Issues in a Documentary

Issues in a Documentary Unit 27 Learning Objective 1
Accuracy
Conformity to fact.

The documentary I watched was ‘Helped Captive For 18 Years-Jaycee Dugard’.

My documentary showed accuracy throughout as when interviews were shown from the police officers and detectives, the evidence and facts they were giving were correct however an interview from a local neighbor or friend ay not have been so accurate in the audience’s eyes.

Balance

Is the subject balanced, are the two sides level. My documentary is mainly unbalanced however some balance is shown when they talk to the family of Jaycee Dugard and they say how awful it is what this man and women done to their poor child and how a man like that could never be forgiven, however the family and friends of Phillip Craig Garrido said it was a shock to them how he could of done this as he seemed such a nice man, although he had been convicted of being a sex offender previously.

Impartiality
Inclination to weigh both views or opinions equally.                                                                           Impartiality was shown throughout the documentary, the documentary I watched showed two peoples opinions, they showed Jaycee Dugard’s family who were disgusted with what Phillip Craig Garrido done and that he should of never been realized from prison in the first place, however on the other hand they had friends and family of Philip Craig Garrido who said he was such friendly man and that it was unexpected for him to strike again. So both opinions were equally viewed. not quite impartial, it needs to explain that it is from a source that has no 'emotional' link to the topic.

Objectivity 
Judgment based on observable phenomena and uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices.          Objectivity was shown a small amount throughout my documentary which I watched as it mainly shows you one story of Jaycee Dugard who went missing however some aspects are shown from the other side of the story, so you mainly agree with Jaycee and her family rather than the opposite story being told.

Subjectivity 
Judgment based on individual personal impressions and feelings and opinions rather than external facts.        This is when facts, information and opinions are presented in order to let the audience decide for their own opinion. An example of this being shown within Fahrenheit 911 is when the all the information is presented of the Bush family and the Bin Laden family relationship. The information is powerful but it doesn’t stay persistent on just attacking the bush family to force peoples opinions to a bad side.

Genre Documentaires

Expository

- ‘Voice of God’ narration

- Direct presentation of facts

- Can include all kinds of ‘evidence’

Planet Earth and March of the Penguins are two documentaries’, which fit within the documentary mode, ‘Expository’. These documentaries fit in with the mode, as they are both narrated by an expert of the documentary and directly give facts about the programs, which are being shown. Expository documentaries sometimes use rhetorical questions and persuasive techniques in some cases. Planet Earth uses some rhetorical questions, which fits in with the documentary itself.

Performative

- Relies on recreations

- Mix of drama and documentary

The two documentaries’, which fit in with the Performative theme of documentary, are Panorama and Crime watch. The reason Panorama is Performative is because they mainly reenact crimes which have happened in the past, the reason for this is so that they can pass on information about previous crimes and to warn people about them as well. Crime watch also used real life footage about crimes however may have to use actors to describe or reenact a crime scene, which could of happened.

Observational

- Minimal (or no) narration

- Long takes, real time, synch-sound

- Presents tense

- Never (almost) see or hear the filmmakers

Teen cribs and 16 and pregnant are two documentaries which observe peoples events which happen in there lifetime. The producer, director and film crew follow there chosen people with there consent and then show on TV there reality shows, none of these documentaries have narration they are just spoken by the people whose life are being observed.

Interactive

- Filmmaker is present on screen

- Filmmaker makes the action happen

- Often a personal project

Two documentaries, which fit in with the Interactive theme of documentaries are, Supersize me the film maker for this documentary is Morgan Spurlock, this interacts as Morgan Spurlock is actually on screen creating this documentary this is also a very personal documentary to some people as it talks and shows about peoples weight issues. Another personal project turned into a documentary is the elephant man this was created by David Lynch this also interacts with the audience and Joseph Merrick who suffers from the disease of having elephant features.

Experimental

- Pretty much anything goes

Experimental documentaries are usually made from a personal account; the filmmakers are experimenting with different forms of media to get a different ‘unique’ style of documentary for the audience. Also an experimental documentary is an artistic practice . Experimental documentaries have no limits at all they can be about anything, so there are a huge variety of experimental documentaries. One documentary ‘Mayhem’ by Abigail Child is about social order and how sexuality flows in an atmosphere of sexual tension, danger, violence, and glamour. Its is clearly a experimental documentary because of its vastly odd topic.