Documentary & Non-Fiction Writing

Dr. Evan KroppUniversity of Georgia

TELE 3110 – Fall 2014

Note: The primary textbook for this course is Writing for Visual Media by Anthony Friedmann

What is a Documentary?

“A narrative based on or re-creating an actual event, era, life story, etc., that purports to be factually accurate and contains no fictional elements: A

documentary life of Gandhi”

--dictionary.com

What is a Documentary?

Bill Nichols:

1. Documentaries are about reality; they’re about something that actually happened

2. Documentaries are about real people

3. Documentaries tell stories about what happens in the real world

Often defined in contrast to fictional film… but where is the line?

Are docs reality, a reproduction of reality or a representation of reality?

What is a Documentary?

“Documentary film speaks about situations and events involving real people (social actors) who present

themselves to us as themselves in stories that convey a plausible proposal about, or perspective on, the lives,

situations, and events portrayed. The distinct point of view of the filmmaker shapes this story into a way of seeing the historical world directly rather than into a fictional allegory”

- Bill Nichols

REALITY TV

See media commons Article & Video

What is a Documentary?

Definition is… Elaborate

Does not differentiate between types/styles

Changeable?

Change comes from…

1. Institutions that support production/reception

2. Filmmakers creative efforts

3. The lasting influence of a specific film

4. Expectations of audiences

Techniques

Reportage (e.g – film Hurricane Katrina) Telling the story as you find it

Shoot first, develop perspective after

Catch natural behavior of people and situation

Observation (e.g – Nanook of the North)

Shooting events as they happen

People are aware of the cameras presence

Camera/crew presence can change situation/actions, etc…

Techniques (cont’d)

Interviews Find the most appropriate subject. Is this a technique?

Investigation

Find a problem and probe into it. Investigative news on steroids.

Narrative

Best documentaries have elements of narrative, though this style does not preclude others

Techniques (cont’d)

Dramatization

Reenactments of events

Expository Documentary

Simple explanation, like “how to”

Think educational-style films

Propaganda Politically or socially targeted messages.

Techniques

I want you to keep these techniques in mind as you complete your “at home” assignment next week and as you write your Doc treatments.

Are these techniques autonomous? Independent from one another?

Is there a right/wrong technique for a given topic or maybe just a best technique or even standard technique?

Is there always agreement? Are Michael Moore’s films investigative? Propaganda?

Do you agree w/ the way Friedmann has presented this information?

Examples The Thin Blue Line (1988 – Errol Morris)

Goal: To save an innocent man. Biased & persuasive

Ethics: Participants were not paid – film was a box office success

Filmmaker as actor (even if heard but not seen)

Staged events (reconstruction of events as told by different people. But what do you do when stories contradict one another?) What really happened?

Conveying Perspective

How is the filmmaker’s point of view conveyed? P.O.V can be explicit or implicit, even if not intentional.

Narration

Choice of interview subjects

Relative importance of speaker

Editing

How the images are put together/juxtaposed

Some general guidelines

Images can say 1,000 words. Narration is not always necessary. Let the images speak for themselves.

When using commentators, use more than one person

Don’t use clichés, they are predictable and distract from quality

Think about how your project can be unique!

Appeal of documentaries

Subject matter is limitless

People have desire to learn ‘truth’ in entertaining manner

Narrative nonfiction – tells a story

WHAT STORY DO YOU WANT TO TELL?

How to construct a documentary?

Step 1: Develop an idea

Step 2: Decide a format. Talking head + b-roll? Other?

Step 3: RESEARCH!

Location research

Interviews

Picture research (need to make sure you have images to go with your script)

Write your treatment

What is a Documentary Treatment?

A treatment is the last pre-production phase A detailed proposal for the film

Contains explanation of the topic (drawn from research)

Explains importance of topic and rationale for making the film

Provides purpose, context and point of view

Unscripted versus scripted: dictated by technique/style Unscripted = wildlife and human centered documentaries

(Earth)

Scripted = historical documentaries (Ken Burns)

What’s in a Treatment?

The “point” of the film

What’s so interesting about this topic?

What perspective is film coming from?

Point of view versus objective

POV = Michael Moore

Objective = PBS

What’s in a Treatment?

What’s the story you will tell and how will you tell that story?

What techniques are used to convey the story? (Reportage, Observation, Interviews, etc…we will discuss these in a minute)

Who is the intended Audience

What is the target length/scope

The Treatment Style

Written in the present-tense. This documentary tells the story of Evan’s life. NOT… This documentary will tell the story of Evan’s life.

Language that convinces potential financial backers that the film is worth producing Entertaining and/or persuasive

Makes audience want more

Tells us what we will see, not what we might see.

Determine appropriate style/technique(s) for relaying your perspective

Assignment

Let’s review your Documentary Treatment Writing Assignment