A good documentary film tells a very special type of story in a way that no other medium can. They share a fantastic tale, but the best thing about the story is that major elements are based on real-life events. When done correctly, we relate and buy into these stories with a much deeper connection than fictional films. I recently watched a captivating documentary on Netflix called “The Social Dilemma” https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224.
The film has an exciting introduction, and this is important because, without this, I’m not watching for 90 more minutes! There are varying cut scenes, the audio is snippets of interviews alluding to something ominous related to social media, and there is tense background music. These elements set the stage for what is to come, the body of the film is framed by these elements, and this framing carries us through multiple occasions where what is happening in the film is just someone talking in an interview.
During the body of the documentary, there are cut scenes with animation that add narrative that isn’t available in the interviews portion. The interviews also skip around to different people, rather than just having a chronological or linear interview of one person. This helped keep up the pace and kept my attention. The questions and allusions raised by the introduction begin to unfold in the story. Slowly, the documentary spoon-feeds the audience small bites but never gives all the story away at once, the suspense was kept high by this fact and the occasional tense background music.
As I watched the film and reflected on my own efforts to create short films and write stories, I had the firm realization that my stories are told in a manner that is too linear and matter of fact. Nobody likes a story or film, even instructional videos, that just say “Here’s the information”. Think about your last interesting conversation, maybe you met a friend for coffee or chatted with an acquaintance at a social event, did each person just state linear facts? Not likely. A conversation is best if there’s a gradual unfolding of things, a sort of winding road. Straight paths are great to get us somewhere fast, but we are not very entertaining.
After reflecting on my work and comparing it to what I saw in this recent documentary, I realized that mixing things up and getting creative with the production AND the editing can produce a much more exciting work that someone would like to watch. In this short video presentation of what Hanoi looks like at night, I failed to tell a story even though there’s some nice music, introduction animation, and transitions. I’m excited to produce another film soon and do more to draw the audience in.
What’s your favorite documentary? What do you love about it?
Thanks for reading,
Daniel
Daniel Rider 