The Documentary

It is not easy to find a common denominator to define it due to the variety of themes that
can cover. Indeed, from the travels of J. Costeau to a transplant of
heart going through religious festivities, biographies, technical processes and
industrials, animal life, health education, Amazon tribes, and the Paris of
daydream, the history of tango, the legend of Difunta Correa, the life of Mike Tyson and
the Train of the Clouds, everything can be the subject of study for a documentary
audiovisual.

What is required is to have clear objectives (ours or those of the person requesting them)
documentary report) and to whom it is addressed (audience segment, its
characteristics). From there, an orderly process is required in all cases.
I need prior preparation (in which our mind functions like a camera,
always attentive to capturing valuable images for the future documentary). We need to gather
all the graphic and film material we can obtain on the subject, search
testimonies closely related to it, visualize exteriors and choose them
for the future filming, and to prepare an intentional pre-script containing an order of
sequences just as we would like the final product to have.

Following this routine, we record facts, places, and characters, we create

Dramatizations if appropriate and we even seek, why not, an exclusive.

I firmly believe that every documentary should also be divided into segments.
self-employed, although the broadcasting channel does not require commercial breaks. All
audiovisual creation has sequential parts with their own information that help to
elaborate, even in a journalistic genre, a chain of cause-effect with
growing drama.

Once the filming was finished, we wrote a script 'for the editor' that we indicated to him
the fragments of each video that we want to 'stick' with their corresponding audio,
more the dialogues for the announcers (the voice-over that tells and explains) and the music
in the background.

The documentary differs from the news report because it takes a single topic as its subject matter.
research and studies it in depth, in all its aspects, while expressing a
orientation, subjective inclination or conclusion, without the need for
that topic is current.

In the editing, it is suggested not to leave fixed shots longer than five seconds.
exhibition of a shot, and in case there are no commercial breaks, that the documentary
it should not last more than twenty-five minutes. Then the yawns start.

HOW TO COUNT WHAT IS SEEN

Theoretically, we go through three stages of work in the preparation of a script:

1) The task of putting the basic argument (fiction) or the production design (not
fiction) of our
idea in accordance with the parameters seen so far.
We already know that our argument must be narrated in the third person and present tense.
the vicissitudes of a character, the conflicts that arise for him and how he struggles through
resolve them in a rising tension curve until everything is finally restored or
it worsens in an unexpected ending.
For its part, the production design focuses on the central profile of the magazine, its
service and objectives
and chances of success according to the target audience.
2) The one to create the synopsis, grid, or outline, where we fragment that argument or
block design and in
scenes or sections, as the case may be.
The author's dilemma is to distribute equitably (and following an idea of progression
dramatic) the action or the themes, depending on the program in question. In summary, it must
wondering: 'what do I put in the first block, in the second, in the third...' and so on
successively.
In fictional stories, it is important for the conflict to 'explode' in the first block.
On the other hand, no one can doubt that during a World Cup in which
Argentina has qualified for the semifinals, the news of a doping test
The positive news about one of our star players will be the opening story of the newscast.
although in the newspaper it appears in 'general information' or 'sports'.
The synopsis also helps the author to balance their script.
relationship with the parameters of
costs taxes ("you can only count on eight actors, four sets, a
exterior by chapter” etc).
THE BLOCK
Just as a play is divided into acts and a novel into chapters, the script of
television is composed of blocks. The Broadcasting Law allows a
the amount of minutes within each hour to be allocated to advertising, and the channels
they are divided into commercial batches that are inserted at different times of the day and of
each program. Custom has determined that the cycles are divided into:
5 blocks, when the duration of the program is one hour

7 blocks, when it is a one and a half hour broadcast.

Two or three blocks for the half-hour products.

While in the 'routines' we write the continuity script of a magazine on a single page for
refer to the content of five blocks, fiction scripts require, just like any work
dramatic, many more pages.

For one hour, we will need maybe thirty pages, as well as forty sheets per hour and
media and
Almost twenty to half an hour.
Comedies require more pages to narrate a fast-paced action rich in details and effects and occupy
more
space on paper that is a more dialogued drama and with a slower staging
breaks.

But it must be clear that dividing an argument into blocks is not simply telling a story.
fragmented. It is to narrate it knowing that we "lose" the viewer at any moment, due to the
that you have to conquer it in each block. The blocks are parts of a whole perfectly
related, but with some autonomy and a mystery pending resolution at the end of each one.

And as we already said, "we throw everything on the grill" in the first block, where the crime occurs.
solver, while in the other channels the most successful host promises international reports,
River faces Boca for a Latin American Cup, Kim Basinger welcomes Alec Baldwin in her
a bed and a star journalist broadcasts with his team from the center of a hot conflict.

THE FICTION SCRIPT (VIDEO / AUDIO)

 There are different formats of scripts, but to give the example of a standard script, we will say that
It is written on an official sheet using only one side, and dividing it by an imaginary line.
transversal, halfway. On the left side of that imaginary line, we will detail the action, what
we want it to be visible and that we will now call 'video', and on the right side, what is heard
that is to say, "the audio." Our script is divided into video and audio.

In the middle or part of the video, we enumerate and detail the scenes in the sequence that
we want them to happen and be seen. Each scene or sequence has a title in which we inform
place and time of the action.

The PLACE can be interior or exterior, and we immediately mention the name of the scenery. Of
so if in the action we are going to tell that Arturo enters one morning into the living room of his house and
worried is going to make a phone call, the title of that scene one will be:

l.- Interior -Living Arturo- Day

Every action takes place in a physical space that we call scenery, set, or location, and in the
We designate scripts with precision and often related to a character. It is not the 'house of
Arthur, be it the living room, the bedroom, the dining room, or the bathroom, etc. Likewise, before telling the story...
we must describe that place, not only so that we recognize the social environment it belongs to
Arturo, but also to define the location and size of furniture or doors and windows when for
An argumentative type of need must be arranged in that way.

Items regarded as 'props' are those whose absence would prevent it from being carried out.
the action
proposed by the author.
When the story continues through another set, a cut is marked and a new one begins.
sequence or

scene. Every time we change the set to tell the chapter, we are in a different scene.

The structure of the script, then, is fragmented into cuts of scenery, and from
a look more broad in
blocks that contain those sequences.
The author can give lighting instructions by requesting a dimly lit atmosphere.
or a harsh light that bursts on the face of a character, or a backlight that
turn into a cut-out angel from the background and the world.
TIME can be 'DAY' or 'NIGHT'. We must mark a scene cut if
the time changes even if the setting is the same; for example, ARTURO entered
In the living room of his house, it is daytime, he leans back on the sofa and falls asleep and the
The next scene is in the same location but at night, when he wakes up. There are two
distinct sequences.
Any other indication is added to the title; for example, when the character evokes.
a situation experienced some time ago and we want to show it, that scene will be a flash
back. If ARTURO imagines the future and we need to see what he imagines, that sequence
it will be a flash forward.
We can transition from one scene to another by simple cut or instant switching or
for dissolving the linked cast, softer and ideal for giving an intimate touch to the
sequences and marking time steps and ellipsis.
If we do not have a usual recorded presentation, a Fade can be used or
separator to open and close
each block.
También, en la columna de video describimos las entradas y salidas, y las acciones
physical and psychological (emotional) aspects of our characters. If we decide to propose
certain expressions to the actors must be done clearly and precisely. The
a character is defined the moment they enter the scene, according to how we dress them
and we put on makeup, how we ask him to look and stand, and finally, with the snacks or
parliaments that we designate. The public will have no doubts about whether it is a
effeminate flamenco dancer or of General Franco.
The scripts have an initial cover that provides information about the characters,
the settings and the plot synthesis of the episode. They can be summarized there.
descriptions in all items that prevent excessive use of space
video for such purposes.

CAMERA AND EDITING DIRECTIONS

When we find it appropriate, we can inform the director through our text, with what
plane

angle or camera movement we imagine this shot or sequence.

The most used camera angles are:
Wide Shot (covers the largest possible geographic area outdoors).
General Plan (of a street, front of a house, of the entirety of an interior or the whole shot of a
person
American Plan (from the head to the knees of the character)
Medium Shot (waist up)
Close-up (up to the shoulders)
Close-Up (of the eyes, the mouth, a matchbox, etc).

The shots replace words in visual narration. In a story, we write: "On the night
dark
María walks very sadly along a
street with a broken shoe and a wounded hand, then getting lost in an alley. In the column of
video of

in the script we will indicate:

1-EXT.-STREET-NIGHT
Maria is coming from the street.
WALKING. PM. WE SEE HER
TAKING A HAND BANDAGED.
FROM HIS FACE, HE CRIES,

PM. FROM THE WAIST DOWN

NOTICING TACO DETAIL
ROTO, LIMPS. PG. AND WE SEE IT
Go down an alley.
FADE OUT.

The succession of shots replaces the literary description. The wide shots serve to show the
Everything, the character/space relationship, and the close-ups highlight the centers of interest, to provide
the information that the public needs to see at the right time.

The usual camera movements are panning, tracking, and zooming. During the panning or
panoramic, the camera moves on its axis, it does not shift, and describes a scenery or a
character from one fixed point to another. It doesn't return, because otherwise, it would be a subjective camera that is
replacing the eyes of a character. We cite travelling when we want the camera to travel in
the shoulder of the cameraman, on a rail, car, airplane, etc.

Finally, zooming in or zooming out does not mean a movement of the camera or the lens, but
What is the variable focal length of the camera lens that can capture an image from the p.p.p.
from a distant object and open frame up to g.p.g. or vice versa.

In addition to the normal position, the camera can focus on the scene in a bird's-eye view (totally
downward), supine (straight upward), tilted (inclined downward) and counter-tilted (inclined
upwards). Some authors assign narrative, aesthetic, and even ethical content to these angles:
For example, it is said that the low-angle shot elevates the character.

This, of course, if taken in a medium shot, as some shows use low-angle shots to show the
clothes
interior de las bailarinas, forma escatológica, pues, de enaltecerlas.
EXERCISE PROPOSAL

With all this information, I invite you to write the script for a certain final fragment of The Tunnel,
the novel by Ernesto Sábato, when Juan Pablo Castel arrives at the country mansion where he
Maria Iribarne was staying there, to kill her with knives.

HOW TO TELL WHAT IS HEARD

Audio is not a secondary or tertiary component but a factor
primordial in television storytelling. What would a good comedy be without its dialogues?
sparkling and stinging, or of a drama without its incidental music highlighting moods, or
of a cycle of terror without those noises that surprise and scare us every so often. Everything
this is the job of the sound engineer / music supervisor and we are the authors of that
audio, in the right column of the script.
The Dialogue
Share with what is seen, its role as a narrative source, and its virtues are those of
expose facts and feelings, complement the information provided by the
images without overlapping them, and to drive the dramatic action and not delay it
as many believe. When the character is not in the scenery or is there but
quiet and we want to "listen" to his thoughts, we mention the name of the same.
indicating that it is her voice over.
The dialogue must be believable and not stiff, therefore precise and necessary. It must
composing into a whole according to age, social and cultural status of the
character, without falling into the discursive or rhetorical, especially in the texts
humorous, where it should be built based on jokes, catchphrases, and punchlines.
Basically, dialogue helps us shape the profile of our characters.
reveal their conflicts more
intimate, but always taking advantage of the expressive resources of the actors.
In summary, the dialogue must come from the character and not from the author.
The music and the noises
The field of the image is limited and presented to us fragmented in planes,
sequences, blocks. Ambient noise and music are ideal, due to their linearity, for
connect those shots and scenes. We cite the noises that narrate actions (a gunshot,
the whistle of a train, an audience that applauds in a full house) that possibly

we see and yet are formed in our mind, in addition to the 'timbres' and
‘phones”, and all the
effects that must be achieved by the assistants (hits, honks, sirens, etc.).
Regarding functional music, we can mention the rhythm or style or directly
the title and fragment of the topic that interests us at the moment of the action in which
must be heard. Music penetrates unconsciously into the mind of the
the spectator and their virtues are precisely to describe feelings, characterize
characters, anticipating a dramatic or suspenseful situation by increasing the tension
dramatic
a bad news or danger that the main character has to face.
Music has no independent importance of its own outside of the narrative, and it is useful for us to
link sequences that us
allow counting time steps, as happens in video clips and in cinema
advertiser.