List the three broad classifications of motion pictures and briefly describe the classification and style of films made by directors Barbara Kopple and Fred Wiseman

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: The ideal answer should include:
1. There are three broad classifications of motion pictures: fiction, documentary, and avant-garde.
2. Wiseman and Kopple are documentary filmmakers, and their works are examples of the cinéma vérité style of documentary filmmaking.
3. Cinéma vérité, or direct cinema, prides itself on its objectivity and straightforward presentation.
4. Certainly, these documentarists realized that total neutrality is an impossible goal to achieve, but both filmmakers try to be as “fair” as possible in presenting their materials.
5. For example, they both refuse to use off-frame narrators in films like Law and Order and Harlan County, U.S.A. The subjects of these films are allowed to speak for themselves, and the burden of interpretation is placed on the spectators, who must analyze the significance of the material on their own.
6. Direct cinema is most effective with materials that are intrinsically dramatic. For example, during the production of her documentary, which deals with a bitter coal-miners’ strike for decent working conditions, Barbara Kopple and her crew were repeatedly plunged into the middle of violence. In one sequence, they are actually fired on by a trigger-happy moron. The camera recorded it all. Implicit in the concept of documentary is the verb to document—to verify, to provide an irrefutable record of an event.