Communications in Humanities Research
- The Open Access Proceedings Series for Conferences
Communications in Humanities Research
Vol. 20, 07 December 2023
Open
Access | Article
The Audiovisual Style of Malcolm Clarke’s Oral History Documentary
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This article is primarily dedicated to an in-depth examination of the audio-visual style employed by documentary filmmaker Malcolm Clarke. This analysis is achieved through a meticulous dissection of scenes, shot composition, and sound elements within three of his notable oral history documentaries, namely, “A Long-Cherished Dream,” “The Lady in Number 6,” and “Soldiers in Hiding.” The article initiates by offering insights into the concept and evolution of oral history documentaries as a distinct subgenre within the broader documentary realm. Subsequently, the article embarks on a critical evaluation of how Clarke’s documentaries align with the specific attributes and expectations associated with oral history documentaries. It scrutinizes how Clarke adeptly harnesses a diverse array of cinematic techniques to unearth and present the often-overlooked facets of history, which remain concealed or marginalized within the grander narrative of historical discourse. Through this comprehensive analysis, the article provides a comprehensive assessment of Malcolm Clarke’s contribution to the realm of documentary filmmaking and his unique approach to elucidating the lesser-explored dimensions of history.
Keywords
Malcolm Clarke, audiovisual style, oral history documentary
References
1. Bi, Q., Zhao, G.(2013). Deconstructing the Development of Oral History Documentaries. Film Criticism, 7, 80-81.
2. Xie, Z., Yue, X.(2018). Historical Truth and Artistic Creation of Oral History Documentaries. Digital Media Research, 35(2), 7-10.
3. Gao, A.,Guo, F. (2021). Research on Narrative Strategies of Oral History Documentaries. Drama House, 30, 157-158.
4. Hepp, J.,Stine, M. (2015). The Art of the Documentary Meets Oral History. Time and Passion: The Fibres of Art. Retrieved from www.researchgate.net/publication/309352861_The_Art_of_the_Documentary_Meets_Oral_History.
5. Fu, Z. (2022). How to tell Chinese stories well in documentaries - Taking “Beyond Firewood, Rice, Oil and Salt as an example. Art Science and Technology, 35(7),60-62.
6. Li, Y. (2023) Research on Narrative Strategies of Social Reality-themed Documentaries—Taking the Documentary “Beyond Firewood, Rice, Oil and Salt” as an example. Huaxi, 6, 58-60.
7. Manning, L.(2016) The Lady in Number 6. Music Saved My Life, court-métrage documentaire de Malcolm Clarke. Revue musicale OICRM, 3(2),170–175. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.7202/1060114ar
8. Bosch, J.(2022) The 109-year-old ady in Number 6. The Gerontologist, 62(2),642–643.
9. Dong X., Cheng, X., and Liu, S.(2022) Co-shaping and De-elitism: Practical Innovation in National Image Construction--a multi-modal analysis based on the Documentary. Beyond Firewood, Rice, Oil and Salt.Audiovisual, 11, 3-7.
Data Availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open Access Instruction).
- Volume Title
- Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies
- ISBN (Print)
- 978-1-83558-183-4
- ISBN (Online)
- 978-1-83558-184-1
- Published Date
- 07 December 2023
- Series
- Communications in Humanities Research
- ISSN (Print)
- 2753-7064
- ISSN (Online)
- 2753-7072
- DOI
- 10.54254/2753-7064/20/20231297
- Copyright
- 07 December 2023
- Open Access
- This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited