TY - JOUR
T1 - The Reel claiming the Real
T2 - An actor network approach to understanding the achievement and management of documentary authority and authenticity
AU - Crone, Vincent
AU - Mueller, Floris
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - The last 15 years have witnessed the widespread adoption of the realist style of filmmaking, traditionally the reserve of the documentary film en newsbroadcasting. As a result, it has become more difficult for a documentary to function as an objective, authentic representation of reality (Corner, 2008). In other words, the 'real' appears to be slipping away from the documentary 'reel'. In this article, we examine how documentary films maintain their authoritative claim of the ‘real’ now that the monopoly of the realist style has been lost. We argue that the management of the production process has become crucial for any documentary claim of authenticity and verisimilitude. The production process has become a site of intense negotiation between the different actors involved ranging from the director, producers and protagonists to the technological equipment itself. Using actor network theory, we flesh out this decentred vision of the production process of documentary film and subsequently illustrate how documentary authority is constructed, negotiated and contested with excerpts from a set of 35 interviews with documentary makers.
AB - The last 15 years have witnessed the widespread adoption of the realist style of filmmaking, traditionally the reserve of the documentary film en newsbroadcasting. As a result, it has become more difficult for a documentary to function as an objective, authentic representation of reality (Corner, 2008). In other words, the 'real' appears to be slipping away from the documentary 'reel'. In this article, we examine how documentary films maintain their authoritative claim of the ‘real’ now that the monopoly of the realist style has been lost. We argue that the management of the production process has become crucial for any documentary claim of authenticity and verisimilitude. The production process has become a site of intense negotiation between the different actors involved ranging from the director, producers and protagonists to the technological equipment itself. Using actor network theory, we flesh out this decentred vision of the production process of documentary film and subsequently illustrate how documentary authority is constructed, negotiated and contested with excerpts from a set of 35 interviews with documentary makers.
KW - documentary
KW - actor-network-theory
U2 - 10.1386/ajms.4.2.293_1
DO - 10.1386/ajms.4.2.293_1
M3 - Article
SN - 2001-0818
VL - 4
SP - 293
EP - 308
JO - Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies
JF - Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies
IS - 2
ER -