Docufiction

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Moana; by Robert Flaherty; first documentary fiction in film history; 1926

As docufiction ( portmanteau of documentation and fiction ; also: docufiction or Docu-fiction ) refers to a fictional documentary.

The idea of ​​the docu- fiction is based on the docu-drama on some books ( After Man , The New Dinosaurs , Man after Man ) by Dougal Dixon , which use invented animal species to demonstrate the basic principles of evolution. But it is also inspired by the exobiology and the fictional reference works of the role-play scene.

Content

Documentation is usually used for the spectacular dissemination of knowledge about basic scientific principles using fictitious examples. This format is particularly popular for explaining the principles of evolution , with future ( The future is wild ) or extraterrestrial (Extraterrestrial, Alien Planet) animals and plants or their equivalents being constructed and presented according to scientific principles.

There are also documentaries that deal with mythological beings such as dragons . The documentaries also include films in which, instead of real recordings, recordings with actors or those that have been animated on the computer are used.

Delimitations

It's a mixture of documentary and feature film , so a fusion of both into one.

For example, historically particularly accurate films such as The Downfall can be counted as documentaries; usually they are assigned to a separate genre called docu-drama. Documentaries also offer opportunities to tell a story because all the scenes shown can be freely designed according to the director's wishes.

A documentary film can either take place in a recognizable fictional world or in the reality we are familiar with. In some cases the two can be mixed up, for example by placing dragons in the real world.

Science fiction has developed a special form of docufiction , namely looking back from the future (as the present of the main character) to a (wholly or partially) fictitious historiography of the (from the author's point of view) nearer future and present.

Advantages of docufiction

The docu-fiction opens up possibilities to attract viewers not interested in normal documentary topics and to adapt dry formats to the norms of the entertainment industry.

Criticism of the shape

Docufiction as a means of conveying knowledge is occasionally criticized by scientists because it can convey false information as real due to the fact that the image can often be completely manipulated in connection with the high level of trust the consumer has in the authenticity of images. There are, for example, numerous poorly researched documentaries about historical events and people or even prehistoric living beings, some of which lead to glaring errors in the presentation.

The docufiction is also accused of a tendency to lurid representations, because spectacular scenes can be easily created. The documentary fiction shares this problem with the closely related animal film , in which commercialization seems to be accompanied by a tendency towards spectacularization.

See also

literature

  • Philipp Blum: Documentary fictions. Films on the border between fiction and non-fiction as aesthetic interventions in the logic of the genre. In: MEDIENwissenschaft. H. 2, 2013, pp. 130-144. PDF file (1.2 MB)
  • Stella Bruzzi: New Documentary: A Critical Introduction. Routledge, 2000.
  • Christian Hißnauer: Possibility PLAYROOM . Fiction as a documentary method. Notes on the semio-pragmatics of fictional documentation. In: MEDIENwissenschaft. H. 1, 2010, pp. 17-28. PDF file (320 kB)
  • Christina Lammer: DoKu. Staging reality in a documentary. Vienna 2002.
  • Gary D. Rhodes, John P. Springer (Eds.): Docufictions. Essays on the intersection of documentary and fictional filmmaking. McFarland, Jefferson, NC 2006.