Guide to Observational Mode: 7 Observational Documentaries

Observational documentary is a type of documentary filmmaking that aims to record realistic, everyday life without intrusion. Also called cinéma vérité style, direct cinema, or fly-on-the-wall filmmaking, observational documentary mode exists on a spectrum between poetic documentary and expository documentary. The term “observational documentary” was first coined by documentary theorist Bill Nichols in his 2001 book, Introduction to Documentary.

Where the poetic mode is avant-garde and the expository mode is didactic, the observational mode lives in a middle ground, telling concrete stories about real people but eschewing moralizing narratives.

1. 1. Realism and immediacy: Observational cinema aims to tell true stories. (While realism may seem like a goal of all documentaries, there are many documentary modes—including reflexive documentary—that remind the viewers that what they’re watching has been carefully constructed.) To promote a feeling of realism, an observational documentary follows people or events in real-time, often detailing daily life. The film team follows the action spontaneously, giving the film a sense of immediacy and freshness.
2. 2. Handheld shots: With the invention of portable film cameras in the 1950s, filmmakers were able to film from their shoulders instead of with carefully placed tripods. An observational documentary takes full advantage of portable cameras, using handheld shots to follow subjects or scenes that would otherwise be impossible to follow.
3. 3. Long takes: Since filmmakers are following action as it takes place, observational documentaries often employ long takes without any editing to further enhance the realism and immerse viewers in the scene.
4. 4. Little to no voice-over: Since observational documentary filmmakers are interested in objectivity more than a clear message, they let their footage speak the loudest. Where expository documentaries have extensive “voice of god” voice-over narration that tells viewers how to feel about what’s happening on-screen, observational documentaries have little or no voice-over at all to avoid the filmmakers’ intrusive point of view.
5. 5. No re-enactments: While other documentary forms employ actors re-enacting scenes that the camera didn’t capture, an observational documentary rejects this method as shattering the realism of the film.

These seven films experimented with and helped to develop the observational documentary mode:

1. 1. High School (1968). Frederick Wiseman’s High School captures the everyday lives of a group of students who attend high school in Philadelphia. Shot in black and white, Wiseman’s documentary offers audiences an uninterrupted look into the power dynamics between administrators and students. Wiseman is often considered the master of observational cinema.
2. 2. Public Housing (1997). Public Housing is one of Wiseman’s later films, which follows the low-income residents of a public housing development in the south side of Chicago, Illinois. The film highlights the relationship between the residents and law enforcement and social workers, as well as addiction’s impact on some of the housing development’s most vulnerable residents.
3. 3. Primary (1960). Robert Drew organized a group of New York City filmmakers with the sole goal of enhancing their “pictorial journalism.” This group, called the Drew Associates, created some of the first observational documentaries. Primary, Drew’s most famous film, which he shot with filmmaker Richard Leacock, is considered one of the most important films in the history of documentary filmmaking. The film follows the 1960 Wisconson primary election where John F. Kennedy faced off against Hubert H. Humphrey for the Democratic Party nomination for president of the United States.
4. 4. Salesmen (1969). Brothers Albert and David Maysles, also a part of Drew & Associates, produced and directed this documentary in an attempt to become the first directors to release a full-length non-fiction film. Salesmen is an observational documentary that follows the bitter rivalry between a group of door-to-door Bible salesmen. The Maysles are known for occasionally dipping into a participatory mode in their observational films, which often include scenes where their subjects interact with the film crew.
5. 5. Grey Gardens (1975). Perhaps one of the most famous observational documentaries of the seventies, Grey Gardens follows two socialites who have fallen from grace (and money), as they go about their everyday lives. Albert and David Maysles, who directed and produced the documentary, also appear in it.
6. 6. Don’t Look Back (1967). D.A. Pennebaker, a part of the Drew Associates, most often made films about the performing arts industry. His most influential documentary film is Don’t Look Back (1967), a film following Bob Dylan on his 1965 concert tour of Britain.
7. 7. Chronicle of a Summer (1961). Jean Rouch is known for making hybrid films that combine elements of observational and reflexive modes. His film Chronicle of a Summer (1961), which he directed with Edgar Morin, is a famous example of this hybrid style, combining interviews with cinéma vérité.

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