Documentary film

A documentary film is a nonfictional motion picture intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record. Such films were originally shot on film stock—the only medium available—but now include video and digital productions that can be either direct-to-video, made into a TV show or released for screening in cinemas. "Documentary" has been described as a "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception" that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries.

Defining documentary

In popular myth, the word documentary was coined by Scottish documentarian John Grierson in his review of Robert Flaherty's film Moana (1926), published in the New York Sun on 8 February 1926, written by "The Moviegoer" (a pen name for Grierson).

Grierson's principles of documentary were that cinema's potential for observing life could be exploited in a new art form; that the "original" actor and "original" scene are better guides than their fiction counterparts to interpreting the modern world; and that materials "thus taken from the raw" can be more real than the acted article. In this regard, Grierson's definition of documentary as "creative treatment of actuality" has gained some acceptance, with this position at variance with Soviet film-maker Dziga Vertov's provocation to present "life as it is" (that is, life filmed surreptitiously) and "life caught unawares" (life provoked or surprised by the camera).

DVD

DVD ( "digital versatile disc" or "digital video disc") is a digital optical disc storage format invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. The medium can store any kind of digital data and is widely used for software and other computer files as well as video programs watched using DVD players. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than compact discs while having the same dimensions.

Pre-recorded DVDs are mass-produced using molding machines that physically stamp data onto the DVD. Such discs are a form of DVD-ROMs, because data can only be read and not written or erased. Blank recordable DVD discs (DVD-R and DVD+R) can be recorded once using a DVD recorder and then function as a DVD-ROM. Rewritable DVDs (DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM) can be recorded and erased many times.

DVDs are used in DVD-Video consumer digital video format and in DVD-Audio consumer digital audio format as well as for authoring DVD discs written in a special AVCHD format to hold high definition material (often in conjunction with AVCHD format camcorders). DVDs containing other types of information may be referred to as DVD data discs.

Flexplay

Flexplay is a trademark for a DVD-compatible optical video disc format with a time-limited (usually 48-hour) playback time. They are often described as "self-destructing" although the disc merely turns black and does not physically disintegrate. The same technology was used by Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment under the name ez-D. The Flexplay concept was invented by two professors, Yannis Bakos and Erik Brynjolfsson, who founded Flexplay Technologies in 1999. The technology was developed by Flexplay Technologies and General Electric.

Overview

The technology was originally intended as an alternative means for the short-term rental of newly released movies. Since the disc is capable of being used in any standard DVD player, the manufacturers hoped it would succeed where other time-limited DVD technologies, such as DIVX, failed. Test marketing of EZ-D discs began on August 2003 but was canceled early when consumers rejected the concept (partly due to environmental issues). Due to fears of cannibalizing DVD sales, movies were made available on eZ-D between 2 months and several years after being released on DVD and were priced at US$6.99, both factors that significantly limited consumer demand.

777 (DVD)

777 is the first DVD by American Christian metalcore band Underoath. It was released in the United States and other countries on July 17, 2007, with the intention of having the numbers of its release date coincide with the DVD title.

The DVD is split into three sections: "Moments Suspended in Time"; the "MySpace Secret Show", which was played in St. Petersburg, Florida; and a music video section. The three music videos included are the final products of Underoath's video shoot in Skellefteå, Sweden with Popcore Films. The making of the music video for "You're Ever So Inviting" is exclusively recorded on the DVD as well.

DVD track listing

Moments Suspended in Time

  • 06.20.06 – Hot Topic signing at Countryside Mall – MySpace secret show "Behind the Scenes" footage
  • 04.28.06 – European Tour
  • 10.30.06 – Paris, France
  • 10.08.06 – New Zealand & Australia
  • 04.22.06 – London
  • 10.21.06 – Japan
  • 05.31.06 – MTV, NYC
  • 05.07.06 – Bamboozle
  • 05.04.06 – US Tour with Poison the Well & As Cities Burn
  • 07.07.06 – Somewhere in Canada
  • International Documentary Association

    International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Filmmaker Services, Education, and Public Programs and Events.

    Based in Los Angeles, the IDA has approximately 2,000 members in 53 countries, providing a forum for supporters and suppliers of documentary film making.

    Mission Statement

    Documentary storytelling expands our understanding of shared human experience, fostering an informed, compassionate, and connected world.

    The International Documentary Association (IDA) is dedicated to building and serving the needs of a thriving documentary culture.

    Through its programs, IDA provides resources, creates community, and defends rights and freedoms for documentary artists, activists, and journalists.

    Advocacy

    The IDA helps to advocate for, protect and advance the legal rights of documentary filmmakers. IDA also has a long history of making the case for documentary filmmaking as a vital art form, and they seek ways to ensure that the artists who make documentaries receive the funding that they deserve. Most recently, IDA has been in the forefront of support on these major issues confronting the non-fiction film industry, including promoting net neutrality efforts, lobbying for the development of strong public policies for the arts, lobbying for the appropriation of increased public funding for the arts, promoting fair use practice, and protecting first amendment rights of filmmakers.

    Radio documentary

    A radio documentary or feature is a purely acoustic performance devoted to covering a particular topic in some depth, usually with a mixture of commentary and sound pictures. It is broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. Some radio features, especially those including specially composed music or other pieces of audio art, resemble radio drama in many ways, though non-fictional in subject matter, while others consist principally of more straightforward, journalistic-type reporting but at much greater length than found in an ordinary news report.

    Quotes

    Documentaries in Developing Nations

    There has been tremendous interest in the field of Radio Documentaries particularly in the developing nations such as India, Iran, South Korea and Malaysia. In India for example, Radio Documentary is gaining in popularity due to the flexibility, efficiency and accessibility to the masses. Producers such as Chitra Narain and Danish Iqbal have been accredited with its revival and popularity in the region. Danish Iqbal who is primarily a Drama Producer combined the elements of Dramatic narrative to produce some memorable Radio Documentaries. His Documentary "Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai' is considered a Classic for the use of effective narrative and ambient sounds. This Documentary presents a heartfelt account of unseen bridges between a Kashmiri Shikarah Wala and his Auto Rickshaw Driver friend in Delhi. Although they never met each other but their unseen bond is the subject of this rare Documentary which transcends the barriers of political, religious and regional prejudices.

    Mockumentary

    A mockumentary (a portmanteau of the words mock and documentary) is a type of film or television show in which fictional events are presented in documentary style to create a parody. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictional setting, or to parody the documentary form itself. They may be either comedic or dramatic in form, although comedic mockumentaries are more common. A dramatic mockumentary (sometimes referred to as docufiction) should not be confused with docudrama, a fictional genre in which dramatic techniques are combined with documentary elements to depict real events.

    Mockumentaries are often presented as historical yet witty documentaries, with B roll and talking heads discussing past events, or as cinéma vérité pieces following people as they go through various events. Though the precise origins of the genre are not known, examples emerged during the 1950s, when archival film footage became relatively easy to locate. A very early example was a short piece on the "Swiss Spaghetti Harvest" that appeared as an April fools' joke on the British television program Panorama in 1957.

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