Abstract
When documentaries represent people, they do not offer a transparent record of “who they really are,” but rather a constructed representation: in other words, a characterization. Such characterizations are not merely fictions, however. Documentary characterization implies specific ethical responsibilities to the people thus represented, precisely because documentaries are nonfiction. This chapter discusses the seeming paradox that the representation of people in documentaries is both constructed and nonfictional, and discusses the implications of considering documentaries as “asserted veridical representations.” It describes the most salient tools used by documentary filmmakers to construct characters, and the ethical obligations such characterization implies.
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Acknowledgments
Some paragraphs in this chapter are taken from an earlier work (Plantinga 2008). The author would like to thank the editors for their insightful comments on an earlier version of this contribution.
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Plantinga, C. (2018). Characterization and Character Engagement in the Documentary. In: Brylla, C., Kramer, M. (eds) Cognitive Theory and Documentary Film. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90332-3_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90332-3_7
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