by Michael Barry

Created on: March 13, 2007

DRAMA DOCUMENTARY
A perspective from the mid 70s.

One of the most lively events at an Edinburgh Television Festival I attended some years ago was a session on Drama Documentary, where the level of conflict amongst the panellists demanded, as one delegate pointed out, a drama documentary production of its own.

It was obvious however that much confusion exists, largely because of the ongoing attempt to define as one genre what is, in fact, at least five genres.

Let's take a look at these five categories, buttressed by their parents:

C1. Documentary:
Comprising original footage of events, original participants and witnesses. Nothing is invented or re-enacted. An abused word, as many so-called documentaries should be in the following categories. Documentary however is very different from "neutral" newsreel, in that what is shown is directed to a particular message. Pure documentary can leave a lot out which would colour or confuse the chosen message.

C2. Dialogue-accurate:
Here there is a use of actors and reconstructions, but everything is verifiably accurate on a word-by-word basis, and only primary sources are relied upon. Many C1 documentaries in fact include this category in sections.

C3. Near Dialogue-accurate:
As Category 2, but there are some gaps in the knowledge of the programme-makers. The gist of what happened - and the participants - are known but not the actual words and not every precise event. Some of these may be surmised or deduced, where necessary, in order to complete the picture.

C4. True to the spirit:
Here we break away from the sole use or attempted use of actual original dialogue, but nonetheless every event or scene is known to have occurred and only actual characters are being portrayed. However the major difference is that the essence of the event MAY be extracted by any of a number of devices (group improvisation, song, dance, mime, action only, pictures and music, montage) - or simply by using "free range" dialogue.

Often secondary sources may have to be relied upon - and this is considered quite acceptable in order to round out the interpretation of an event.

C5. Nearly true to the spirit:
Here important or key events are not known to have happened - they are surmised by the writer, who is attempting to flesh out a lack of facts with a genuine attempt at probable truth.

As no documented primary-source dialogue exists, any effective style of presentation may be used (as in C4).

C6. Dramatization:
All that we know here is that the story is a true one

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