Realist paradigm itself by applying it to the field of documentary film theory. As such the exegesis addresses an absence of aesthetic theorising within the Critical Realist paradigm. As part of the process I review, analyse and synthesise the key theoretical arguments of authors Bill Nichols, Michael Renov, Brian Winston, John Corner and Noel Carroll. The documentary sub-genres are then located within the context of these theoretical debates while the emphasis is placed on the expository sub-genre as utilised in my own documentary film, Return of the Trojan Horse. The exegesis then critically discusses Return of the Trojan Horse from a Critical Realist perspective and reflects on the strategies involved in the production of the film. As the topic of the film deals with the negative impacts of economic liberalisation, the mass media is briefly discussed within the context of a deregulated market and right-wing politics, while reviewing Herman and Chomsky's 'A Propaganda Model' in Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, 2002.

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This dissertation examines the origins, applications, and functions of visual effects in the historical documentary film. This research study investigates how aesthetic and editorial practices and tools are used for different image forms and as part of the visual presentation. A research design that implements qualitative interviews, visual analysis, and focus groups was incorporated to examine visual effects and images at three specific sites. The pan-and-zoom effect and its variants as well as select titles from the filmography of Ken Burns were used as case studies for this dissertation. The findings from the analyses suggest that visual effects for still image forms and the repetition of these applications and strategies are significant to the content depicted in images, the scope of the visual presentation, and the capacity for audiences to connect to historical information in the film.

Orientador: Fernão Pessoa Ramos / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T11:36:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Holanda_Karla_M.pdf: 6425356 bytes, checksum: c708b4338d58d9e386ad1d951c2490bd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: Este trabalho consiste numa pesquisa sobre o documentário nordestino contemporâneo, resultando no mapeamento das produções e num panorama dos mecanismos de incentivo ao audiovisual presentes na região. Relaciona, ainda, o desempenho dos estados à adoção de medidas integradas de desenvolvimento, como festivais, concursos, formação e leis de incentivo. O período verificado está compreendido entre 1994 e 2003. Além isso, faz-se uma compilação histórica do documentário em cada um do nove estados da região desde seus primórdios, permitindo contextualizar suas trajetórias / Abstract: This text is the result of a research project about the contemporary production of documentaries in the Northeastern region of Brazil, providing both an analysis of the scenery on that area and an overview on audiovisual legislation and promotion mechanisms for that region. It includes each state's policies for local development, such as festivals, contests, specialization projects and governmental policies to foster film production. The research encompasses the period from 1994 to 2003. In addition, a historical compilation is made for each of the nine states that form the Northeastern region of Brazil, in order to contextualize the different paths that were followed, from the very beginning of documentary film production / Mestrado / Mestre em Multimeios

My master essay consists of two sections: the first part is explanatory and contextualizes my art; the second part is formed as a fictitious letter to the chinese mosquito repellent millionaire Mr Li, written in the voice of a naive, uncontrolled and neurotic person, full of desire. The contextualization is a self-reflection and deals with concepts such as utopia, desire, failure, the pathetic and identity / [I examensarbetet ingår utställningen "The businessman, the mosquito and the dragon":] To present my obsession with chinoiserie, I worked as an investigator through a documentary-filmmaker approach, and also as an utopist for a dreamt world which is actually born in my upsidedown mind. The films are presented in a spatial installation in the form of a labyrinth. Material/Teknik/Längd på video: Installation/Mixed media/dokumentärfilm ca 40 min. / <p>Examensarbetet består av en skriftlig del och en gestaltande del. </p>

The purpose of this study was to analyze the reconstruction in two short-documentaries by Arne Sucksdorff. The films are analyzed both in a stylistic and symbolical way.

This is a PhD by practice in Transdisciplinary Documentary Film. The submission consists of a 64-minute documentary film and a 32,574 word thesis. The main period of fieldwork and filming was conducted in 2010 in Syria and the editing and subsequent research were conducted during 2011/12, after the current Syrian uprisings and conflict began. The documentary portrays two very different experiences of life in the restricted world of authoritarian Syria. Boutrus, a Christian monk in Mar Musa monastery, seeks to achieve change through his religious activities, whilst Salem, an Iraqi refugee living in Damascus, begins to find life in exile intolerable. Through creating an intimate portrait of such diverse yet related lives the documentary seeks to contribute to the praxis of peacebuilding through the creation of new understandings of the possibilities for agency and identity within the constraints of Syrian authoritarianism in 2010. Whilst the praxis of peacebuilding and creative documentary filmmaking are the principal methods of research, the written thesis also touches upon the cognate fields of social and visual anthropology, political science, refugee studies and media studies. Exploring the theme of political agency within the Syrian setting, the thesis raises issues concerning political visibility and creative documentary practice as they relate to the challenges of peacebuilding analysis and research. In Chapter one, the role of practice-based research and my own particular approach to creative documentary filmmaking are discussed. Chapter two considers the Syrian socio-political context and the utility of the concepts of the state, power and identity for peacebuilding research. Chapter three examines the relationship between religion and the state in Syria and their connections to civil society, with a focus on the work of Mar Musa. Chapter four explores the case of Iraqi refugees in Syria by focusing on Salem’s life and predicament. In the final chapter I build upon the arguments in the preceding chapters, drawing out conclusions on the relationship between documentary practice, peacebuilding and the evolving Syrian context.