What Makes a Good Documentary?
- Thread starter Sid
- Start date
It may sound odd, but to me, the best documentaries ask more questions then they could ever answer...even if those questions are never vocalized.
I also tend to separate "Documentaries" from "Pop-Documentaries." (Supersize Me, Bowling for Columbine, etc)
-Nick
I also tend to separate "Documentaries" from "Pop-Documentaries." (Supersize Me, Bowling for Columbine, etc)
-Nick
The Wolf
Sr Member
In my mind they don't have to be impartial but I like it when the documentary doesn't push one point but puts everything out out for you to decide, like "Capturing the Friedmans".
Some of my favorite documentaries have been about something I thought wouldn't be too interesting and turned out to be fascinating, like "Theremin".
The best documentaries make you feel like you are there, not just place names and dates.
Wolf
Some of my favorite documentaries have been about something I thought wouldn't be too interesting and turned out to be fascinating, like "Theremin".
The best documentaries make you feel like you are there, not just place names and dates.
Wolf
Weaselhammer
Sr Member
If it has Morgan Freeman narrating it, I'll watch it !
jonny5
Sr Member
I like histories about little understood events. The sort of stuff the History channel USE to do really well. I would also classify shows like 'How it's Made' and Modern Marvels' as documentaries. Love those shows.
Pick an interesting topic (or a focused look at some aspect of a topic) keep it moving at a steady pace and I'll watch. 'Moon Machines' was a great series like this.
If its a corporate history (Ford, Walmart, McDonalds, etc.) I don't want to feel like I'm being preached to about how evil (or good) is the company.
I will watch a show about WWII that depicts events from the Nazi point of view if it is neutral and I am free to decide if their actions are good or bad. Hit me over the head with how evil they are and it gets preachy and then boring. Make it a love letter to Hitler and I won't make it past the opening titles.
Pick an interesting topic (or a focused look at some aspect of a topic) keep it moving at a steady pace and I'll watch. 'Moon Machines' was a great series like this.
If its a corporate history (Ford, Walmart, McDonalds, etc.) I don't want to feel like I'm being preached to about how evil (or good) is the company.
I will watch a show about WWII that depicts events from the Nazi point of view if it is neutral and I am free to decide if their actions are good or bad. Hit me over the head with how evil they are and it gets preachy and then boring. Make it a love letter to Hitler and I won't make it past the opening titles.
Documentaries that explore an idea without pushing an agenda.
Dave Ward
Sr Member
I think sometimes it's when a story emerges that is so strong it speaks for itself. For instance, Some Kind of Monster, the Metallica documentary, has so many moments that you couldn't script, culminating in the therapist who starts to think of himself as part of the band.
Then there's the Errol Morris documentary series, First Person, that's amazing just because of the fascinating choice of interview subjects.
Then there's the Errol Morris documentary series, First Person, that's amazing just because of the fascinating choice of interview subjects.
I like documentaries that show everyday people/events I would never know about without watching the documentary about it.
King of Kong
Rock-Afire-Explosion
Dumbstruck
I'm No Dummy
Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie
J'irai dormir à Hollywood
American Movie
to name just some of my favorites.
King of Kong
Rock-Afire-Explosion
Dumbstruck
I'm No Dummy
Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie
J'irai dormir à Hollywood
American Movie
to name just some of my favorites.
Well, that's a valid kind of doc, it just needs to be upfront about it being about a point of view rather than a journalistic/educational project. I don't have a problem with someone making a point via film...if that's their medium of choice for expression, more power to 'em. (But, probably like you, I don't often choose to watch that kind of doc.)
crabra comander
Master Member
I really liked the "Dear Zachary" documentary. It was done by a close friend of the person in question. Grab a tissue box.
Darth Lars
Master Member
A documentary filmmaker is not just a journalist. Most of the principles for making good fiction also apply to a documentary film. A documentary does not need to have an agenda (it is better if it doesn't), but it must have a point.
Some documentaries I have seen have been mostly a random collector of clips on a theme, and that is just not enough. There must be a thread between things that you see.
If the film presents a lead, then that lead should be followed through and not left dangling, otherwise it should not be in the film at all.
There are a few well-known documentary films about controversial subject matter, that have received good reviews and received several awards and been talked about all over as " a must see", but when I got to see them they have made me angry. Angry, not (only) for the subject matter, but I have felt cheated because they have been so bad on a cinematic level.
I have seen some really good documentaries about the 1930's and the war from a German point of view. When I was in Ninth Grade, I wrote a long essay about Hitler and my best source was a documentary film that focused on Hitler's career. That one was really well made, objective and interesting, even though it did not say much about the atrocities. It was implied that the viewer would already be well aware of the worst things. The point was to show how Hitler had risen to power, not what he did when he had got there.
By the way, another thing that I came across when I worked on my essay was a children's book about Hitler
eek !!!) that I found in a deep dark corner in an old library. It had been published in Swedish not long before the war, and I would not be surprised if it had even been produced by the Nazi propaganda machine. It presented the Hitler Jugend as a fun club to be in, things that the regime took credit for and about how Hitler liked the outdoors and how he loved his dogs. That was indeed something that you could call "a love letter to Hitler". It was a surreal thing to come across, for sure.
Some documentaries I have seen have been mostly a random collector of clips on a theme, and that is just not enough. There must be a thread between things that you see.
If the film presents a lead, then that lead should be followed through and not left dangling, otherwise it should not be in the film at all.
There are a few well-known documentary films about controversial subject matter, that have received good reviews and received several awards and been talked about all over as " a must see", but when I got to see them they have made me angry. Angry, not (only) for the subject matter, but I have felt cheated because they have been so bad on a cinematic level.
Sorry, but that sentence made me LOL. Such a documentary is just so improbable.
I have seen some really good documentaries about the 1930's and the war from a German point of view. When I was in Ninth Grade, I wrote a long essay about Hitler and my best source was a documentary film that focused on Hitler's career. That one was really well made, objective and interesting, even though it did not say much about the atrocities. It was implied that the viewer would already be well aware of the worst things. The point was to show how Hitler had risen to power, not what he did when he had got there.
By the way, another thing that I came across when I worked on my essay was a children's book about Hitler
eek !!!) that I found in a deep dark corner in an old library. It had been published in Swedish not long before the war, and I would not be surprised if it had even been produced by the Nazi propaganda machine. It presented the Hitler Jugend as a fun club to be in, things that the regime took credit for and about how Hitler liked the outdoors and how he loved his dogs. That was indeed something that you could call "a love letter to Hitler". It was a surreal thing to come across, for sure.
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For me even a bad documentary is made good by the subject.
Find a fascinating topic and I'll watch.
Find a fascinating topic and I'll watch.
jlee562
Sr Member
I was fortunate enough to view Dont Look Back and Monterey Pop with DA Pennebaker here in SF a few years ago. I like the verite style as well.
I think a good documentary is structured like a good essay. Answer the questions that are set out at the beginning. Do this with facts, not 'beliefs'. Big words tend to result from unclear or muddy thinking on a subject, or a desire to impress. Don't dumb down, but be clear, concise. Any interviewees, if you use them, clue them in to this direction. Use the strengths of the visual medium, minimizing talking heads onscreen. Be thorough, not verbose for the sake of hearing your own voice (Shouldn't be afraid to edit and ask for re-statements). Communicate without jargon or analogy in what's heard as well as what's shown; if analogies are necessary then be sure they follow what they represent as an aid to understanding, not replace it entirely. Support all statements. Provide context and relevance. If you can, present the depth and breadth of a subject, what it is and why it matters, maximize relevance across your viewer/listener base... you never know who could be tuning in.
gregholt83
New Member
I have no problems with documentaries made with an "agenda" in mind. I love docs, even and sometimes if they express ideas that differ greatly from my own. And honestly the things that differentiate the good from the bad are also the things that apply to all movies.
The first is sound, I can't stand to watch documentaries that don't pay attention to sound.
The visual.
My background is as a photographer, I love light and great lighting inspires and attracts me beyond content. I can sit through a bad plot if the lighting and composition is there.
Plot
Docs need a plot, they need a story arc. Many people think that a documentary is just pointing a camera and saying go, its not. They are still telling a story, compelling stories always have you wondering what is to happen next, even if it covers an event that you think you know every aspect of. Great documentarians find the stories within the story.
The first is sound, I can't stand to watch documentaries that don't pay attention to sound.
The visual.
My background is as a photographer, I love light and great lighting inspires and attracts me beyond content. I can sit through a bad plot if the lighting and composition is there.
Plot
Docs need a plot, they need a story arc. Many people think that a documentary is just pointing a camera and saying go, its not. They are still telling a story, compelling stories always have you wondering what is to happen next, even if it covers an event that you think you know every aspect of. Great documentarians find the stories within the story.
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