Bill Nichols has argued that conventional documentaries cannot adequately capture the complexity of the real world. Since they do not call attention to their own construction, they present a view of the world that claims to be more realistic or objective than it really is.
Carl Plantinga has argued that the form of a documentary does not need to resemble its subject, and thus documentaries that are not formally complex can adequately represent a complex or contradictory idea or point-of-view.
You will write a 5 page argumentative essay analyzing and comparing these positions. You will take a clear position on the relationship between documentary form and representation. Support one of the positions as stated above. Do not try to defend the idea "in some cases Nichols is right, and in some cases Plantinga is right." To support your claims, you will include analyses of at least two films. One of the films must be from the 2nd week of class (but do not use Law and Order or Cops). The other film must be from the 3rd week of class (but do not use The Awful Truth).
You can use more than two films for additional examples, but I expect that you will have substantial material on the two main films. The films should be analyzed in some detail.
One strategy that might help you in your argument is to consider what a documentary would be like if it had a different form. How would Harlan Country USA be different if we never saw or heard Koppel? How would Memphis Belle be different if we saw the film crew or the narrator talked about how the footage was compiled not from one fight, but several different bombing runs? Feel free to use this type of "thought experiment" in your analysis.
If you can, try to use your analysis to clarify one of the positions. For example, you might say, "Nichols is right that conventional documentaries cannot capture the complexity of the real world, and the specific aspect that they cannot represent is...." or "Plantinga is right that formal documentaries can represent the full complexity of the world, but in order to do so they must...." A paper that has an extention of the two basic positions will be considered more ambitious and stronger than a paper that only makes the basic argument.
Papers must be stapled and pages numbered.