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Russian filmmaker Dziga Vertov insisted that 'the future of cinema depends on reporting the truth.
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Robert Flaherty filmed 'Nanook Of The North' which was the first feature length documentary. The film includes conventions which is used in later documentaries. Including the use of the third person narration.
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Sergei Eisenstein filmed 'Battleship Potemkin' which was a fictional recounting of an abortive uprising again the Czar that combains documentary elemants with experimental editing and narrative techniques.
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John Grierson wrote a review of Robert Flaherty's ethnographic film 'Moana' for the New York Sun. In the review he used the term 'documentary'.
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Dziga Vertov filmed 'the man with the movie camera'. The film used experimental editing techniques to portray a typical day in Moscow. Instead of just recording reality, vertov tells the story through the 'cinema eye'.
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The worker's film and photo league was formed in the US with the purpose of making independent documentaries with a pilitical and social viewpoint.
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The use newly developed lightweight handheld cameras brought a new generation of filmakers int he US and europe attempted to redefine the nature of the documentary film. The films created by these film makers avoided using voice over narration and kept directorial intervention to a minimum.
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Armstrong Circle Theatre was the first to broadcast on American television. This was the first form of 'docudrama'
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Sony introduced the half inch video tape recorder. Philips introduced the cassette for audio recording and playback on small portable machines.
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PBS series, 'An American Family' this programme was the precursor of what would now be called 'reality tv'.
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Sony introduced the Betamax consumer videocassette recorder (VCR)
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JVC introduced the VHS format VCR
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Sony introduces the first consumer video camera
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Sony's betacam which was a single unit broadcast camera
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'This is Spinal Tap' was the first style of 'mockumaentary' to appear on tv.
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The Blair Witch Project became the very popular film known as a faux verite documentary.
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Reality tv programmes use some of the techniques of cinema verite. These programmes include;
Big Brother
Wife Swap
Joe Millionaire
