THEORY OF A DOCUMENTARY

Erin Miller

THE AIM OF A DOCUMENTARYThe main purpose of a documentary is to report to the audience something that is real. Documentaries are made up of real life footage showing situations that have actually taken place or they make reconstructions to show to the audience what it would look like. They also include narrators to anchor meaning, however the narrator is rarely seen.

Documentaries can be based on many different things. These are things such as politics, history, society, culture and religion. All documentaries have a purpose or a ‘moral to the story’. In some documentaries the evidence that should be included is unavailable which then means reconstructions have to be made. These are on things such as crime or history. The reconstructions are made for the audience to have a strong understanding. An example of a documentary involving reconstruction would be ‘The True Story of Madeline McCann’. This documentary creates a reconstruction of what research thinks

“What distinguishes a documentary is the portrayal of sound and images of actuality” –John Corner 1995

THE HISTORY OF DOCUMENTARIESoThe documentary genre was developed by John Grierson and his team in the 1930’s. His team worked at the General Post Office.

oHe believes that the ‘original’ actor and the ‘original’ counter parts are the best guidelines for reconstructions and making the documentary realistic to the audience.

oAfter he carried out this research he created documentaries such as ‘Coal Face’ and ‘Housing Problems’.

JOHN GRIERSON

o In 1926 John Grierson came up with the term ‘documentary’. He said it stands for ‘The creativity of actuality’

o He shot real people in real situations in real environments.

o Old style documentaries had a sense of persuasion involved. This was deemed as bias because it was not focusing on the facts. This was what John Grierson was mainly involved with, the facts.

o There are a lot of arguments that are concerned with creativity of documentaries. A lot of people believe it should be factual because that is the purpose of a documentary.

FILM MAKERS

o Film makers agree that reconstructions are going to have to happen. This is because things can not be captured as soon as they happen. Again an example of this would be the Madeline McCann documentary showing the reconstructions.

o They also argue that when people are filmed from a realistic point of view, it is no longer reality because people change when they are put in front of a camera.

o ‘I think that the truth is actually what you come away with at the end of seeing a film. I mean its you’re truth that you’re seeing. Everybody who makes film is putting their own truth on screen’ – Diane Tammes.

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Peter Mayeux said that; Documentaries present facts about a subject using real events, people, places and then creatively interpret all comments on those realities and peoples concerns’.

o Some analysts argue that the word documentary should be changed to ‘non-fiction programming’, because of creative development over the years.

o People argue about what they ‘think’ a documentary should contain. However most common thoughts are- Recorded Sound; real experiences or reality.- Not just facts, but some arguments so that the audience draw their

own conclusion.

THE FIVE ELEMENTS OF DOCUMENTARYJohn Corner, a professor at The University of Liverpool, believed that there are 5 central elements to documentaries.

1. Observation

2. Interview

3. Dramatisation

4. Mise-en-scene

5. Exposition

OBSERVATION AND INTERVIEWS

o Most documentaries include observations. This is usually done by placing the camera as if it is unseen so that the audience can become a part of what is seen. This is like they are looking at things from their point of view.

o All documentaries include interviews. This is because a documentary relies on interviews to support or contrast the over all topic of the documentary. The film maker has the option to let the interview run in one piece or cut parts out. This is a key part of the interview because it is putting out a message to the target audience.

DRAMATISATION, MISE-EN-SCENE AND EXPOSITIONo Dramatisation – A documentary maker will do this through observation. It is used to build arguments and create conflict.

o Mise-en-scene- This is important in a documentary. This is used to make the documentary seen more realistic for the audience. Mise-en-scene includes; set, props, costume, lighting, make-up and colour

o Exposition – This is the part of the documentary that explores the theme of the documentary. This can be done in many different ways such as in interviews or in a commentary. This can be approached in many different ways.

TRUTH AND REALITY

‘ It is critical that film makers be rid of the fantasy that the documentary can be an unproblematic representation of reality and that the ‘truth’ can be conveniently dispensed and revealed like valium’ – Dennis O’rourke.

o This is an important argument in the world of documentaries. It is unknown of how much of the ‘truth’ is actually the truth. John Corner says this is why facts or evidence is key when talking about the truth.

o The most popular documentaries are the ones that focus on sex, violence, drugs, gangs and law and order.

PEOPLES RIGHT TO KNOW

o Peoples right to know is really important as it can change the way the world see people and the current laws against people and things.

o A lot of documentaries are around peoples right to know. An example of this would be making a documentary based on something that the government are not telling the truth about. The subject of documentary that we have decided is not based around peoples right to know. It is based around opinions and morals.

TYPES OF DOCUMENTARY

Fully NarratedIn this style of documentary direct mode of address is used to explain to the audience what is happening on the screen. This is done through the use of voice overs. This is usually found on documentaries that are about things like animals. This however is the type of documentary we are going to be doing. This means we will be involved in the documentary and talking the whole way throughout it.

Fly On The WallThis style of documentary relies on observations. This allows the audience to perceive the documentary in their own way. In these documentaries there is little/no narration to allow this perception. This style is commonly used in Police and A&E documentaries. We will not be using this type of documentary as we want to be more involved throughout the whole thing.

TYPES OF DOCUMENTARIES

MixedThis style of documentary uses a wide range of documentary techniques to produce a detailed and informing documentary. They use a combination of interviews, observations and narration to develop the documentaries narrative. This style is used in documentaries about music and film. We will be using some parts of this in our documentary because we want interviews with different people.

Self ReflectiveThis style of documentary acknowledges the camera and the talking/narrating on the screen. Some say it takes the focus away from the issue and makes it more about the star presenting. We again want to use parts of this on our documentary. We want someone to be in the documentary to get involved with different groups of people.

TYPES OF DOCUMENTARY

DocudramaThis style of documentary uses facts to create a fictional narrative, made up of re-enactments. These type of documentaries are some of the most popular as they usually talk about major events that have happened. An example of this is The Death of JFK, amongst many others. This is deemed as a dangerous style as it can be misleading. This is not a style that we are interested in because our topic is not that serious.

DocusoapsThis style of documentary is one of the most popular styles on the TV in the past 10 years. This is because they tend to follow the daily lives of celebrities. This style came from the UK with documentaries such as; Katie Price, Airline and Peter Andre. Another reason they are popular with TV producers is because they are low cost, as no actors are hired. We are not using this as our documentary is not about a celebrity.

DISNEYFICTION

Steven Barnett’s TheorySteven Barnett has a theory about television and its need to broadcast things that get ratings, rather than serious documentaries that inform and teach the public of major events in history. He believes that documentaries have been ‘dumbed down’ for audiences since this is what people have become used to. There are claims that this shows television being ‘cheap; and being more concerned about getting ratings rather than portraying a serious matter.

This may be something that our documentary comes into. Beauty is a popular subject at the moment and it is what a lot of people invest their time and money into. Rather than picking a serious matter we have chosen a popular topic.

DOCUMENTARY CONVENTIONS

All documentaries follow narrative conventions. This is important as each documentary focuses on a beginning, middle and end. They have a strong focus on conflict and uses music and sound effects to make it seem more interesting.

BeginningAt the start they will pose a question to the audience and start to look at some interviews and footage to build conflict about that question.

MiddleAt this point they will look in detail at both sides of the argument and look at different opinions about the subject; building a stronger argument.

EndAt the end of the documentary they will expose the exposition and resolve any complications for the audience.

DOCUMENTARY CONVENTIONS

ConflictConflict is important in any documentary as it will build the argument and poses different questions to the audience. Conflict in documentaries should be shown through reconstructions and interviews.

Selection and ConstructionThis is a vital part in making a documentary because you have to think of every part of the documentary that you want to develop. From the topic to; who, what, why, where, and how you are going to do it. You also must look at the cost and time it is going to take you to build this documentary.

ConclusionTo develop a documentary to a high standard, the planning has to be in a high amount of detail and when planning you must have a depth knowledge of your chosen topic and know what content you want to shoot.