Imagine you are talking to a person who has never before seen or even heard of a documentary film. How would you describe it? What are some essential elements of a documentary film? What distinguishes a documentary film from a narrative (Hollywood) film or a broadcast news story?
I would describe a documentary as an informative film that intends to answer question(s) and reveal the truth about a topic. Some essential elements of a documentary film is b-roll and voiceovers, which can come in the form of interviews or narration. The difference between a documentary and a narrative film is that it is non-fiction and isn't focused on making the audience believe what they are seeing as real because it already is. The difference between documentaries and a broadcast news stories is that documentaries are much more in-depth and narrative compared to news which is focused on delivering the now. Documentary could be considered an in-between of narrative films and news as it can utilize storytelling methods and the specific order of clips and interviews to paint a specific picture of a real life topic.
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