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I think there is an important reason and need to offer an explanation of the history and evolution of the concept of documentary filmmaking.

To this end it is necessary to look at many other issues that deal with the telling or reporting of non-fiction realities via the many methods of conveying such realities in books, magazines, newspapers, television and the internet. These issues have to do with the expectations of the public and ourselves as to how information is reported and disseminated in our culture, how it’s perceived and how subjectively the information is presented .

All of this to help us decide how a documentary filmmaker or non-fiction story teller may approach his or her story telling, both technically and ethically, of subjects both mundane and controversial, with some hope of realizing some measure of objective reality.

An excellent book that looks at the history documentary is “The History of Non-fiction Film” by Erik Barnouw. 2nd Edition

J R Martin

The word “Actuality” when used to describe the material used in in documentary or non-fiction project, whether it’s film, video, or a photograph means that it was recorded “actually” happening and was not staged or manipulated in anyway.

In a pure sense a documentary film is a story that uses actuality sources to create a non-fiction documentation of some reality. Actuality meaning something that “actually’ happened and was in some way recorded on film, video, still photographs, audio, or other medium. It’s a non-fiction reality, somehow witnessed and recorded. A documentary does not employ actors to recreate a reality of which we have knowledge in some way. As soon as we employ actors, or script what is going to happen, even if it is based on a true story or event, we have created a fictional story.

Interestingly the prehistoric mound pictured here documents the Winter Solstice every year as the sun rises and shines through the window above the passage way on to the back wall of the interior. So doesn’t the construction act as an actuality recoding device however temporary the recording?

A documentary or non-fiction story explores actual events and presents them in a nonfiction context.
The term “Reality TV” does not live up to the “actuality” definition as the program is staged, individuals employed to participate in a fictional “reality” created by the producers of the show.

Traditional documentary format relies on collecting spontaneous coverage of events, unrehearsed interviewing of individuals and working in a non-fiction context. Over the last few years a format termed “Hybrid Documentary” has emerged which basically creates an event and then documents it. One example of this format is American Shopper which documents an event in a Columbus Missouri supermarket and then documents the reaction and participation of the residents. The difference between this approach and a “Reality TV” format is the filmmakers don’t interfere as much. In many ways Super Size Me was a Hybrid since the story was essentially invented.

J R Martin

Where do we start, what kind of logic can we apply to telling actuality based stories? It might be interesting to borrow some ideas from Science. It is said that “Science observes and measures the natural world.” Science accumulates information and uses that data to deduce empirical laws that govern biological and physical systems in our universe.
But in Science explanations must be tested and proved by applying observations and by coming up with other observations that might disprove the explanation. This requirement is called making predictions falsifiable.
This requirement rules out super natural explanations which cannot be proved or disproved. Imagine what Television News would be like if they used this system!

J R Martin