Bill Nichols and the Discourse of Sobriety - 2932 Words

Do mockumentary films retain any trace of the ’discourse of sobriety’? Throughout film history, documentary and fiction films have denoted the polar opposites of film form with each representing two distinct and separate traditions, the cinema of reality and the cinema of fiction (Doherty 16). However what was once a clear distinction has become blurred as the increasing popularity of mockumentary continues to weaken the assumed boundaries between fact and fiction (Sicinski). Prior to this ‘blurring of the lines’ the documentary genre enjoyed a privileged position amongst screen forms due its ‘the truth claim’ (Glick). Reflecting Bill Nichols’ observation that documentary employs the ‘discourse of sobriety’ (3), the truth claim is†¦show more content†¦Despite multiple documentary conventions being incorporated throughout the film, 24 hour Party People retains little trace of sobriety as Winterbottom’s use of interviews, direct address, archival footage and narration aims to portray a predomin antly fictional world as an actual real world, rather than depicting the world as it is. Although real archival footage of Joy Division performing at Wilson’s club, as well as actual footage of Wilson’s television show Granada Tonight is used throughout the film, Winterbottom ensures that such footage is subtly interwoven within sequences of fictional events thus eliminating any trace of sobriety that the use of real footage may have allowed for. Furthermore it can be argued that 24 hour Party People retains little evidence of Bill Nichols’ observation that documentary employs the ‘discourse of sobriety’, as a number of incidents are exaggerated throughout the film. For example, following a scene in which Wilson’s wife is shown ‘getting close’ with musician Howard Devoto, the cleaner present in the scene faces the camera, reveals himself as the real Howard Devoto and states that he has no recollection ofShow MoreRelatedMy Chosen Programme Of Gok Wan1460 Words   |  6 Pageswith visual images which is used when Gok Wan is not presenting. According to Bill Nichols the expository mode adopts voice-of-god commentary or voice of authority commentary, in this case voice-of-god is used because the speaker is heard but is not seen, instead there are visual images being used ‘the commentary is typically being presented as distinct from the images of the historical world that accompany it (Bill Nichols, Introduction to documentaries, page 107)’. The images are used to make senseRead MoreHow Do Documentaries Produce ‘Truth Effects’? Essay1379 Words   |  6 Pageswhich are often referred to as mockumentaries, also come within the category of documentaries (Corner Rosenthal, 2005), for example This is Spinal Tap (1984) and Best In Show (2000) Bill Nichols explains documentaries as, â€Å"One of the discourses of sobriety that include science, economics, politics and history discourses that claim to describe the real, to tell the truth†. He further adds despite the truth-telling characteristic a documentary film is known to straddle between â€Å"the categories of fact