School of Film and TV - Theses
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ItemDocumentary access: an examination of access in the production of the observational and participatory documentary in the commissioned environment (based on "Community Cop"[Gaynor 2009])( 2012)Documentary Access is a practice-based analysis of the issue of access in the observational and participatory documentary filmmaking modes (as proposed by documentary theorist Bill Nichols in Representing Reality [Nichols 1991]) and the meeting of stakeholder expectations. Nichols’ modes identify particular traits and conventions of different documentary styles. Access is central to the observational and participatory modes because content and narrative form is derived from the filmmaker’s direct and unscripted access to people, events and places. The analyses of what this access signifies in a formalised filmic sense, provides a key to understanding what the recorded content delivers in terms of the filmic narrative, stakeholder expectations and possible conflicts between these two elements. The study is based on methodologies developed and data gathered during the creation of a fifty-two minute broadcast documentary Community Cop (Gaynor 2009). The creative work follows the Community Liaison Officer at the Flemington Police station and members of the local African Australian community as they strive to resolve long term conflicts. The field study and dissertation reveal and analyse issues in the evaluation of access from both a filmic and stakeholder perspective that can have serious implications for filmmakers working in the observational and participatory modes. This dissertation proposes a set of references for analysing types and implications of access and proposes a set of responses to the often-inevitable clash between proposition and actuality in these modes.