Abstract:

The generally accepted definition for a documentary is ‘the creative treatment of actuality’ (Grierson, 1933, p. 8). Documentary scholars have rigorously discussed and dissected, the meaning that Grierson may have intended for this phrase, (Corner, 1996; Higson, 1995; Montagu, 1964; Winston, 1995). While the terms ‘treatment’ and ‘actuality’ have been debated and defined, interpretations of creativity that cite psychological and socio-cultural creativity research (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Sawyer, 2006; Sternberg, 1988, 1999) do not appear in the literature to date. My PhD research on video and online documentary practice made me increasingly aware of this knowledge gap in the theories about creativity. Of particular concern were the assumptions about film-making creativity that are embedded in language, terminology and definitions that academics and film-making practitioners use to explain film-making creativity and creative processes. Many of them seem not to be aware of the latest research into creativity. Using a practitioner-led research methodology, Practitioner Based Enquiry (Murray, 2000), this paper will examine some elements of my Fort Scratchley documentary film-making research and these reflective accounts will be discussed in relation to three relatively recent theoretical perspectives of creativity all of which come from the creativity research literature. Firstly the documentary production process will be examined using a staged creative process (Bastick, 1982; Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Wallas, 1976). The second theoretical model to be ‘tested-out’ is the systems model of creativity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1999) which presents an holistic view of the creative system at work. The final theory presented will examine ‘group creativity’ which accounts for collaborative group work (Paulus, 2003). The conclusion will discuss the appropriateness of each of these creativity theories to documentary film-making practice.

Bio:

Susan Kerrigan is an academic and a practitioner based researcher in film and video production with the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Susan has been employed at the University of Newcastle as an academic since 2003 and is also in the final phase of her PhD in Communication and Media Arts. The PhD comprised two documentary creative works about the Fort Scratchley site, one is a 50 minute video/DVD, the other is an online database (www.fortscratchley.org).  Susan’s professional television experience was with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1987-2003) where she worked across a variety of film, video, multi-camera studio and multiple camera field productions.