Q1. Research John Grierson’s definition of documentary. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this definition?
A.
John Grierson defined documentary as “the creative treatment of actuality”. I absolutely agree with this definition as I feel that a documentary is a record of certain events put together in a certain way so as to make it more interesting and informative. A documentary film is a film, which tries to document reality in one way or another. John Grierson’s definition is comprised of all these details. Although it is a short definition, its meaning is comprehensive. Therefore I choose to agree with John Grierson’s definition of documentary.
Q2. Who were the poet and composer on the film ‘Night Mail’? What other work did they go on to produce? Provide examples.
A.
W.H. Auden and Benjamin Britten were the poet and composer respectively on the film ‘Night Mail’.
W.H. Auden went on to write many other poems which include, the philosophical poem “”New Year Letter” which appeared with miscellaneous notes and other poems in “The Double Man”, “Walk After Dark”, “The Love Feast”, “The Fall of Rome” and many others. He also wrote separate prose books such as “The Enchafèd Flood: The Romantic Iconography of the Sea” and “The Shield of Achilles”.
Britten went on to compose the “Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Mail
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._Auden
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Britten#Work_in_America_1939-1942
Q3.Grierson’s film ‘Drifters’ premiered in London with a film by Soviet director Sergei Einstein. How did the ideas and aesthetics of Soviet Cinema influence Grierson?
A.
Grierson is only credited as directing ‘Drifters’, although he did exert a significant amount of influence in the young filmmakers around him. ‘Drifters’ contains many traits that would later characterize the documentary movement’s result, notably an emphasis on the everyday routine of fishermen at sea and the economic importance of the fishing industry. The new montage style of Soviet cinema was a clear influence on Grierson.
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/454202/
Zeke Purushotham 