Advanced Portfolio 3035 Centre 16607

1. THEORIES OF
DOCUMENTARIES
ADVANCED PORTFOLIO 3035 // SAMANTHA COHEN

2. ADVANCED PORTFOLIO 3035
DOCUMENTARIES
▸Documentaries are made in order to report something with
evidence and must be based on factual information and events.
▸There are different forms of evidence that can be used, through
interviews, observations, footage and events.
▸They tend to be quite hard hitting and reflect the issues that go on
within the time of the documentary being made/aired.
▸An example of a popular documentary series, which is also very
controversial is “Panorama”.

3. ADVANCED PORTFOLIO 3035
JOHN GRIERSON
▸Coined the term ‘documentary’ in 1926.
▸He created documentaries about war and housing problems. e.g. The
Night Mail (1936).
▸The purpose of his documentaries where to show people different ways
of life and to persuade audiences to feel a certain way.
▸He suggested there was a creative treatment of actuality/reality. Links to
tensions created a creative documentary and raised questions about the
truth and whether some documentaries where true or fixating the truth.
Some people argue that some documentaries make seem faked and that
it is almost impossible to get anything raw/100% true.

4. ADVANCED PORTFOLIO 3035
JOHN CORNER
▸University Professor at Liverpool Uni suggests that there are 5 central elements of a documentary:
▸Observation: A sense of observation is key and can be used as evidence. Can turn participations as objects
instead of a subject. Usually use the camera as an unseen piece placing audience as an eye witness.
▸Interview: Rely on interviews to either support of contrast observation. Interviewer can be seen or unseen and
pictures are used to enhance what they are talking about, anchoring the meaning. Can make the documentary
more interesting and adds more information to the subject of the documentary. Fragments of the interview are
used rather than a whole run of an interview.
▸Dramatisation: Observational element - used to create a sense of conflict and build up arguments. Audience
placed as an eyewitness.
▸Mise-en-scene: Used to construct the reality of the documentary. Sets the scene and important to make sure the
locations are relevant to the documentary. Includes set, props, costume, make-up, lighting and colour.
▸Exposition: This element reveals what argument is being explored/topic of documentary. Done through the
descriptions and commentary as well as narrative. Can be obvious, direct or indirect and hidden. Can leave the
audience to make own decisions of what they think. (STUART HALL)

5. ADVANCED PORTFOLIO 3035
STEVE BARNETT
▸Steve Barnett looked at the increasing want and need for
television to broadcast things that win ratings rather than serious,
informative documentaries.
▸Believed that documentaries have been ‘dumbed down’ for the
audience to want to watch and what they have become used to.
▸Can be seen about getting more ratings that educating the
audience on certain topics.
▸Disneyfiction theory.

6. ADVANCED PORTFOLIO 3035
BILL NICHOLS
▸Book - “Representing Reality”
▸Although he studied Documentary film, he noticed that the
pleasure and appeal of documentaries lie in the fact that it can
help us see timely issues that we need to bring attention to.
▸The views of the world and what we are shown on media
platforms is through the social issues and cultural values that can
be seen as current problems.
▸Suggests that documentaries reveal the issues of what is
happening at the time - zeitgeist.