Trying to figure out what I think about documentary’s usually gets me going in circles. On one hand I think we need them. We have to have people out there that are passionate enough to try to inform people about certain issues. On the other hand I usually end up thinking about the way they’re made, and how contrived some of it is.
You've got tons of people competing and trying to get you to care about Their cause, plus it Is a show, and if you want people to watch it, it has to be entertaining. To stir up the right feelings so many components are added like music and narrators. Good editing can work wonders too.
I think the best documentaries show several stories within the larger picture. That way, even though you know you’re being manipulated, you can at least feel that you have a somewhat larger scope of what is happening as opposed to just tracking one story, like they did in the 30 days episode. While I’m sure there are lots of people in the exact same situation as that family, they certainly were a model family. I think it would have helped to see different families and their different personalities.
Documentaries should give a voice to a cause, showing the people that are directly involved, and showing enough of them so that people don’t just give one face to a whole movement. I think you have to show all the different faces of it, even to embrace some of the nastier sides of a movement if you have to, because people are going to latch on to those and think you’re avoiding them otherwise. If that happens then they’ll completely ignore the good side of things.
So to me a documentary firstly has to be a show. If you present it 100% as something that’s just for a cause, people will probably reject it. People don’t want to be told what to think, they like to be ‘inspired’ to feel a certain way about something. Hopefully that will lead to action. So to me, effective documentaries have to be entertaining and emotional but only in Extremely subtle ways. People are pretty cynical of TV these days. They know a lot more than they used to about the way production works, so I think you’d have to be very careful and keep everything toned down so the viewer doesn’t feel attacked.
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2 comments:
Sorry to add to your "circle" metaphor for defining the documentary...but here ya go.
Start comparing your definition with the other members of your team. You'll want to identify the common elements and craft a team definition. This will guide your efforts for your project.
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