Factual TV Rules for Beginners

ACCURACY 

Accuracy is when in a documentary must be accurate and is very close to the truth, this is very important because it makes the documentary more trust worthy, and the audience can rely on it to be telling them true facts, so they know what they are watching is not set up, and they wont get misled when watching the documentary. An example of this would be in the documentary named "High Society" where at 0:03 they state that the British people take more drugs than any other people, which is a true fact, since they reveal many people from the UK taking drugs, this allows the audience to trust the documentary more, so that they know they are telling the truth.

BALANCE

Balance is when you give a balanced argument in a documentary and you give both sides of the argument, the reason why this would be used in a documentary is that it will let the audience to be able to see both sides of the argument, and they will know more about how both sides feel, this will allow them to be able to chose what side of the argument they are on, instead of being biased. An example of where this is done would be in the documentary named "The Secret Life Of 4 Year Olds" where at 1:39 they ask two kids what they thought happened. Usually when this is done, by showing what two people think, it allows the audience to chose a side, and see what their views are on the topic.

IMPARTIALITY

Impartiality is when the documentary is neutral to the topic and it makes it seem like you are finding out about the topic yourself, they do this because it makes the documentary more entertaining for the audience to watch, since it is a unusual thing to see in documentaries. so it amuses the audience when they watch the documentary. An example of where this is done would be in the documentary named "High Society" where at 2:45 the use of camera language makes it seem that the audience watching is looking at all of the types of drugs that they got their hands on, and they made the audience look at the woman stating the facts about how dangerous the drugs are, by doing this it made it seem like the audience discovered these facts by searching around, through the documentary.

OBJECTIVITY & SUBJECTIVITY 

Objectivity in documentaries is when they are unbiased and they state facts that everyone agrees with, and there is no need for arguments to inform the audience. Subjectivity is when they are biased and the documentary is mainly based on what the people who made the documentary believes in. The reason why this is done is that sometimes when making a documentary some might want to make the audience believe what they personally think is the truth, when others want the audience to just believe the facts. An example of where this is done is in a documentary called "On Patrol With South Korea's Suicide Rescue Team" where at 6:08 they say that Korea has the highest rate of teen suicides, which is a true fact, and by doing this they inform the audience more about the true facts.

OPINION 

An opinion is when in a documentary they show what a certain person thinks, and what their personal thoughts and feelings are on a certain topic or situation that is happening in the documentary. The reason why they do this is to reveal to the audience the host's beliefs and other people in the documentaries beliefs on a certain topic to inform the audience more about the topic. An example of where this is done would be in the documentary named "High Society" where at 11:26 they talk to a man who is the founder of the worlds largest global drug survey, and asked him a few questions to see his opinions on drugs. They did this mainly because they want to show the audience what they think on a certain topic, which could get the audience to think about the topic in their own way, compared to what the people in the documentary has to say.

BIAS 

Biased is when in a documentary they only show one side of an argument, and only show what one person believes in when it comes to a certain topic, and they act like what they say is the truth. The reason why they do this is just like opinions, they want to make the audience believe what they say is the truth, and they want to audience to believe the same thing. An example of where this is done would be in a documentary called "High Society" where at 1:35 they talk to a bunch of drug dealers to see their personal beliefs on how others think about drugs, this would make the audience believe what they are saying is true, since they don't show another side to the argument about if everyone thinks drugs is good or bad.

REPRESENTATION

Representation in documentaries is how the presenter talks to the audience and how they talk to the interviewee, such what their tone is like and what their accent is like. The reason why this is important in documentaries is that by having someone with a clear and confident tone, and have a presenter that sounds like they know what their talking about, it makes the documentary look more professional and trustworthy. An example of where this is used is in the documentary "On Patrol With South Korea's Suicide Rescue Team" where at 2:08 and 3:25 they have people with a very serious tone, who clearly know about the topic, this makes the audience know what they are saying is something they can trust is true.

ACCESS & PRIVACY 

Access and privacy in documentaries is where they try to get areas where they can film, and make sure they keep the privacy of some people (blurring peoples faces). The reason why this is done in documentaries is so that the people who made the documentary know where they can and cannot film, so that they don't include people who don't want to be seen in the documentary, in the documentary. An example of where this is done is in the documentary called "High Society" where at 1:21 they don't show the faces of the drug dealers, so that they feel safer to film, and they know when they watch it their identity wont be shown to the public.

CONTRACT WITH VIEWER 

Contract with the viewer is an invisible contract where the makers of the documentary confirm that everything they say in the documentary are true facts, that the audience can trust. The reason why this rule is important is that it will make sure that the audience is not mislead when watching the documentary, and wont fall for any false information and believe it is the truth. An example of where this is done would be in a documentary called "On Patrol With South Korea's Suicide Rescue Team" where the facts that they say at 3:24 are all stated to be true facts.