- Factual is the over-arching term of non-fiction programming and filmmaking.
- There are many varied genres, devices and formats within factual filmmaking.
- Each has their own conventions (habits/cliches in style/format/delivery/convent/edit...)
- Fictional and factual programmes borrow from each other's style and treatment.
Elements in a documentary:
- Angle
- Commentary
- Archive photos
- Interview
- Characters
- Actuality Sequences
- Narrative
CONT
- All films - fictional and factual - are CONSTRUCTED to some degree i.e whether it's in the pre, production of post production stages - human intervention is unavoidable.
- So how do these interventions affect the treatment of 'reality' and 'truth'? (Representation)
- Different genres of factual programmes, in particular, documentary films, involve different degrees of intervention.
Truth and controversy
- In 2007 the BBC's reputation was seriously damaged by revelations of 'fakery'.- Competition winners, in particular, had been 'faked' (e.g Blue Peter and Radio 1)
- The BBC were eventually fined £400 000 by Ofcom.
- This led to more revelations and a complete review of the BBC's handling of competitions and factual programme-making.
Factual genres
Factual programmes can be divided into a number of genres:
- Current affairs
- News
- Documentaries
- Reality TV
- Factual Entertainment (aka 'Fact Ent')
- The lines are blurry(!)
Current affairs
Current affairs programmes take an in-depth look at the current issues of the time.
There are many types of current affairs programmes covering most topics covered in news:
- Investigate
- Consumer
- Political
- Health
- Social affairs
- Crime
- Business and Finance
Examples of current affairs programmes:
- BBC 1 - Panorama
- Channel 4 - Dispatches
- ITV - Tonight
Current affairs
- Current affairs programmes are often 'reporter led' and deal with weighty subjects with a harder news edge.- They have a less observational feel to them and are more obviously constructed.
- The journalism and the story is at the heart of these films, relying less on character and actuality.
- The freedom of speech and a free press is an essential part of a true democracy, then factual programmes - documentaries and current affairs in particular (with their 'reality shaping' capabilities) - are an important part of that democratic process.
Documentaries defines
Definition:- The term has evolved over the many years since the cinema began and covers many sub-genres.
- Loosely can be described as 'Artistic representation of actuality' (R. Flaherty quoted in Aufderheide, P., 2003.p.7)
- Their job is often to inform us about our world and even about ourselves, but also to entertain and hopefully to engage us.
Purpose of documentaries
Why do we make documentaries?
- Documentaries speak about or allow others to speak for themselves. The documentary filmmaker often acts as representative of the public.
- Voyeurism - inevitably documentaries have elements of voyeurism. A question often posed is whether a piece of film is 'in the public interest' in justifying the intrusion documentaries make into people's lives.
- Documentaries provide a particular view, interpretation or understanding of the evidence which they put before us.
Documentary genres & hybrids
There are many types of documentary programmes:
- Poetic - 1920's development reacting against early fiction films. Using montage juxtaposition to create meaning e.g.
- Expository - Conveys meaning directly to viewer (strongly takes particular view point) e.g used in science and nature.
- Educational - e.g history, science etc.
- Observational - (Minimal intervention), realism 'real people in undirected situations'.
- Reflexive documentaries - 'fly in the ointment documentaries' expose construction and urge us to question the content and develop critical understanding (empowering audience).
- Participatory - (acknowledge intervention/involve filmmaker) - "The filmmaker steps out from behind the... Commentary and away from... His perch... And becomes a social actor... [retaining control of the ]... camera".
- Performative - hypothesising subject matter through experimental interpretations, highly personal.
Hybrid forms & evolving new forms
- Drama-doc - entirely dramatised.
- Docu-soap - emerged in yje 1990's.
- Reality TV - similarly emerged in 1990's, often CCTV like footage 'unadulterated' observation.
- Fact-ent - (factual entertainment), can include many of the styles mentioned: docu-drama, reality TV etc.
- Structured/scripted reality - late 1990's onwards.
- Multi-camera observational - take on the fly-on the wall techniques with new technology to 'observe' from afar.
- Bill Nichols "- applied study methods/taxonomy of film and media studies to documentary study.
Factual formats
There are many formats available for factual programming. These include:- Multi-camera observational.
- Presenter/reporter.
- Magazine.
- Authored.
- Discussion/debate, either in a studio or on location.
Conventions
- Style - shooting and editing - different factual genres utilise different conventions in terms of style.- Structure - varied according to style and content.
- Format - varied factual formats e.g studio discussion panel show a la Question Time.
- Shots - e.g hand held 'wobbly cam' shots accepted norm adding to 'realism'.
- Commentary - in late 1960's comm-free or minimal comm in vogue, allow viewers to impose own views on material shown.
Cont
- Narrator/Presenter/Reporter e.g dignified male 'voice of authority'. In vision/out of vision 'voice of god'.
- Music e/g classical music, "serious" film.
- Experts, used to add 'intellectual weight' and authority to a film and its arguments.
- Conventions are often subject of satire, exposing the established methods by which stories are told but possibly also limited.
Factual devices
- Particular types of factual programme rely on particular storytelling devices.
- These various formats become established methods available to makers of factual programmes.
- For example, engineering 'tension' is a common technique. By bringing together, through careful casting, opposites a film gains tension. This allows light and shade to come through the film.
Funding & truth
- How and by whom factual films are funded has an important impact upon their style, content and their viewpoint.
- Truth, just like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Who pays the bills will have an important impact upon who a film casts as villain or hero.
- Documentaries have been used for purposes of propaganda.
- Consider, the impact of sponsorship and advertising; pay per view channels.
- Is a public service model essential to the preservation of impartial factual programming.
- Consider the Michael Moore film 'Bowling for Columbine' and consider how truthful it is and Moore's own role in his film.
Purpose of factual programmes
Documentaries serve many and varied purposes, but there are some common themes:
- Revelation - revealing to us something new e.g a particular argument sometimes with the power to influence or change the status quo.
- Entertainment - whether documentaries make us laugh, cry or shout, they still need to entertain and engage us in some way.
- Storytelling - portrayal of 'real' life, portray and convey this as accurately as possible.
- Style and content - varied styles used but style should never be relied on over content, it's always content over style.
'Dreams of a Life' (2011)
- Directed by award-winning filmmaker Carol Morley, 'Dreams of a Life' unravels the story of Joyce Vincent whose body was discovered after nearly three years in her flat above a shopping mall in London. Her remains were surrounded by the Christmas gifts that she had been wrapping and with the television still on playing to its deceased audience of one...- Inspired by news reports into the grim discovery, Morley tracked down those who knew Joyce and examines how this happened, who she was and throws light on a very 21st century tragedy.
//All images from Google.com\\
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