Are Documentaries Really Any Different From Feature Films? How to Define the Documentary Form.
The best way I can define the documentary form, to keep it as simple as possible, would be the art or craft of presenting reality in an entertaining format through an audiovisual production. Aufderheide explains in her own words that documentaries are about real life, but are not actually real life, and I agree with that claim, as there is no doubt that there is still an active process of manipulation done to a documentary to be properly watchable and entertaining (p. 23). If documentaries were truly reflective of real life, there would be no easily identifiable story arc, as well as pacing that could frustrate and bore the viewer, and also a lack of focus, which is the reason why documentary filmmakers almost always admit that the form is almost no different from cinema, except that they are using portraits of real life, rather than writing fictional characters and dialogue.
I believe that it’s quite useful to have this understanding of what documentaries truly represent, and fortunately enough of the population is media literate enough to understand that not everything they will witness while watching a documentary film is completely based in factuality (p. 35). If there wasn’t this common understanding and education on how filmmaking and TV productions, even ones that are supposed documentaries or “reality” shows, would be much easier to propagandize, which is unfortunately exactly what happened during the early 20th century (p. 28). I would even argue that reality shows could possibly be the new form of deceptive “documentation” that documentaries once were unveiled to often be, and because of the nature of them and their seemingly hyperrealist framing, they can convince people that what they’re watching on screen is completely real and without any sort of producer interference, scripting or staging.
Due to the relationship people now have with documentaries, audiences may be able to better separate fact from opinion and take a documentary for what it is, a specific person’s vision and opinion on a subject that they may agree or disagree with. However reality shows do not necessarily receive the same sort of understanding and realization from the mainstream audiences today, in my own opinion, and perhaps because they are much less cinematic and purposefully look unintentional, perhaps people will soon have this realization towards reality TV and its manipulation in the same way in the next few years. This could happen as more people begin to finally see through it and hear producers admit to the manipulation that is done throughout the filming and editing process.
Now that documentaries are admittedly manipulated, they now have almost more weight in credibility to them, especially with the existence of the internet to supplement our viewing of these films. Rather than seeing it as factual, raw, reality, we see it as a filmmaker’s opinion piece, perspective and vision, which lets us make decisions for ourselves on whether it is accurate or not. With the heightened awareness and education of the everyday person towards this form of filmmaking, you can then research the information on your own to verify or reject what it is you’ve just watched, whereas reality shows still have an air of “this is reality”, and producers don’t own up to the string being pulled off camera to capture what it is on screen. Ultimately, the documentary form is best used to serve as an angle into an event or subject in our world from which we can make decisions on our own on the subject matter itself as well as the intentions of the filmmaker behind it simultaneously.
Bibliography:
Aufderheide, Patricia, Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction, 2007
