When some of us hear the word "documentary" we may first think of an episode on the history channel. A documentary is the presentation of true facts without embellishment from the producer. A documentary is not fictionalized, although sometimes the director may choose to recreate an event for the sake of accurate portrayal. Source
In our media world today, the scope of documentaries has increased vastly. Now, a documentary can be 3 minutes long and you can find it on YouTube, or you can go the theatre to see a documentary film based on a true event. Television is still a popular medium for documentaries, especially since reality shows, specials and series are all methods to present a documentary. Everyone who makes a documentary has a different agenda, therefore, we are always going to get a tainted view of the documentary topic. I believe that many producers recognize this fact and strive to eliminate personal beliefs, and I hope that if the producer feels passionately enough about their topic they would have the integrity not to impose their own views. It is almost as important that as the viewer we do our research to see if what we are watching is a reality show (such as 30 Days), a movie simulation (Supersize Me), a film based on a true event (Fahrenheit 911...a video clip with Quick time) or a ploy that appears to be real (Campus Ladies)
Documentaries are a special genre, and I find that I am beginning to appreciate them more as I get older. Before, I used to think that they were boring, slow-moving shows. Now, I am able to look that them critically - I try to understand whose story is being told and if the director is trying to influence me or merely inform me. One aspect that I know really affects how I perceive a documentary is how music is used. Music really triggers my emotions, and I am sure that is onereason why I can feel so impacted during certain documentaries. Which brings up the question of whether it takes a producer who is passionate to make a documentary, or a producer who is just very talented at making a show emotional.
As far as the documentaries we are about to embark on, I feel we should try to include a few important nuggets. We should strive to present the voice of someone else and not worry about hearing our voice. We should use music to convey the emotion of our subjects. We should recognize the value in simplicity and not try to make our film into something extra fancy, after all, we are only beginners. When viewers are done watching my group's documentary I hope that they are a bit more informed on the topic and have learned something that can increase thier understanding of the world. In other words, I hope that we can expand upon the pictures in thier schema just as other documentaries have done to me.
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So how do you avoid the SLOWNESS seen in many documentaries? Lots of people have boring pictures in their heads when it comes to documentaries? Perhaps the slowness or boringness is really about "Selective Exposure" as an audience will attend to documentary topics they are interested in watching.
Take your definition now and work with your team members and their definitions to come to a compromise. Develop a meaningful, group definition of documentary. 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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