Shortly after entering the world of theatre, I began to gravitate towards the musical world of the stage. Even from a young age, I loved music that told a story. Maybe it was my mother playing music like "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights" and "Hotel California". So, it was only natural that I began to love musical theatre. As of today, I have grown fond of the musical stylings of Jason Robert Brown and today I have been listening to his 1998 show "Parade".
Tony Awards Performance:
"This is not over Yet"
This show tells the real life story of Leo Frank, a New York business man who moved to Atlanta and was the subject of great antisemitic actions. A girl was raped and murdered in his factor and due in no small part to newspaper propaganda he was sentenced to hang. After reviewing his case, he was lifted of the death penalty until further review of the case. However, on the eve of this decision, an angry mob entered his cell, took him away, and hung him.
It is this kind of storytelling that most appeals to me. Through listening to the soundtrack one reaches an emotional catharsis for their own environment. By presenting these antisemitic themes, one comes to realize the cultural impacts of story and situation.
Now, I have no hands on experience with this show from Jason Robert Brown. I have worked on and acted in two of his other shows: Last 5 Years and Songs for a New World. My enjoyment from these other two shows did I come to explore this show and enjoy this story. I am not Jewish and have rarely experienced any racism or prejudice in my lifetime. But to see people not unlike myself savagely discriminate others make me feel ashamed. However, I also feel educated on other topics. I hope that other people watching and listening to this musical will spread knowledge and catharsis for this kind of discrimination.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Documentary: Summer Camp!
The month is May the year is 2010. After returning from a hectic semester at the University of Minnesota, I arrived back at home to a very slow and almost boring pace back at my home in Wisconsin. With only weeks and days before shipping out to New York for another summer working at Campus Kids, I began to devour anything relating to camps: summer or otherwise. Thusly, I searched every website and scoured every video site and came upon a few things. One thing that stuck with me was a documentary aptly called "Summercamp!"
"Summercamp!" tells the story of a summer at Swift Nature Camp in the Northern part of Wisconsin. It is presented in documentary form complete with appropriate background music and otherwise. Not unlike many other documentaries, it shows us all the aspects of the event (this one being summer camp) but does so through a handful of lenses: a general observational documentary-like lens, the camper's perspective, and an insite from the counselors/ staff. Being a science based camp, I found some of the procedures and activities fascinating and rather quaint in other ways (saying to myself "Oh ho, we could never do that!").
Having a perspective of insider into the industry allowed me to have a critical viewing of the story rather than simply observational. The way some kids were left unsupervised was troublesome and the strict disciplinary actions the counselors engaged was not effective and they seemed to not notice it. Most concerning to me was that at one point near the end of the documentary the staff supposedly allowed one camper to run away from camp by canoe with the camera crew in tow to observe "passively". No self respecting camp would ever let a child go like that. Thusly, I understand this stunt to be engaged exclusively for the camera. A shame really due to the misrepresentation of reality in the documentary.
As for the documentary itself, there were some opinions and bias that the documentary subtlety engaged. For example, they went out of their way to make the kids seem next to normal (they go as far to have their parents say so), but made that state of being feel okay in respect to the environment. However, this articulation of the kids being outside the normal only served to establish the kind of kid the audience would end up watching. The documentary did show us the perspective of the camp counselor and did show us the reality of the wear down that takes place in the staff member. From the setting of the "talking heads", it is clear that the interview of the counselor happened after the wear down had occurred. I would have really appreciated the different attitudes the counselor has throughout the summer.
Link to the documentary:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/93541/summercamp
"Summercamp!" tells the story of a summer at Swift Nature Camp in the Northern part of Wisconsin. It is presented in documentary form complete with appropriate background music and otherwise. Not unlike many other documentaries, it shows us all the aspects of the event (this one being summer camp) but does so through a handful of lenses: a general observational documentary-like lens, the camper's perspective, and an insite from the counselors/ staff. Being a science based camp, I found some of the procedures and activities fascinating and rather quaint in other ways (saying to myself "Oh ho, we could never do that!").
Having a perspective of insider into the industry allowed me to have a critical viewing of the story rather than simply observational. The way some kids were left unsupervised was troublesome and the strict disciplinary actions the counselors engaged was not effective and they seemed to not notice it. Most concerning to me was that at one point near the end of the documentary the staff supposedly allowed one camper to run away from camp by canoe with the camera crew in tow to observe "passively". No self respecting camp would ever let a child go like that. Thusly, I understand this stunt to be engaged exclusively for the camera. A shame really due to the misrepresentation of reality in the documentary.
As for the documentary itself, there were some opinions and bias that the documentary subtlety engaged. For example, they went out of their way to make the kids seem next to normal (they go as far to have their parents say so), but made that state of being feel okay in respect to the environment. However, this articulation of the kids being outside the normal only served to establish the kind of kid the audience would end up watching. The documentary did show us the perspective of the camp counselor and did show us the reality of the wear down that takes place in the staff member. From the setting of the "talking heads", it is clear that the interview of the counselor happened after the wear down had occurred. I would have really appreciated the different attitudes the counselor has throughout the summer.
Link to the documentary:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/93541/summercamp
Thursday, November 11, 2010
News Broadcast Reflection
Being a student commuter in the U of M, I get very few opportunities to watch television, much less the news. Thusly, this project forced me to watch my first news broadcast in a few months. However, when I sat down to subjectively breakdown the newscast, I became rather shocked at some of the observations I germinated while watching the Tuesday 11/9 5 pm broadcast on WCCO (CBS affiliate).
By far and large majority, the weather broadcast took up the most time in the broadcast (outside of commercials). The broadcast had two different time slots dedicated to a weather update or display (one at 5:08- 5:10 and another at 5:19-5:23). In fact, the second weather broadcast took up the entirety of the act break between two sets of commercials!
One thing that did surprise me was that the gentleman that was the meteorologist was not a young, attractive person. Rather, the meteorologist was an older man perhaps in his mid to late 40s with greying, slicked back hair. My instinct would tell me that they would hire a younger broadcaster to appeal to the sex instinct in the viewership. If WCCO doesn't do this, then perhaps we can determine that the audience is not one trying to find sexual desire but rather someone with a reliable air about them (a characteristic I derived out of the news caster).
Our total time that commercials took up in the 5 pm broadcast was 9 min, but it is not the time that is the most interesting observation I found with them. Firstly, commercials would repeat in different parts in the broadcast. For example, Warren Stellan repeated in the first and second commercial breaks at generally the same point in those breaks (near the start of the commercial break). Most of the local ads were fast and aren't there to create associative imagery, instead the quick nature seems to indicate wanting for a viewer to retain details about local events (event advertisement being the focal point of local ads [Warner Stellan, Green Mill, and Clear Choice Dental). Also, surprisingly, WCCO advertised for their own future broadcasts in the commercial breaks. Why would the news need to advertise? Apparently, viewership is not a constant and needs people to tune in based on future, interesting stories.
On a side note based off these advertisements, towards the end of the broadcast WCCO broadcasted a story about that night's episode of the CBS television show "The Good Wife". Perhaps, it was noteworthy as a news story due to Michael J Fox's guest starring in it. However, one cannot escape the fact that WCCO is a CBS affiliate and it seemed like they made a story out of Fox's guest starring to obtain free advertising for CBS programing.
Most of the news stories seemed about right: short enough to get the point out so the broadcast could make way for advertising and weather. There were some other interesting choices the WCCO broadcast made. Firstly, there was a story about George W. Bush's new book hitting store shelves. The broadcast choose to focus on the part in the book where Bush talks about his use of waterboarding in his administration. I argue that talking about Bush's torture choices is a way to subliminally remind viewers of torturous feelings about the Bush administration. Why could the story not simply speak about the book's release or an overview of the book's content? A question here is one that perhaps cannot be answered, but proposing it is important. Later on, WCCO revisited the Bush book again, but this time they added viewer comments encouraged to be made online after the last Bush story. The comments chosen were about looking forward to reading the book, both those a fan of Bush and those who were not.
Another interesting observation is how they presented the Target coupon story. Earlier in the broadcast, they teased the story by saying that Target had made corrections to the faulty coupon. Then the reporter added, "we will tell you if this is true." A pretty obvious use of teasing and leaving uncertainty in the viewer to engage them to continue viewing. What struck me is the fact that they used a consumer visiting the Target stores to determine that the coupon problem had been fixed. There was no other way they stated the fix was finished. The investigative form was confirmed by simply an outside informant. To me, this seems like a weak confirmation.
By far and large majority, the weather broadcast took up the most time in the broadcast (outside of commercials). The broadcast had two different time slots dedicated to a weather update or display (one at 5:08- 5:10 and another at 5:19-5:23). In fact, the second weather broadcast took up the entirety of the act break between two sets of commercials!
One thing that did surprise me was that the gentleman that was the meteorologist was not a young, attractive person. Rather, the meteorologist was an older man perhaps in his mid to late 40s with greying, slicked back hair. My instinct would tell me that they would hire a younger broadcaster to appeal to the sex instinct in the viewership. If WCCO doesn't do this, then perhaps we can determine that the audience is not one trying to find sexual desire but rather someone with a reliable air about them (a characteristic I derived out of the news caster).
Our total time that commercials took up in the 5 pm broadcast was 9 min, but it is not the time that is the most interesting observation I found with them. Firstly, commercials would repeat in different parts in the broadcast. For example, Warren Stellan repeated in the first and second commercial breaks at generally the same point in those breaks (near the start of the commercial break). Most of the local ads were fast and aren't there to create associative imagery, instead the quick nature seems to indicate wanting for a viewer to retain details about local events (event advertisement being the focal point of local ads [Warner Stellan, Green Mill, and Clear Choice Dental). Also, surprisingly, WCCO advertised for their own future broadcasts in the commercial breaks. Why would the news need to advertise? Apparently, viewership is not a constant and needs people to tune in based on future, interesting stories.
On a side note based off these advertisements, towards the end of the broadcast WCCO broadcasted a story about that night's episode of the CBS television show "The Good Wife". Perhaps, it was noteworthy as a news story due to Michael J Fox's guest starring in it. However, one cannot escape the fact that WCCO is a CBS affiliate and it seemed like they made a story out of Fox's guest starring to obtain free advertising for CBS programing.
Most of the news stories seemed about right: short enough to get the point out so the broadcast could make way for advertising and weather. There were some other interesting choices the WCCO broadcast made. Firstly, there was a story about George W. Bush's new book hitting store shelves. The broadcast choose to focus on the part in the book where Bush talks about his use of waterboarding in his administration. I argue that talking about Bush's torture choices is a way to subliminally remind viewers of torturous feelings about the Bush administration. Why could the story not simply speak about the book's release or an overview of the book's content? A question here is one that perhaps cannot be answered, but proposing it is important. Later on, WCCO revisited the Bush book again, but this time they added viewer comments encouraged to be made online after the last Bush story. The comments chosen were about looking forward to reading the book, both those a fan of Bush and those who were not.
Another interesting observation is how they presented the Target coupon story. Earlier in the broadcast, they teased the story by saying that Target had made corrections to the faulty coupon. Then the reporter added, "we will tell you if this is true." A pretty obvious use of teasing and leaving uncertainty in the viewer to engage them to continue viewing. What struck me is the fact that they used a consumer visiting the Target stores to determine that the coupon problem had been fixed. There was no other way they stated the fix was finished. The investigative form was confirmed by simply an outside informant. To me, this seems like a weak confirmation.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
News Broadcast Breakdown: 11/9
Show start: 4:59
-Introduction video clip montage
Lead story: 4:59
- Drunk driving woman as lead story
- Cuts to Mendota Heights; on location
- Story is a series of images on locations relevant to the story and interview with police officer
- Advertised as live; when images are done there is a mistake: on site newscaster absent
- Mark Lindgren story: drunk man hit family 5:02
- Gentleman drowns to death in water slide in Brooklin park 5:02
Election coverage 5:03
- Emmer story after his "loss"; first time he is seen publicly
- Story based on his choice to file lawsuit over election process after recount
- Older gentleman with white beard is the main newscaster in front of St. Paul capital
- Some talk of Pawlenty and the transition of government
Hockey Injury 5:05
- Man who suffered injuries after hard hit during college hockey game
- Jesse Martin is the player
- Potential Paralysis
- Covered by mid 40s woman (Esme...)
- Martin walked for first time today
George W. Bush book 5:07
- Bush published book "Decision Points"
- Signing images and clips from Dallas signing
- Highlighted point in book about Bush's use of waterboarding
- People allowed to pole online on opinion of book
Weather news 5:08
- Unseasonably high temperatures
- Showed people playing golf today with warm weather
- 60s temperatures
- Close to record high
Teaser for Parking Meters (New), Target Coupon Problem Fixed, Trick Football play 5:09
Commercials 5:10
- First commercial is for their own news broadcast for the next day
- Local furniture commercial
- Italian pasta sauce
- Mills Fleet Farm
- Health Partners Health Care
- Law Firm; complete with woman in wheelchair
- Recycling commercial
- Flu Medicine
- Green Mill
Target Coupon 5:13
- Frozen meal coupon was malfunctioning
- Seems aimed at a very angry kind of customer
- Investigative
- Undercover customer went to three Targets to test the coupon
- Discovered they all worked
- Clerks now ask "Do you have any coupons today?"
Parking Meters 5:15
- New solar powered parking stations in Twin Cities
- Can use credit cards to pay
- One meter covers 10 spots
- Some frivolous speak on last story 5:16 (first instance of talk)
Temperature Teaser story 5:16
Commercials 5:16
- Evening news ad
- Oprah Ad
- Liquidation Ad
- Slumberland Commercial
- Alstate Commercial
- Batteries Plus
- Dental Implants at Clear choice (Event Ad for a free seminar with reservation)
- WCCO Advertisement again with weather geared theme (on TV and Online)
- Denture ad for Polident
- Slumberland again
Returns with TV and casual talk 5:19
- With unknown third news reporter
- Transitioned smooth without intermediary to weather again
- High temperatures still focal point
- Cool down immanent
- Satalite, cloud, and pressure systems
- Rain fall potential and precipitation
- Weather broadcast is a mid to late 40s, wearing black suit, purple tie, slicked back hair
- Curent temperatures again
- 4 day forecast
- 7 day forecast
- Weather reporter was the third broadcaster
Commercials 5:23
- NCIS and NCIS LA add for CBS primetime
- Mayo Clinic
- DQ Blizzard Meal deal
- Culligan water softener
- Vintage Discount Tire Company that transitioned into a modern styled ad for same company
- Appliances ad for Warners Stellian at St. Paul
- Children's Hospitals and Clinics in Minnesota
- Green Mill Ad (same one)
- Advert for CBS Evening News which was next
George Bush Book 5:26
- Same kind of info with news caster
- Added watcher comments obtained from internet
Good Wife Ad 5:27
- Show happens tonight
- Michael J Fox on episode
- Adverts for the episode tonight
Sports 5:28
- Season Outlook for Tubby Smith and U of M B-Ball (High Expectations
Grandma Robbed teaser 5:29
Weather 7 day check 5:29
End of Broadcast 5:30
Note: The trick football play story was omitted from broadcast after being teased
-Introduction video clip montage
Lead story: 4:59
- Drunk driving woman as lead story
- Cuts to Mendota Heights; on location
- Story is a series of images on locations relevant to the story and interview with police officer
- Advertised as live; when images are done there is a mistake: on site newscaster absent
- Mark Lindgren story: drunk man hit family 5:02
- Gentleman drowns to death in water slide in Brooklin park 5:02
Election coverage 5:03
- Emmer story after his "loss"; first time he is seen publicly
- Story based on his choice to file lawsuit over election process after recount
- Older gentleman with white beard is the main newscaster in front of St. Paul capital
- Some talk of Pawlenty and the transition of government
Hockey Injury 5:05
- Man who suffered injuries after hard hit during college hockey game
- Jesse Martin is the player
- Potential Paralysis
- Covered by mid 40s woman (Esme...)
- Martin walked for first time today
George W. Bush book 5:07
- Bush published book "Decision Points"
- Signing images and clips from Dallas signing
- Highlighted point in book about Bush's use of waterboarding
- People allowed to pole online on opinion of book
Weather news 5:08
- Unseasonably high temperatures
- Showed people playing golf today with warm weather
- 60s temperatures
- Close to record high
Teaser for Parking Meters (New), Target Coupon Problem Fixed, Trick Football play 5:09
Commercials 5:10
- First commercial is for their own news broadcast for the next day
- Local furniture commercial
- Italian pasta sauce
- Mills Fleet Farm
- Health Partners Health Care
- Law Firm; complete with woman in wheelchair
- Recycling commercial
- Flu Medicine
- Green Mill
Target Coupon 5:13
- Frozen meal coupon was malfunctioning
- Seems aimed at a very angry kind of customer
- Investigative
- Undercover customer went to three Targets to test the coupon
- Discovered they all worked
- Clerks now ask "Do you have any coupons today?"
Parking Meters 5:15
- New solar powered parking stations in Twin Cities
- Can use credit cards to pay
- One meter covers 10 spots
- Some frivolous speak on last story 5:16 (first instance of talk)
Temperature Teaser story 5:16
Commercials 5:16
- Evening news ad
- Oprah Ad
- Liquidation Ad
- Slumberland Commercial
- Alstate Commercial
- Batteries Plus
- Dental Implants at Clear choice (Event Ad for a free seminar with reservation)
- WCCO Advertisement again with weather geared theme (on TV and Online)
- Denture ad for Polident
- Slumberland again
Returns with TV and casual talk 5:19
- With unknown third news reporter
- Transitioned smooth without intermediary to weather again
- High temperatures still focal point
- Cool down immanent
- Satalite, cloud, and pressure systems
- Rain fall potential and precipitation
- Weather broadcast is a mid to late 40s, wearing black suit, purple tie, slicked back hair
- Curent temperatures again
- 4 day forecast
- 7 day forecast
- Weather reporter was the third broadcaster
Commercials 5:23
- NCIS and NCIS LA add for CBS primetime
- Mayo Clinic
- DQ Blizzard Meal deal
- Culligan water softener
- Vintage Discount Tire Company that transitioned into a modern styled ad for same company
- Appliances ad for Warners Stellian at St. Paul
- Children's Hospitals and Clinics in Minnesota
- Green Mill Ad (same one)
- Advert for CBS Evening News which was next
George Bush Book 5:26
- Same kind of info with news caster
- Added watcher comments obtained from internet
Good Wife Ad 5:27
- Show happens tonight
- Michael J Fox on episode
- Adverts for the episode tonight
Sports 5:28
- Season Outlook for Tubby Smith and U of M B-Ball (High Expectations
Grandma Robbed teaser 5:29
Weather 7 day check 5:29
End of Broadcast 5:30
Note: The trick football play story was omitted from broadcast after being teased
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Mockumentary Lesson Plan
The form of the documentary has been around for quite a long time, but it was only a matter of time before it evolved. A new type of genre has emerged from the form that made Ken Burns millions of dollars. The mockmentary is a type of media that seeks to create meaning and knowledge out of revealing the dissonance and incongruities between real life and the imagined world. Since it is becoming more relevant to media today (with popular shows like "The Office" circulating our media sphere), it also become important for students to process the mockumenatry appropriately.
Lesson Plan:
1) First I would show case a mockumentary like "Best in Show" without any type of introduction or explanation
2) After viewing, I would begin to question the class on what they just saw. The important part of this is to ask leading questions to create analytical processing. Some of those questions would be: Is what you just saw real? What is the topic matter at hand? Can you relate to the topic matter? What kind of characters do we see here?
3) Then, we would break down each question to reasonings why we got to that answer. So, if we determined that, in fact, the media is not "real" then how did we come to that conclusion?
4) At this point, we should establish the fact that what we just saw was a mockumentary. From here, I would introduce the topic of the day to be "the mockumentary". This will be followed up with another film clip from a mockumentary.
5) More processing would occur through comparing the two clips and how they both conveyed a message. Some characteristics that should be mentioned are the fact that both clips attempted to achieve some kind of knowledge transfer or message, the usage of multiple characters, the use of prescribed reality, and how it compares to a documentary (a lead in to a future lesson plan or another topic of discussion).
Lesson Plan:
1) First I would show case a mockumentary like "Best in Show" without any type of introduction or explanation
2) After viewing, I would begin to question the class on what they just saw. The important part of this is to ask leading questions to create analytical processing. Some of those questions would be: Is what you just saw real? What is the topic matter at hand? Can you relate to the topic matter? What kind of characters do we see here?
3) Then, we would break down each question to reasonings why we got to that answer. So, if we determined that, in fact, the media is not "real" then how did we come to that conclusion?
4) At this point, we should establish the fact that what we just saw was a mockumentary. From here, I would introduce the topic of the day to be "the mockumentary". This will be followed up with another film clip from a mockumentary.
5) More processing would occur through comparing the two clips and how they both conveyed a message. Some characteristics that should be mentioned are the fact that both clips attempted to achieve some kind of knowledge transfer or message, the usage of multiple characters, the use of prescribed reality, and how it compares to a documentary (a lead in to a future lesson plan or another topic of discussion).
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Genre Analysis: Mockumentary
Within the last 20 years, a specific type of genre has become ever popular and increasingly relevant in our media centric world. The mockumentary form of entertainment has taken roots as a very real way of presenting farce and through this farce revealing truths about our own lives. I personally have always found the mockumentary to be interesting: a genre that serves to not only parody on the topic matter but also to parody the form of the documentary whilst using it to show convey messages. To this end (with its increasing relevancy and my intrigue), I hope to explore the genre and hope to show ways one might teach this to children today.
Before delving deeper into the form, let us first define and look at early uses of the form. A common definition or understanding of the mockumentary can be derived from looking at the root of the word. First "mock" or commonly known as to make fun off in a light and sometimes sophomoric manner. The second half of the word "mentary" suggests the relationship between the mockumentary and documentary. Thusly, a clear definition can be arrived at which is a documentary that makes fun of something and serves to not take itself all together serious or is not a real topic matter.
The form had not been classified until this decade, however early examples of the form can been seen as early as the 1930s. Perhaps the earliest classified example of this is with Orson Wells' classic radio broadcast, "War of the Worlds". While it doesn't have the exact characteristics of the modern form, we can see some very strong relations between now and then. For example, the broadcast started with a title sequence that articulated the fact that it is fiction. In contrast, when inside the content it seeks to present the illusion of reality by finding ways to make it believable.
Once film and television was established as a main form of media, we get some more forms of mockumentaries popping up along the way. Take for example, the fictional Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night" (1964). The film shows us the day in the life of the popular band, but the day is scripted out yet filmed as an authentic "day in the life of..." kind of film. Another thing to note is the effect of the camera in this film as it is not on a steady cam or stationary position (like a tripod). This is intentionally used to simulate the feeling of actually moving through the world and a kind of extemporaneous filming style, hinting to the authenticity of a documentary. While not conveying messages or revealing much, the film shows us another step in the evolution of the mockumentary.
As the 1980s role around, we start to get more and more of these mockumentaries popping up in film. Film makers like Woody Allen begin to fully explore this type of film in depth. However, the current form of this kind of genre can first be seen as fully realized in Christopher Guest and Rob Reiner's film, "This is Spinal Tap." This film follows the fictional band Spinal Tap as they prepare to go on tour. The film is a clear parody of rock and roll band, life style, and of the string of rock and roll documentaries that came before it.
From there, there becomes a somewhat constant stream of mockumentaries entering the public entertainment sphere. The 1990s came out with a string of these films (also written by Christopher Guest) like "Best in Show, and "Waiting for Guffman". Then the genre took a turn and finally found some ground television with the 2000s British Comedy "The Office" and eventually its similar named American spin off. In 2007, one writer from "The Office" took the style and wrote a new show currently airing called "Parks and Recreation".
The Office:
Film at this point still came out with a few mockumentaries in the 2000s, but they seem to have some kind of hybridity with true documentaries and docufiction (a term for a mix between documentary and fiction). Some of these films include "CSA: Confederate States of America" and the Sasha Baron Cohen films "Borat" and "Bruno". What is most interesting of these new films are how they begin to integrate the real world with the mockumentary. For example, Cohen's films present characters that have loaded prejudices and presents them in a real life setting to see what the reaction it. I would still argue it is a mockumentary being that the intent and character is scripted out making it a mockumentary rather than a more fictional "docufiction". The inclusion of Borat and Bruno in the mockumentary opened up the genre to being not only a totally created script but also to the inclusion of real people in more of a documentary style of play.
Borat:
From looking at these types of mockumentaries, one can establish trends and commonalities in how the genre takes form. Firstly, the mockumentary seems to focus on a definable characteristic of a person that can either be a personality or profession (office worker, rock star, dog trainer, etc...). Obviously, the genre hopes to highlight areas or traits of the profession by either showing absurdity in the profession or through realizations through viewing the characteristic in action. There is no list of characteristics that clearly define a mockumentary, because the list is ever evolving and changing. Allowing for pliability and flexibility in the definition. The basic idea of it is that one can see the fiction in the form yet the ability for it to pass as reality conveys the message in it. The worlds created in the mockumentary must be real or at least realistic fiction. Most successful mockumentaries must give off the feeling that a person could in fact live in this fictional world and that perhaps that is not a good things. What one does to prevent living in that world is how the message is derived out of the genre.
Before delving deeper into the form, let us first define and look at early uses of the form. A common definition or understanding of the mockumentary can be derived from looking at the root of the word. First "mock" or commonly known as to make fun off in a light and sometimes sophomoric manner. The second half of the word "mentary" suggests the relationship between the mockumentary and documentary. Thusly, a clear definition can be arrived at which is a documentary that makes fun of something and serves to not take itself all together serious or is not a real topic matter.
The form had not been classified until this decade, however early examples of the form can been seen as early as the 1930s. Perhaps the earliest classified example of this is with Orson Wells' classic radio broadcast, "War of the Worlds". While it doesn't have the exact characteristics of the modern form, we can see some very strong relations between now and then. For example, the broadcast started with a title sequence that articulated the fact that it is fiction. In contrast, when inside the content it seeks to present the illusion of reality by finding ways to make it believable.
Once film and television was established as a main form of media, we get some more forms of mockumentaries popping up along the way. Take for example, the fictional Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night" (1964). The film shows us the day in the life of the popular band, but the day is scripted out yet filmed as an authentic "day in the life of..." kind of film. Another thing to note is the effect of the camera in this film as it is not on a steady cam or stationary position (like a tripod). This is intentionally used to simulate the feeling of actually moving through the world and a kind of extemporaneous filming style, hinting to the authenticity of a documentary. While not conveying messages or revealing much, the film shows us another step in the evolution of the mockumentary.
As the 1980s role around, we start to get more and more of these mockumentaries popping up in film. Film makers like Woody Allen begin to fully explore this type of film in depth. However, the current form of this kind of genre can first be seen as fully realized in Christopher Guest and Rob Reiner's film, "This is Spinal Tap." This film follows the fictional band Spinal Tap as they prepare to go on tour. The film is a clear parody of rock and roll band, life style, and of the string of rock and roll documentaries that came before it.
From there, there becomes a somewhat constant stream of mockumentaries entering the public entertainment sphere. The 1990s came out with a string of these films (also written by Christopher Guest) like "Best in Show, and "Waiting for Guffman". Then the genre took a turn and finally found some ground television with the 2000s British Comedy "The Office" and eventually its similar named American spin off. In 2007, one writer from "The Office" took the style and wrote a new show currently airing called "Parks and Recreation".
The Office:
Film at this point still came out with a few mockumentaries in the 2000s, but they seem to have some kind of hybridity with true documentaries and docufiction (a term for a mix between documentary and fiction). Some of these films include "CSA: Confederate States of America" and the Sasha Baron Cohen films "Borat" and "Bruno". What is most interesting of these new films are how they begin to integrate the real world with the mockumentary. For example, Cohen's films present characters that have loaded prejudices and presents them in a real life setting to see what the reaction it. I would still argue it is a mockumentary being that the intent and character is scripted out making it a mockumentary rather than a more fictional "docufiction". The inclusion of Borat and Bruno in the mockumentary opened up the genre to being not only a totally created script but also to the inclusion of real people in more of a documentary style of play.
Borat:
From looking at these types of mockumentaries, one can establish trends and commonalities in how the genre takes form. Firstly, the mockumentary seems to focus on a definable characteristic of a person that can either be a personality or profession (office worker, rock star, dog trainer, etc...). Obviously, the genre hopes to highlight areas or traits of the profession by either showing absurdity in the profession or through realizations through viewing the characteristic in action. There is no list of characteristics that clearly define a mockumentary, because the list is ever evolving and changing. Allowing for pliability and flexibility in the definition. The basic idea of it is that one can see the fiction in the form yet the ability for it to pass as reality conveys the message in it. The worlds created in the mockumentary must be real or at least realistic fiction. Most successful mockumentaries must give off the feeling that a person could in fact live in this fictional world and that perhaps that is not a good things. What one does to prevent living in that world is how the message is derived out of the genre.
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