The British Documentary Movement Flashcards
At the same time as these abstract documentaries were being made, John ________, influenced by the work of Robert Flaherty, produced and directed his first film on a grant from the HM Treasury Department of £2,500.
Grierson.
________ (Empire Marketing Board, UK, 1929) was a film about the herring fishery industry, and in using a combination of Flaherty’s ethnographic observation and the Soviet (futurist) style placing the relationship between man and machine at the core, with ordinary working people as ‘heroes’, this led to a success both for Grierson and for documentary.
Drifters.
By not concentrating on a _________ view of his subject, Grierson was concerned in Drifters to show the fishing industry as something contemporary, using modern equipment and modern techniques, and he emphasised the professionalism and the social interaction of the fisherman at sea, and the importance of the herring fishing industry to the economy and to Britain.
Historical.
In doing so Grierson emphasised the importance of the wider ________-class community to industrial Britain, and offered the first glimpse of a theme that would run through much of the later work to which he was connected.
Working.
This film (Drifters), which was shot entirely on location (except for some innovative underwater cinematography which was constructed at the Marine __________ Research Station in Plymouth), at a time when British film was a distinctly studio-bound, marked out the direction for a new movement in British film.
Biological.
The most successful period for the British documentary movement (which may be seen as being left-wing or socialist in its viewpoint) was from the mid ______s through to the end of the Second World War.
1930s.
Government agencies such as the GPO (_______ ____ _______ – also responsible for telephones, telegrams and mass communications generally) developed film units (the GPO Film Unit was to become the Crown Film Unit at the outbreak of war), companies such as Shell and ICI developed film units to promote their work, and a large number of independent film units were established as commercial enterprises, making commissioned documentaries for a variety of employees.
General Post Office.
At a time of polarised politics, organisations such as trade unions and the Left Book Club (an organisation dedicated to bringing ____-wing literature to working people) also sponsored documentary production.
Left.
One of the most significant films of the period is _____ _____.
Night Mail.
At a time of polarised politics, organisations such as ______ ______ and the Left Book Club (an organisation dedicated to bringing left-wing literature to working people) also sponsored documentary production.
Trade Unions.
At a time of polarised politics, organisations such as trade unions and the Left Book Club (an organisation dedicated to bringing ____-wing literature to working people) also sponsored documentary production.
Left
