Procedures of Errol Morris

Standard Operating Procedure is a documentary that captures the worst in the people who are meant to be on the side of good. The documentary follows the vile atrocious acts that occurred at the Abu Ghraib prison, committed by the soldiers and guards. What the film exposes is the absurd truth of what the military has the right to do, under the guidance of some acts being simple determined Standard Operating Procedures. This film was my introduction to the works Errol Morris, an award-winning documentary maker. When looking into Morris’s films, there is definitely a recurring ideology and approach that Morris takes, making him unique in his field of craft.

Morris takes the Expository stylistic approach to the documentaries he creates. Expository documentaries are defined by their nature to showcase information in a linear footage, with an end goal of portraying an accurate representation of reality. The style encourages the audiences to be taken on a through the film by either interviews or narration, that help create a sense of chronological order to the events that are unfolding. Another key element of the style is the use of visuals serving the commentary, not matter how abstract. (Grant & Sloniowski, 1998), This is the idea of the ‘Voice of God’ that details Errol Morris develops his works directly through this framework. Using standard operating procedure, for example, their series of events are communicated to the audience through a series of different interviews. Not only does this help create a timeline for the viewers, the multiple interviews help showcase the reality of the horrors that took place. Also, Morris includes various abstract visualisations within his documentary to help emphasise key points in the game. The most of Morris’s stylistic choices help to serve his idea of truth.

Before his directing career, Errol Morris worked as a private eye. This work in the detective field has translated fluently into documentary making and his pursuit for the truth. Morris believes that there is always a truth, which is not subjective, and it is allusive, but it is there to be discovered. Another one of Morris’s famous works is the film The Thin Blue Line, which seeks to uncover the truth about a man accused of murder and rape. Because of Morris’s search, the man was freed from prison, the truth was found. His obsession with finding the truth and his history in detective work really lend themselves to the expository style of documentary. Though what helps this idea of truth is the interview technique that Morris uses. Morris has his subjects for the interview, talk directly into the camera lens. This is the Interrotron method, where the subject is actually looking at a screen that is streaming Errol Morris asking the questions in real time, while a camera is set up behind the screen. This, of course, gives the interview a real sense of interrogation, that these and in an interrogation, the truth is often revealed.

Here is a short film directed by Morris, where you can observe the interview style.

Errol Morris creates his documentaries under the guise of searching for truth. Standard Operating Procedure is just another truth brought to light through the directorial style of Errol Morris. His utilisation of the expository style allows for us to go through a journey to uncover what is the truth of a subject. Using his history as a private eye, Morris conducts his interviews and the approach to his documentaries with the conviction to uncover whatever hidden truth there is to the story. This is something that makes his work so unique and powerful.

References

Morris, E. (2002). 2002 Oscars.

Morris, E. (1989). The Thin Blue Line.

Morris, E. (2008). Standard Operating Procedure.

Pavlus, J. (2016). Errol Morris’s Secret Weapon for Unsettling Interviews: The Interrotron. Co.Design. Retrieved 27 June 2017, from https://www.fastcodesign.com/1663105/errol-morriss-secret-weapon-for-unsettling-interviews-the-interrotron

Rosenbaum, R. (2012). Errol Morris: The Thinking Man’s Detective. Smithsonian. Retrieved 27 June 2017, from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/errol-morris-the-thinking-mans-detective-99424163/?device=other&page=1

Expository Mode. (2017). Documentary. Retrieved 27 June 2017, from https://epowdocumentary.wordpress.com/documentary-modes/expository-mode/

Grant, B. K., & Sloniowski, J. (Eds.). (1998). Documenting the documentary: close readings of documentary film and video. Wayne State University Press.

There Is Such a Thing as Truth. (2005). NPR.org. Retrieved 27 June 2017, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4620511