Book Notes: Intro to Documentary by Bill Nichols

Chapter One: Why Are Ethical Issues Central to Documentary Filmmaking?
Ethics regarding documentaries
-Inform subjects of the potential consequences of their portrayal in the film

Three common formats of documentary:
"I speak about Them to You"
-Most common
-My examples: Michael Moore or any other on-screen person creating dialogue about the scene

"It Speaks about Them to Us"
-"Voice of God" narrator
-Examples from book: commercials, movie trailers
-My examples: Planet Earth

"I or We speak about Us to You"
-"auto-ethnography"
-Examples from book: Kayopo Indians of the Amazon River Basin create their own documentaries about their rights to persuade Brazilian voters
-Marlon Riggs's Tongues Untied (1985) A black, gay male makes a documentary about himself and other black, gay males
-My example: Youtube diaries