I extracted three keywords from the above description as the subtitle of this chapter, namely internationalization, commercialization and channelization. Among them, internationalization is a phenomenon, commercialization is the essence, and channelization is the performance of commercialization. Channelization is not only a sign that TV has become the mainstream media of documentaries after the film and television dispute, but also the result of the continuous development and growth of documentaries promoted by Qi Xin, a documentary worker from generation to generation, forming a situation in which mainstream documentaries and independent documentaries are interdependent and go hand in hand. Judging from the development history of documentaries, we can also say that the channelization of documentaries has also realized Grierson's dream of expanding the social influence of documentaries to a certain extent (see Chapter 2 of the book, Pioneer Heritage, Section 2, Grierson as the Godfather of Documentaries).
In the movie era, feature films are the mainstream of movies, and documentaries are the non-mainstream or accessories of movies. Most feature films shown in cinema lines are feature films, and documentaries are often short films added before feature films. "As an important branch of film enlightenment, short films are also willing to act as small gifts. Just like the practice of selling one for one in the grocery store, the things given are generally not very valuable. In this case, it is not surprising that the quality of short films is difficult to improve. " On the other hand, the most produced documentaries in the film era are news documentaries, which are usually shot by film studios. However, after the arrival of the TV era, the situation took a turn for the worse, and newsreels immediately became the mainstream program form of TV stations, the mainstay of documentary programs, and even formed a situation of "news standing on the stage". Judging from the history of documentaries, it is no exaggeration to say that TV news is the earliest documentary channel, and in a long historical period, many other documentaries are often produced and broadcast by the news department of TV stations.
The mainstream film is the result of the market-oriented operation of the film, which Gleason has long realized. He pointed out: "The film market (especially the British film market) was originally formed in the pursuit of profit." Therefore, in order to expand the influence of documentary, he introduced market mechanism in Britain, Canada and other places and launched a vigorous documentary movement. During the founding of the British documentary movement, he expanded the distribution and projection system of non-cinemas, because he knew very well that "there were more movie audience seats outside the cinemas, and he used these non-cinema projection places in the auditoriums, churches and community centers of schools and villages at the forefront of his activities." When he was still working in the film department of the Imperial Market Committee, he established the Imperial Film Library. When he was in the film department of the General Post Office, the audience of non-cinema movies exceeded 5 million every year. "In Canada, he has made greater progress in this field. By establishing national film distribution channels, such as arranging film screening activities in the industrial field and sending mobile screening teams to the vast rural areas and Aktik areas, he dedicated more than half of his film production to these film audiences. During his stay at the Canadian Film Board, his series "The World in Action" was shown in more than 7,000 cinemas in Canada, the United States and Britain.
The mainstream film in the film era is a feature film, and the mainstream TV in the TV era is a documentary (at least in its early stage of development). After World War II, in order to further expand the influence of documentaries, he came to new york from Canada and established the International Film Association. Because the film production cycle is slow and the distribution method is clumsy, he feels it is necessary to get close to TV, which is convenient, fast and has a wide audience. 1947 was invited as the director of mass communication and public information department of UNESCO. This opportunity enabled him to practice international communication, but he struggled. From 65438 to 0948, although he continued to work for UNESCO voluntarily, he finally returned to Britain as a film officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, and was fully responsible for the planning, production and distribution of government films. From 65438 to 0949, he also took part in the work of the newly established National Film Investment Company, and continued to cultivate the creation of young filmmakers, just as he did in the film department of the Imperial Market Committee 20 years ago.
If Grierson, the godfather of documentary, can be called the representative of mainstream documentary, then Flahadi, the originator of documentary, can be called the representative of non-mainstream documentary or independent documentary. It is on this issue that the two pioneers once had great differences. For example, Flaherty's wife once wrote in the Biography of Flaherty: "Flaherty's films can't be confused with the documentary movement all over the world, because the documentary movement (originally advocated by Scotsman John Grierson, but not Flaherty) is usually based on social and educational purposes. So most famous documentaries, like Hollywood movies, are made according to the rules for box office, politics or enlightenment purposes. These films keep up with the times and are often powerful propaganda tools of the times. However, there are still some films that are unique, such as Flahardy's works, which are' beyond time' or have different time structures. They advocate nothing but worship. This is a spontaneous and free pure behavior. They sacrificed themselves. "Beyond time" can also be expressed as "eternity". "
Regarding the complicated relationship between Flahadi and Gleason, there is a long comment in the above article: "British film director and producer (1898- 1972) loved movies from college, and went to the United States to study social science from 65438 to 0924, and met Flahadi who shocked Nanuk in the north. From then on, he and Flahadi began a lifelong love-hate relationship. On the one hand, he respects Flahadi, the father of documentary, on the other hand, he feels sorry for his persistence in aboriginal life. Grierson wrote: "Flahadi is one of the greatest teachers of our time. None of us benefited from his practice. Moreover, even if he didn't follow his practice in the end, no one didn't continue to learn their lessons. "While paying tribute to his mentor, he evaluated him in his own way:' Aside from Flahadi's limitations, he defined a basic principle of documentary more accurately than anyone else: First, documentary deals with life materials, and the materials must be thoroughly studied and rearranged. Flahadi spent a year or two settling down among the aborigines and living with them, waiting for the plan to emerge naturally; Secondly, because of Flahadi, the documentary became a human story. (see [America] Francis H. Flaherty's Exploration of a Filmmaker-The Story of Robert Flaherty, and see Documentary Film Literature edited by Shan Wanli, pp. 226-227).
The difference between Flahadi and Grierson can be summarized as the difference between "independent documentary" and "mainstream documentary". In the early days of documentary, Flahadi won the status of documentary single-handedly, and Grierson led thousands of troops to consolidate the status of documentary and expand its influence. Both pioneers contributed their wisdom to the development of documentaries. The development of films, including documentaries, is largely driven by commercial films, which is determined by the nature of films as an industry (see the introduction of independent spirit in Chapter 7 of this book), so people often refer to the two words "mainstream" and "business" as "mainstream business (film or television)". The implication is that commercial films are mainstream films and non-mainstream films of independent films.
Without independence, how can there be a mainstream? What about independence without mainstream? The two are interdependent from the beginning. As far as the documentary funds and production methods are concerned, Flahardy's documentary is not a pure "independent documentary" (he didn't pay for it himself), and Grierson's documentary is not a pure "commercial documentary" (it is also possible to make a documentary with a unique style by using the funds of the government and enterprises, especially the "independent spirit" we talked about in the last chapter). Grierson's "limitation" to Flahadi mainly focuses on the relationship between man and nature, but ignores the relationship between man and society. As far as the subject matter and theme of the documentary are concerned, what happened at the ends of the earth needs to be recorded, as well as what happened at home. The theme of man and nature needs attention, and the theme of man and society needs more attention.
Independence and commerce are not only interdependent, but also complementary and even antagonistic. In any case, business is not a stumbling block to the development of documentary, and the communication between human beings cannot be separated from business. The ancient Silk Road was first of all a commercial road, which promoted the development of human civilization. Long before the Silk Road, China had a dynasty that lasted for more than 500 years. This dynasty is called Shang Dynasty. In Chinese, the word "Shang" and its related words have almost no derogatory meaning. In the 1980s, it was under the impact of commercial tide that the internationalization or globalization of film and television culture, including documentaries, was promoted. What's more, the development of film and television has been accompanied by various commercial activities since its birth, and has been accompanied by an organization called the company (see the documentary "The Power of the Company" mentioned in the preface of the book "Lessons from the Past").