A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another object. Hidden cameras are often considered a surveillance tool.
97-445: Seaspiracy ( / s iː ˈ s p ɪ r ə s i / ) is a 2021 documentary film about the environmental impact of fishing directed by and starring Ali Tabrizi, a British filmmaker. The film examines human impacts on marine life and advocates for ending fish consumption . The film explores environmental issues affecting oceans, including plastic pollution , ghost nets and overfishing , and argues that commercial fisheries are
194-410: A cover-up for the environmental impact of fishing and corruption in the fishing industry. Seaspiracy concludes by supporting marine reserves and for ending fish consumption. The film was produced by Kip Andersen , director of the documentary Cowspiracy , and used the same production team as this previous film. Initial financial support was provided by British entrepreneur Dale Vince , and it
291-518: A fact check article about the film. In Seaspiracy , narrator Tabrizi criticises a public focus on plastic straws, stating that they only account for 0.03% of ocean plastic. He contrasts this with fishing nets , saying they make up 46% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch . The fishing net statement derives from a 2018 study, which examines floating marine debris by weight. The study found that at least 46% of floating plastic in
388-434: A livestream . Hidden video cameras may or may not have audio recording capabilities. Hidden cameras may be activated manually, remotely, or through motion detection. A hidden camera may not be visible to the subject, for example, because it is fitted with a long-focus lens and located beyond the view of the subject, or because it is obscured or hidden by an object, such as a one-way mirror . Hidden cameras can be built into
485-591: A Metropolis (dir. Walter Ruttmann , 1927); Man with a Movie Camera (dir. Dziga Vertov , 1929); Douro, Faina Fluvial (dir. Manoel de Oliveira , 1931); and Rhapsody in Two Languages (dir. Gordon Sparling , 1934). A city symphony film, as the name suggests, is most often based around a major metropolitan city area and seeks to capture the life, events and activities of the city. It can use abstract cinematography (Walter Ruttman's Berlin ) or may use Soviet montage theory (Dziga Vertov's, Man with
582-421: A Movie Camera ). Most importantly, a city symphony film is a form of cinepoetry , shot and edited in the style of a " symphony ". The European continental tradition ( See: Realism ) focused on humans within human-made environments, and included the so-called city symphony films such as Walter Ruttmann's, Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (of which Grierson noted in an article that Berlin, represented what
679-429: A Summer ( Jean Rouch ), Dont Look Back ( D. A. Pennebaker ), Grey Gardens ( Albert and David Maysles ), Titicut Follies ( Frederick Wiseman ), Primary and Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (both produced by Robert Drew ), Harlan County, USA (directed by Barbara Kopple ), Lonely Boy ( Wolf Koenig and Roman Kroitor ) are all frequently deemed cinéma vérité films. The fundamentals of
776-527: A broader perspective, as a reaction against studio-based film production constraints. Shooting on location, with smaller crews, would also happen in the French New Wave , the filmmakers taking advantage of advances in technology allowing smaller, handheld cameras and synchronized sound to film events on location as they unfolded. Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there are important differences between cinéma vérité ( Jean Rouch ) and
873-630: A documentary should not be); Alberto Cavalcanti's, Rien que les heures; and Dziga Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera . These films tend to feature people as products of their environment, and lean towards the avant-garde. Dziga Vertov was central to the Soviet Kino-Pravda (literally, "cinematic truth") newsreel series of the 1920s. Vertov believed the camera – with its varied lenses, shot-counter shot editing, time-lapse, ability to slow motion, stop motion and fast-motion – could render reality more accurately than
970-498: A film called Vegan in 2018. Seaspiracy was acquired by Netflix in 2020 and released on the platform on March 24, 2021. The documentary was one of the top ten most watched films on Netflix in several countries in the week of its release and generated significant traction on social media. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on 8 critic reviews, and an average rating of 7.7/10. Natalia Winkelman of The New York Times gave
1067-437: A form of journalism, advocacy, or personal expression. Early film (pre-1900) was dominated by the novelty of showing an event. Single-shot moments were captured on film, such as a train entering a station, a boat docking, or factory workers leaving work. These short films were called "actuality" films; the term "documentary" was not coined until 1926. Many of the first films, such as those made by Auguste and Louis Lumière , were
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#17327796674131164-557: A legal necessity. It is illegal under UK law to deploy covert cameras in areas where individuals would have an expectation of privacy, such as bathrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms. It is also illegal to place hidden cameras in someone else's home or on someone else's property. In the United States, the purchase, ownership, and use of hidden cameras and nanny cams is generally considered legal in all 50 states. However, U.S. Code Title 18 , Chapter 119, Section 2512 prohibits
1261-515: A major battle and re-enact scenes to film them. The propagandist tradition consists of films made with the explicit purpose of persuading an audience of a point. One of the most celebrated and controversial propaganda films is Leni Riefenstahl 's film Triumph of the Will (1935), which chronicled the 1934 Nazi Party Congress and was commissioned by Adolf Hitler . Leftist filmmakers Joris Ivens and Henri Storck directed Borinage (1931) about
1358-437: A minute or less in length, due to technological limitations. Examples can be viewed on YouTube. Films showing many people (for example, leaving a factory) were often made for commercial reasons: the people being filmed were eager to see, for payment, the film showing them. One notable film clocked in at over an hour and a half, The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight . Using pioneering film-looping technology, Enoch J. Rector presented
1455-583: A mixed-to-negative review, concluding that the film "does present some pieces of reporting — including an inquiry into dolphin-safe tuna can labels — that are surprising and memorable. But even the film's notable points seem to emerge only briefly before sinking beneath the surface, lost in a sea of murky conspiratorial thinking ." Aswathi Pacha also reviewed the film negatively in The Hindu , citing concerns over its scientific veracity and accusations of misrepresentation from participants. Liz Allen of Forbes
1552-506: A more poetic aesthetic approach to documentary. Examples of their work include Drifters (John Grierson), Song of Ceylon (Basil Wright), Fires Were Started , and A Diary for Timothy (Humphrey Jennings). Their work involved poets such as W. H. Auden , composers such as Benjamin Britten , and writers such as J. B. Priestley . Among the best known films of the movement are Night Mail and Coal Face . Calling Mr. Smith (1943)
1649-577: A new art form; that the "original" actor and "original" scene are better guides than their fiction counterparts for interpreting the modern world; and that materials "thus taken from the raw" can be more real than the acted article. In this regard, Grierson's definition of documentary as "creative treatment of actuality" has gained some acceptance; however, this position is at variance with Soviet film-maker Dziga Vertov 's credos of provocation to present "life as it is" (that is, life filmed surreptitiously), and "life caught unawares" (life provoked or surprised by
1746-403: A new audience, stating "[t]he problem of overfishing is immense, global, remote, horrifying and it is really hard to get people to focus on. Until now, Tabrizi's generation thought banning plastic straws was more important. But it isn't. Overfishing is." Although he found a "lot to admire" in the film's criticisms of the fishing industry and sustainable seafood certification organisations, he called
1843-428: A resource to teach various principles . Documentary filmmakers have a responsibility to be truthful to their vision of the world without intentionally misrepresenting a topic. Social media platforms (such as YouTube ) have provided an avenue for the growth of the documentary- film genre . These platforms have increased the distribution area and ease-of-accessibility. Polish writer and filmmaker Bolesław Matuszewski
1940-411: A too often out-of-control, sometimes criminal enterprise that needs to be reined in and regulated." However, he said it also "undermines [its message] with an avalanche of falsehoods", citing its coverage of marine debris , bycatch and sustainable fishing , as well as "blames the ocean conservation community, i.e., the very NGOs trying to fix things, rather than the industrial companies actually causing
2037-435: A trip to Scotland. The film suggests that aquaculture is untenable due to the problem of feed for farmed fish and the prevalence of disease and coastal degradation. Seaspiracy received production support and initial funding by British renewable energy entrepreneur Dale Vince after meeting Cowspiracy director Kip Anderson in 2016. The same production team was used as this previous film. Ali Tabrizi had previously directed
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#17327796674132134-795: A wide variety of items, ranging from electronics ( television sets , smoke detectors , clocks , motion detectors , mobile phones , personal computers ) to everyday objects where electronics are not expected to be found ( stationery , plants , glasses , clothing , street lights ). Common applications for hidden cameras are property security, personal surveillance, photography , or entertainment purposes, though they may also be used for espionage or surveillance by law enforcement , intelligence agencies , investigative journalists , corporations , or other entities. They may also be used for illegal activity, such as criminal scope-outs, stalking , or voyeurism . Hidden cameras may be installed within common household objects for parents to monitor and record
2231-451: A wordless meditation on wartime Britain. From 1982, the Qatsi trilogy and the similar Baraka could be described as visual tone poems, with music related to the images, but no spoken content. Koyaanisqatsi (part of the Qatsi trilogy ) consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse photography of cities and many natural landscapes across the United States. Baraka tries to capture
2328-683: Is a non-fictional motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record ". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in terms of "a filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception [that remains] a practice without clear boundaries". Early documentary films, originally called " actuality films ", briefly lasted for one minute or less. Over time, documentaries have evolved to become longer in length and to include more categories. Some examples are educational , observational and docufiction . Documentaries are very informative , and are often used within schools as
2425-474: Is a separate area. Pathé was the best-known global manufacturer of such films in the early 20th century. A vivid example is Moscow Clad in Snow (1909). Biographical documentaries appeared during this time, such as the feature Eminescu-Veronica-Creangă (1914) on the relationship between the writers Mihai Eminescu , Veronica Micle and Ion Creangă (all deceased at the time of the production), released by
2522-444: Is abrasive. It has excessive animation. It makes a couple of statistical misinterpretations and several oversimplifications. Yet the film is mainly accurate and devastatingly detailed." Addressing the disputes over its scientific accuracy, he says "[i]t's fair to say that Seaspiracy cited some studies that can be considered dated or disputed, but it also left out some of the most harrowing statistics published in recent years", including
2619-419: Is an anti-Nazi color film created by Stefan Themerson which is both a documentary and an avant-garde film against war. It was one of the first anti-Nazi films in history. Cinéma vérité (or the closely related direct cinema ) was dependent on some technical advances to exist: light, quiet and reliable cameras, and portable sync sound. Cinéma vérité and similar documentary traditions can thus be seen, in
2716-493: Is generally permitted under UK law, if used in a legal manner and towards legitimate ends. Individuals may use covert surveillance in their own home, in the workplace for employee monitoring , outside of a domestic or commercial property for security purposes and in security situations where there may be a need to do so. There are a number of laws under the Data Protection Act and Human Rights Acts that may affect
2813-741: Is in response to Mark Palmer, associate director of the International Marine Mammal Project of the Earth Island Institute, who says on camera that "dolphin safe" tuna cannot be guaranteed, and that observers can be bribed. Palmer has accused the documentary of taking him out of context. Senior fisheries scientist Sara McDonald of the Monterey Bay Aquarium was quoted by Newsweek in a Seaspiracy fact check article: "The U.S. dolphin-safe program has been very effective. Dolphin mortality in
2910-429: Is now 15 years old and most of the data in it is almost 20 years old. Since then, we have seen increasing efforts in many regions to rebuild depleted fish populations". The BBC also noted that other experts had taken issue with the original 2006 study. The film criticises dolphin safe labels on tuna and says that "the internationally recognized seafood label was a complete fabrication since it guaranteed nothing". This
3007-578: Is straws, but experts agree that it is certainly a lot less than dumped fishing gear." The author of the latter study on the Great Pacific garbage patch, is quoted as saying "[fishing gear] fragments much more slowly and is also very buoyant; prime candidates to hang around in the GPGP", as opposed to thinner plastics like straws and bags, which disintegrate and sink. An article in Forbes concluded that
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3104-670: The Bucharest chapter of Pathé . Early color motion picture processes such as Kinemacolor (known for the feature With Our King and Queen Through India (1912)) and Prizma Color (known for Everywhere With Prizma (1919) and the five-reel feature Bali the Unknown (1921)) used travelogues to promote the new color processes. In contrast, Technicolor concentrated primarily on getting their process adopted by Hollywood studios for fiction feature films. Also during this period, Frank Hurley 's feature documentary film, South (1919) about
3201-666: The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was released. The film documented the failed Antarctic expedition led by Ernest Shackleton in 1914. With Robert J. Flaherty 's Nanook of the North in 1922, documentary film embraced romanticism . Flaherty filmed a number of heavily staged romantic documentary films during this time period, often showing how his subjects would have lived 100 years earlier and not how they lived right then. For instance, in Nanook of
3298-872: The Marine Stewardship Council , the Earth Island Institute and the Plastic Pollution Coalition . The film's settings are global, including the Taiji dolphin drive hunt in southern Japan, whaling in the Faroe Islands , Thai and Chinese fish markets, coastal West Africa , and salmon aquaculture farms in Scotland . At various moments, Tabrizi and his crew appear to face imminent peril from local authorities or corrupt fishing industry players; some of
3395-884: The 1920s and 1930s. These films were particularly influenced by modern art , namely Cubism , Constructivism , and Impressionism . According to art historian and author Scott MacDonald , city symphony films can be described as, "An intersection between documentary and avant-garde film: an avant-doc "; however, A.L. Rees suggests regarding them as avant-garde films. Early titles produced within this genre include: Manhatta (New York; dir. Paul Strand , 1921); Rien que les heures /Nothing But The Hours ( France ; dir. Alberto Cavalcanti , 1926); Twenty Four Dollar Island (dir. Robert J. Flaherty , 1927); Moscow (dir. Mikhail Kaufman , 1927); Études sur Paris (dir. André Sauvage , 1928); The Bridge (1928) and Rain (1929), both by Joris Ivens ; São Paulo, Sinfonia da Metrópole (dir. Adalberto Kemeny , 1929), Berlin: Symphony of
3492-570: The 1980s was 130,000. In 2018, there were 819 documented deaths." However, a representative of the Natural Resources Defense Council stated that although "the U.S. laws are good if everyone is being honest, that doesn't mean nothing ever gets in. [Law enforcement] can't catch it all." Newsweek's fact-check article concluded that dolphin safe labels cannot guarantee that no dolphins are harmed during fishing. Documentary film A documentary film or documentary
3589-553: The Belgian coal mining region. Luis Buñuel directed a " surrealist " documentary Las Hurdes (1933). Pare Lorentz 's The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936) and The River (1938) and Willard Van Dyke 's The City (1939) are notable New Deal productions, each presenting complex combinations of social and ecological awareness, government propaganda, and leftist viewpoints. Frank Capra 's Why We Fight (1942–1944) series
3686-810: The Furnaces , from 1968), directed by Octavio Getino and Fernando Solanas , influenced a whole generation of filmmakers. Among the many political documentaries produced in the early 1970s was "Chile: A Special Report", public television's first in-depth expository look at the September 1973 overthrow of the Salvador Allende government in Chile by military leaders under Augusto Pinochet , produced by documentarians Ari Martinez and José Garcia. A June 2020 article in The New York Times reviewed
3783-576: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch came from fishing nets. According to the BBC News fact check, the share of plastic straws in ocean plastic (0.03%) seems to be calculated using numbers from two studies. One study is on plastic straws on coastlines, the other on floating marine plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The fact check cites Jenna Jambeck , the author of the coastline study, saying "no-one really knows how much of it
3880-495: The Line criticised the film's scientific accuracy, saying "there are a few jaw-dropping factual errors" such as its framing of whale strandings . He said such strandings have a variety of causes other than plastic pollution alone, and accused Seaspiracy of deriving its narrative from previous documentaries, such as the film adaptation of his book. Nonetheless, he praised its communication of marine fisheries and conservation issues to
3977-574: The North , Flaherty did not allow his subjects to shoot a walrus with a nearby shotgun, but had them use a harpoon instead. Some of Flaherty's staging, such as building a roofless igloo for interior shots, was done to accommodate the filming technology of the time. Paramount Pictures tried to repeat the success of Flaherty's Nanook and Moana with two romanticized documentaries, Grass (1925) and Chang (1927), both directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack . The " city symphony " sub film genre consisted of avant-garde films during
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4074-680: The North American " direct cinema " (or more accurately " cinéma direct "), pioneered by, among others, Canadians Michel Brault , Pierre Perrault and Allan King , and Americans Robert Drew , Richard Leacock , Frederick Wiseman and Albert and David Maysles . The directors of the movement take different viewpoints on their degree of involvement with their subjects. Kopple and Pennebaker, for instance, choose non-involvement (or at least no overt involvement), and Perrault, Rouch, Koenig, and Kroitor favor direct involvement or even provocation when they deem it necessary. The films Chronicle of
4171-465: The Penguins , and An Inconvenient Truth among the most prominent examples. Compared to dramatic narrative films, documentaries typically have far lower budgets which makes them attractive to film companies because even a limited theatrical release can be highly profitable. The nature of documentary films has expanded in the past 30 years from the cinéma vérité style introduced in the 1960s in which
4268-581: The Romanian professor Gheorghe Marinescu made several science films in his neurology clinic in Bucharest : Walking Troubles of Organic Hemiplegy (1898), The Walking Troubles of Organic Paraplegies (1899), A Case of Hysteric Hemiplegy Healed Through Hypnosis (1899), The Walking Troubles of Progressive Locomotion Ataxy (1900), and Illnesses of the Muscles (1901). All these short films have been preserved. The professor called his works "studies with
4365-661: The action is presented through hidden camera techniques, and animation is used to depict scenes of violence. Activities of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society —an American conservation group focused on direct action at sea—feature prominently in the film, including an extended section documenting illegal fishing practices and worker exploitation in Liberian waters. The film also includes an investigation into modern slavery conditions on Thai fishing vessels , and interviews several survivors. That
4462-457: The activities of nannies and sometimes the children themselves. These hidden cameras are commonly referred to as "nanny cams". The use nanny cams can be a subject of controversy. For example, a 2003 criminal case in Florida , involving a nanny that was allegedly caught by a nanny cam violently shaking a baby, was thrown out in 2006 when the video was considered "worthless evidence"; however, this
4559-485: The advantage of documentaries lies in introducing new perspectives which may not be prevalent in traditional media such as written publications and school curricula. Documentary practice is the complex process of creating documentary projects. It refers to what people do with media devices, content, form, and production strategies to address the creative, ethical, and conceptual problems and choices that arise as they make documentaries. Documentary filmmaking can be used as
4656-623: The bycatch of 8.5 million sea turtles from 1990 to 2008, total fish hauls peaking in 1996, and perhaps 25% of all fishing ships using forced labor. PETA wrote the movie "is not to be missed" and encouraged readers to host watch parties. In 2022, the film won PETA's Oscat award for best picture. Greenpeace commended the film for promoting various marine issues, but challenged the conclusion of abstaining from fish consumption, distinguishing between industrial fishing and traditional harvesting. Greenpeace instead suggested alternate solutions. A representative of Fauna and Flora International wrote that
4753-474: The camera). The American film critic Pare Lorentz defines a documentary film as "a factual film which is dramatic." Others further state that a documentary stands out from the other types of non-fiction films for providing an opinion, and a specific message, along with the facts it presents. Scholar Betsy McLane asserted that documentaries are for filmmakers to convey their views about historical events, people, and places which they find significant. Therefore,
4850-428: The cessation of fish consumption is the solution to collapsing fish stocks and human exploitation remains a consistent message throughout the film. Statistics repeatedly buttress this point, including various fish species listed at >90% wild population loss, and the claim that global oceans could be essentially devoid of fish by 2048. The possibility of fish farming aquaculture is introduced, only to be dismissed after
4947-537: The collapse of whale , shark , dolphin and sea turtle populations. The film asserts that the focus of environmental groups on comparatively small consumer plastics like straws has obfuscated the larger problem of plastic waste from fishing gear, or ghost nets , as well as the devastation of bycatch . The film also suggests environmental organizations have been unable to define or effectively implement sustainable fishing , sustainable seafood or dolphin-safe products. These criticisms are particularly focused on
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#17327796674135044-528: The conclusion section of a 2006 study by a team of marine ecologists led by Dr. Boris Worm published in Science . In the final paragraphs of the study, the authors extrapolated from the percentage of fisheries that have already collapsed and predicted that 32 years later, no more fish would be caught in the ocean. When interviewed for the BBC fact-check article about Seaspiracy in 2021, Worm said, "the 2006 paper
5141-498: The creation of a Film Archive to collect and keep safe visual materials. The word "documentary" was coined by Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson in his review of Robert Flaherty 's film Moana (1926), published in the New York Sun on 8 February 1926, written by "The Moviegoer" (a pen name for Grierson). Grierson's principles of documentary were that cinema's potential for observing life could be exploited in
5238-429: The development of "reality television" that occasionally verges on the documentary but more often veers to the fictional or staged. The "making-of" documentary shows how a movie or a computer game was produced. Usually made for promotional purposes, it is closer to an advertisement than a classic documentary. Modern lightweight digital video cameras and computer-based editing have greatly aided documentary makers, as has
5335-407: The director. The commercial success of these documentaries may derive from this narrative shift in the documentary form, leading some critics to question whether such films can truly be called documentaries; critics sometimes refer to these works as " mondo films " or "docu-ganda." However, directorial manipulation of documentary subjects has been noted since the work of Flaherty, and may be endemic to
5432-575: The documentary, and suggested that their representatives' comments were cherry-picked. Oceana disputed the statement that they receive funding from the seafood industry. Christina Hicks , an academic at Lancaster University and James Cook University who appeared in the film, did not endorse it. She said she committed her career to the fishing industry, in which "there are issues but also progress and fish remain critical to food and nutrition security in many vulnerable geographies". However, The Guardian columnist George Monbiot expressed his support for
5529-452: The dramatic drop in equipment prices. The first film to take full advantage of this change was Martin Kunert and Eric Manes ' Voices of Iraq , where 150 DV cameras were sent to Iraq during the war and passed out to Iraqis to record themselves. Films in the documentary form without words have been made. Listen to Britain , directed by Humphrey Jennings and Stuart McAllister in 1942, is
5626-536: The early part of the 20th century. They were often referred to by distributors as "scenics". Scenics were among the most popular sort of films at the time. An important early film which moved beyond the concept of the scenic was In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914), which embraced primitivism and exoticism in a staged story presented as truthful re-enactments of the life of Native Americans . Contemplation
5723-527: The entirety of a famous 1897 prize-fight on cinema screens across the United States. In May 1896, Bolesław Matuszewski recorded on film a few surgical operations in Warsaw and Saint Petersburg hospitals. In 1898, French surgeon Eugène-Louis Doyen invited Matuszewski and Clément Maurice to record his surgical operations. They started in Paris a series of surgical films sometime before July 1898. Until 1906,
5820-502: The film a 4 out of 5 stars and 15+ rating, calling it "tough but necessary viewing" and "backed with evidence from journalists, authors, marine biologists, oceanographers, frontline activists, and industry insiders". It questions the use of director Ali Tabrizi as protagonist to be followed around. Writing for the American socialist publication Jacobin , Spencer Roberts says that the film "is not without its faults. Its interview style
5917-484: The film and its message. While acknowledging some inaccuracies, Monbiot says that the main point of the film is correct: the fishing industry is the greatest cause of the ecological destruction of the oceans, and cites the 2019 IPBES report as evidence to back this assertion. The marine conservation biologist Callum Roberts from the University of Exeter also argued against criticism. He said "my colleagues may rue
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#17327796674136014-503: The film disputed its assertions and accused the film of misrepresenting them. Seaspiracy also prompted responses from other environmental organisations, academics and seafood industry groups, and several media outlets fact-checked certain statements in the film. Tabrizi acts as both the narrator and protagonist of the film, discovering key pieces of information at the same moment as the viewer. This framing device serves to provide narrative momentum and suspense. The film centers early on
6111-418: The film has "bitterly divided the environmental community" and described its interpretation of scientific studies as "highly problematic and often woefully misleading." Although also questioning its "western-centric and absolutist perspective", it accepted that it was "broadly right on some central issues... with significant caveats". Charles Clover of Blue Marine Foundation and author of the book The End of
6208-625: The film's conclusion of not eating fish "thoroughly unsatisfactory". Environmental journalism outlets Earther (a publication of Gizmodo ) and Hakai Magazine both gave negative reviews. They both criticised the film for suggesting that previous media had not covered the facts discussed in the film, and questioned its tone and accuracy. A reviewer in Hakai Magazine wrote, "had Tabrizi looked at any of these issues in greater depth, he'd have found that journalists have been covering these sorts of stories for years and have not glossed over
6305-428: The film's focus on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch was "misleading", as this region of the ocean accumulates buoyant plastics and therefore "does not provide a particularly accurate depiction of the marine plastic in the entire ocean overall". The film says that a leading fisheries expert found "that if current fishing trends continue, we will see virtually empty oceans by the year 2048." This prediction originates from
6402-451: The film's scientific accuracy and neutrality, calling it "the worst kind of journalism" and questioning its lack of coverage of the impacts of climate change on oceans . He said that "the biggest error is to say that sustainable fisheries don't exist. This is like saying that sustainable agriculture doesn't exist. All food production systems have an impact on the natural world, but obviously some more than others." He acknowledged "the movie
6499-426: The film's true agenda [as] a vegan indoctrination movie". After the movie was released, a spokesperson for Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) said the film's coverage of Scottish salmon aquaculture was "wrong, misleading and inaccurate". The Global Aquaculture Alliance also criticised the film, saying "reputable NGOs have worked tirelessly with industry over the past 20-plus years to continually improve
6596-520: The films was so vital that they were often given co-director credits. Famous cinéma vérité/direct cinema films include Les Raquetteurs , Showman , Salesman , Near Death , and The Children Were Watching . In the 1960s and 1970s, documentary film was often regarded as a political weapon against neocolonialism and capitalism in general, especially in Latin America, but also in a changing society. La Hora de los hornos ( The Hour of
6693-496: The footage being produced for a show. This latter subgenre of unwitting participants began in the 1940s with Allen Funt 's Candid Microphone theatrical short films. In South Korea, hidden cameras (abbreviated to Molka in Korean) proliferated in the 2010s and enabled the spread of voyeuristic images and videos. The term Molka can refer to both the actual cameras as well as the footage posted online. The use of hidden cameras
6790-533: The form due to problematic ontological foundations. Documentary filmmakers are increasingly using social impact campaigns with their films. Social impact campaigns seek to leverage media projects by converting public awareness of social issues and causes into engagement and action, largely by offering the audience a way to get involved. Examples of such documentaries include Kony 2012 , Salam Neighbor , Gasland , Living on One Dollar , and Girl Rising . Although documentaries are financially more viable with
6887-413: The great pulse of humanity as it flocks and swarms in daily activity and religious ceremonies. Bodysong was made in 2003 and won a British Independent Film Award for "Best British Documentary." Hidden camera The term "hidden camera" is commonly used when subjects are unaware that they are being recorded, usually lacking their knowledge and consent; the term "spy camera" is generally used when
6984-694: The help of the cinematograph," and published the results, along with several consecutive frames, in issues of La Semaine Médicale magazine from Paris, between 1899 and 1902. In 1924, Auguste Lumière recognized the merits of Marinescu's science films: "I've seen your scientific reports about the usage of the cinematograph in studies of nervous illnesses, when I was still receiving La Semaine Médicale , but back then I had other concerns, which left me no spare time to begin biological studies. I must say I forgot those works and I am thankful to you that you reminded them to me. Unfortunately, not many scientists have followed your way." Travelogue films were very popular in
7081-428: The human eye, and created a film philosophy from it. The newsreel tradition is important in documentary film. Newsreels at this time were sometimes staged but were usually re-enactments of events that had already happened, not attempts to steer events as they were in the process of happening. For instance, much of the battle footage from the early 20th century was staged; the cameramen would usually arrive on site after
7178-471: The increasing popularity of the genre and the advent of the DVD, funding for documentary film production remains elusive. Within the past decade, the largest exhibition opportunities have emerged from within the broadcast market, making filmmakers beholden to the tastes and influences of the broadcasters who have become their largest funding source. Modern documentaries have some overlap with television forms, with
7275-418: The interception of oral communication by "surreptitious manner" such as a hidden recording device, and so most hidden video cameras are not available with audio recording. Additionally, it is illegal in 13 states to record audio without express or written consent of the nanny being recorded. Despite this, some hidden cameras are still sold in the United States with audio recording capabilities, though their use
7372-404: The jurisdiction in which they are used. A hidden camera can be wired or wireless . Hidden cameras connected, by cable or wirelessly, to a viewing or recording device, such as a television , computer , videocassette recorder , network video recorder , digital video recorder , memory card , or another data storage medium. They may also store their images or recordings online, such as through
7469-665: The landmark 14-hour Eyes on the Prize : America's Civil Rights Years (1986 – Part 1 and 1989 – Part 2) by Henry Hampton, 4 Little Girls (1997) by Spike Lee , The Civil War by Ken Burns , and UNESCO-awarded independent film on slavery 500 Years Later , express not only a distinctive voice but also a perspective and point of views. Some films such as The Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris incorporate stylized re-enactments, and Michael Moore 's Roger & Me place far more interpretive control with
7566-420: The lives of the people working in aquaculture and fisheries as well as the ecosystems in which aquaculture and fisheries are practiced", and suggested abandoning fisheries and aquaculture would "abandon the approximately 250 million people employed by the industry and rob billions of people of a healthful source of protein". Bryce Stewart, a University of York marine ecologist and fisheries biologist, criticised
7663-475: The main driver of marine ecosystem destruction. The film rejects the concept of sustainable fishing and criticises several marine conservation organisations, including the Earth Island Institute and its dolphin safe label and the sustainable seafood certifications of the Marine Stewardship Council . It also criticises efforts by organisations to reduce household plastic, contrasting their impact with that of ghost nets. It accuses these initiatives of being
7760-620: The nuance." Internal documents leaked before the film's release authored by the National Fisheries Institute , a trade group representing the US seafood industry, revealed a new media strategy to protect the fishing industry and to characterize the then-unreleased documentary as a "dishonest attack". The National Fisheries Institute appealed to Netflix ahead of the film's release to "distinguish between legitimate documentaries and propaganda", stating "audiences will not recognize
7857-513: The political documentary And She Could Be Next , directed by Grace Lee and Marjan Safinia. The Times described the documentary not only as focusing on women in politics, but more specifically on women of color, their communities, and the significant changes they have wrought upon America. Box office analysts have noted that the documentary film genre has become increasingly successful in theatrical release with films such as Fahrenheit 9/11 , Super Size Me , Food, Inc. , Earth , March of
7954-586: The problem". In an article in Nature Ecology and Evolution , Dyhia Belhabib criticised the film's conclusion of ending fish consumption, calling this "embedded in white privilege and colonialism" and "[ignoring] that more than 90% of the global fishing effort is small-scale and coastal in nature". She proposed management solutions and decolonisation of ocean science and advocacy. The Marine Stewardship Council , Earth Island Institute and Plastic Pollution Coalition disputed their negative portrayal in
8051-423: The safety and privacy of holidaymakers in these circumstances. Hidden cameras are sometimes used in reality television and social media , where they are used to catch participants in unusual or absurd situations. Participants will either know they will be filmed, but not always exactly when or where; or they will not know they have been filmed until later, at which point they may sign a release or give consent to
8148-416: The shadows, but to call its corrupt elements conspiratorial is almost pointlessly sensational". The Independent rated it 4 out of 5 stars and called it a "shocking indictment of the commercial fishing industry". Emma Stefanski of Thrillist said, "If shock and awe are what it takes to get the message across, then Seaspiracy is effective, if not particularly multifaceted." Common Sense Media gave
8245-523: The statistics, but the basic thrust of it is we are doing a huge amount of damage to the ocean and that's true. At some point you run out. Whether it's 2048 or 2079, the question is: 'Is the trajectory in the wrong direction or the right direction?'" The scientific accuracy of several statements in Seaspiracy has been questioned by several fisheries scientists and marine conservationists . BBC News , Newsweek and Radio Times have each written
8342-530: The style include following a person during a crisis with a moving, often handheld, camera to capture more personal reactions. There are no sit-down interviews, and the shooting ratio (the amount of film shot to the finished product) is very high, often reaching 80 to one. From there, editors find and sculpt the work into a film. The editors of the movement – such as Werner Nold , Charlotte Zwerin , Muffie Meyer , Susan Froemke , and Ellen Hovde – are often overlooked, but their input to
8439-424: The subject would object to being recorded if they were aware of the camera's presence. In contrast, the phrase " security camera " refers to cameras that are visible and/or are accompanied by a warning notice of their presence, so the subject is aware of the camera's presence and knows they are being filmed. The use of hidden cameras raises personal privacy issues. There may be legal aspects to consider, depending on
8536-400: The use of hidden cameras. In any type of covert surveillance, footage should only be used for the purpose for which it has been taken, which must be a legitimate security reason. The person in possession of the footage is responsible for its use, and must only retain footage for as long as it is reasonably needed. It is not permitted to release the footage to third parties except when there is
8633-432: The use of portable camera and sound equipment allowed an intimate relationship between filmmaker and subject. The line blurs between documentary and narrative and some works are very personal, such as Marlon Riggs 's Tongues Untied (1989) and Black Is...Black Ain't (1995), which mix expressive, poetic, and rhetorical elements and stresses subjectivities rather than historical materials. Historical documentaries, such as
8730-494: The year of his last film, Doyen recorded more than 60 operations. Doyen said that his first films taught him how to correct professional errors he had been unaware of. For scientific purposes, after 1906, Doyen combined 15 of his films into three compilations, two of which survive, the six-film series Extirpation des tumeurs encapsulées (1906), and the four-film Les Opérations sur la cavité crânienne (1911). These and five other of Doyen's films survive. Between July 1898 and 1901,
8827-687: Was a newsreel series in the United States, commissioned by the government to convince the U.S. public that it was time to go to war. Constance Bennett and her husband Henri de la Falaise produced two feature-length documentaries, Legong: Dance of the Virgins (1935) filmed in Bali , and Kilou the Killer Tiger (1936) filmed in Indochina . In Canada, the Film Board , set up by John Grierson,
8924-451: Was acquired by Netflix in 2020. The film premiered on Netflix globally in March 2021 and garnered immediate attention in several countries. The film received mixed reviews; reviewers praised it for bringing attention to its subject matter, but it was accused of scientific inaccuracy and was criticised by some ocean experts. Organisations and individuals interviewed or negatively portrayed in
9021-457: Was also critical of the film, writing "While perhaps produced with good intentions, Seaspiracy fails to provide a critical lens to the problems it unveils". John Serba of Decider said, " Seaspiracy isn't the purest form of documentary journalism, but Tabrizi makes his point with enough principled persuasion to make it worth your time," while also questioning its tone, saying "some of the fishing industry's troublesome ethical quandaries occur in
9118-479: Was among those who identified the mode of documentary film. He wrote two of the earliest texts on cinema, Une nouvelle source de l'histoire ("A New Source of History") and La photographie animée ("Animated photography"). Both were published in 1898 in French and were among the earliest written works to consider the historical and documentary value of the film. Matuszewski is also among the first filmmakers to propose
9215-431: Was due to issues regarding video quality, not legality, and several earlier cases used clearer nanny cam footage as evidence. Some hidden camera television shows have also led to lawsuits or the cancellation of episodes by the people who were trapped in set-ups that they found unpleasant. Hidden cameras are sometimes placed in holiday rental apartments such as those advertised on Airbnb . Questions have been raised about
9312-637: Was right to highlight overfishing as the biggest current threat to marine biodiversity. This is widely accepted by scientists and the evidence for this is very strong". Daniel Pauly , project leader of the Sea Around Us project at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia , wrote in Vox that the documentary "make[s] the important point that industrial fishing is...
9409-610: Was set up for the same propaganda reasons. It also created newsreels that were seen by their national governments as legitimate counter-propaganda to the psychological warfare of Nazi Germany orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels . In Britain, a number of different filmmakers came together under John Grierson. They became known as the Documentary Film Movement . Grierson, Alberto Cavalcanti , Harry Watt , Basil Wright , and Humphrey Jennings amongst others succeeded in blending propaganda, information, and education with
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