How Documentaries Work

INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1: RAW MATERIALS Verité Interviews Archival Reenactments and Animation Voiceover Narration Title Cards CHAPTER 2: MEANING Creating Meaning Within the Interview Frame Creating Visual Uniformity with Interviews Creating Meaning with Objects in the Frame Creating Meaning with Words Interview-As-Narration Creating Meaning with Verité Open vs. Closed Meanings CHAPTER 3: NARRATIVE The Setup Position The Crisis Moment Producing the Narrative Turn Producing the Narrative Turn with Juxtaposition Micro-Narratives Callbacks Non-Narrative Documentaries CHAPTER 4: PRESENCE FRAMING Observational Framing The Semi-Staged Scene The Participatory Frame Narration and the Participatory Frame Voice of God Narration Altering the Outcome The Reflexive Frame CHAPTER 5: FLOW Unifying with Sound Pivots and Pauses Juxtaposition Collective Memory CHAPTER 6: TIME The Experience of Time in Verité The Interleaving of Scenes Use of the Present Tense CHAPTER 7: TITLES Naming Characters Conferring Legitimacy Look and Feel Subtitles CHAPTER 8: ARCHIVAL Archival Treatments Manipulation of Newspaper Assets Historical Shorthand CHAPTER 9: SOUND Sweetening Foley Time and Space Framing Presence with Sound: The Cave & For Sama CHAPTER 10: MUSIC Fear of Music Film vs. Television Verité vs. Expository, Interviews vs. Archival Tone Procedural Music CONCLUSION The Brave New World of Hybridity in Documentary Acknowledgements Appendix: List of Films and Television Shows Cited