Introduction

As the practice of filmmaking has progressed, common elements have become characteristic of different genres. While many moviegoers often believe that only dramatic works can have specific conventions, documentaries and other factual productions also have these.

While different styles have been used in different eras, the most notable style for documentaries is known as Cinéma vérité. Created in the early 1960s, being influenced by the development of smaller cameras and field audio recorders; filmmakers such as Jean Rouch from France and Robert Drew from the USA, set out to produce films that felt realistic and intimate.

While audiences usually believe that documentaries portray reality; over time, filmmakers have created new genres that use elements synonymous with documentaries, but to depict fictional events. While most of the time, these filmmakers are not trying to deceive their audience, many viewers believe that what they watched were true events. In this project, I will examine the use of coverage and decoupage in facsimile documentaries, how documentary techniques are used in scripted work, and whether they influence the viewer’s sense of reality.

I am looking at this phenomenon from two different perspectives: Drama, through The War Game (1965); and comedy, through This is Spın̈al Tap (1984).

The War Game

The War Game was Peter Watkins’ follow-up to his successful BBC telemovie, Culloden (1964), where he produced a re-enactment of the 1746 Battle of Culloden, following a similar format to television coverage of the Vietnam War. The War Game, however, was based on a hypothetical situation where Great Britain was attacked by the Soviet Union during a nuclear war. While the film was well received and even won an Academy Award (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 1967), the BBC refused to air it, believing that the public would see it as a real occurrence.

This is Spın̈al Tap

This is Spın̈al Tap followed a fictional rock band, Spın̈al Tap, on their American tour, both on and off stage, showing a satirical view of the music industry of that era. The director, Rob Reiner, was influenced by the proliferation of documentaries by other bands, such as Gimme Shelter (1970) – showing the Rolling Stones in a similar way. Using the documentary format meant that audiences started believing that Spın̈al Tap were real, with Reiner saying, “When ‘Spinal Tap’ initially came out, everybody thought it was a real band. Everyone said, ‘Why would you make a movie about a band that no one has heard of?’”(Reiner, cited in Yabroff 2009).

Fly on the wall perspective

In documentaries, the camera crew often take the position of an observer, so they remain as unobtrusive as possible, allowing the subjects to go about their business. This is Spın̈al Tap uses this often, most notably while the road crew loaded their truck.

This makes the viewer feel like they’re observing a real-life event.

Long takes

Documentary filmmakers are, more often than not, unable to use multiple shots to construct a scene because most real-life events cannot be repeated. This means that the average shot runs longer than one in a narrative film. In The War Game, this was used at the beginning of the film, where an unnamed person is shot riding his motorcycle and entering a building.

This also has the effect of immersing the viewer in the scene.

Camera movements and adjustments during shot

Due to the use of long takes, filmmakers often need to cover multiple events or subjects in a single scene. This means that they will need to pan, tilt, track, zoom and focus the camera quickly so the entire scene is captured. In This is Spın̈al Tap, they used this while the band argued with their manager.

This provides the effect of actuality that could also be found in home movies.

Interviews on location

Filmmakers typically set their interviews up on location to maintain authenticity by having the subject in their natural environment. In This is Spın̈al Tap, this is shown when the band is interviewed while eating at a diner.

In The War Game, interviews of medical staff are done inside hospital wards.

Vox populi/Talking heads

Vox populi are commonly used in documentaries as a way to show the opinions of people who are involved in the film’s subject. It appears to provide authenticity, as it shows real people in the street, in a similar way to a testimonial. In The War Game, a few people are interviewed outside their houses about the nuclear attack.

In This is Spın̈al Tap, fanatical fans talk about the importance of Spın̈al Tap to them.

Studies have shown that testimonials for products and services – similar to vox populi – affect consumer behaviour, because they believe that another ordinary person believes in the product (Spillinger & Parush 2012). In my opinion, people trust vox populi for the same reason.

Conclusion

Faked reality, as my research has shown, rightly shows that the viewer can easily be duped into believing that footage can be of actuality. As film has evolved as an artform, conventions usually associated with documentaries are now also being utilised in fiction, blurring the line between real and fake. This makes me wonder if the production of these facsimile documentaries could also make the audience question whether documentaries based on “actuality” may not be what they seem.

Bibliography

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 1967, The 39th Academy Awards | 1967, viewed <https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1967>.

Axmaker, S 2015, ‘Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth’, Independent Lens, 14/12/2015, viewed 26/05/2020, <https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/cinema-verite-the-movement-of-truth/>.

Hall, J 1991, ‘Realism as a Style in Cinema Verite: A Critical Analysis of “Primary”‘, Cinema Journal, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 24-50.

Hassard, J & Holliday, R 1998, Organization-representation work and organization in popular culture, SAGE, London.

This is Spın̈al Tap 1984, Embassy Pictures, Los Angeles.

Spillinger, A & Parush, A 2012, ‘The Impact of Testimonials on Purchase Intentions in a Mock E-commerce Web Site’, Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 51-63.

The War Game 1965, British Broadcasting Corporation, London.

Webb, A 2019, The War Game, British Broadcasting Corporation, viewed 28/5,<https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/100-voices/coldwar/war-game>.

Yabroff, J 2009, ”The Real Spinal Tap’.(Entertainment CULTURE)’, Newsweek, vol. 153, no. 16, p. 55.