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Bill Nichols’ Definitions Of Documentary
Write an introductory blog post covering the areas of documentary we have discussed in class.
Give a dictionary definition of the word “documentary”.
Explain the presentation of realism in fiction and documentary films.
Explain Bill Nichols’ theory that all films are documentaries, falling into the categories of “wish fulfilment” or “social representation”.
Documentary theorist Bill Nichols claimed that, in a sense, all films are documentaries. Even the most fantastical fiction film provides information about the culture that produces it, as well as representing the actors and any physical location used.
With this thought in mind, he divides 'documentaries' into two categories: wish fulfilment (fiction films) and social representation (what people normally call documentaries).
In particular, he wants to overturn the notion that only fiction films tell stories. Documentaries are often as exciting and dramatic as narrative films, and generally less predictable, because they draw their subject matter from real life.
Of course, the boundaries between the two forms are notoriously flexible, with many documentaries using techniques from fiction film to recreate events — and fiction borrowing heavily from documentary for its enhanced 'truth value' (that is, the implied authority of the documentary image).
Explain the difficulties in differentiating between fiction films and documentaries.
Explain the concept of a scale going from fiction film to pure documentary, with much grey-area between. </aside>