John Grierson coined the term "documentary" in 1936 to describe films that document real people and events. A documentary uses actual footage or narration to reconstruct and present factual information about social issues and invite audiences to draw their own conclusions. Central to the genre is focusing on and questioning real individuals and situations in a social context so viewers can form opinions on what they see. Documentaries are presented as factually accurate through labeling and context that lead audiences to believe the people and events are real.

1. Genre Theories
Jessica Chong

2. What is a documentary?
John Grierson came up with the term documentary
in 1936. The purpose of a documentary is to
document something that has actually happened.
It can be shown using literal footage for a
reconstruction. It can use a narrators voice over
to anchor the meaning or rely on the participants
themselves with perhaps an occasional
interjection by the narrator. Documentaries are
not just about facts, instead facts can be used to
create socially critical arguments inviting the
audience to draw their own conclusion.

3. Central to a documentary is that it focuses on and
questions actual people and events often in a
social context, placing the audience in a position
to form an opinion about who or what we are
seeing. Documentaries purport factual
information about the world. We understand
what we are seeing is a documentary as it is often
flagged up as such using onscreen labels e.g. a
persons name and job title. This leads the
audience to believe that the people and events
actually exists and that the information being
conveyed is correct.

4. John Grierson