Truth and “Truthiness” in the Documentary Film
Documentary films purport to be true- “nonfiction” – in ways that other films do not. In this assignment, your task is to determine precisely how the film we will be watching together (The Act of Killing, 2012) conveys a sense of truthfulness, rather than “truthiness,” to viewers. In order to answer this question, you must first determine what you believe to be the goal of the film: like everything else we have looked at this semester, documentaries are works of rhetoric, i.e. efforts to persuade someone about something, or to do something. In this case, I would like you to decide if you think the film accomplished its goal and, again, explain how it convinced you: what techniques did the film employ to achieve that goal? What worked, or didn’t work? Why? If it failed, what made it seem, well, merely “truthy” rather than true to you? What kind of truth is the film trying to convey? In Introduction to Documentary Bill Nichols says that documentaries are “not a reproduction of reality” but rather “a representation of the world we already occupy” (my emphasis).
In order to answer these questions, pick at least two scenes to describe in some detail (in one or more paragraphs), and consider the various techniques the directors used in it: the people we see and the way they “act” or are portrayed, the location and format of interviews, including details such as the use of natural or artificial lighting, the time of day or night, use of sound, music, makeup, camera angles and framing, background scenes and anything else you deem relevant.
Your thesis should summarize your interpretation of the film (‘I believe the film tried to do x, or is trying to do z’) and some specific points (a, b, c) that either led it to succeed or fail (or succeed in some ways and fail in others).
Requirements: length, 4-5 pages (or more); typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font; 12 pt; 3 (or more) quotes from Nichols and at least 2 from one or more of the reviews and other secondary material I have posted on Canvas.
Rough draft due December 1st (2-3 pages) (or more)
Final draft due December 8th.
“truthiness n. informal the quality of seeming or being felt to be true, even if not necessarily true. – ORIGIN early 19th cent. (in the sense ‘truthfulness’): coined in the modern sense by US humorist Stephen Colbert (1964–).”
Plagiarism Free Papers
All our papers are original and written from scratch. We will email you a plagiarism report alongside your completed paper once done.
All papers are submitted ahead of time. We do this to allow you time to point out any area you would need revision on, and help you for free.
A title page preceeds all your paper content. Here, you put all your personal information and this we give out for free.
Without a reference/bibliography page, any academic paper is incomplete and doesnt qualify for grading. We also offer this for free.
Originality & Security
At Essay Assign, we take confidentiality seriously and all your personal information is stored safely and do not share it with third parties for any reasons whatsoever. Our work is original and we send plagiarism reports alongside every paper.
24/7 Customer Support
Our agents are online 24/7. Feel free to contact us through email or talk to our live agents.
Try it now!
How it works?
Follow these simple steps to get your paper done
Place your order
Fill in the order form and provide all details of your assignment.
Proceed with the payment
Choose the payment system that suits you most.
Receive the final file
Once your paper is ready, we will email it to you.
We work around the clock to see best customer experience.
Our prices are pocket friendly and you can do partial payments. When that is not enough, we have a free enquiry service.
Admission help & Client-Writer Contact
When you need to elaborate something further to your writer, we provide that button.
We take deadlines seriously and our papers are submitted ahead of time. We are happy to assist you in case of any adjustments needed.
Your feedback, good or bad is of great concern to us and we take it very seriously. We are, therefore, constantly adjusting our policies to ensure best customer/writer experience.