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Documentary Theorists

John Corner

John Corner is a visiting professor at the University of Leeds and

specialises in Communication Studies. Corner has done extensive research

in the aspects of documentaries and has devised a few theories of his

own. He was quoted saying "What

distinguishes a documentary is the portrayal

of sound and images of actuality this gives

us an idea of the importance of !eeping the

sense of realism and verisimilitude within the

documentary in order to otain the

appearance of truth and ma!e the viewer

elieve the information that is eing given to

them. #here are many di$erent types of

documentaries which are political historical

social cultural and religious issues ut Corner states that they have to e

ased on facts ut unfortunately real evidence is not always availale so

we have to resort to reconstructions of previous events to demonstrate

what happened in that moment in time.

Corner elieved that there are % core elements in a documentary that

have to e included these include&

Observation

'ost programming involves oservation on the su(ect this is especiallyevident in documentaries. #his technique is done y using )*y on the wall+

type method y placing the camera as if it is unseen y the actors and

the audience is allowed to view it as if they are there themselves almost

li!e ,-. #his is an important aspect of documentaries as it again re/

enforces the verisimilitude as the viewer0s elieve that the camera cannot

e seen.

Interview

1nterviews are a fundamental part of documentaries this is due to the fact

that the documentary relies on an interview to support the overall su(ector statement and it provides the sense of actuality to the viewer as

interviews give an opinion ased theme rather than (ust facts. 2ith

interviews the 3lmma!er has an option to play the whole thing or split it

apart which is !ey to delivering the sense of verisimilitude as it ac!s up

the statement of the documentary.

Dramatisation

4ramatisation in a documentary is a su(ect that the 3lmma!er has to e

very careful of. #his allows 3lmma!ers to )amplify+ a certain emotion in a

scene for an e$ect e.g. if there was a program aout 2211 then they

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may amplify the emotion of sadness when showing shots of a attle3eld

y using sad music dar! lighting etc. to physically ma!e the audience feel

a certain emotion aout that topic. 4ramatisation can also e used to re/

illustrate a point that is eing made y re/enacting a story or other

methods to provide the audience with a visual pro(ection of what is eing

said. 4ramatisation can e a useful tool in the creation of a documentary

however if it is overdone it can lose its sense of the reality of the program

and may result in the audience not elieving what is eing said to them.

Mise En Scene

'ise en scene plays an important role in any 3lm production including

documentaries. 1t provides the 5 core elements in a 3lm which is lighting

props composition facial expressions location and costume. #his literally

sets the scene for the program gives the audience the visual imagery tohave a clear understanding of what is happening in the shot which would

also relate to the overall topic of the program. 'ise en scene is also

powerfully done in interviews y using certain settings to re*ect the

personality of the interviewee i.e. if they interview a scientist the

3lmma!er will speci3cally as! them to wear a la coat and record the

interview in a la to re/enforce the characters (o title and create the

verisimilitude in the scene. #here are limitless possiilities that can e

created through the use of mise en scene.

Exposition#his is the part of the documentary that explores the argument6su(ect of

the program. 1t gives an arguale deate while display all the facts and

information in an uniased form. #o create this setting it0s often done

through interviews or vox pops providing the opinion of oth sides to the

deate and allows the audience to decide which one they elieve is

correct. 1t+s through exposition that 3lmma!ers can fairly present the

information aout the su(ect and provide an uniased view to the topic.

Link to group work

Corners theories and research are very ene3cial for our wor!. 2ith the %core elements that he has produced it gives us a guideline on how to

produce our documentary. #he main topic that 1 elieve Corner states is

the sense of realism in a documentary and its importance. He explains

that without that sense of actuality it ecomes increasing di7cult for

viewers to elieve the information that is eing told to them regardless if

it0s true or not. 1t0s very important for us to separate the stereotypes of

media to e ale to provide information that can e immediately

portrayed as factual for example using interviews with professionals it

gives the viewers the reassurance that what they are eing told is true

ecause it+s coming from a professional in that 3eld who has conducted

extensive research. #his can also e done y re/enacting a certain part of

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the information that the presenter6narrator is saying y using

dramatisation. 8lthough with the technique it is again important that the

sense of actuality is still !ept in the visual display to ensure that again the

viewer0s elieve what they are eing told.

Steven 9arnett

Steven 9arnett is a professor of Communications at the University of

2estminster who specialises in 'edia and arts and design. 9arnett has

focused on a theory called 4isney3cation which loo!s into the idea that

the media is )duming down0 the information that they provide to ma!e it

more entertaining and en(oyale to view for the audience. )#he need for

televisions to roadcast things that are right and spar!ly to please

audiences instead of roadcasting facts and challenging ideas 6 exposing

the truth. #his is duming down the # to please the audience0 / Steve

9arnett this process in 9arnett0s eyes is destroying the core message of

program and adapting them so that viewers are more easily entertained

to they otain more views this has also een re*ected into

documentaries in which they are adapting them or perhaps changing to

topics from important su(ects such as environmental erosion history on

wars wildlife etc. for less important ut more entertaining topics li!e the

life of a gypsy supersi:e vs super s!inny etc. y adding the

)disney3cation0 to the documentaries its in a way removing the core

information that is needed in a documentary and providing more of an

entertainment side to it.

9arnett elieves that for most documentaries ;not all< that have gonethrough the process of 4isney3cation have the following layout&

8 traditional narrative / eginning middle and end.

8 focus on a strong con*ict.

'usic.

#he eginning is important ecause&

1t poses a central question.

Consists of interview cut into con*ict.

#he middle is important ecause&

#he plot egins to get more complicated.

9egins to examine the issue focusing on the people and their

opinions.

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#he con*icts egin to get stronger and potentially

another argument can e made.

#he end is important ecause&

#he exposition should e made fully apparent.

8ll complications should e resolved leaving the audience in no

dout.

Link to roup !ork

Steven 9arnett+s of 4isney3cation is a su(ect that we should e aware of

during the creation of our documentary. #he idea that documentaries are

turning into a more entertaining and comical to attract a larger audience

is not necessarily a ad thing we (ust have to ensure that the documentdoesn0t lose its core element of providing the information of the main

su(ect in a proper and memorale manner. 2e elieve that the su(ect of

4isney3cation should not e used on topics that are sensitive or upsetting

as this pro(ects the image that the sensitive topic is comical which could

o$end viewers.