Television documentary
Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen
- Television documentary series, sometimes called docuseries, are television series screened within an ordered collection of two or more televised episodes.
- Television documentary films exist as a singular documentary film to be broadcast via a documentary channel or a news-related channel. Occasionally, documentary films that were initially intended for televised broadcasting may be screened in a cinema.
Documentary television rose to prominence during the 1940s, spawning from earlier cinematic documentary filmmaking ventures. Early production techniques were highly inefficient compared to modern recording methods. Early television documentaries typically featured historical, wartime, investigative or event-related subject matter. Contemporary television documentaries have extended to include celebrity, sporting, travel, economic and wildlife subjects.
Many television documentaries have created controversy and debate surrounding ethical, cultural, social and political concerns. Controversy has also arisen regarding the current formatting of televised documentary series, as well as the contextualisation of televised documentaries broadcast via contemporary
History
Pre-1900
Televised documentary finds its roots in the media communication modes of film, photojournalism and radio. Specifically, televised documentary can be traced to the origins of cinematic documentary film. Documentary film emerged in prominence within non-fiction filmmaking as an account of historical and contemporary events. In 1898, Bolesław Matuszewski, a Polish cinematographer suggested documentary film to be a "new source of history".[1] The widespread evolution of documentary filmmaking led James Chapman to consider its origins as a largely "international process" involving nations such as the United States of America, France, Germany, the Soviet Union and Great Britain.[2]
1900–1950
The emergence of documentary film within its televised format followed the advent of the
It is of common belief that the widespread televised revolution, particularly within documentary filmmaking, was an inevitable construct. Duncan Ross and Ramsay Short became early pioneers of the televised documentary format, prominently embedding existing filmmaking techniques within this new broadcasting vehicle.[4] Ross, in 1950, noted that documentary media was "perfectly at home in television."[5] At this time, Ross and his contemporaries considered television documentary as an extension beyond traditional documentary filmmaking – particularly in celebrating John Grierson's defining notion that documentary exists as "the creative treatment of actuality."[6] These early television documentarists advocated for the potential influence of television documentary within educational, social and cultural mediums.[2]
1950–1970
The origin of television documentary within the United States dates to 1949, depicting a series of wartime memoirs.[7] During the 1950s, prominent commercial broadcasting networks, such as NBC, ABC and CBS, centred their televised documentaries around historical, military, wartime and event-related genres.[8] The 1960s are frequently celebrated as the "Golden Age" of television documentary within the United States.[9] At this time, television documentaries began to hold increasing importance within both journalistic and political realms. Notably, the Kennedy administration believed that televised documentaries could contribute towards the American efforts to constrain the growth of communism.[8]
Television documentary continued to grow in popularity globally throughout the forthcoming decades. James Chapman notes Royal Family (1969) as "the best indication of the cultural acceptance" of television documentary.[2] Following its screening, Royal Family amassed viewership figures of 40 million people globally.[10]
1970–2000
The latter decades of the twentieth century saw television documentary decline in popularity on commercial broadcasting networks, rather screening primarily via
Contemporary television documentary
A new medium for documentary broadcasting emerged in the 2000s and continued to rise to prominence in the 2010s.
The current trajectory of television documentary productions is widely suggested to transit towards streaming services such as
Production techniques
Early television documentaries were produced by recording the relevant visual and sonic media separately.
Particularly prominent equipment utilised throughout the early period of television documentary production included Éclair 16mm film cameras, in conjunction with Nagra sound recorders. Contemporary attempts to recreate a similar vintage production environment note such methods to be inefficient and often faulty.[16]
The early 1970s sparked revolutionary changes within documentary production techniques. Marshall McLuhan and Buckminster Fuller inspired a revolt against the existing traditional methods of information communication to American society. Sony's newly developed Portapak video camera was a significant tool that spurred the Guerrilla television campaign and was recognised for its facilitation of the transfer of video tape recordings from one company's device to another company's respective device.[17]
The next significant development within television documentary production techniques came in the 1980s with the introduction of portable video recorders, also known as
Genres
Early British television documentaries held a large focus upon historical events, locations and governing states. Additionally, war documentaries rose to prominence in the late 1940s and early 1950s, illustrating efforts of the
So too did documentaries that explored themes of
Television documentaries continue to spotlight wartime, historical, governmental and wildlife subjects. Contemporary genres of television documentaries also include sport, health, economic, social media and celebrity subjects.
Criticism
The continued emergence of television documentary within historical and informative media contexts has engaged significant debate and controversy surrounding its wide-reaching influence. These controversies typically consist of ethical, cultural, social and political concerns. Televised documentary media has been considered to create
The
Contemporary studies have been conducted with specific focus on evaluating the
The advancement and contemporary formatting of popular television documentary productions has also drawn controversy in recent years. In 2014, famed documentary narrator, David Attenborough, expressed an opinion in which he lamented the contemporary state of television documentaries. He believed modern audiences to lack an interest in lengthy documentary series, rather favouring miniseries composed of two or three episodes. He suggested that these miniseries do not "deal with something properly." Instead, Attenborough longed for a "stronger commitment and belief" in one subject matter, facilitating extended documentary series production once more.[31]
The emergence of streaming services into the cultural broadcasting mainstream throughout the 2010s in particular, has also sparked contemporary controversy surrounding the format and classification of televised documentaries. Subsequently, the
Example channels
- Al Jazeera Documentary Channel
- Animal Planet
- CGTN Documentary
- Discovery Channel
- DOC: The Documentary Channel
- Docu TVE
- Documentary (TV channel)
- History
- National Geographic
- Science
- Smithsonian Channel
- WORLD Channel
See also
- Bill Nichols (film critic)
- Documentary film
- Documentary mode
- Filmmaking
- John Grierson
- List of documentary television channels
- Mockumentary
- Public-access television
- Sponsored film
- Walter Goodman (critic)
References
- ^ Matuszewski, Bolesław (25 March 1898). "A New Source of History". Film History. 7 (3): 322–324.
- ^ a b c d e Chapman, James (2015). A New History of British Documentary. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
- ^ Robson, David (27 October 2016). "Eighty years ago the BBC made its first live broadcast – and the world changed for ever". Express. Express. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- .
- ^ Ross, Duncan (1950). "The Documentary in Television". BBC Quarterly. 5 (1): 19.
- ^ Grierson, John (1966). The First Principles of Documentary. London: Faber & Faber.
- ^ Von Schilling, Jim (2002). The Magic Window American Television ,1939–1953. Routledge.
- ^ a b c Raphael, Chad (2009). Broadcast Network Documentaries (In C.H. Sterling & C. Whitney (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Journalism). Beverley Hills: Sage Publications. pp. 458–463.
- ^ Thompson, Robert J.; Allen, Steve. "Television in the United States". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ Rieden, Juliet (23 November 2019). "The True Story of the Royal Family's BBC Documentary, Which Hasn't Been Seen Publicly in Decades". Town & Country. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
- ^ Glover, Paul. "The Emergence of Digital Documentary Filmmaking in the United States" (PDF). Academic Forum 30 2012–13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Screen Australia. "DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTION FOCUS ON INTERACTIVE". Screen Australia. Screen Australia. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Morgan, Blake. "What Is The Future Of Television?". Forbes. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Jardine, Alexandra. "JOHNSON & JOHNSON AIDS DOCUMENTARY WINS ENTERTAINMENT LIONS GRAND PRIX AT CANNES". AdAge. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Stevenson, Tim (7 August 2019). "Marketers are capitalizing on documentary filmmaking's golden age". Digiday. Digiday. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ .
- ^ Boyle, Dierdre (1992). "From Portapak to Camcorder: A Brief History of Guerrilla Television". Journal of Film and Video. 44 (1/2): 67–79.
- ^ U. o. L. Department of Media Arts at Royal Holloway. "U-matic and Betacam". How Television Used To Be Made. ADAPT TV History. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
- ^ Glover, Paul. "The Emergence of Digital Documentary Filmmaking in the United States" (PDF). Academic Forum 30 2012–13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Ellis, Jack C.; McLane, Betsy A. (2005). A New History of Documentary Film. New York, NY: The Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 258–259.
- ^ Glover, Paul. "The Emergence of Digital Documentary Filmmaking in the United States" (PDF). Academic Forum 30 2012–13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Raphael, Chad (2009). Broadcast Network Documentaries (In C.H. Sterling & C. Whitney (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Journalism). Beverley Hills: Sage Publications. pp. 458–463.
- ^ Stourton, James (2016). Kenneth Clark: Life, Art and Civilisation. William Collins.
- ^ Nichols, Bill (2001). Introduction to Documentary. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
- ^ "Michael Jackson's statement". CNN. 6 February 2003. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Aufderheide, Pat; Jaszi, Peter; Chandra, Mridu. "Honest Truths: Documentary Filmmakers on Ethical Challenges in Their Work". CMSI. Center for Media & Social Impact. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Crowcroft, Robert (2 February 2019). "How good is television as a medium for history?". History Today. 69 (2).
- .
- S2CID 154884471.
- S2CID 149835431.
- ^ Deans, Jason (14 October 2014). "David Attenborough bemoans the state of TV documentaries". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Schneider, Michael (28 July 2020). "Emmys: Netflix Dominates in 2020, With a Whopping 160 Nominations; HBO's 'Watchmen' Leads Programs". Variety. Variety. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Porter, Rick (19 September 2020). "'The Last Dance' Wins Emmy for Best Documentary Series". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 November 2020.