Direct Cinema
UNCONTROLLED CINEMA
Direct cinema is a distinct genre. The principal elements that distinguishes it from other approaches to the nonfiction film are: (1) rejection of the nonfiction film tradition; (2) uncontrolled filming of real people in real situations; (3) rejection of traditional direction and script; (4) creation of a model of reality that in-cludes many types of ambiguity; (5) spontaneous sense of the viewer's "being there"; (6) primacy of observation over narration; (7) use of lightweight, portable equipment; (8) live sound recor-ding; (9) primacy of editing over long-take cinematography; (10) primacy of form over content.
With its origins in cinéma vérité, direct cinema reflected two predominant, related influences – the desire for a new cinematic realism and the development of equipment necessary to achieving that desire. Direct cinema uses whatever cinematic properties are necessary to record reality and then to represent it. The development of American direct cinema in the 1960s was dominated by the distinct approaches of Robert Drew, Richard Leacock, D. A. Pennebaker, Albert and David Maysles, and Frederick Wiseman. Their belief in the spontaneous, uncontrolled cinematic recording of important events, issues, and personalities established an approach so strong that it dominated the further development of the form. These filmmakers combined the unique properties of two mass communications media – journalism and the traditional documentary film – to develop a third: direct cinema.
SOURCES
Richard M. Barsam. Non-fiction Film. A Critical History. S. 300, 303, 305.
Wilhelm Roth. Der Dokumentarfilm seit 1960. S. 9.