Introduction

Definition of DOCUMENTARY

1: being or consisting of documents: contained or certified in writing ;

2: of, relating to, or employing documentation in literature or art; broadly: factual, objective ;

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/documentary

Realism

Realism is the dominant mode of representation in TV, mainstream films and print. The term usually implies that the media text attempts to represent an external reality: a film or TV programme is realistic because it gives the impression that it accurately reproduces that part of the real world to which it is referring.

Realism first came to prominence as a literary movement in the 1800’s. In terms of Film Studies, it is with the advent of documentary realism that our focus really begins. The first recorded films e.g. Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (1895) and Baby’s Breakfast (1895) were known as ‘actualities’, meaning they were records of reality. Documentary, therefore, was cinema’s first genre.

A still from Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (1895)

Documentary is traditionally associated with objectivity, authenticity and truthfulness. We tend to accept documentaries as ‘truth’ but they are highly constructed.

The father of the documentary form is generally considered to be Robert Flaherty, who made Nanook of the North (1922). However, Flaherty was later discovered to have constructed this documentary in a way that way more similar to fiction filming.

The Codes and Conventions of Documentary

1. Sound & Voice

Voice Over: Usually authoritative and encourages the audience to think that the speaker has specialist knowledge about the subject of the documentary. Voice over gives a direct address to the audience and provides exposition, essential information and argument. Broadly speaking there are two types:

‘Voice of God’: The voice over is used to suggest that the information is fact. For example, Morgan Freeman’s voice over in March of the Penguins.

‘Voice of the Author’: The voice over is recorded by the maker, often as they are the protagonist for the narrative (e.g. Michael Moore, Nick Broomfield or Morgan Spurlock). This type helps to reinforce the perspective of the author and encourages the audience to agree with them.

Diegetic sound will help to promote the sense of authenticity. Non-diegetic sound, usually music, will help create specific meanings. For example, in Super Size Me the use of childish music helps the audience understand that McDonalds targets children in an underhand and devious way.

Verbal Communication is a crucial element of the contemporary documentary. Two types can be identified. Firstly overheard exchange, a recording of seemingly spontaneous dialogue between two or more participants engaged in conversation. Secondly, testimony refers to the recording of information or opinion by witnesses, experts or other participants.

2. Seeing is Believing

‘Real’ Events: Documentary is essentially seen as ‘non-fiction’ although there are debates around this (e.g. Catfish). However, a convention of documentary is that all events presented to us are to be seen as ‘real’ by the audience. The recent cycle of ‘Found Footage’ horror (e.g. The Blair Witch Project [1999] , REC. [2007], Cloverfield [2008] and Paranormal Activity [2007]) have all exploited this ‘trust’ by using documentary techniques and framing the fictional events as ‘real’ to scare audiences more.

Documentary makers often go to great lengths to convince us that the footage is real and unaltered in anyway, although editing and voice over can affect the ‘reality’ we see.

The Technicality of Realism: To help establish the authenticity of what we see, documentary makers may often include evidence of the constructed nature of their work (Broomfield’s microphone, for example). There may also be an emphasis ‘natural’ sound and lighting. The audience is generally more willing to accept lower quality image and sound, as we understand that capturing ‘reality’ doesn’t allow for the same control over conditions for filming as staging fiction.

Reactive camerawork: The camera may often be handheld and the operator may have to react to the unplanned movements of subjects. Therefore the camera may miss some action as the operator reframes. Whip-pans might be used as the operator tries to catch up with the action.

Archive Footage/Stills: To aid authenticity and to add further information which the film maker may be unable to obtain themselves.

Interviews with ‘Experts’: These are used to reinforce the views expressed in the documentary. These types of interviews are referred to as ‘talking heads’ and careful consideration will be given to the mise-en-scene. The set dressing will often give us some information about the interviewee. Occasionally, the opinions of those interviewed will be in opposition to the message of the documentary, although the documentary maker will make clear their own disapproval, and the audience will be positioned to agree.

Vox-pops: These are a different type of interview. Instead of the carefully constructed talking head interviews, vox-pops are interviews with people on the street. Audiences accept these views as a reflection on popular opinion. The term comes from the Latin ‘Vox Populi’, meaning ‘voice of the people’.

Use of text & graphics: The use of words on screen to anchor images in time and space. Labels, dates etc. tend to be believed unquestioningly and are a quick and cheap way of conveying information. Graphics are used in a similar way to illustrate statistics quickly.

Set-ups aren’t just reconstructions of events that happened in the past but also setting up ‘typical’ scenes.For example to quickly convey ‘classroom’, a documentary maker might ask a teacher to write on a whiteboard. Strictly speaking, this is constructed. The issue is if documentary makers rely heavily on set-ups they will only be using images of ‘reality’ that audiences already recognise (confirming stereotypes perhaps) and producing challenging or new ideas about ‘reality’ will be less likely.

Visual Coding: The use of micro features like mise-en-scene and props are used to quickly convey meaning to an audience. Is that police officer any less a police officer if he/she’s not in uniform?

Selection and Inclusion: remember that the documentary maker will have selected what to include from a large amount of source footage. Footage is often rejected not just because of pacing or because of technical problems but because it doesn’t ‘fit’ the constructed narrative.

Verisimilitude is used to describe the imitation of reality in the media. This can be achieved in a number of ways through the construction of mise-en-scene. Verisimilitude might be achieved by using:

• Reactive, unsteady and handheld camera shots

• Cramped framing – the aesthetics aren’t as composed as in fiction films

• Natural lighting

• Natural or ambient sound.

Types of Documentary

Bill Nichols (2001) defines six types of documentary:

1. Poetic: ‘reassembling fragments of the world’, e.g., a montage of events. (Man with a Movie Camera)
2. Expository or ‘direct address‘: social issues presented in a direct form, audience acknowledged sometimes with a ‘voice-of-God’ narration and/or ‘talking heads’. (e.g. Super Size Me, Biggie & Tupac)
3. Observational (fly-on-the-wall): Developed with handheld cameras and long takes in the 1950s/60s as part of the Cinema Verite movement. The audience should not be aware of the documentary maker; an attempt to capture reality as it unfolds.
4. Participatory: Film-maker interviews/interacts with participants. (e.g. Super Size Me, Man with a Movie Camera and Biggie & Tupac)
5. Reflexive: Aware that it is constructing its own reality. (Man with a Movie Camera)
6. Performative: Represents reality in a stylised way that evokes the mood of fiction films to encourage audience engagement. It may involve reconstruction of events.

Focus Texts

1. Super Size Me (2004, Dir. M. Spurlock)

An independent film following Spurlock’s attempt to eat only McDonalds food for 30 days.

Spurlock was motivated to make this documentary following claims from McDonalds made that all of their food was nutritionally balanced.

Spurlock’s journey is framed within the wider context of increasing obsesity in the Western world, but particularly in the USA.

Super Size Me is a persuasive documentary as Spurlock’s position is made clear from the outset. The film attempts to convince audiences that fast food corporations deliberately sell food they know to have poor nutritional value in order to make big profits.

According to Nichol’s modes, Super Size Me can be categorised as both expository (direct address) and participatory.

2. Man with a Movie Camera (1929, Dir. D. Vertov)

An experiemental silent documentary made in post-revolution Russia.

Part of the Soviet Montage movement, which experiemented with different editing techniques and how they affected an audience.

Vertov set out to portray life in ‘modern’ Russia using the framework of a ‘day’ and by using the camera operator and editor as part of the film.

This approach was in line with the ideology of a cinematic movement which strived to shock its audience and to constantly remind them that they are watching a contructed work of art.

Man with a Movie Camera can be classified as a poetic and reflexive documentary.

Biggie & Tupac (2002, Dir. N.Broomfield)

Broomfield is perhaps once of the most well known of documantarians. He usually features in his films as the investigator and protagonist.

He has become best known for his documentaries that delve into the hidden and unseemly worlds of infamous public figures. His films include Kurt & Courtney (1998), Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003) and Sarah Palin: You Betcha! (2011).

His work is all ways informed by his left wing political perspective, though in a way that is less confrontational than fellow documentarian Michael Moore.

Biggie & Tupac is shot, as is usual for Broomfield, with a minimal crew and with Broomfield himself acting as sound recordist and boom operator.

The film sees Broomfield investigating the deaths of two of Hip Hop’s most iconic figures – Notorious B.I.G and Tupac Shakur.

Broomfield displays possibly one of the most desired and enviable characteristics for a documentary film maker; the ability to get his subjects to feel comfortable enough to reveal some startling information on camera.

Biggie & Tupac can be classified as both an expository and participatory documentary.

Conventions are a set of rules or expectations that need to be registered within terms of an audience’s appeal whereas ‘narrative’ portrays how a story unfolds. Therefore narrative conventions include characterisation, points of view, conflict, climax, descriptive language, time and plot. Conventions of radio dramas can usually be analysed through the voice, cultural codes, technical quality and codes of context.

Unlike many real media products I have looked at e.g. Lord of the Rings, War of the Worlds etc. A Twisted Conscience doesn’t with a narrative of what the background of the story is. This reason is both because our product is only 5 minutes long and the plot and the scene are easily set in the minds of the audience that they are in the 21^st century and in a city from only a few seconds of listening to both dialect and effects used in the opening scene.

Whilst listening to The Lord of the Rings, I happened to notice that ‘the voice’ of Gollum, as a whole, is considerably dramatic throughout. A Twisted Conscience develops this as the dialogue within our piece in the form of the evil conscience of John Wright; there is dark and threatening tone texture that makes the storyline dramatic and suspenseful in terms of the twisted climax. Also like The Lord of the Rings, our radio drama follows the Todorov theory:- In media terms, narrative is the orgainisation given to a series of facts. The human mind needs a narrative to make sence of things. We connect events and make inturpretations based on those connections. In everything, we seek a beginning, middle and end to it. There are five expected stages of narrative:

• A State of equilibrium (All as it should be) – This could be seen in our radio drama in the first scene. This would be in the first minute or so where Dr. Juliette is seeing to her patient John Wright. There appears nothing out of the ordinary and nothing has raise the attentions of the audience. Admittedly it’s only a small period of time before their is a disturbance in the equilibrium.
• The disturbance to the equilibrium – This would be up until the news report informs the characters and the audience that there have been a series of killings and all the murders have been of the employees of a company called “ACB”.
• Recognition of the disturbance -  This happens on many levels, the first being the news broadcast alerting Juliette and the audience that this is the disturbance that Barnabus already knows and is dealing with. It also happens again where Barnabus Kane appears at John’s flat to ask questions. This would be the first John has heard 0f it despite his evil conscience commiting the acts himself.
• An attempt to repair the damage – The attempt could be the clash between John and his evil conscience fighting for control. As he weeps at the loss of his daughter John attempts to put an end to it all but jumping out of his flat window and commiting suicide.
• Return to equilibrium/ New equilibrium – There is no return to the original equilibrium because I feel that the ending is too dark to go back to the way it was. I would class it as a new equilibrium as the loose ends are tied up. This is where Barnabus is informed of all the things that John has done and clarifies it with the audience.

Our radio drama challenges the conventions within Britain’s longest running soap The Archers. Being based on a specific amount of people from a specific community, A Twisted Conscience contrasts with that story, genre and plot all together. A new series of murders are being targeted at a company and a brilliant detective must solve the case before the killer strikes again. This series of events both entice the listener with suspense and mystery which is revealed at the end of our product. Our aim for the drama would be to always keep the listeners attention as subtle clues to the killer are throughout the drama. Dramatic at points like War of the Worlds and The Lord of the Rings are another achievement, as well as a battle of brains, I wanted to incorporate some action into the drama.

The way our drama starts with dramatic music like the opening to The Lord of the Rings gives the impression of quality and realism. However you could argue it challenges it but the instruments used and even the length of time the opening music is played for. I wanted the music to reflect the modern day but also have a catchy tone that could also imagined being seen with a serious police drama. I went through many sounds and instruments to find the right tone and length and even went to multiple websites including Soundcloud and sample music sites to find the desired music.

Lastly, I analysed several double page spreads that had been featured within The Radio Times. Not only did this give me an insight to the layout in general, but being of a similar publication to that of which our drama would be advertised gave me a more detailed idea of what I should have included. For example:

I based my feature around this double page spread in particular. I used the conventions of the large, main image that has been spread across both pages rather than just the one. This allowed the audience to conclude that the publication was actually a double page spread rather than two pages that had just been put together. I then slightly developed this by spreading my image across the whole of the two pages.

However I intend to challenge conventions of this by using two pictures along with my main image covering both the first page and half of the second. The other two images I plan to add alongside with the text to give the text some decoration and appealing to the eye if there are pictures to accompany the text.

The War of the Worlds was an episode if the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series in 1938 and aired over Columbia Broadcasting System radio network.

The first 2/3 of the 60 minute broadcast were presented as “news bulletins” which provided a sense of realism to the listeners. Like the codes & conventions of a real life emergency, the radio drama featured lines “This is an emergency announcement” and “We interrupt this broadcast”. This approach was not new. Ronald Knox’s satirical newscast of a riot overtaking London over the British Broadcasting Company in 1926 had a similar approach (and created much the same effect on its audience).

• This sense of realism grabbed the listeners attention from the very beginning as any deviation from their normal day of listening to their radio programs. This radio drama was taken so seriously as it ignored the standard codes and conventions of any other radio drama before it. Usually, radio dramas at that time had an intermission 30 minutes in however, War of the Worlds was played for and extra 10 minutes after that and took it’s intermission at 40 minutes.
• The effects of the Aliens coming down from another planet and then attacking were also the abnormal to those heard conventionally on other radio dramas. The ambiance of the radio drama (especially to those who had tuned in after it had started) was tight with suspense and anxiety. Some listeners heard only a portion of the broadcast and, in the atmosphere of tension and anxiety prior to World War II, took it to be an actual news broadcast. Newspapers reported that panic ensued, with people across the Northeastern United States and Canada fleeing their homes. Some people called CBS, newspapers or the police in confusion over the realism of the news bulletins.Some claimed they could smell poison gas or see flashes of lightning in the distance.
• Another use of a symbolic code is the police sirens included in the broadcast. A police siren is known to represent safety, that the authority and law know and a somewhat indication that hope is on its way. It can also represent that danger, violence and criminals could be involved. When the meteorite is questioned and talked about, the siren is heard which alerts the audience and a direct assumption that something bad has happened there, there is danger or someone has been hurt.
• There are also several orchestra intervals used – sometimes to create a suspense and scare the listeners as they did not know what was going on and other times to fade out and move back to the broadcasters at the station to hear what they have to say. This also gives a more realistic effect as it’s how an emergency radio broadcast would work, providing light entertainment between each breaking news story. The listeners would automatically know this as many of these broadcasts happened 10 years before, in World War One, so it was a recognisable format.
• At another point, at the start of the broadcast, ambience is heard. There is a loud and constant clock ticking in the background. This could indicate that time is running out for them, creating an uncomfortable vibe for the listeners and building the suspension while they hear what is said.
• In radio drama, silence was often used to entice listeners or emphasise so that they would be kept in suspense and want to listen longer. In The War of the Worlds, silence was used between broadcasts and sometimes when more information was about to be revealed or an event was about to happen to create the tension and feel it building. It also gives the audience time to picture what is going on. They are also used as a cliffhanger to end a scene, like how the broadcast did when reporter is supposedly attacked by the revealed alien until the sound fuzzes out and goes silent for a few seconds.