COMMISSIONS UNIT: Lecture and Screening - Dreams Of A Life

Today's lecture was an introduction to factual programming and the documentary genre. We also had a screening of the documentary Dreams Of A Life

- Factual programming is non-fiction programming and filmmaking 

- All films (factual and fictional) are constructed to some degree. (Can happen in pre, production or post production)

- BBC's repuation damaged in 2007 over revelations of fakery

- Competition winners had been faked for Blue Peter and Radio 1

- BBC were fined £400,000 by Ofcom

- Led to more revelations - which led to a complete review of the BBC's handling

A sliding scale of intervention in factual programmingNotionally, the degree of 'accepted' intervention is as follows:

Least >    >    >   >  >  >  >  >  >  > > >>>>  Most

Verite            Reality TV        Fact-Ent        Drama-DocObs-Doc       Science             Wildlife         MockumentaryNews            Docu-soap         History

Factual Genres:
- current affairs
- news
- documentaries
- reality TV
- factual entertainment

Curent affairs:
- Investigative
- Consumer
- Political
- Health
- Social affairs
- Crime
- Business and Finance 

e.g. Panorama, Dispatches, Tonight etc.

- Current affairs programmes often reporter led and deal with weighty subjects
- less observational feels to them - more obviously constructed 
- journalism and story at heart of these films

Documentaries defined:
- 'Artistic representation of actuality'
- inform us about our world and even ourselves but also entertain and engage us

Why do we make documentaries?
- Documentaries speak about or allow others to speak for themselves
- Voyeurism - inevitably documentaries have elements of voyeurism.

Documentary genres and hybrids:

- Poetic
- Expository
- Educational
- Observational
- Reflexive documentaries
- Participatory
- Performative

Hybrid forms & evolving new forms:
- Drama-doc
- Docu-soap
- Reality TV
- Fact-ent
- Structured/scripted reality
- Multi camera observational

Factual formats:
- Multi camera observational
- Presenter/reporter led
- Magazine
- Authored
- Discussion

Conventions:
- Style - shooting and editing - different conventions
- Structure
- Format - varied factual formats - e.g. studio discussion panel show like Question Time
- Shots - handheld etc.
- Commentary
- Narrator/presenter/reporter - dignified male 'voice of authority' / voice of god
- Music
- Experts - 'intellectual weight'
- Conventions are often subject of satire

Factual devices:
- Particular types of factual programme rely on particular storytelling devices
- Become established methods available to makers of factual programmes
- Engineering 'tension' is a common technique. Allows light and shade to come through the film e.g. 'Wife Swap'

Funding and truth
- How and by whom factual films are funded has an important impact upon their style, content and their viewpoint
- Who pays the bills will have an important impact upon who a film casts as villain or hero.
- Documentaries have been used for purposes of propaganda e.g. 'Triumph of the Will' (1935) - Nazi Germany.
- The impact of sponsorship and advertising; pay per view channels.
- Is a public service model essential to the preservation of impartial factual programming?
- Consider the Michael Moore film 'Bowling for Columbine' and consider how truthful
Subject/content of documentary:
- Wildlife
- Science
- History
- Health
- Social affairs
- Politics
- Finance etc.
Purpose of factual programmes:
- Revelation - revealing something new
- Entertainment - engage audience
- Storytelling - portray real life -  portray and convey this as accurately as possible
- Style and content - varied styles used but style should never be relied on over content - always content over style 

Dreams Of A Life (2011) - Screening

- Documentary about a woman who was found dead in her flat after 3 years and the investigation surrounding the case.

Narrative / Structure:
- Timeline - it starts at the end after and then works back through as the investigators try to piece it back together. Interspersed with clips of investigators at her flat and clips of 'her' when she was alive.
- Interviews / testimonies
- The doc dramatised the investigation and her life
- Motifs - had Joyce watching the documentary about herself and also sitting in a taxi with an advert on the side of it.
- Tone - dull music about her death but upbeat music when she was still alive.

Challenges:
- police investigation
- gaining permission - from relatives but also authority
- sub judice - cannot report on a live case - have to wait until case is in public domian