Documentary Notes

 As part of my A2 Media Studies course, I will be producing a short documentary film. I began by researching documentaries, creating a list of various things associated with documentaries such as features of a documentary, different types of documentaries and the impact of documentaries on the public to give myself a list of informatoin to refer back to throughout my project. These initial notes can be seen here.

• The purpose of a documentary is to document an event - this must be done with evidence, to make it a  reliable and believable information source.
• Actual footage can be used in documentaries, as well as reconstructions.

• The definition of a documentary is problematic. 
• Even when a documentary claims to be 'real', you must question it - they can be influenced by bias, for example.
• They can cover numerous amounts of documented events. 
• "What distinguishes a documentary is the portrayal of the recorded sounds and images of actuality" - John Corner, 1995.
• Some documentaries are partly staged.
• It is important to realise that even in a documentary, a high level of construction takes place. 
• A documentary does not have to be an analysis, it can be left open for the interpretation of the viewer. 

John Grierson (1898-1972), a pioneering figure in documentaries.

•  'Documentary' was defined in the 1930's by John Grierson and his team GPO (General Post Office). The definition was that a documentary was "the creative treatment of actuality". 
• John Grierson first coined the term documentary in 1926.
• Initially, documentaries were produced for cinema, as television was not invented or at least not as available as it is in the modern day.
• Documentaries were used to boost morale in war times.
• Normally, they would have government invested interest.
• The scheduling of a documentary is important, and the positioning of a documentary is tricky. What is shown on directly before and after the documentary on TV is important. 
• Some documentaries are emotional and command bias in viewers. Others provide a balanced point of view, leaving the viewer to decide.
• The more creative a documentary becomes, the more fictional it becomes.
• It is impossible to capture all events in their raw state, some elements must be faked.
• "Truth is what you actually come away with at the end of a film... everybody who makes a film is putting their own truth on the screen" - Diane Tammes, film maker. 
• People debate over 'true' documentaries, as they are so influenced by creative involvement.

• There are now a range of sub genres of documentaries.
• All documentaries need recorded images, sound, and actual reality - not just facts, arguments too.
• 'Currant affairs' programmes are halfway between a documentary and the news - usually around 30 minutes in length.

Panorama is the BBC's flagship currant affairs programme, focusing on recent, up to date issues.

• According to John Corner, five central elements of documentaries are: observation, mise en scéne, interviews, exposition and dramatisation. 
• Observation: most documentaries contain some observation; usually the programme makers pretend the camera is unseen or ignored by people in the event - uses eyewitnesses. 

Interviews are a key factor of almost any documentary.

• Interview: can contrast with observations. Pictures are often dubbed over the top of interviews for relevance. They can be used in two ways: a full flowing interview, or by placing the interview in between segments of observation.

The views of the public are often considered for documentaries in order to create more fair and balanced arguments and observations.

• 'Vox Populi' - the voice of the people.

A reconstruction of the Hillsbrough stadium disaster (1989) in a documentary. Reconstructions bring the audience closer to the action and give them a more realistic view.

• Dramatisation: all documentaries use a sense of this. The audience is an eyewitness to the dramatic events. The drama appears to take place naturally in front of the camera - sometimes takes place in the form of reconstruction, this must be based on facts.
• Mise en scéne: documentary makers carefully consider mise en scené, ensuring that this allows the drama to unfold. Mise en scéne is also used to advance the argument of exposition. 

Mise en scené involves relevent backgrounds to interviews - here, Simpsons creator Matt Groening can be seen being interviewed with a Simpsons image in the background.

• Exposition: this is the line of argument. It is made up of description combined with commentary. It is about what the documentary is trying to say. Can be plain or direct, indirect or hidden. A narrator may tell the audience what to think. 
• Currant affairs programmes have shorter deadlines, as they have to be produced quickly so that they are not out of date.
• Generally, documentaries take many months to make.
• Currant affairs programmes provide 'info-tainment'.
• The public's right to know is the main reason for documentaries.   
• Documentaries have also resulted in the change of laws and legislations - this was the case for Ken Loach's documentary 'Cathy Come Home' (BBC, 1966), which resulted in improved conditions for the homeless.

'Cathy Come Home' improved conditions for the homeless.

• Documentary creators rarely question the deeper organisation and the fairness of society.
• "It is critical that film makers be rid of the fantasy that the documentary can be unproblematic representation of reality and truth can be conveniently dispensed and received like Valium." - Dennis O'Rourke.

Dennis O'Rourke, a famous Australian documentary filmmaker.

• Ideas of truth and reality can be conflicting at times, sometimes they can attract counter claims of lies. Corner believes that evidence rather than truth would help this.
• Truth and reality can be conflicting.
• Sometimes only one side of a story is displayed in a documentary.
• The documentary represents the transformed world.
• Documentaries are the first programmes to be cut if commercial channels find money tight.
• Documentaries that are ratings winners would include the issues of sex, law and order, and violence. 
• Documentaries are controversial and are not popular with television networks as they may offend advertisers. 
• A documentary is a three way process; 1 - the people the documentary is aimed at, 2 - the people in the documentary, and 3 - the reaction of the audience after viewing the documentary.
• Documentaries are often about society's victims.
• Documentaries can use humans as evidence in the expositions - Big Brother can be loosely connected to this type of documentary.

'Big Brother' is a loose example of how a documentary can focus on the behaviour of humans.

• There are a number of different types of documentary: 
• Fully narrated documentaries have a voice-over that conveys the exposition - this is often known as the 'voice of God', as the narrator is parallel to the canon of the documentary, they are all-knowing and unseen, and usually have a very official tone.
• 'Fly on the wall' documentaries are cinéma vérité with no commentary. The cameras are often left to record action, and the editing creates meaning for the audience. 

'Fly on the wall' documentaries often watch events without any interuption from the crew, for example in this image nobody is being interviewed and most players are not looking at the camera, as if they are unaware of it.

• Mixed documentaries (this is what I will be producing) contrast to arguments with observation, narrative and interviews. They include narration from inside the scene. Represents objective reality and not just selective construction. It is self reflexive as you see the journalist, and draws attention to the film maker.       
• Docu-dramas often consist of a re-enactment of events, such as the Hillsborough disaster. They are based on actual facts, but look like fiction. Critics have stated that they "claim to represent the truth but can only ever hope to deliver fiction". They are based on facts, which makes them believable.  
• Docu-soaps follow the lives of people, watching stories unfold. There is a dispute to whether they are actually documentaries as they don't explore a topic, they merely eavesdrop on it. They originate from the UK and are popular with channels as they are quick and cheap to make; a cast does not have to be paid and no studio is needed, as well as only a small crew being required. 
• Steve Barnett devised a theory which focuses on the 'watering down' of the documentary genre. The quality of the information is dumbed down for a wider audience and the documentaries are made to look nice at the sacrifice of information. 
• The narrative of a documentary is very important. They must have a clear beginning, middle and end: the beginning must be the central questioning, the middle must cover the exposition, and the end must make everything fully apparent and resolve everything. 
• Music and editing are important in documentaries. 
• Trust is also important in making a documentary - the subject, crew, interviewers, and interviewees must be trusted to have knowledge on the subject.
• Various interviewing techniques are important in documentaries.
• Cutaways are also important in keeping the documentary interesting, varying between archive footage.