This document discusses documentary films and provides context on the genre. It covers several key points: 1) Documentary films aim to show "reality" but are in fact constructed versions of reality that reflect the filmmaker's point of view. 2) The genre has evolved over time, from early films that simply recorded events to styles like direct cinema in the 1960s that used handheld cameras and interviews. 3) Documentaries transform reality through choices like editing, narrative structure, and how information is presented verbally or visually. The end product reflects an interpretation of events rather than a simple recording of them.

1. MM
therealthing
If you were asked to list your top five genres, it’s
studying documentary unlikely that you would include documentary.
Jeremy Points, a former Head of Media, Film and
Communication Studies and now Media Studies Officer
for the WJEC Board, hopes to convince you that
documentary should be up there with the Sci-Fis and
the Horrors.
Documentary is a much maligned genre: it’s frequently a switch-off Pavel Pawlikowski, producer of several documentaries for BBC and
rather than a switch-on. Yet most people can mention a documentary director of the film, The Last Resort:
that’s really moved or fascinated them – on 9/11 or Michael Jackson, I make no bones about manipulating my subjects. I do it through
for example – and large numbers of people have been caught up by choices in photography, sound, music, editing and narrative devices.
docusoaps like At Home with the Eubanks (C5) or The Osbournes Imagining Reality
(MTV and C4) and reality TV shows like Big Brother. So studying
Documentaries are, however, no different from any other form of
documentary shouldn’t be as bad as it first appears. Here are some
realism. Realism is simply a way of conveying a sense of reality for
of the reasons why:
an audience. There are several ways of doing this. EastEnders and
– it’s an enormously varied genre and is full of surprises; Hollyoaks both aim to convey a sense of ‘the real’ for their audiences:
– whatever you like, there’s probably a documentary on it; in Hollyoaks the camerawork changes from static to hand-held, the
– and – as your media teachers will say – it’s good for you, because pace of the editing is high and there are frequent editing effects and
it’s very revealing about most of the key issues in Media Studies. stylised lighting; in EastEnders, the camerawork is more static, the
pace of the editing is much slower and the lighting tends to look
Studying documentary … the key issue? more naturalistic. In other words, both soaps aim to convey a sense
of the real, but they do that in different ways.
At the centre of all work on documentary is realism: documentaries –
Realism: different ways of conveying a sense of the real for different
whether moving image or any kind of photojournalism – claim to
audiences.
show us ‘reality as it really is’. They don’t. They portray versions of
reality, which suggest points of view about what they’re showing.
The version of reality you see can be influenced by the documentary- Completed in the editing room
makers themselves (reflecting their points of view), as well as by the
demands of the organisation and the audiences they are producing
the documentary for.
2: …
Dziga Vertov, Man with the Movie
Camera (1929)
Vertov, who used the phrase
‘Kino-pravda’ – ‘cinema truth’,
The documentary shot …
borrowed later by French documentary maker, Jean Rouch as ‘Cinéma
1: Auguste Lumiere, Workers Leaving
the Factory (1895)
The first documentary? Real or
Vérité’ – talked about his work as ‘putting facts together in a new
structure’ so that people’s perceptions could be actively changed.
This film ‘put facts together’ about a day in the life of Leningrad – in
stage-managed?
the editing room.
The development of the genre: the main documentary
MediaMagazine | february 2004 | english and media centre
44

2. MM
Put formally, realism in fiction and documentaries is not a ‘window John Grierson, one of the pioneers of documentary-making, who
on reality’ but is a constructed and ideological representation of it – made his first documentaries in the 1920s and 1930s and who first
a representation which reflects points of view about the subject- popularised the term ‘documentary’, described it as ‘the creative
matter. You’ll be trying to understand what is involved in that in treatment of actuality’. This is a key definition worth thinking about
everything you explore through the documentaries you study. which suggests that documentary-makers do more than simply
Representation: the images we see on TV or in film, plus points of ‘record’ reality – they ‘treat’ it ‘creatively’.
view about them.
Ideologies: simply put, are points of view people like filmmakers and Transforming reality – starting with the
audiences hold which reflect their attitudes, values and beliefs. real
Documentary – the creative treatment ‘Reality’ is only the starting point of a documentary. In Media Studies
today, we tend to describe documentaries, like all forms of realism,
of actuality as ‘constructed’ versions of the real. But perhaps we ought to follow
What do you understand by ‘documentary’? Most people say that a the media writer John Corner who described documentaries as
documentary is factual rather than fictional or real rather than made- ‘transforming’ reality into something else – into a creative (and
up. A few ideas and definitions which seem to support that idea are constructed) film or a TV programme.
listed below.
• ‘Documentary is something to do with conveying information –
Documentary – the key questions
whether about topics, issues, events or life in the present or past … Once you’ve sorted out what a documentary is, you’ll be exploring
Based on fact, not fiction.’ (Oxford English Dictionary) the conventions of the genre through extracts and case studies. But
• The word comes from the French ‘document’, meaning a file. most importantly you’ll need to ask all the time how those
Hence, documentary is a kind of ‘fact file’, although the French word conventions are being used.
‘documentaire’ meant something like a travelogue, as early • Do they provide a window on reality or are they just a version of
documentaries took you to places you hadn’t been to. reality?
• ‘Something that documents part of life around us. It’s difficult to • Do they convey points of view about what you see and thus shape
define, as documentaries these days are so diverse.’ (Paul Hamann, the way you think and feel about people, events and issues?
former Head of Documentaries and History, BBC)
• ‘Documentary – the presentation of actual facts that makes them Exploring documentary conventions and
credible and telling to people at the same time.’ (William Stoff) how they’re used
• Other writers stress with their definitions that documentaries Conventions are the standard ingredients of a genre which
almost have a duty to raise social and political issues to keep audiences expect to see. Some documentaries work with the
societies informed. standard conventions whilst other stretch and challenge them.
Paul Rotha (contemporary of Grierson) in 1939: Although with most film and television genres you might list
The use of the film medium to interpret creatively and in social terms conventions in terms of settings, locations, lighting and costume
the life of the people as it exists in reality. (mise-en-scène), characters, narrative, icons and sound, I think it’s
more useful to group the conventions of documentary in terms of
Paul Wells in 1998: how information is conveyed. These conventions tend to vary slightly
A non-fiction text using ‘actuality’ footage, which may include live with different styles of documentary. Take first the main conventions
recording of events and relevant research material (i.e. interviews, of the standard ‘expository’ documentary – a documentary which
statistics, etc). This kind of text is usually informed by a particular aims to inform audiences about an event or issue, normally using a
point of view, and seeks to address a particular social issue which is presenter and/or voiceover to provide a commentary. I looked at a
related to and potentially affects the audience. documentary on Jennifer Lopez (shown on ITV) and found all of these.
What do you think? Should broadcasters produce more
documentaries on 9/11, the recent Iraq war, the continuing political Verbal information and sound
tensions in Northern Ireland or more reality TV like Big Brother? – voiceover providing commentary and/or presenter;
– interviews (with experts, witnesses to events, ordinary people –
All those points are true but, to me, they only tell part of the story.
sometimes talking direct to camera, sometimes with the
What I think is crucial to all documentaries is what documentary-
interviewer in the picture);
makers do with the facts – the reality – that they are using as the
basis of their documentary.
Cinéma Vérité/Direct or
: The classic documentary
John Grierson, Night Mail (1936)
4: Observational Cinema
D.A. Pennebaker, Don’t Look Back
3: – typical of what’s often called
‘expository’ documentary,
(1966)
Jean Rouch introduced handheld
cameras and interviewed people on
because it aims to inform – was
the streets and called it Cinema Vérité. Pennebaker & Leacock used
in fact a means of selling the
the same techniques and called it direct or observational techniques.
efficiency of the Post Office. It also tried to give the impression that
As in this film on Bob Dylan, the style revolutionised documentary
Britain was one big happy family. Scenes in the Royal Mail sorting
making.
carriage were in fact shot in a studio.
styles – transformations of the real >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
english and media centre | february 2004 | MediaMagazine
45

3. MM
– mainly natural sound but music used frequently to create programmes which inform, educate and entertain. Documentaries
atmosphere or underline points. are an easy – and relatively cheap way – of informing and educating.
More than that, though, television companies need to attract
Visual information audiences – to justify the licence fee (if you’re the BBC) and to attract
– variety of locations appropriate to subject, chosen to illustrate advertisers (who provide your finance if you’re in independent
points: television or satellite). In addition to the need to provide a public
• archive footage • visual effects • still images. service, BBC2 and Channel 4 have a duty to cater for minority
audiences. As a result, the documentaries shown on those channels
Camerawork, lighting & framing – the way visual tend to be much less mainstream than BBC1 and ITV – although you
information is conveyed might notice that Channel 4 pioneered Big Brother to attract younger
• Camerawork – conventional use of establishing shots, generally audiences (also claimed by Channel 4 to be a minority not well
static camerawork for interviews, often direct to camera, some catered for).
steadicam (frequently within locations), some hand-held (often to
The new digital channels and satellite have different audiences again
heighten action or create a casual atomosphere).
and try to produce documentary programmes in keeping with their
• Framing – tends to look less set-up than films but often
channel identities. Satellite broadcasters, in fact, don’t have to
documentaries change between careful framing of interviewees
produce programmes which inform, educate and entertain at all as
and locations with sequences which are more casual.
they are not bound by national broadcasting laws. BSkyB recently
These conventions in fact developed as the genre itself developed – commissioned a reality TV show based on six men competing for the
from expository and investigative documentaries, to Cinéma Vérité attentions of a beautiful woman – except that the woman turned out
(or direct/observational cinema) in the late 50s and 60s, to fly-on- to be a man. As The Sun said (also owned by BSkyB owner Rupert
the-wall in the 70s and early 80s, to the performative in the 80s and Murdoch) this was a ‘reality show too far’. All of these points emerge
90s and to the various forms of hybrid (docusoaps and the reality TV by looking at the kinds of documentary produced by all the different
game show hybrids) of the 90s and into the present. Have a look at broadcasters – which is something you need to do.
the time-line of the main documentary styles running along the
bottom of the article to remind you. Putting it all together – editing and
positioning
Documentary – a developing genre?
You’re now familiar with the way conventions have developed
You can see many, if not all, of those different styles of documentary through different documentary styles and how documentaries
immediately you start to look at documentaries on TV and film today. frequently mix those styles. Now you need to come back to the basic
These are the ways in which the genre of documentary has question: how do documentaries creatively transform the real? Much
developed, reminding you that any genre is always open to change. of this comes down to editing – a crucial element in documentary.
Many documentaries, in fact, blend different styles. Think no further At its simplest, editing a documentary is about selecting what
than some of the send-ups: The Royle Family parodies both material will be included in the final documentary, organising it into
docusoaps and the fly-on-the-wall documentary popular in the 1970s something that will interest the audience (turning the footage into a
and 80s. The handheld camerawork with natural or amateur lighting, narrative) and ending up with an interpretation of the subject of the
common in lots of documentaries and used memorably in the mock- documentary. Documentary-makers tend to film about ten times the
documentary horror film, The Blair Witch Project has its roots in a amount of material which is finally used (in some cases more). Right
documentary movement called ‘Cinéma Vérité’ in France, and direct away there are two ways in which documentaries transform material:
or observational cinema in America. Interestingly, this came to
prominence in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a result of new – they convert the material into a story
lighter-weight cameras (effectively the first steadicams). It’s a good – they only show part of the ‘whole’ picture.
example of the way technology prompts a particular camera style. What they also do is edit together material to make a point.
Different styles – different audiences Michael Moore’s recent Bowling for Columbine (2002), a
documentary on how two school students shot schoolchildren in the
Genres are not only dynamic, reflecting changes in society, culture small town of Columbine USA, is full of this kind of editing. One
and technology, they also represent a balance between the profit sequence starts with an interview with an organic farmer in Michigan,
motives of the industry and the enjoyment of the audience. James Nichols. After this first sequence of Nichols innocently
First of all, there’s a good reason why documentaries are shown on introducing himself on his farm, we are shown archive footage of his
television at all. The laws governing terrestrial broadcasting in Britain arrest for involvement in the Oklahoma bombing and the killing of
demand that broadcasters provide a public service and show
Seriously Investigating
Fly-on-the-wall 6: Panorama, BBC – Richard
Dimbleby presenting
5: Roger Graef, The Police
The 70s and 80s brought
cameras into people’s living
The investigative documentary – like
the expository – has tended to be
associated with TV and aims to
rooms and workplaces (like investigate issues. Despite looking balanced, they generally convey a
flies on the wall). Do they particular point of view about the issues they investigate.
simply observe?
The development of the genre: the main documentary
MediaMagazine | february 2004 | english and media centre
46

4. MM
167 people. Timothy McVeigh was executed, James Nichols’ brother
was imprisoned but there was insufficient evidence against James
Nichols himself. Michael Moore comments that the ‘Feds didn’t have
the goods on him’. We then see a further sequence of James Nichols,
,follow it up:
MoreMediaMag:
Find out more about documentary on
Biggie and Tupac from MM1
full of close-ups and including cutaways of an expressionless Michael
Michael Jackson from MM4
Moore, nervily defensive, accusing his ex-wife of spreading rumours
Pennebaker and Hegedus; Big Brother 4; How to construct a
about him. The editing – and Michael Moore’s questions – expose
radio documentary from MM6
him as being at least stupid and at worst a terrorist bomber.
The editing has, in other words, positioned the audience to adopt a Further reading
particular point of view. This is what documentaries do all the time – Vivienne Clark, James Hunt and Eileen Lewis: Key Concepts in
and something you’ll be able to uncover by asking how documentary Media Studies, Longmans (2003) – good overview section on
conventions are used. Below are questions you can ask when you’re documentary
exploring your own documentaries. Jo Wilcock: Documentaries: A teacher’s guide/Classroom
Resources Auteur Publications (revised 2003)
How documentaries use conventions Paul Wells: ‘The Documentary Form’ in Introduction to Film
Studies, Ed. Jill Nelmes, 2nd edition, Routledge (1999) – good
The verbal overview with case studies on Robert Flaherty, Humphrey
Jennings, Leni Riefenstahl, Frederick Wiseman and Hoop
• Does the presenter/voiceover attempt to persuade audiences of a
Dreams/When We Were Kings
point of view?
Jon Ronson: ‘The egotists have landed’ in Sight and Sound,
• What kind of language is used – emotive, guiding audiences to
Nov 2002 – on ‘performative’ documentary and Bowling for
think in a particular way?
Columbine – articles can be reprinted from the Bfi website –
• What kinds of interviewees are used? Ordinary people/experts? Do
www.bfi.org.uk
we believe some more than others?
Michael Moore and Nick Broomfield have their own
• Are music or sound effects used to suggest a point of view about
sites:www.michaelmoore.com
the subject?
www.nickbroomfield.com
The visual
• If there’s a presenter/people being interviewed, what image is
given to them and why (dress, physical image, body language,
backdrop against which they’re filmed)?
• How does camerawork affect your point of view about what/who is
being filmed?
• If visual effects are used, how do they affect your point of view
about the subject?
• How is editing used? (Length of shots/scenes, placing contrasting
scenes next to one another to make a point, cutaways.) Are your
attitudes to people and the subject affected by editing?
• How does turning the subject of a documentary into a ‘story’ affect
the subject?
The documentary style
• Does the documentary style affect how you think about the people
portrayed/the subject of the documentary? MM
The first hybrids
Jeremy Points is the Subject Officer for Media Studies for WJEC.
8: Documentary meets soap
opera – to increase television
ratings?
The Office – a send-up of the
docusoap, focusing on key
Enter the performers characters who talk direct to camera. A ‘hybrid’ documentary,
7: Michael Moore, Bowling for
Columbine
The 80s and 90s brought the
where at least two genres are mixed.
performers: Nick Broomfield and
Michael Moore, who took centre The current phase of hybrids:
stage in their own documentaries. Both have produced documentaries
recently: Michael Moore’s brilliant Bowling for Columbine (2002),
based on the killing of high school students in Columbine, Colorado in
9: documentary meets soap meets
game show and even talk show
– definitely increasing ratings
April 1999 and raises questions about US gun laws. Nick Broomfield The more recent reality TV
has returned to an earlier subject, Aileen Wournos, a female serial makes a hybrid out of
killer who was recently executed and for whom Nick Broomfield documentary, soap opera, game show and even talk show, when
himself was called in as a witness. Aileen: The Selling of a Serial Killer participants are interviewed.
(released 2003).
styles – transformations of the real >>>>>>>>>??????
english and media centre | february 2004 | MediaMagazine
47