The term “cinema verite” refers to films that reflect a reality sans the artistic frills of fiction. When filmmaking first began over a century ago, visionaries such as the Lumiere Brothers and Thomas Edison experimented with the medium by taking pictures of ordinary people working in factories, getting on and off trains, eating their lunch or just taking strolls in the park. The ability to capture images for posterity quickly led to the concept of recoding newsworthy events such as groundbreaking ceremonies, parades, ship christenings, and political stumping. Globetrotting travelers soon saw the glamour of “actualities” – the first form of travelogues that could introduce foreign landscapes and mysterious cultures to those who might never go there themselves.
The advent of regular newsreels to keep people informed, propaganda films to advance social and economic causes, and at-home interviews with luminaries du jour were the forerunners of today’s documentaries. There are nonfiction works that seek to examine who we are as a society, record events of special interest, stir controversy, analyze the past, explain how things work, or just provide us an up close and personal look at some of our most popular icons.
Documentaries can be as simple as unscripted, man-on-the-street interviews about a school or community issue or as complex and multi-media as Ken Burns’ various mini-series on topics such as the Civil War, jazz, the West, and baseball. Film producers have also discovered that behind-the-scenes documentaries on how their movies were made – combined with director/star interviews – have the advantage of drawing as many curious viewers as those who bought tickets and saw the actual movies.
What would happen if a TV talk show host was able to invite the likes of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Susan B. Anthony, Shakespeare and Cleopatra to drop into his living room for coffee and chat about their lives? Such was the premise of the late Steve Allen’s innovative series, Meeting of the Minds, which aired from 1977-1981 and featured historic guests debating issues of the day, explaining how they chose their particular professions, and even arguing with each other about their respective approaches to life. While each of the actors was well versed on the factual elements of their characters’ backgrounds, the entire thing was orchestrated in such a seamless way that it was impossible to tell how much was scripted and how much was improvisation.
Choose ONE of the following questions and answer in complete sentences.
1. What is currently the most controversial subject at your school? Is it the cafeteria lunch menu, increased campus security, dress codes, gang violence, the transfer of a favorite teacher, drug use? Identify the issue and explain how you would go about developing a half-hour documentary on this subject.
2. A producer decides that Meeting of the Minds was a great show and wants to bring it back. Your assignment is to pick the first four guests and decide what topic they should talk about which will guarantee fabulous ratings. Explain your rationale.
Screenwriting for Teens, (Hamlett) pp. 175-176