What Makes A Documentary?

History of the Documentary

Within a documentary there are different tensions between documentaries as art or reportage. A good documentary is usually reportage but need elements of art to keep the audience interested. Some examples of this are archive footage, cutaway images, and a element of fiction to the documentary.

In 1926, it was stated that documentaries ‘are the creative treatment of actuality.’ And yet many filmmakers say that ‘all film is fake, as it is hard to capture something as it actually happened. – Everything we see is staged or reconstructed in some form.

 
Documentaries were defined in the 1930s by John Grierson. Grierson argued that the principles of documentary were that potentially cinema could observe life and be exploited in a new art form. One of his documentaries was ‘Night Mail’ 

What does a good documentary need?

A good documentary had an established audience so they have to be on at certain times to maintain this audience. A good documentary also needs to have balance in their argument. British documentaries usually oppose what the current government’s views are to be more controversial and keep the audience interested.

All documentaries have variations that make them different from each other in style. But all documentaries must have images and footage from live examples. They can’t just be about the facts and they also must invite the audience to draw their own conclusions and not dictate what their view is.

The five central elements that was said to be needed in a documentary are;

Observation. This is done through constructions, evidence, & unseen camera movements.

Interviews. The majority of interviews are does with a unseen camera where you only ever hear the interviewee speaking. There are two types of interviews: Uninterrupted and Interrupted.

Dramatization. Done by observationally dramatizing people and places.

Mise en scene. This can be done through exposition and to advance the argument.

Exposition. This is the line of argument. Can be done though the narrator and states what the documentary is trying to say. The exposition has to be clear at the end of the documentary.

It is critical that filmmakers be rid of the fantasy that the documentary can be an unproblematic representation of reality and the truth can be conveniently dispensed by value. - Dennis O'Rourke 

Statistics suggest that public interests in documentaries are usually about sex, violence, the vulnerable, law and order. There are complex relationships between viewers and those that make them. The documentaries themselves usually feature real people to expose others lives to the public. Filmmakers argue that people have the right to know what it going on in society and the world around them. And example of this is 'Cathy come Home' where public reaction to the film, caused a publicity campaign led by William Shearman and Ian Macleold highlighting the plight of the homeless, the charity Crisis was formed the following year in 1967. A good documentary causes a reaction from from its viewers.