The Practice of Bill Nichols’ Documentary Approach in Kirsten Johnsons Cameraperson (2016)

Abstract

This article aims to show how Bill Nichols approach to documentary is practiced in Cameraperson (2016), and autobiographical documentary directed by Kirsten Johnson, a professional documentary cinematographer. Through the thought of Bill Nichols, a film critic concerned documentary and supplemented by relevant literature sourced from journals, books and web articles, this examination found that from his theory of documentary, Nichols’ six approaches (Expository, Observational, Participatory, Reflective, Performative and Poetic) are certainly all represented within the scenes of Cameraperson. All these documentary approaches are quantified by scenes of 33 participatory, 20 observational, 9 reflexive, 4 expository, 3 performatives, and poetic can be identified in the associations of pictures that actualize into the spatial juxtaposition style of film structure.