American Cinematographer - January 1993 - 24

by Albert Maysles
Three centuries ago, Sir Francis Bacon
wrote what at heart is this documentarian's

confusion, without

Here are some moments from our commer¬
cials that demonstrate the power and po¬
tential of real life - the spontaneous, the

imposture, is in itself a no¬
a whole harvest of inven¬

real, the believable:
In one spot, a passenger just

creed: "The contemplation
are,

without

substitution
bler thing
tions."

error or

or

than

we've captured unbeatable reality.

camera,

of things as they

getting off a United Airline flight testifies,
novelist "I drive a Cadillac, I ride... uh, I fly United."
In another, a dog accidentally
Tolstoy, before ever seeing a movie but
knocks
over
a bowl of dog food and follows
having viewed footage of himself sitting on
it down the stairs to
his porch, foresaw
continue eating.
the potential of the
".
documentary
A :60 spot de¬
art when he said, "It
is no longer neces¬
pays homage to
signed to encour¬
age teachers to go
sary to invent sto¬
and respects
into the profession
ries
just go
shows a school
about filming ordi¬
reality. It puts one
teacher, tears form¬
nary people in their
person in touch
ing in her eyes, re¬
day-to-day life."
And more re¬
lating how the les¬
with another. ."
sons she gave a stu¬
cently, Andre Gide,
oddly enough for an avowed atheist, pro¬ dent paid off when, years later at his gradu¬
ation from medical school, he told her how
claimed, "Every work of art is a collabora¬
she had inspired him.
tion of the artist with God in which the art¬
At a gas station, we filmed a
ist lets God do most of the work." As a re¬
mechanic
going about his business repair¬
ligiously committed documentarian, I would
in both instances substitute the word "re¬
ing cars and dealing with customers, sup¬
ality" for God and submit that reality is plying the viewer with ample reason to
God's way of remaining anonymous.
think, "If only I could find such a professional
to work on my car." Not until the end of the
These quotes may sound all too
serious as a way of introducing my perspec¬
spot, without a word of narration to help
him along, does the viewer discover that the
tive on the use of documentary techniques
mechanic uses Champion spark plugs. The
in commercial making. But documentary is
spot is not just people telling you they like
my way of life as well as my way of mak¬
ing films, and with but one life to live, I take a product - it shows the viewer why.
Years ago, we made commer¬
both seriously. I recognize that these words
cials for Excedrin that stood in sharp con¬
may fall upon the deaf ears of advertising
people, whose credo is often artifice. How¬ trast to the kind that make one cringe: an
actor forcing a pained look, followed by the
ever, there have always been agency
people, many at the top, who recognize equally unbelievable forced pleasure of re¬
what true documentarians realize firsthand
lief, interspersed with cosmetically clean
visuals and a narrator's attempt to prove
that there is nothing more interesting
(and persuasive) than real life. For 30 years,
product efficacy. That approach fails mis¬
Maysles Films, Inc. has maintained a firm erably. We found people who, by the nature
of their stressful work, were understandably
niche by making reality commercials in an
In 1906, the great

..

iife

-

.

-

ever-evolving way that has become synony¬
mous

with

our

Often

22

January 1993

on

the

run

with

in need of using a

a

handheld

TV

headache remedy-like

producer under an impossible
deadline. We spent a day filming the pro-

a

company name.

news
American Cinematographer - January 1993

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