For my second Audio Visual assignment I'm required to come up with a documentary regarding an issue which I believe is important.
Even though i'm at the early stages of thinking about the topic for my documentary one of the areas which I might focus on is social networking. I would like to document on how people expose themselves on the internet for everyone to see. I would also like to raise the question-"Would you tell a stranger on the streets about your life?? Then why tell the world through Facebook! People won't go around the streets telling strangers about their life and exposing themselves therefore why do it in the internet where you target a very large scale of people who are capable of harming you.
They are films based on factual events and issues going on around the world, these films inform viewers and record important issues giving them a visual experience of an event or life story (biography). Even though documentaries aren't scripted they still select scenes carefully and put them together.
Documentaries contain sound such as voice overs these are played in the background of the documentary, it's mainly a person informing the viewer on what is occurring in the footage or where the footage has been recorded etc...Even though voice overs are facts about the issue or event being discussed the footage displayed sometimes says it all as viewers are getting a visual experience.
Interviews are used in documentaries, these interviews allow victims of the event to describe what happened to them, their families and how it's affected their lives. These people aren't actors just people who had experience the event and were willing to share their life story.
Stock or archival footages are clips gathered from other sources which are also incorporated into the documentaries. This avoids having to film new material and also adds extra sources to documentary.
Expositions are used in documentaries this is were the narrator providing the voice over describes what is the documentary is about, theme, location etc...
Even though i'm at the early stages of thinking about the topic for my documentary one of the areas which I might focus on is social networking. I would like to document on how people expose themselves on the internet for everyone to see. I would also like to raise the question-"Would you tell a stranger on the streets about your life?? Then why tell the world through Facebook! People won't go around the streets telling strangers about their life and exposing themselves therefore why do it in the internet where you target a very large scale of people who are capable of harming you.
Documentaries
What is a documentary?
What is a documentary?
They are films based on factual events and issues going on around the world, these films inform viewers and record important issues giving them a visual experience of an event or life story (biography). Even though documentaries aren't scripted they still select scenes carefully and put them together.
Documentaries contain sound such as voice overs these are played in the background of the documentary, it's mainly a person informing the viewer on what is occurring in the footage or where the footage has been recorded etc...Even though voice overs are facts about the issue or event being discussed the footage displayed sometimes says it all as viewers are getting a visual experience.
Interviews are used in documentaries, these interviews allow victims of the event to describe what happened to them, their families and how it's affected their lives. These people aren't actors just people who had experience the event and were willing to share their life story.
Stock or archival footages are clips gathered from other sources which are also incorporated into the documentaries. This avoids having to film new material and also adds extra sources to documentary.
Expositions are used in documentaries this is were the narrator providing the voice over describes what is the documentary is about, theme, location etc...
How documentaries have changed over the years?
The earliest documentaries which were first recorded were news, current events etc...These had no narrative or voice overs (explaining what was occurring). They consisted of single camera shots of events of very simple things. Other forms of documentaries which were first created were for propaganda i.e. Leni Reifenstahl film- Triumph of the Will. This documentary was about Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party's influence on Germany. It has extracts of speeches made by the party. Hitler was even an unofficial producer therefore what was displayed in this documentary was the events that he wanted people to see.
Nowadays anyone with technological devices can record a documentary, you don't need a video camera or recorder as many small devices have the ability to record i.e. mobile phones (smart phones), digital cameras, iPods etc...Due to this factor this period in time can be referred to the documentary age as anyone with some form of equipment can create a documentary.
Technological advances have helped to improve documentaries as cameras and equipment used are better quality than they were previously. Film recorders are more practical and can therefore be placed in different areas to capture elements which are hard to capture from a normal angle. Also other equipment such as camera stands can be used to hold cameras in places allowing the footage being recorded to be stable and not have any unwanted movements (i.e. camera shaking). Cameras also have the ability to shoot footage at night time as many technological devices have night vision software, this allows people to record events that happen at night time. Security cameras can also be used to record events especially unexpected ones as these cameras run 24/7.
Drawbacks of documentaries
Documentaries have progressed over time and are very interesting pieces of footage because of the fact that they are real and not biased. Although there are some draw backs to these factual films.
Even though documentaries tend to be quite factual a lot of times the opinions of the author of the documentary is incorporated. This can lead the film to be convincing viewers of someones opinion on the issue being discussed instead of the factual elements. Even though factual events are being displayed on screen in many occasions things have not been included on order to no inform people on how bad the situation was, this therefore is giving a false impression of the event, issue etc...
Resources
http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/what-is-a-documentary.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film
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