Truth in Documentary Drama - Report Example

Documentary Introduction A documentary is different from a film. There are many reasons why a documentary can not be a film, the major one being the real life depiction. A documentary is a type of film that can be based on real world and real people who are telling, analyzing and discussing historical events in a truthful manner. All it has to do is with real life people, filming their stories and events. It represents a reality topic or issue and portrays it in a documentary without much alteration. It can also be called simply non-fiction. The facts and truth present in a documentary makes it the opposite of fiction as suggested by many smart people. Documentary Drama is like a documentary and is based on real life events presenting truth and facts. The only reason why it would be called a documentary drama is because in this type of documentary, the enactment of real life events or historic events is seen done by actors. The documentary drama can be in written form or it can be filmed. A documentary drama may be filmed in real life locations so that they can bring back to the audience the real hidden story. It plays a major role in reviving the past events that could not be filmed or seen by many of the present day people. Documentary drama makers try to portray their film in the way the events took place at that time. The documentary drama may have some characteristics that make it different from the other documentaries and films. It focuses on the facts of the event that is being portrayed. Usually it does not need addition of extra thrills or scenes. It would clearly focus on the facts provided by the history. It also contains the literary touch, the language, lifestyle and the narrative techniques that were used in the time of history the director is using (Williams, 1993, 88). This is to serve the purpose of bringing the actual facts and events in the way they were then. These documentary dramas are licensed in order to enhance the drama (Paget, 1998, 56). The purpose of the making of documentary dramas is usually to bring the historic event as it looked back then to the present world. With the written historic facts, there is a lot to learn and know for the present day students, analysts and others. In this way, the documentary drama brings out the events that show and teach a lot to the people. These dramas are not just entertainment, but pure knowledge and literature. They catch the interest of many people of different age groups and this is why they have become so common in the past years. These dramas would not include the historical fiction, just the main events based on truth (Tulloch, 1990, 90). The documentary dramas are effective in many ways. There can be certain risks and chances as well that may affect the effectiveness of the documentary dramas. These dramas can either be effective because of the documentary and the non-fiction ways used to illustrate reality, or it can be a blur presentation with weak documentary and film strategies used. A documentary drama reciprocates the reality in their films and signifies the event relived. Narrative films also use documentaries in their presentations in order to create the illusion of the real, but those that are known as documentary dramas are a creative treatment of actuality. The documentary drama is a mixture of two forms; the documentary of the uncovered reality, and the fiction to correspond to it. At first the documentary drama was not accessible to many of the people, but it existed ever since the film industry established. It aimed to bring out the actual reality before the people. As the film industry expanded, the organization reconstructed and allowed new forms of filming which led to manipulation. Film makers had soon realized that the viewers would want to see more of reality that till now they have only been reading. There were many technological restrictions yet the film industry managed to bring out the documentary drama to the viewers. Sometimes a documentary drama may have scenes that are not recorded in actual, but that does not mean that the film looses its accomplishment of actual events on drama. Sometimes the sets and the alignment of sequences are in such an order to make the scene look actually full of suspense and terror. This does not weaken the documentary drama; in fact it strengthens the synchronization and production. The drama will be effective the more it is close to reality, no matter how much adjustments that needs. The documentary drama’s quality of engaging the viewer to the story, direction and depiction of the actual event is the main reason why it positions the spectator as an active player in the current affairs. Many of the documentary dramas bring people to the world of newly introduced social issues, and also promote active approach to reality. Real life events from the history help people to gain verbal experience about how the world is and the realities that are hidden. These are promoted with the help of the filming strategies and dramatic effects. A documentary drama may be immensely effective with the techniques used in it to present the reality. The suspense, thriller, fear and other kinds of emotions can be shown by the sound effects, screening, sets and props. Fictionalizing the truth may be challenging, but this is the art of documentary drama. Sometimes the events are too bold to be shown directly to the viewers; in such a case the tactics that are used play an important role. The event must be well researched and well portrayed with the suitable use of drama techniques and narrative. The natural sound effects and the shaky camera techniques are rather indulging for the viewer and helps greatly in creating the scene (Kroll, 2006, 2). Despite using such techniques, the relation of effect with reality remains a challenge for the film maker. Many of the documentary dramas may be focusing on dramatic facts to catch the view of the audience. Though it is a depiction of reality, the way it is filmed and shown to the audience is an essential move. There has to be a certain direction, a certain screenplay that is planned prior to the film making. A strong screenplay will bring out the best from the presentation of reality to the viewers. The start, the scenes and the ending leaves an impact on the viewer. It shows how effective the documentary drama was for the viewer. As documentary dramas depict the reality concerns and events, to make them powerful enough to have an affect on the viewers, one of the techniques that can be used is the contact with the political and social issues. These issues are such that they can grab the attention of almost every person. The reconstruction of the past events related to political and social problems can be eye catching. Although, the events relate to the historic times and hardly bare any importance in the present, but they are depicted from the props and sets used from present time. ‘Cathy Come Home’ was a documentary drama that consisted of a social issue subjecting homelessness. The effectiveness of the documentary drama may concern many other factors that target the viewers directly. This includes the enthusiasm of the film maker. The intentions and the commitment of the film maker towards his film show up when the film is ready. It is not only about what he thinks, but about what he explores, what he is devoted to and what important thing he wants to bring out in front of the audience. The purpose of the film maker should be to make a difference rather fun, entertainment or making money (Nichols, 2001, 7). The subject matter and the theme of the documentary drama also show how effective it is on the viewers. The subject matter should be something of importance and relevance, historic event, social or natural phenomenon. The theme that leaves an impact on the viewer will be the one that affects him the most. Thus, the theme should be a powerful and impactful one accurately chosen by the film maker if he wants the documentary drama to be effective for the viewers. the expectations of the general audience of a documentary drama is its authenticity, insight, something related to real people and problems and something to learn from (Nichols, 2001, 7). Ethics in the documentary drama is also what makes it impactful. The truthfulness of the film, the language, the values and the high ideals is what is loved by the viewers. The documentary drama should be engaging and enthusiastic. It should be neutral and compelling for the audience. This will be a blend of the theme, with the direction along with the well-balanced representation of the problem (Nichols, 2001, 8). Making a documentary drama in a way that is liked by the viewers will have an impact on them. The concerns that are often generated by these films are great. It is definitely not an easy task to depict the real life events into a drama with actors and sets. It is reality under the cover of fiction as the sets and the actors are all fictional. By many efforts and techniques that are used, the documentary drama is presented in a way that is both loved by the viewer and has an effect on them. But the use of these techniques and sets is not an easy job. Where it takes an efficient team, it also takes a lot of experience, expertise and above all courage. The documentary dramas need to be carefully researched as they are based upon real life people and events. These documentary dramas can be at times controversial and can be disturbing for the audience. Hence, it is very important to make sure while filming and producing that the theme used does not offend the viewers or any other group of people. For example, if a political theme is used, the film maker should make sure that the film does not have material that offends any of the political parties. Gillo Pontecorvo’s ‘La Battaglia di Algeri’ was a documentary drama that was based on politics. It showed many controversial issues, and was one of the most challenging political topics to be raised in a documentary drama. The drama consisted of scenes that were in a grainy black and white look, including singing in the prison, a wedding being held in the basement, and also an old man being pushed down the stairs by dozens of children. This was disturbing as the film dramatized collective movements which could turn the world upside down. Another documentary drama was Antony Thomas’ ‘Death of a Princess’ that leads to a big controversy including an argument between Arabia and Britain, even though the interviews were acted scenes and fictionally framed. In the drama, the problem was presented when a black limousine moves in and out of focus, the windows of the car were darkened, and the princess in the film was dressed in black and in the moment of her assassination a man runs and screams to make room for a progression of international newspaper headlines, which reacted to the assassination. Having occurred mysteriously, the event is left out as a blank space. The interviews during a reporter’s investigation of the film were fictionalized and thus the film creates experiences and possible answers. Throughout the long history of documentary drama, it has been considered as the most popular, but the most controversial forms. There have been many issues that have been raised either because the actual documentary has been dramatized a bit too much with the use of characters and sets, or there has been an application of fiction to documentary style research. Critics have often debated on the issues that the techniques used in order to construct the documentary drama buries the facts and principles under the cover of fiction and drama. This is the reason theorists have also criticized the documentary dramas and stated them to be dramatic storytelling. The British documentary dramas have had a long history amongst the British film making industry. These documentary dramas were reconstructed of previous researched events. These researched events could take the form of illustrative details or narratives. However, the way these documentary dramas involved fiction in the making which was either for the characters, visual style or the script, made these films more controversial than informative. Some programs such as I Want to Be a Doctor (1947) and its Your Money Theyre after (1948) were marked as documentaries but they included immense use of fiction and sets that ruined its actualization. In some films, there are restrictions to make interviews or access to much of original information, in such cases the film makers have to include self made material in the documentary to complete it. These may be controversial for many of the people associated with the documentary. Inability to make a strong documentary that is well researched and well presented; the film makers may suffer much and fall into controversial issues (Rosenthal, 2005, 20). Carefulness is thus an important element that has to be present when a documentary drama is being made. The classification of the documentary dramas can also create problems for the film maker and led to controversial issues. There may often be many examples of contested definitions that mislead the film makers. There has been a variety of subjects and approaches that program makers have explored and that has lead to many descriptive terms that are used like dramadoc, faction, trauma drama etc. These definitions have shifted their meanings over the years (Caughie, 2000, 3). However, the classification is rigid and thus it creates controversies and difficulties for the film makers. The documentary drama categories have lead to the greatest controversy. Since the beginning, there has been much confusion on the categories of the documentary dramas. Many film makers have misunderstood the concept and fell into deep controversies because of this. The different styles and the innovations is what brought documentary and drama together. There are categories that have much drama over the reality, some that may have fiction over the documentary, and others (Corner, 1996, 34). For many years, the styles of documentary dramas have confused the writers and film makers. There have also been arguments on the facts that documentary and drama can not be mutualised. A documentary is factual and drama is fiction, mixing both the forms is abrupt and debatable (Caughie, 2000, 4). Though there are many arguments against this which suggest that bringing drama into documentary s a justified approach and are valid. However, even when the documentary drama was not dictated by technology it remained as attractive as it was in the beginning. The documentary drama did not lose its importance because of the controversial approach and issues the film makers faced. Despite the pressures, the documentary drama industry flourished and remained a persuasive part of the British film industry. Controversies continued to occur and documentary dramas continued to create an impact on the viewers. The numerous documentary dramas seen in history show that the film makers were not hindered by any of the difficulties and the documentary dramas continued to be effective. References Kroll A. (2006) Truth in Documentary Drama University of Westminster, London. Nichols B. (2001) Introduction to Documentary Indiana University Press. Caughie J. (2000) Television Drama: Realism, Modernism and British Culture Oxford University Press. Corner J. (1996) The Art of Record Manchester University Press. Rosenthal A. (2005) New Challenges for Documentary Manchester University Press Paget D. (1998) No Other Way to tell it: Dramadoc/docudrama on television Manchester University Press. Williams L. (1993) Truth, History and the New Documentary Film Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 3. Tulloch J. (1990) Television Drama. Agency, Audience and Myth London: Routledge. Read More