Historical DocumentariesGeorge Baker | Nick Winchester

Basic Codes & Conventions

Archive Footage (Real & Old Footage)

Interviews (Usually with Experts On The Specific Subject)

Voice Over (From Narrator who will usually know a lot on the film’s subject)

Technicality of Realism (Natural Lighting for realistic feel)

Examples

Sriracha(About the history of Sriracha Hot Sauce)

Bowling For Columbine(About the history of Gun

Control In America)

The King In The Car Park(About the history of

King Richard III and how hisremains were found under a car park )

Archive Footage

Archive Footage is footage that was filmed from years ago (usually black and white). This footage can be used to give the audience a better understanding in a historical documentary on what it was really like.

Example of Basic Archive Stock Footage: http://www.tubechop.com/watch/1945592

Film maker, Griffin Hammond, spent $1300 (£900) on 30 seconds of archive footage from ITNSource.com which made up 10% of his short documentary film’s budget. (Sriracha)

Interviews Interviews are vital for a documentary since it brings

together multiple view points from people on the street all the way to experts. Although, specifically in documentaries you’d need to speak with the main people who the documentaries are about (King Richard III etc.) Although, that not being possible, the next best thing would be to speak with the experts. There are though historians who have specifically devoted their lives too studying this person or subject. Luckily they will be happy to talk about their favorite subject meaning that it won’t be hard to get an interview whereas an interview with a celebrity could be harder since you’d have to contact their publicist and convince them. The interviews will usually consist of a name tag with the speaker looking slightly off camera and sitting to one side of the camera. ( See Below )

Voice OverA voice over is a non-diagetic piece of voice recording

that plays over the documentary just like a narrator. They will usually be the film maker or if not the script would have been created by the film maker since they are the one with the passion for this certain subject. Over the years of audio recording it has been improved a lot. These would usually be filmed in a small room with padded walls that will absorb sound instead of bouncing. Voice over can be also recorded under a cover or in a large wardrobe since you are surrounded by fabric absorbing sound. Almost every single documentary uses voice over since it’s an easy way to connect with the audience and explain the narrative.

A documentary is meant to be non-fiction and so the use of fancy lighting and angles usually doesn’t work especially in the historical genre.

The shots shouldn’t be graded with colors since the audience may find it hard to follow along and confusing since this will portray the film as a fiction.

The film should look like it has been filmed in the real world and not like a Hollywood film.

Technicality of Realism

Historical DocumentariesThank you for listening/watching.