The evolution of Documentary

By Victoria Emerson

TIMELINE

Timeline of Documentary

1895

1922

1935

1936

1950

1980

1960

QUESTIONS

1895- The Lumière BrothersThe Lumière brothers were the first to create a non-fictional piece of film. Though, these were not Documentaries, they were branded as ‘actuality’ films. These consisted of short film clips showing real life events, as if the camera was not there. Though groundbreaking at the time, these clips could only reach 50 seconds in duration.

Despite these not being classified as Documentaries, they made a vast influence, as nothing like this had been done before.

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La sortie de l'usine Lumière à Lyon (1895) - Frères Lumière

1922- The First Documentary

John Grierson coined the word ‘Documentary’ whilst reviewing Robert Flaherty’s ‘Nanook of the North’, therefore making it the first official Documentary. Flaherty cleverly manipulated the truth to make a realistic interpretation, in which the audience would believe was true, when in fact, most of the footage was staged.

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1935- Triumph of the Will‘Triumph of the Will’ is a Documentary film, made by Leni Riefenstahl, which was renowned for its use of camera movement, and for being the first Documentary to use political propaganda.

‘Triumph of the Will’ has inspired more recent Documentaries ever since, both aesthetically and politically.

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1936- GriersonGrierson enjoyed tremendous success through his work in Documentaries, but his biggest achievement was ‘Night Mail’, which informed people of the work involved in taking post from London to Edinburgh. This film was particularly relevant due to the privatisation of Royal Mail during the time, and is even relevant in modern times.

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Grierson had a strong belief that Documentaries should be used to educate, as well as entertain, and he often used a very poetic approach in his work, especially in the sound department.

1950’s & 60’s - Cinéma véritéCinéma vérité is a french cinema movement created in the 50’s and 60’s. Cinéma vérité heavily uses handheld camera work, diegetic sound and natural lighting. Constructing simplicity, Cinéma vérité falsely convinces the audience that they’re directly viewing the film, without the pretence that is conventionally employed in Documentaries.

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1980’s- ‘Mockumentary’Particularly popular in the 1980’s, Mockumentary is a modern type of Documentary, which comedically mirrors the conventions of Documentary, and reveals how easy it is to fall under the façade that they create.

This is Spinal Tap (Reiner, 1984) is a Mockmentary which follows a fictional band in a mock Documentary format. The director himself appears in the film, acting as a Documentarian under the name of ‘Marty DeBergi’.

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QUESTIONS (click the question to progress)

• How has the style of Documentary changed?

• How has the target audience changed?

• How has the scheduling of Documentary changed?

• How has Documentary been changed by propaganda?

• How do Documentaries link with Convergence?

How has the style of Documentary changed?Documentaries now feature more camera movement, and can objectively aim to question the verisimilitude behind Documentaries themselves. The topics have been targeted at a wider target audience, and as a result have involved more star vehicles. Reality TV is now a form of Documentary that offers a very wide appeal globally, with talent shows such as X Factor having national variations (X Factor USA, Australian X Factor). Another change is the way in which the Documentary modes are used. Nanook of the North appeared to use all six of the Documentary modes, whereas modern Documentaries now seem to only use one or two.

QUESTIONS

CLICK THE X FACTOR LOGO

How has the target audience changed?

Documentaries now mostly focus on targeting a wider audience, rather than a niche group. A lot of Documentaries try to involve contemporary topics or involve a well known celebrity in the current public eye with vague relevance to give wide appeal, rather than have an expert who nobody has heard of.

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How has scheduling in Documentaries changed?

Documentaries only used to be available in cinemas or at film festivals. With the arrival of TV, Documentaries have become a lot more present in society. In current times, Documentaries are shown in the evening, rather than during the day.

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How has Documentary been changed by Propaganda?

Propaganda has allowed people to become swayed by Documentaries on a serious level, without it being said to have been intentional. Political views are expressed frequently on Documentaries now. ‘2016: Obama’s America’, which slanders the US President, has become one of the highest grossed Documentaries in the box office.

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Convergence in Modern Documentaries

Documentaries have now become a method of converging/promoting franchises. An example of this is J.K Rowling: A Year in The Life (Runcie, 2007), which follows the life of J.K Rowling as she completes the final Harry Potter book. The book was released on the 21st of July 2007, and the Documentary was aired in the UK on the 30th of December 2007, which makes it a clever way of strengthening her fan base.