Documentary Film
SPELLBOUND
What is a Documentary?
 Films that
tell stories about real
events and real people using, for
the most part, actual images and
objects.
What is a Documentary?
They record what is currently
happening in the world or explore what
has taken place.
 They introduce viewers to ideas,
people, and experiences that otherwise
might not have encountered or
challenge them to question what they
already know.

What is a Documentary?

Like fiction films, documentaries can be
funny, moving, disturbing, thoughtprovoking, or entertaining.
1st Documentaries

1895 – French Inventor Louis Lumiere
developed a lightweight, hand-cranked
camera that allowed him to tape daily
occurences.
Ex: Feeding the Baby, Leaving the Factory,
and Arrival of a Train at the Station.
 These filmings are known as “actualities.”
 Lumiere’s early works lead to modern cinema.

1st Documentaries
 Actualities
were extremely popular,
new, and thrilling to audiences in the
1890’s.
 Watching Arrival of a Train at the
Station made spectators scream and
dodge as the film train moved from long
shot to close-up, looking as if it would
burst through the screen.
Distinguishing a
Documentary’s Approach
Objective Documentaries
- Known as “Direct Cinema”
- Attempt to record events objectively w/o
manipulation or direction.
- The camera records life as it unfolds in
real time.
- Questions are not posed on screen, usually
there is no narration, and often subjects do
not know of the filmmaker’s presence
Distinguishing a
Documentary’s Approach
Subjective Documentaries
- Also known as opinionated documentaries
- A distinct point of view is presented by the
filmmaker.
- Often the filmmaker narrates and
participates either as a voice behind the
camera or appearing as a character in front
of the camera.
Distinguishing a
Documentary’s Approach
Some documentaries use a combination of both
objective and subjective approaches.
Structure of a Documentary
A documentary can be arranged
chronologically OR it can move back and
forth in time, if doing so is the best way to
make a point or illustrate a theme.
REAL vs. STAGED
 Though documentaries are intended to be “real,”
filmmakers have been known to fake scenes when
real footage was not compelling or did not exist.
 Ex: Documentary – Nanook of the North – was
the first full length documentary about a group of
Inuts living on the coast of the Hudson Bay near
the Arctic Circle.
 Much of the documentary was restaged traditional
activities of the Inut people, like whale hunting.
Documentary Categories
Political
 Dramatize issues and their
implications for society; contribute
to political debate
 Political documentaries walk a fine
line between advocacy and
propaganda
 Ex: Fahrenheit 9/11;
The Collector of Bedford Street
Documentary Categories
Historical
 Explore a past event or period of time or
the life of someone who lived in the past
 Archival photos, letters, and face-to-face
interviews with historians and scholars
are some of the sources historical
documentarians draw on.
 Ex: 4 Little Girls
Documentary Category
Situational/Cultural/Natural World
 Help audience understand the world they
live in.
 Ex: Discovery Channel, Travel Channel,
Spellbound
What categories do the documentaries
you’ve seen fit?
Making a Documentary
 Documentaries employ many of the same
devices as fiction films to hold attention.
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Story
Point of view
Structure
Cinematography
Editing
Music
Making a Documentary
 All documentaries require a strong story
and must have structure.
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Beginning
Middle
End
Compelling characters
Emotional impact
Not always a happy ending
Making a Documentary
 Narration – off-camera commentary- is used
to voice letters and other written material
 To join together visual images and
interviews
 To provide transitions between scenes or to
set the stage for a scene
 To indicate re-enactments
 Narration is generally written after the film
is completed to ensure the words and
pictures work together.