Reading 1: Genre
The film “Bowling for Columbine”, a 2002 documentary by Michael Moore, is a brilliant example of the documentary mode: interactive participatory.
Bowling for Columbine is an interactive participatory styled documentary written, produced and directed by the nationally acclaimed documentary writer Michael Moore who went on to direct Fahrenheit 9/11 aimed at the president George Bush and the war on terror. Michael Moore’s documentary style is described as neoliberal view of globalization and stands strongly for his personal “fiery left wing populism” of the American government according to John Flesher of the Associated Press. In his 2002 film, Bowling for Columbine, he is seen expressing his opinion through the conventions …show more content…
Moore uses this footage to create a sense of an enemy closer to home and realism to his story line. A good example of when Moore uses archival footage to convey his message is in the final few scenes after he has interviewed Heston. This scene starts off with a voice-over from Moore and has “What a Wonderful World” playing as non-diegetic sound. This is very ironic as Moore is cutting between various archival footage of the war on terror, a man selling a gun and finally shots of Moore bowling a strike in a local bowling alley. These shots consisting of mostly archival footage shows the audience how much impact this archival footage of select events can have if edited and used correctly. Moore is very good at using post production editing to further help persuade the audience that what he says is correct or that they way he sees things is the “right” way. Through the use of archival footage we can see how Moore has very cleverly edited the certain scenes together to great a very adequate closing scene with the audience left wondering why America has so many gun homicides compared to the rest of the …show more content…
This can be seen in many different places throughout the documentary but stands out the most where Moore interviews the teacher at Buell Elementary after the shootings there. We can see Moore in the halls of Columbine College before we are introduced to the principal of the elementary school who walks by the side of Moore seeming to fight for self-control. A voice over is present before this shot and the audience learns that a young girl (age 6) was shot by a younger boy who was aged 4 and the principal was the one who called the police to alert them of the incident. As the principal fights for her self-control in the hallway she breaks out into a sob a turns away from the camera. Moore places a hand on her back and rubs repeatedly showing his dominance in the situation. This helps the audience understand the fundamental principals of the interactive style documentary through the convention of appearance of
The film “Bowling for Columbine”, a 2002 documentary by Michael Moore, is a brilliant example of the documentary mode: interactive participatory.
Bowling for Columbine is an interactive participatory styled documentary written, produced and directed by the nationally acclaimed documentary writer Michael Moore who went on to direct Fahrenheit 9/11 aimed at the president George Bush and the war on terror. Michael Moore’s documentary style is described as neoliberal view of globalization and stands strongly for his personal “fiery left wing populism” of the American government according to John Flesher of the Associated Press. In his 2002 film, Bowling for Columbine, he is seen expressing his opinion through the conventions …show more content…
Moore uses this footage to create a sense of an enemy closer to home and realism to his story line. A good example of when Moore uses archival footage to convey his message is in the final few scenes after he has interviewed Heston. This scene starts off with a voice-over from Moore and has “What a Wonderful World” playing as non-diegetic sound. This is very ironic as Moore is cutting between various archival footage of the war on terror, a man selling a gun and finally shots of Moore bowling a strike in a local bowling alley. These shots consisting of mostly archival footage shows the audience how much impact this archival footage of select events can have if edited and used correctly. Moore is very good at using post production editing to further help persuade the audience that what he says is correct or that they way he sees things is the “right” way. Through the use of archival footage we can see how Moore has very cleverly edited the certain scenes together to great a very adequate closing scene with the audience left wondering why America has so many gun homicides compared to the rest of the …show more content…
This can be seen in many different places throughout the documentary but stands out the most where Moore interviews the teacher at Buell Elementary after the shootings there. We can see Moore in the halls of Columbine College before we are introduced to the principal of the elementary school who walks by the side of Moore seeming to fight for self-control. A voice over is present before this shot and the audience learns that a young girl (age 6) was shot by a younger boy who was aged 4 and the principal was the one who called the police to alert them of the incident. As the principal fights for her self-control in the hallway she breaks out into a sob a turns away from the camera. Moore places a hand on her back and rubs repeatedly showing his dominance in the situation. This helps the audience understand the fundamental principals of the interactive style documentary through the convention of appearance of