Like the article states, we all have some idea of what a documentary is. We may not be ableto define it absolutely, but there is at least a bit of consensus. There was common outrage at A Million Little Pieces not quite being non-fiction. However, there is little uprising at documentary scenes being dramatizations. There’s a line somewhere, but it’s not clear where.
So I guess I’m as able as any to have some thoughts on this. To me, the difference between documentary and fiction is their representation of reality. [For the sake of simplicity, I’m just going to think of reality is the world’s common storyline that will continue to progress whether or not anyone is filming it.] Documentaries will never be entirely realistic. To make a final point, there must be a conclusion. This means there has to be some sort of built-in conflict or action to move through that will make the film’s ending mean more.
The way this is achieved in a documentary is different than the way it is achieved with fiction. Fiction invents reality whereas documentaries attempt to frame it.
A documentary is an extraction from real life that is edited in a way to make a point. Security footage could form a basis of a documentary, but it's difficult to find someone who would want to watch 8 hours of tape of an over-the-shoulder shot of a speedway station attendant. It’s real, but lacks inherent purpose. It's less about making a difference than making a point. It's still the viewer's choice on whether or not he wants to translate the film's message into his own personal views.
That is something that is shared in fiction. Fiction takes things from real life too, and in turn people in the real world can take lines and lesson out of it. Otherwise they would be irrelevent or even impossible. However, fiction distorts (not in a bad way) the real world rather than focus it. It offers an alternative context to view problems within the real world, but does actually represent the real world itself.
I guess it comes down to the a basis of framing vs. fabrication. Documentary does one while fiction does the other. That’s far too simple to cover everything, but it’s a starting point.
I really agree with a basic point you make when making judgment calls as to what is one of the defining lines for the documentary genre. That is framing vs. fabrication. I believe that is the very nature of differentiating between fiction and non-fiction, which I personally believe is one of the most basic points to consider for categorizing documentary. Nevertheless, as I mentioned in my own blog post, even the idea of "framing" reality may not make the cut if that framing starts to lend more towards propaganda.
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