There used to be a time when documentaries were sources of information, where filmmakers used the platform provided to document reality for either the purposes of education, instruction or maintaining a historical record. But now, even these non-fictional motion-pictures/series have been highly dramatized, so as to garner audience attention.
Of course great film makers can make brilliant documentary films or series with the material they are given, like Sir David Attenborough, Robert H. Gardner, Joachim C. Fest among others who produced great works like ‘Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life’, ‘Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire’, ‘Hitler, A Career’ and many more. Most of these documentaries, the ones which were released during and before the 2000s were usually un-biased and gave plain facts about what happened during a set time (with maybe some enacted scenes, for viewers understanding).
Recent documentaries like ‘The Last Dance’, ‘Rising Phoenix’, ‘The Social Dilemma’ and even ‘David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet’ have all been dramatized accounts, even though it maybe true, of various events (The last one has been called a “witness account by Sir David Attenborough, so we know it is a personal account by one of the oldest and experienced natural historian). There is no criticism here, all the aforementioned documentaries are a brilliant watch; all of them – a must watch. But filmmakers have decided to shift their focus from “a situation” to the more relatable person involved, which is usually the human being (or underdogs) to get viewers to relate.
Amazon Prime Video has even started a documentary series called ‘All or Nothing’ for different English football clubs – including Manchester City, Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspurs. All three series were fly-in-the-wall type documentaries, with viewers gaining an inside access to understand the happenings in a club, and with some brilliant editing, we got three amazing shows. All three focused on fans, players, managers and football club owners (most of them, atleast).
This article is not about condemning or applauding this change in tone when it comes to creating documentaries. It is important for the general public to know important knowledge, so making good television to make sure that viewers are watching them is a smart tactic employed by filmmakers. Knowing the line of how much can be dramatized and how much of it should focus solely on the subject matter will determine how the documentary will be understood by all who watch it.
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