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Documentary.

Documentary.

Today we had our introduction to documentary as a topic. I know it's going to be a difficult unit, but I'm very excited to tackle it.
In lesson, we discussed what 'documentary' means, the ethics behind it, and what we will be doing in the unit.

What does it mean?


'Documentary' can be defined as "using pictures or interviews with people involved in real events to provide a factual report on a particular subject." But documentary could be seen as an umbrella-term for films that 'document'. They are the depiction of the real life, which could be via fly-on-the-wall footage, interviews, re-enactments, graphics, and observational techniques. It can be depicted in different forms.
We discussed what documentary meant to us:
  • To document something
  • A representation of something that not everyone may know about or can access
  • To educate/inform
  • It's real life
  • There is a reason to tell the story
  • It's to get involved in the story being told
  • To convince and guide the audience to the truth
  • Re-presenting the world in a different light
  • It's very diverse
Ultimately, documentary is the documenter's representation of the true world

The Project

This project is going to involve a lot of research. We will need to be completely clued up on the topic that we will be doing the documentary on so that we can represent it fairly and honestly. We also need to know the techniques we will be using to create the project, such as the individual roles we will be taking on. We also need to manage our time well as we will need time to research, develop, set up, shoot and edit.
We need to describe the why behind all of our decisions, in order to get enough information across, and so that viewers can understand the decisions we made behind the project. We also need to represent the people properly which is why we need to put in so much effort into our research, so that it's fair on the people involved. 
We will need to pitch our idea for our documentary on 11th April and our given topic is "Obsessions". It will need to be original, as if it's about something the viewer already knows, then what's the point?
Lastly, aim to shock, inspire and empower the audience.
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