Documentary as a statement: defining old genre in a new age

Abstract

Current definitions of documentary struggle to parallel the ability of the viewer to easily demarcate documentary from fiction. This is because these definitions generally attempt to distinguish documentary from fictional films based on the premise that documentaries are factual representations of reality. Here we argue that the two genres can be more clearly defined by focusing on the intent of the communication by the producer, rather than the content of the communication. Specifically, documentary versus fictional films may be best distinguished by the fact that one is produced as a statement of fact while one is focused on the art of storytelling. Notably, a story and a statement differ in the extent to which the intention for how the communication is interpreted is predetermined. Thus, a documentary may be understood as a series of visually and/or audibly expressed statements connected by narrative, and communicated from the author/authors to the viewer with the intention that it be received as fact.

Notes on contributors

Nathan Smith holds a Master's of Science Communication endorsed in Science and Natural History Filmmaking from the Centre for Science Communication at the University of Otago.

Jenny Rock lectures in Critical and Creative Thinking in Science Communication at the same institution, with general research interests in the aesthetics of science, visual/sensory cognition, and reciprocal interaction between science and society.