Why do we make docs, anyway?

thartley

thartley

Veteran
I am curious to know what the various answers turn out to be for this question. Just going on hard facts, they don't make a ton of money, relatively speaking. I went to BoxOfficeMojo and searched for the top grossing documentaries, and well... it can't be for the money.

Top Grossing Docs


To reveal a truth? To bring light to some buried forgotten thing? What makes you want to make a doc?
 
I'm leaving for Kyrgyzstan today to shoot a documentary on broken families and bride-kidnapping.

Documentaries serve to raise awareness, educate, and connect people to issues and people. And the way people connect is through stories.

For me, I want to tell the stories for those who can't speak.
 
I make them because they offer more creative freedom than anything else film or video related. There is not a rule that applies to documentaries.
I like that.
 
People like Michael Moore & Al Gore use documentaries to make a political point, like an exposé. Other filmmakers use documentaries to shed light on relatively unknown subjects.
 
Aroon_Narayanan said:
People like Michael Moore & Al Gore use documentaries to make a political point, like an exposé.
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Those are not documentaries. They are propaganda.

I have been (sortof) working on a documentary idea based on cities expanding their borders without the consent of those they take in simply to increase their tax base. So in my case (though it does not personally affect me) I consider it a thorn in the side, an injustice perhaps.
 
Cryogenic Filmworks said:
Those are not documentaries. They are propaganda
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Well I think to a certain extent all documentaries are "propaganda-esk", the documentor will always end up adding a slant, bias, perspective that may or may not be intentional.

To be a pure documentory (without bias), I would consider CCTV footage to be the purist verison of documentory, however it could be argued that even that is biased, since it does not cover every angle and over every period.

For example you may witness a CCTV footage of a man beating his victim, however without the full context, it would be biased, what if it was the victim that was the real attacker, and the fight was in self defence?

So what is a documentory? in my view it is reality through the perspective lens of the documentorist.
 
I guess I am intrigued by the question of "why" more than what. Docs are ALOT of work and sometimes there is little in the way of a roadmap to the story you want to tell. With a traditional film, even when much of the dialogue is ad libbed, you have a script or screenplay and framework in which to operate, you believe the story will (most often) appeal to a wide audience (which helps you get funding...return on investment), you have scenes and a shot list, and you know the story full to its conclusion before you roll camera.

Not always so with docs. The very nature of them seems to reduce the target audience to...what?

Who are we making these for, and why?
 
We're making them for ourselves, primarily. I make them to answer questions I have about the world around me. And I'm fairly certain that if I'm questioning these things, and want to know more about them, then there are others like me who share the same questions.
 
Aroon_Narayanan said:
While I agree completely, wouldn't you say that all documentaries have bias to some extent?
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Yes, I would say that most of the documentaries I have seen do have a bias, or at the very least, a point of view...that being the one of the story-teller/editor. If the story is told as propaganda, it still tells a story or brings an awareness, invites an opinion, even an opposing one.

Documentaries seem to be a way to put an magnifying glass on a particular subject for a little while, and capturing that on film.
 
thartley said:
Documentaries seem to be a way to put an magnifying glass on a particular subject for a little while, and capturing that on film.
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I agree thats a fairly eloquent way of putting.
 
would be even awesomer if more documentaries were shot on film.
;)
I completely disagree with the propaganda comment. While propaganda is certainly created and we have seen it... it usually is a good documentary. It would have to be for anyone to see it as propaganda.
I have seen some mokumentaries that do less documenting and more story-telling but thats not what was being pointed out. I love Michael Moore documentaries. Dude gets passionate about something, documents it and shares it with his opinion.
 
One reason I want to do docs is because stories of real events and real people touch me on a level that fiction works don't. I'm also big on knowledge for the sake of knowledge and as well as very curious about the world around me. I'm as interested in watching features like Murderball as I am about watching Modern Marvels on the History channel.


-A
 
NinjaVsPenguin said:
I'm leaving for Kyrgyzstan today to shoot a documentary on broken families and bride-kidnapping.

Documentaries serve to raise awareness, educate, and connect people to issues and people. And the way people connect is through stories.

For me, I want to tell the stories for those who can't speak.
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couldnt have said it better !

Raising awareness and broadening horizons. The same reason I ONLY watch documentaries ( apart from those glossy docusoap discovery productions)

I was very lucky to be able to work with some of the best documentary makers and I want to keep learning for the rest of my life.

I am also aware of the responsability and consequences when filming in certain situations: one of the most impressive docs I ever saw, was about the fact that many famous shots/pictures were ONLY existing because a camera was PRESENT!
Remember the famous foto of the Vietnamese prisoner being shot in the head on the street? That was actually a frame from a FILM!!! and I saw the whole footage which shows how THE PRESENCE of the cameraman, made the vietnamese official go into show of mode, saying something like " you know what should be done with Vietcong POWS ? come I show you!" the rest is history.......
 
timbook2 said:
Remember the famous foto of the Vietnamese prisoner being shot in the head on the street? That was actually a frame from a FILM!!! and I saw the whole footage which shows how THE PRESENCE of the cameraman, made the vietnamese official go into show of mode, saying something like " you know what should be done with Vietcong POWS ? come I show you!" the rest is history.......
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Wow, that puts it into a perspective I never considered. :( Kinda wish I didnt know that. Human nature seemed brutal enough as it as was.
 
yes, being a reporter often means that where he appears, the people already know what the viewer expects and make it happen just because of the PRESENCE of a camera!!! I wish I knew the title of this film which I saw in the early 80s, it was full of examples, showing how the presence of a reporter/camera created a situation that otherwise would/could not have happened.....it should be a must see for ALL reporters!
There is a certain responsability which they must know about. maybe this is why I like hidden cameras so much :-)
 
If you remember the name of it, come back and post it. I might have to be a girl and close my eyes on parts of it, but I'd like to watch (most of) it.
 
Anhar Miah said:
To be a pure documentory (without bias), I would consider CCTV footage to be the purist verison of documentory, however it could be argued that even that is biased, since it does not cover every angle and over every period.
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Brilliant point Anhar.
 
I think according to the classic definition, a documentary must be without a narrator, only showing what's happening without comment.
Almost nobody does that today, because it can easily get pretty boring, or confusing.

I love watching documentaries, be it short 15 minutes tv docs or the really great big ones like Planet Earth. I also like to shoot in a documentary way. It's pretty challenging because you need to capture real situations without being able to repeat - always keeping in mind the possibilities for editing.
Just shot an 8-10min tv docu with the HVX. We went with two Clowns who work in a children's hospital to cheer up the little patients. After the shoot they said they almost forgot we were there. I was happy to hear that - I hope the editing will work out smoothly as well.
 
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