Direct Cinema Analysis

The Truth about Direct Cinema: Direct Cinema Filmmakers Are Still Humans Cinema Verité, or direct cinema—as it is also called—is a misnomer of sorts. “Verité” literally means “truth” in French, but as with other truths, the cinematic truth is molded and configured by those who have access to it. In this case, those people would be the filmmakers themselves. A direct cinema film proceeds without any formal script and is pieced together in its entirety in the editing studio. That is, the cameraman keeps the camera rolling silently in the background without intervening or imposing on the scenes themselves. It is no wonder then that one might assume cinema verité to be a strictly neutral form of art with its makers having no particular
But a filmmaker also makes conscious choices to cut scenes at some parts and leave in long takes at others. This can lead to a dramatic effect, placing emphasis on the subject matter in longer takes. Subjects in these scenes are given the viewers’ attention for a significant amount of time. In Happy Mother’s Day, Leacock leaves in long takes at what he believes to be important parts in the film. He makes use of a long take when he pans through the Aberdeen hospital where the quintuplets were born. He carries his camera equipment and captures the hospital room in great detail, along with the quintuplets themselves. He applies this throughout the film, leaving in another long take when shooting the Fischer family hanging out casually in their barn. Differentiating short cuts from long takes forces viewers to pay attention to what the filmmaker wants them to pay attention
In Happy Mother’s Day, Leacock uses close-ups to accurately capture his subjects’ emotions and foster a sense of intimacy on our part and vulnerability on theirs. During the Aberdeen town celebration, the camera zooms in on Mrs. Fischer’s face during an opera singer’s performance. Her discomfort is undeniable and the momentary focus on each Fischer’s discontent face is enough to make a silent statement about their negative sentiments towards the public exposure, and the filmmaker’s as well. During yet another instance in the same hospital scene mentioned before, the camera zooms in on the quintuplets’ napping faces in their incubators. Their small, resting heads show viewers their vulnerability and make a case for their being humans, not idols nor celebrities. Pictures are indeed worth a thousand words, and close-ups at appropriate times can aid a filmmaker in expressing different attitudes in an indirect