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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.