NSFW Resources 03 supported by the

Bowling For Columbine

Bowling For Columbine was written,

produced and directed by the American
satirist and filmmaker Michael Moore
following on the events of April 20th 1999,
when two students at Columbine High
School in Littleton, Colorado, went on a
killing spree, shooting to death twelve of their
classmates and a teacher and injuring many
others before killing themselves. This
feature-length documentary, which has
received numerous awards, including the
Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and
the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film
Festival in 2003, is a wide-ranging and
provocative investigation into the possible
causes of such tragedies.

‘Are we a nation of gun nuts or are we just

nuts?’
Michael Moore

‘Michael Moore’s controversial documentary

about gun control in America is at once
horrifying and hilarious. He asks big, probing
questions about the world’s sole
superpower, questions that are seldom
raised on so public a stage.’

Daily Telegraph ‘Bowling for Columbine … is extremely serious

without being solemn, passionate in a
‘Investigative filmmaker Michael Moore’s deliberately laid-back fashion … Moore is a
heartfelt documentary – as entertaining as it radical journalist in the American muckraking
is politically damning – looks deep into tradition whose weapons are satire, send-up
America’s love affair with guns. A brave and and confrontation.’
important piece of filmmaking that dares to The Observer
ask questions that many people would
‘This is a big, brawling mix of ideas and
prefer remain unsaid. This isn’t just about
interviews, with wacky clips, spoofs and
guns: it’s about the psychology of a nation
pastiches, some devastatingly funny and
whose every move has global implications.’
pertinent, some of them pretty lame’
Empire Magazine
The Guardian

© Film Education 2003

1
 TASK
If you haven’t yet seen Bowling For Columbine what do the quotes on page 1 suggest
about the film’s purpose, techniques, narrative structure and mode of address?

Types of Documentary

TASK
Brainstorm all the documentaries you may have watched, from formatted television
programmes such as Tonight with Trevor MacDonald to individual films such as Bowling
For Columbine. Once you have done that, try to match them up in terms of their
similarities and differences. You should start observing that there are a wide variety of
documentary formats and styles.

Documentary Modes
The Scottish filmmaker John Grierson was first to use the term ‘documentary’ for a number of films,
which featured ‘real’ people and places. Robert Flaherty’s films Nanook of the North (the Inuit of
northern Canada), Moana (a Polynesian family) and Man of Aran (a fishing community off the west
coast of Ireland), all of which depicted marginal and fast disappearing cultures, are early examples
of the form. In a famous phrase Grierson defined documentary as the ‘creative treatment of
actuality’. While documentaries deal with different areas of ‘actuality’ or ‘real life’, their ‘creative
treatment’ of the subject matter has varied enormously.

Documentary filmmakers have developed a range of modes of shaping and presenting their
material. The table on page 3 shows some of the more common forms found in documentary films.
It is worth noting that television continues to develop new variants of non-fiction programmes - from
reality TV shows such as Big Brother to ‘docusoaps’ like Vets in Practice.

© Film Education 2003

2
Documentary Mode Key Features Examples

Expository The purpose is to inform and educate the audience Natural history
about a subject. Screened material can include programmes
original and archive footage. Camera and crew are
normally invisible to the audience. The material is
tightly scripted and often accompanied by a voice-
over narration – delivered either by an expert or an
actor. ‘The authority of narration is such that it
anchors the meaning of expository documentaries.’
(Kilborn and Izod)

Observational Since the 1960s lightweight film and, later, video Etre et Avoir
cameras have enabled filmmakers to record people
in their natural environment with a minimum of fuss.
This approach aims for a greater degree of
naturalness. Again, camera and crew take a back
seat.

Fly-on-the-wall An extension of the observational mode, fly-on-the- The Family

wall approaches aim to blend into the background
as the subjects go about their daily business.
Filming might continue over a considerable period
of time – six months, say. In a sense the aim is to
give the audience unmediated access to the world.

Interactive/Reflexive In this mode the filmmakers’ presence is fully Roger and Me,
acknowledged, even emphasised. By contrast with Biggie and Tupac
the above the filmmaker is both author and
character in his or her movie, often appearing in
shot and interacting with other people in the film or
television programme. The film might offer
surprises, play with conventions, and aim to
provoke reactions from subjects and audiences
alike. The filmmaker may or may not take sides if
there is conflict.

Poetic/avant garde In this instance the emphasis is on creativity as the Night Mail, Lido
filmmaker explores, for example, the beauty in the
everyday.

Drama documentary In the absence of archive material or access to Who Bombed

witnesses, the filmmaker might stage dramatic Birmingham?
reconstruction of events. Hillsborough

Mockumentary Fictional films which parody the forms and This is Spinal Tap,
conventions of documentary, often for humorous Best in Show,
effect. Blair Witch Project,
The Office

Personal These ‘films’ are often shot on video and generally Video Nation
feature the maker addressing the camera directly,
expounding or sharing his or her views with the
viewer.

© Film Education 2003

3
 TASK
It is rare for a documentary film to make use of only one mode. In Bowling For
Columbine, Moore employs a number of approaches. Indicate which ones you can
identify and discuss their likely purpose and what effects they create.

Documentary mode Sequence/scene Purpose and Effect

© Film Education 2003

4
 Point of View
‘Art is not a mirror that reflects the historical struggle, but a weapon of that struggle.’

Dziga Vertov

At first glance one can often assume that the functions of documentaries is to offer a fair, balanced
and neutral account of an issue or subject. They are dealing with ‘reality’, after all. However, arriving
at a consensus, particularly over controversial issues such as gun control is extremely difficult.

TASK
Watch the opening sequence of Bowling For Columbine up to and including the credits.

The film begins with archive footage of an NRA (National Rifle Association) advert
followed by shots of Americans going about their normal, everyday business on April 20,
1999.

● Are there any surprises? Are there uses of humour?

● How do the voice-over narration and accompanying music anchor the meaning of the
pictures?

● Why do you think Moore chooses to feature himself so prominently in the Michigan
bank scene? What is the effect?

● Do you detect a point of view and, if so, what is it?

© Film Education 2003

5
 Editing
‘Materials that might seem politically neutral can acquire ideological significance when the footage
is reedited expressively.’
Louis Gianetti

TASK
Watch the sequence that begins with the montage of sound bytes condemning Marilyn
Manson and finishes at the end of his interview (scene 7 on the DVD).

This sequence begins with the inter-cutting of comments from unnamed politicians and
members of the ‘religious right’ with an interview with the singer.

How is each side of the argument presented here? Consider, for example, the editing,
role of the voice-over commentary, and the relationship between Moore and Manson.

© Film Education 2003

6
Violence in the Media
‘I’m a poster boy for fear.’ Marilyn Manson

Immediately following the Columbine shootings many commentators were keen to explore the link
between screen violence and violence in society, particularly amongst children and teenagers.
Similar discussions took place in Britain following the murder of toddler Jamie Bulger by two young
boys in 1993. At the subsequent trial the judge speculated that the children’s access to violent
horror films might have been a factor in their murder of the toddler.

TASK
Consider the arguments in the film about the effects of violent films and their audience.
Which of the arguments do you find most plausible?

TASK
A number of the speakers suggest alternative causes for the amount of violence in
American society. A number of them are listed below. Give each of them a number in
terms of their order of importance. You may add one or two factors of your own should
you wish. Once you have completed the activity you ought to be prepared to give
reasons for your weightings.

Factor Weighting 1=high 10=low

Poverty

Parental neglect/abuse

Personality of individual

Social inequality

Peer pressure

Boredom

Media violence

Macho culture

Racism

Easy access to weapons

© Film Education 2003

7
 Bibliography
Branston, C and Stafford, R - The Media Student’s Book

Gianetti, L - Understanding Movies

Kilborn, R and Izod, J - An Introduction to Television Documentary

Dugdale, H - Stranger than Fiction: an Interview with Nick Broomfield in Media Magazine, issue 5

Rayner, P - Media Studies: the Essential Introduction

Filmography
If you enjoyed watching Bowling for Columbine and would like to watch other feature-length
documentaries try to see the following:

Roger and Me
Michael Moore attempts to catch up with Roger Smith, CEO of General Motors, to ask him why his
company has destroyed thousands of jobs by closing its manufacturing plant in Moore’s hometown
of Flint, Michigan.

Biggie and Tupac

British filmmaker Nick Broomfield tries to uncover the truth behind the shootings of the two rappers.

Kurt and Courtney

Broomfield investigates the circumstances surrounding the death of the Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain.
Is there something that his wife Courtney Love has to hide?

Etre et Avoir
In a direct contrast to the authorial style of Moore and Broomfield, Etre et Avoir, set in a rural school
in France, is a humane observational documentary which gives its young the starring roles.

In this World
Michael Winterton’s drama documentary reveals the plight of asylum seekers making a hazardous
journey to the UK.

© Film Education 2003

8
Extension Task
The widespread overreactions to children’s misbehaviour and the demonisation of the singer
Marilyn Manson in the immediate aftermath of the Columbine massacre seem to bear the hallmarks
of a ‘moral panic’. The term was coined by the sociologist Stanley Cohen in his study Folk Devils
and Moral Panics that examined media coverage of the mod and rocker ‘riots’ in the 1960s. Using
the diagram below as a template trace the process post-Columbine to see if it could usefully be
described as a moral panic.

THE ARCHETYPAL MORAL PANIC

An incident or problem occurs media reports

Problem confirmed concern grows

Authorities (parents, schools, police, further sensationalist media

politicians, courts) respond to crisis reports

In recent decades Britain has witnessed panics over dangerous dogs, alcopops, ecstasy and now,
arguably, asylum seekers.

© Film Education 2003

9
Written by Tom Brownlee

© Film Education 2003

images © 2002 MGM