Documentaries Defined

A ‘Documentary’ is defined as being “a film or television or radio programme that gives facts and information about a subject”.

Bill Nichols explains his theory that “All films are documentaries”, falling into either the category of “Wish fulfillment” (fiction films) or “Social representation” (traditional documentaries). He identifies how fiction films seek to portray something that the audience desires to see whereas a documentary film focuses on the reality of a subject matter without manipulation to appease any desires of the audience.

Whilst in a fiction film, mise-en-scene can be either real or fake, it always remains real in a documentary film, much like the characters who are otherwise played by actors in a fiction film, often using stars which gives less of a realistic depiction of the people they might be representing but has the effect of making the film more appealing for an audience. Filmmaking equipment is often more visible is documentary films, creating no illusion that fiction films create as they are already based on real events or information which is why the cameras are unseen in fiction films. In a fiction film, the filmmakers are off camera whilst adding a creative presence to the film and the dialogue is created by screenwriters to create engaging scenes. This differs from the documentary style of filmmaking where the filmmaker often appears in the film and can be the star such as in Michael Moore’s documentary films. The story also unfolds with logic rather than a set structure where dialogue is created through natural speech. One of the most striking differences between the two styles of filmmaking is the effect on the audience. Fiction films are accepted as an illusion of reality, not real and often created for entertainment purposes only rather than identifying key subjects, whereas the audience of a documentary film expects transparency and relevant information about the context of the subject.

There is a definite grey area regarding the concept of a scale that identifies whether a film is fiction or documentary. The difficulty in differentiating between fiction films and documentaries is caused by their subjective natures; “Even the most fantastical fiction film provides information about the culture that produces it, as well as the actors and any physical location used” (Nichols). Nichols also states that “Documentaries are often as exciting and dramatic as narrative films, and generally less predictable, because they draw their subject matter from real life”.