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Understanding Documentary Film Basics

Documentaries are a distinct creative mode in film, focusing on real-life subjects and events rather than fictional narratives. They aim to provide both aesthetic experiences and inform audiences about significant social and cultural phenomena, often featuring nonactors. The filmmakers' intent is to enhance understanding and empathy towards their subjects through a process of extraction and arrangement of existing realities.

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Jully Ann Monte
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41 views1 page

Understanding Documentary Film Basics

Documentaries are a distinct creative mode in film, focusing on real-life subjects and events rather than fictional narratives. They aim to provide both aesthetic experiences and inform audiences about significant social and cultural phenomena, often featuring nonactors. The filmmakers' intent is to enhance understanding and empathy towards their subjects through a process of extraction and arrangement of existing realities.

Uploaded by

Jully Ann Monte
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

DOCUMENTARY enable us to live our lives a little more fully

and intelligently.
 is one of three basic creative modes in
film, the other two being narrative fiction the form of a film is the formative process,
and experimental avant-garde. including the filmmakers' original
 Narrative fiction we know as the feature- conception, the sights and sounds selected
length entertainment films we see in
for use, and the structures into which they
theaters on a Friday night or on our TV
are fitted. Documentaries, whether scripted
screens; they grow out of literary and
theatrical traditions. in advance or confined to recorded
 Experimental or avant-garde films are spontaneous action, are derived from and
usually shorts, shown in nontheatrical limited to actuality. Documentary
film societies or series on campuses and filmmakers confine themselves to extracting
in museums; usually they are the work of and arranging from what already exists
individual filmmakers and grow out of the rather than making up content.
tradition of the visual arts.
 One approach to the theory, technique, Production method and technique refer to
and history of the documentary film the ways images are shot the sounds
might be to describe what the films recorded, and the two edited togcther.
generally called documentaries have in One basic requirement of documentary is
common, and the ways in which they
the use of nonactors ("real people" who
differ from other types of film.
"play themselves") rather than actors (who
 Another possible approach would be to
consider how documentary filmmakers are cast, costumed, and made tip to play
define the kinds of films they make. Both "roles").
approaches will be followed in this
the audience experience documentary
chapter.
filmmakers seek to provide is generally
As for subjects--what they're about-- twofold: an aesthetic experience of some
documentaries focus on something other sort, on the one hand, and an effect on
than the general human condition involving attitudes, possibly leading to action, on the
individual human actions and relationships, other. Though much beauty exists in
the province of narrative fiction and drama. documentary films, it tends to be more
functionally sparse, and austere than the
beauties offered in fictional films.
The second aspect--purpose/point of
view/approach--is what the filmmakers are
trying to say about the subjects of their
film. They record social and cultural
phenomena they consider significant in
order to inform us about these people,
events, places, institutions, and problems.
In so doing, documentary filmmakers intend
to increase our understanding of, our
interest in, and perhaps our sympathy for
their subjects. They may hope that through
this means of informal education they will

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