Visual Culture #7 - Creative Documentary and The Conversation Piece

In Monday's lecture, we looked at creative documentary, and briefly how social media and the internet can have effects on documentaries.

Nichols (2001) came up with the 6 modes of documentary;

• Expository - addresses the viewer directly, led my narrator
• Observational - fly on the wall, 'observe' style. Subjects forget they are being observed
• Participatory - filmmaker and subject in dialogue/conversation. Louis Theroux
• Reflexive - 'constructed texts'. Bowling for Columbine. Doesn't tell you what to think
• Preformative - personal. Hypothetical situations (in their shoes). Autobiography.
• Poetic - organised in themes and patterns. Experimental. Lyrical.

http://bit.ly/2e2pkVP

Documentaries are used as a vehicle for social change. We also talked about different examples of documentaries; artists documentaries, docusoaps, and ones that use real-life footage. The lecturer gave us an extract about Big Brother and whether it was a reality show or a documentary.

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On Tuesday's lecture, we looked at 'The Conversation Piece and the Rhetoric of 'Talk' (1730-70). Paintings used to depict conversations and we looked at how conversations can be read but not heard in art. The idea of talking disappeared with new technologies such as sound in film, being invented and giving us the luxury of hearing.

This topic could link to our subject with silent films, however, title cards and expressions were often the form of discussion and gave us some insight to hearing.

http://bzfd.it/2eA3qFS

The Conversation Piece showed off wealthy connections, and later, romantic/emotional symbolism in France. Britain mostly used it to show wealth. The painting was used to show the families wealth and a polite taste, showing that they are knowledgeable and are culture vultures. 

The paintings didn't require much detail or talent and were essentially just family portraits and was considered 'proto-photographic' (a snapshot of the time), making the spectator think they have arrived suddenly and have eavesdropped on the conversation. 

http://bit.ly/2fvAaVP

In the 1970s, the focus became on more of the people rather than the room they are in, but there is still emphasis on wealth and culture. But it focuses more on the family members and becomes more like a portrait, showing relationships between the family and a 'genuine conversation' feel. 

A modern resurgence also uses this technique with modern day issues such as social issues, racism and police brutality, or maybe the lack of conversation in modern day. This painting suggests this. The conversation piece is also included in photography. 

http://artandresponse.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/the-talk.jpg