Observation And Intervention: The Action Logic Of Chinese Author Documentaries

The "New Documentary Movement" that emerged in the early 1990 s made a turn in the form of documentaries that have lasted for more than 30 years in China.The cultural concept and image expression of documentaries no longer stick to "grand narrative" and "concept first",turning to the daily records of ordinary individuals.At the same time,the popularization of hand-held DVs and the decline of the technical threshold of film production made the myth that "everyone can become a director with a computer and a camera" comes true.During this period,a large number of author documentaries with personal characteristics,documentary features and observational tinge began to be active in the public eye.With the development of concepts,creators are no longer limited to the creative paradigms of the early "New Documentary Movement" and independent documentaries or underground documentaries,but have integrated more creative means and creative concepts into their works,presenting author documentaries that are broader than the previous creative pattern and aimed at author expression."Observation" and "intervention",as two main creative methods in direct films and real films,are used in many documentaries.The creative methods and theoretical cognition of "observation" and "intervention" have also become the logic of action in many documentaries.For Chinese author documentaries,the main purpose of creation is to present the author’s expression,and "observation" and "intervention" are also used to serve the author’s expression as the main purpose.The first part of this paper mainly sorts out and defines the concept of author documentary.The paper is introduced from the development of independent documentaries and author films,based on the way and characteristics of author presentation in independent documentaries and author films and defines the concept of author documentaries.It is believed that author documentaries are not a category after "underground films" or "new documentary movements" and “independent documentaries”.author documentary is more concerned with whether it has the author’s unique film style,independent spirit and personal views.The second part of this paper mainly discusses the use and characteristics of observation methods in author documentary,in terms of the objective and original audio-visual language,the hidden presentation of author’s expression,and the objective narrative perspective,The development of author documentary is a process from unconsciousness to consciousness.The third part of this article mainly discusses the use of interventional techniques in author documentaries from the interventional interviews,the intimate relationship between the author and the subject and the change of documentary styles under intervention.The fourth part of this article takes the author’s graduation work "Be Careful Tall Mr.Song" as an example,by means of observation and intervention,mainly discusses the use and function of observation and research,homeopathic narrative,detail capture,intervention interview,narrative reconstruction,audio-visual language in this film.Only to comprehensive use of observation and intervention can the author’s expression in the documentary be best presented.