My love of documentaries started when I was a kid, which is probably surprising for most people because most kids love cartoons and action movies. And while I did like those things a lot, I also really liked watching documentaries with my family.
Where it all started (for me):
The first documentary that I remember watching was the 2005 movie “March of the Penguins.” And let me tell you, this was the best thing ever to me as a kid. It was an entire movie about penguins, my favorite animal, that not only had a lot of really cool footage with penguins in it, but was super informational.
After watching “March of the Penguins” in the theater, one of the things I would like to do is go see documentaries with my family about topics I was interested in and animals, mostly animals. The two most memorable documentaries that I would watch that would further build my love of the genre was the 2007 space documentary “In the Shadow of the Moon” and a documentary about crocodiles; I can’t remember the name, I just remember watching it in Imax at some museum.
Technically Interesting
I began to appreciate documentaries more and more as I got older and the list as to why I appreciated them would also grow. When I was young, I liked them solely because they were hyper-intensive about a subject that I cared about. As I got more and more interested in film and video production, I started to appreciate the technical aspect of documentaries. The mix of archival footage and newly shot media is something that is incredibly interesting, as it helps express the realism of the topic. A wonderful example is the recent Netflix series “Conversations with a killer: The Ted Bundy tapes” which showcases footage of Bundy when he was alive.
The other technique to documentary film making that I love is the cutaway or confessional style interviews. These confessional style shots are typically a single shot of an individual whose discussing the topic that tends to be broken up with clips related to the topic. It’s a nice change of pace that really breaks up the experience and pulls the viewer back in.
The Variety
There are so many different documentaries that cover a vast amount of topics. There’s practically a documentary for any topic you would want to learn about. Take the Fyre Festival, for instance, the massive let down and failure that was. Most people that know of the Fyre Festival know that it was supposed to be this incredible party on a remote island. Those people also probably know that it went up in flames extraordinarily.
What those people probably don’t know is the details behind what caused it to go wrong, they most likely don’t know who was behind the event and the things that those people did. But because of a documentary that was created, you can learn about the entire life cycle of the Fyre Festival. See footage of behind the scenes planning, confessionals with those who worked alongside the organizers and really learn about this niche thing that you might not have learned about before.
Documentaries are special, they’re a fantastic tool for learning while also being incredibly enjoyable. And will continue being one of my favorite pieces of media for a long time to come.
