Theory of a Documentary

1. THEORY OF A
DOCUMENTARY
Erin Miller

2. THE AIM OF A DOCUMENTARY
The 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
“What distinguishes a
documentary is the
portrayal of sound and
images of actuality” –
John Corner 1995

3. THE HISTORY OF DOCUMENTARIES
oThe 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’.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. THE FIVE ELEMENTS OF
DOCUMENTARY
John 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

8. 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.

9. DRAMATISATION, MISE-EN-SCENE
AND EXPOSITION
o 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. TYPES OF DOCUMENTARY
Fully Narrated
In 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 Wall
This 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.

13. TYPES OF DOCUMENTARIES
Mixed
This 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 Reflective
This 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

14. TYPES OF DOCUMENTARY
Docudrama
This 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.
Docusoaps
This 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.

15. DISNEYFICTION
Steven Barnett’s Theory
Steven 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.

16. 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.
Beginning
At 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.
Middle
At 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.
End
At the end of the documentary they will expose the exposition and
resolve any complications for the audience.

17. DOCUMENTARY CONVENTIONS
Conflict
Conflict 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 Construction
This 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.
Conclusion
To 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