Film 108
Montage Influencer of Historical Events:
Night and Fog vs. Fahrenheit 9/11
Maria Mohammad
Film 108
Prof. Brooks/ TA: Josh Olejarz
Fall 2012
Works Cited
Kahana, Jonathan. Intelligence work: the politics of American documentary. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Print. Spence, Louise, and Vinicius Navarro. Crafting truth: documentary form and meaning. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2011. Print.
Maria Mohammad Film 108 TA: Josh Olejarz Montage Influencer of Historical Events: Night and Fog vs. Fahrenheit 9/11 In documentaries when a director takes on a sensitive subject matter, like upsetting historical events, he or she needs to develop a certain point of view without being biased, or the authenticity of the documentary is jeopardized. Two historical events that are featured in many documentaries are the Holocaust and the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Director, Alain Resnais, captures the horrors that took place in the Jewish concentration camps during World War II in the 1955 short documentary film Night and Fog; whereas director, Michael Moore, focuses on the actions of President George W. Bush following the 9/11 attacks in the 2004 documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11. Though both films expose the truth behind the said historical traumas, the different montage approaches of these directors evoke distinct point of views: one that is omniscient while the other is objective, respectively. To emulate authenticity, directors who deal with documentaries that are discussing past historical events use stock footage like both Night and Fog and Fahrenheit 9/11 utilized; however the directors used the stock footage in completely different ways. In Night and Fog, Resnais uses the footage to give the audience a distressing visual of the callous treatment of Jews in the concentration camps. Even though this footage is black and white, the image of thousands of
Night and Fog vs. Fahrenheit 9/11
Maria Mohammad
Film 108
Prof. Brooks/ TA: Josh Olejarz
Fall 2012
Works Cited
Kahana, Jonathan. Intelligence work: the politics of American documentary. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Print. Spence, Louise, and Vinicius Navarro. Crafting truth: documentary form and meaning. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2011. Print.
Maria Mohammad Film 108 TA: Josh Olejarz Montage Influencer of Historical Events: Night and Fog vs. Fahrenheit 9/11 In documentaries when a director takes on a sensitive subject matter, like upsetting historical events, he or she needs to develop a certain point of view without being biased, or the authenticity of the documentary is jeopardized. Two historical events that are featured in many documentaries are the Holocaust and the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Director, Alain Resnais, captures the horrors that took place in the Jewish concentration camps during World War II in the 1955 short documentary film Night and Fog; whereas director, Michael Moore, focuses on the actions of President George W. Bush following the 9/11 attacks in the 2004 documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11. Though both films expose the truth behind the said historical traumas, the different montage approaches of these directors evoke distinct point of views: one that is omniscient while the other is objective, respectively. To emulate authenticity, directors who deal with documentaries that are discussing past historical events use stock footage like both Night and Fog and Fahrenheit 9/11 utilized; however the directors used the stock footage in completely different ways. In Night and Fog, Resnais uses the footage to give the audience a distressing visual of the callous treatment of Jews in the concentration camps. Even though this footage is black and white, the image of thousands of
Cited: Kahana, Jonathan. Intelligence work: the politics of American documentary. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Print. Spence, Louise, and Vinicius Navarro. Crafting truth: documentary form and meaning. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2011. Print.