A documentary film is a nonfiction movie intended to show some aspect of real life in order to educate, influence or make a historical record. The goal of a documentary film is to bring a real life story to an audience and To do this we need to tell a good story.
All stories have a beginning, middle and end. And this is true for documentaries as well. It’s all about the storytelling. Documentary filmmakers use a variety of techniques to illustrate the story. These include showing live video, still images, interviews or existing video clips on the screen. Along with music, sound effects, narration, or words from the mouths of characters.
Popular documentaries like Paris is Burning or 13th, help to tell an accurate story of a part of history.
They are important becuase they provide an opportunity to understand and connect with the world.
Documentaries allow the storyteller to tell a real life story in their own way.
Movies that are funny spoofs of documentary films are called mockumentaries. These are fictional stories presented as if they were real life events.
Learn more about documentaries and filmmaking with Digistars Documentary Movie-making course.