Documentary research- Media Magazine article

Reality Bites: Documentary in the 21st Century
Carly Sandy
Media Magazine 2009


'John Grierson in the 1930's coined the term documentary describing it as 'the creative treatment of actuality'


'Documentary form has been tabloidised with a stronger emphasis on sensationalism and voyeurism in order to make them more palatable to the mass audiences.'



'Narrowcasting refers to broadcasting that targets a smaller, more tightly defined audiences... These channels offer advertisers their desired demographic on a plate.'



Example of 'Blood, Sweat and Takeaways' used;
-'Borrowing from the hybrid documentary form of reality TV, participants are clearly selected because of their contrasting backgrounds and attitudes because, like scripted drama, documentary needs opposing characters, tension and a strong sense of narrative.'
-'The dramatic exchanges between characters owes as much to Big Brother as it does to traditional documentary modes of representation.'
-'The voiceover is a key documentary device used to direct audiences towards a preferred reading.'
-'Like any documentary, Blood Sweat and Takeaways contains a point of view and a preferred reading; clearly this series is aiming to raise awareness of economic exploitation amongst an audience not readily drawn to more traditional forms of documentary.'

BBC- 'Takeaways, like the majority of BBC3's factual programming, adopts an informal upbeat mode of address, despite the fact it deals with serious and sensitive issues.. (Jess: My New Face, Jack: A Soldier's Story) Note from the titles of these programmes the way in which they attempt to interweave personal narratives with wider, more political issues and in doing so offer a fresh approach to documentary-making for a generation of viewers often considered switched offer by current affairs'

Ross Kemp on Gangs- 'Like many contemporary documentaries, the series draws upon the 'moral panic' surrounding gun and knife crime which gives it a modern and relevant edge.'


Key Questions:
-Documentaries like any other genre has developed to keep pace with changing audience trends and this has involved 'borrowing' from fiction, particularly narrative techniques, structures and characterisation, leading many to question whether the entertainment values are being pursued over content.
-'Does a factual programme have to be formal and authoritarian in order to be informative?'
-'Does it have to be presented by a middle-aged professor or 'expert' in order to have credibility?'
-'Can any documentary ever really provide us with the unbiased 'truth'?'