Documentarys

Media
Documentary
The purpose of a doc is to document an event that has happened, giving a realistic, accurate picture of the event/ subject of the documentary.

Actual footage should be used to back up your evidence and voice overs throughout. Giving a factual account of an event does not always mean giving actual footage. Some documentaries are slightly staged using actors and set to evoke the audience feelings.

Even in documentary’s it’s important to realise a high level of construction takes place.

John Grierson was the first to make a documentary, housing problems in 1930 and also coal face 1930, these were made for a cinema audience as television was not invented.

Scheduling of documentary is a very important process as it has to be suitable for its target audience at the time.
Documentary's such as panorama and dispatches are well known and can command a spot at prime time as they are very popular with audience and bring in lots of viewers.

In a documentary authenticity is important as your documentary has to offer something different as there are so many out there. It is impossible to capture all events in raw state from different angles, therefore some elements can be faked.

There are a range of sub genres that now fit into the term ‘documentary’ they all have elements of recorded images and sound. According to john corner these are the key things that need to be including in a documentary… observation, mise en scene, interviews, exposition and dramatisation.