Balance of the perspective: Combine the "Cinema Direct" and "Cinema Verite"

Citation:

• Walsh, S.(2024). The documentary filmmaker's intuition: Creating ethical & impactful non-fiction films. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003320296

Annotation:

• In Chapter 5, "Ecstatic Truth & Elusive Fiction", the author mentions six documentary modes of Bill Nichols. Among them, "Performance Model" highlights the director's personal emotional expression, and the audience pays more attention to the director's views and emotions. Meanwhile, the filmmaker is often the main body of the film, and the audience will look for answers according to his voice and behavior. This fits the mold of a personal documentary.
• In this chapter, the author also mentions two modes of Cinema: "Cinema Direct" and "Cinema Verite".
• "Cinema Direct", the subjects are not aware of the presence of the camera (hidden shooting), which reduces the pressure on the subject to express their emotions more naturally, and the audience can better observe the behaviour of the subject. At the same time it will avoid the use of excessive voice-over, off-screen sound.  "Cinema Direct" employs non-edited footage and synchronous sound to faithfully recreate real-life scenes as much as possible, albeit with potentially simpler perspectives.
• "Cinema Verite" will deliberately acknowledge the presence of the camera, using multiple cameras to drive the story forward and achieve a greater degree of authentic storytelling. Simultaneously, some directorial or production interventions may occur during filming to ensure narrative coherence and emotional resonance with the audience.
• However, compared with "Cinema Direct", "Cinema Verite" has more freedom in the creative space. Although "Cinema Direct" can be a true record, it is difficult to achieve a balance between subjectivity and objectivity with a single hidden perspective, and the audience can often only focus on the reaction under one perspective, which will affect the audience's judgement. If the two modes are combined together, a balance of perspectives can be achieved. This paper mentions that postmodern documentaries are usually produced in a hybrid way. On the one hand, it reduces post-production narration and voice-over to minimise the judgement of subjective narration on the audience's objective analysis; on the other hand, it makes clear the existence of cameras, or even more than one camera, to narrate the reality (including clear and hidden cameras), and increases the choices of objective perspective for the viewers, so as to achieve the simultaneous existence of subjectivity and objectivity, and to achieve non-disturbance of each other.
• 在第五章“Ecstatic Truth & Elusive Fiction”中，作者提到了比尔·尼科尔斯的六种纪录片模式。其中，“表演模式”突出了导演个人的情感表达，观众更关注导演的观点和情感。同时，电影人往往是电影的主体，观众会根据他的声音和行为来寻找答案。这符合个人纪录片的风格。
• 在这一章中，作者还提到了两种电影模式:“Cinema Direct”和“Cinema Verite”。
• 在“Cinema Direct”中，被摄者没有意识到摄影机的存在(隐蔽拍摄)，这就减轻了被摄者更自然地表达情感的压力，观众也能更好地观察到被摄者的行为。同时也避免了过多的画外音、画面外声音的使用。“Cinema Direct”使用非剪辑和同步声音去尽可能还原真实场景，但呈现的视角可能比较简单。
• “Cinema Verite”会明确摄影机的存在，通过多台摄影机的记录来推动故事的发展，实现更大程度的真实讲述。同时，在拍摄过程中进行一些导演或者制片人的干预以保证故事的连续性和观众的情感共鸣
• 然而，与“Cinema Direct”相比，“Cinema Verite”在创作空间上更加自由。 "Cinema Direct"虽然可以做到真实的记录，但单一的隐藏视角很难达到主观性与客观性的平衡，观众往往只能关注一种视角下的反应，这会影响观众的判断。如果将这两种模式结合在一起，可以实现视角的平衡。本文提到后现代纪录片通常以混合的方式制作。一方面，减少后期叙事和画外音，尽量减少主观叙事对观众客观分析的判断;另一方面，它明确了摄像机的存在，甚至不止一个摄像机来叙述现实(包括清晰的和隐藏的摄像机)，增加了观众对客观视角的选择，从而实现主观性和客观性的同时存在，达到互不干扰。              

Film Example:

                           

• "Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020) -Kirsten Johnson"
• Johnson, K. (Director). (2020, October 2). Dick Johnson Is Dead. Netflix.
• In terms of filming techniques, the director employs multiple cameras to record and present Dick Johnson's daily life and his attitudes towards death. The film is set against the backdrop of real-life scenes and everyday activities, showcasing the genuine interactions and emotional expressions between the director and her father (Cinema Verite).
• At the same time, the film also incorporates some techniques of "Cinema Direct". Some footage is captured spontaneously by the director using handheld cameras, and these materials are minimally edited in post-production. These techniques make the film more lifelike and authentic.
• 这部影片很好的将"Cinema Direct"和"Cinema Verite"这两种元素结合在了一起
• 在拍摄手法上，导演会通过多台相机去记录并呈现Dick Johnson的日常生活和面对死亡的态度。影片以真实的生活场景和日常活动为背景，展现了导演与她父亲之间的真实互动和情感表达。（Cinema Verite）
• 同时影片采用了"Cinema Direct"的一些手法。一些素材是导演通过手持摄像机即兴拍摄下来的，而且在后期处理中导演并未对这些内容进行大量剪辑。这些手法使得影片更加贴近生活，更加真实。

Test in my Film：

• In my film I didn't go for a pre-determined location or plot, but I chose an important holiday to shoot (Chinese New Year - Spring Festival). Because of the special nature of the festival, it also made the conversation very different from the previous footage. Meanwhile, for the camera, I specified 2 camera positions, a wide shot and a medium shot (the camera was pointed at the computer, and the computer screen was a video call between me and my family. This camera position allows for objective recording, so that the audience can see some reflections of my family). At the same time, I also hide a camera position. I say hidden, but it's actually a close-up shot. I asked my workmate Kewei to take the camera to record some of my reactions in close-up. And these small reactions are hard to find in WIDE SHOT, such as the eye contacts, the pursed lips when I am nervous, the sigh when I am helpless and the relief when I am recognised. Because my focus is on my family, it is hard for me to notice her close-ups, but it is this "hidden" camera position that records many real reactions and makes the whole film look more detailed.
• 在我的电影中，我没有去预定的地点或情节，但我选择了一个重要的节日来拍摄(中国新年-春节)。由于电影节的特殊性质，这也使得对话与之前的镜头非常不同。同时，对于摄像头，我指定了2个摄像头位置，一个广角镜头和一个中景镜头(摄像头对着电脑，电脑屏幕是我和家人的视频通话。这个相机位置可以客观记录，这样观众就可以看到我家人的一些倒影)。同时，我还隐藏了一个摄像机的位置。我说是隐藏的，但实际上是一个特写镜头。我让我的同事Kewei拿着相机，近距离记录下我的一些反应。而这些小的反应在广角镜头中是很难找到的，比如眼神交流，紧张时的抿嘴，无助时的叹息，被认出时的释然。因为我的焦点是我的家庭，所以我很难注意到她的特写，但正是这种“隐藏”的镜头位置，记录了许多真实的反应，使整部电影看起来更加细致。

    Close Up：

    

Medium Shot：

Wide Shot：