A Brief Analysis of the Definition and Main Features of TV Documentary

A brief analysis of the definition and main features of TV documentary

I. Definition

TV documentary refers to the documentary program form specially made for TV broadcasting.

Documentary is a narrative and non-fictional image form that records and represents events, people and natural things in social politics, economy, culture, history and military affairs. It is generally not subordinate to a specific media.

The term "documentary" originated from the French word "docuemntaire", which originally meant "documentary". By 196, the term began to refer to "documentary film" or "documentary film", and in 1914 it became the term "documentary". [1]

Documentary, as a translated western noun, has been used in China for at least 8 years. Liang Shiqiu has selected the item "documentary Documentary Film" in the Practical English-Chinese Dictionary published in 1931. [2]

Documentary, as a specific image form, is not fundamentally different in the presentation of the two different media, film and television. The mutual conversion technology between "glue" and "magnetic" (digital) has matured, which means that there is no essential difference in the preservation of optical images in many different media. This point has been repeatedly verified both at home and abroad. In the early days of TV development, when it was not able to produce its own programs, it broadcasted a large number of images made of film. Up to today, although the camera system of TV is very powerful, in many occasions, such as in the cold area where the electronic system can't work normally, or in the case of shooting animals, it is often necessary to use film cameras to work, because cameras can start shooting in one second, while tape cameras need longer time, and so on. Therefore, fundamentally speaking, documentaries can't show the attributes of a certain medium very obviously. There is basically no difference in image formation between film documentaries and TV documentaries. This situation is reflected in the stages of China's documentary development, that is, the differences between film and television are often ignored. For example, the development of China's documentary can be divided into the movie era (1932-1949), the heroic era (1949-1983) and the civilian era (1983-present) [3], or into the political documentary period (1958-1977) and the humanistic documentary period.

however, the titles of film documentary and TV documentary are mainly distinguished according to the media in which the documentary is shown or broadcast, that is, film documentary refers to the type of documentary mainly produced for film screen projection, which is a film type corresponding to film feature film, film cartoon and so on; The TV documentary refers to the documentary program form mainly produced for TV screen broadcast, which is a TV program form corresponding to TV movies and TV cartoons.

With fewer and fewer documentaries specially made for cinema lines, all kinds of documentaries are mainly used for TV broadcasting. "Documentary" and "TV documentary" are tending to merge into one.

At present, the two concepts of "TV feature film" and "TV documentary film" have not been unified in China's TV academic and industrial circles, and there are different viewpoints such as equivalence, subordination and independence.

"subordination" refers to two views: TV documentary is subordinate to TV feature film, or TV feature film is subordinate to TV documentary. Those who think that TV documentaries are subordinate to TV feature films regard TV feature films as the concepts of "TV feature programs" and "TV column programs", because TV feature programs or TV column programs adopt many forms, besides documentaries, they can also adopt various forms such as speeches, interviews, symposiums, demonstrations, competitions and performances. Documentary is the most commonly used form in TV special programs or TV column programs. To say that TV feature films are subordinate to TV documentaries is to equate TV feature films with TV special reports or TV special news, and classify them as one of the forms of TV documentaries, just as news documentaries and documentary documentaries, scenery documentaries and historical documentaries coexist side by side in film documentaries.

The title of TV feature films first appeared in the 197s. In 1975, the Social Education Department of CCTV launched several columns and called the films broadcast in the columns "feature films". At the National Television Work Conference held in Shanghai in 1976, the formulation of "TV feature film" was recognized by the participants and the name was formally determined. It is called TV feature film because this kind of TV feature program was basically made of film because of the limitation of photography (image) technology at that time, so it was called TV feature film by borrowing the title of film.

in November, 1992, April and November, 1993, the research room of CCTV convened relevant experts for three consecutive times to discuss the classification and definition of China TV special programs. Due to the long-term disorder, it is very difficult to classify and define TV special programs in China. In particular, the classification of TV feature films and TV documentaries, which emerged in the middle and late 197s, is even more "cutting constantly, but also confusing". The final result is embodied in the book "Definition of China TV Special Programs-Collection of Research Papers" published in 1996. Because the coverage of TV feature films is too wide, it has been (close to) the general name of a large number of special programs, so "there is no repeated inclusion in this written definition" [5]

For TV documentaries, the definition of the book "Definition of China TV Special Programs-Collection of Seminar Papers" is very long and detailed, with many explanations and explanatory contents: "TV documentaries, suitable for photography or video recording, make a systematic and complete documentary report on political, economic, military, cultural and historical events, and give people a certain aesthetic enjoyment. It requires taking materials directly from real life, shooting real people and stories, and does not allow fiction or acting. Its basic reporting method is interview, video recording or photography, that is, in the process of the incident, the real people and events in the real environment and real time are recorded by the video recording method of' waiting, grabbing, picking' or following the gathering, and the details are required to be true while ensuring the overall truth of the narrative report. Truth is the basis of documentary existence and its most valuable value. It is the truth of' material reality restoration' that makes the documentary have eternal charm. "

In fact, the above definition of TV documentary is often rejected in later practice. In summing up the experience and lessons, the column "Documentary Editing Room" said: "We used to start from telling the stories of people around us, but we can't define this as the whole documentary. It is really unnecessary to discuss" what is a documentary "again. Documentary is such a colorful world, and the audience has so many needs. Why should we narrow the road? " [6] Similarly, the "Record" column also said: "The creative principle of the" Record "column will be more open than the concept of previous academic discussions. Program creation can adopt all reasonable means to highlight the comprehensiveness of program creation means. Because, the highest level of the development of the whole film and television art will not be the clearer and clearer the various films, but the great integration of the mutual influence, closeness and infiltration of various films. First, break through the boundaries between documentaries and feature films, between documentaries and social reports, between documentaries and feature films, and between documentaries and literary films. We believe that there is only one boundary, that is, the boundary between obsolescence and innovation; Second, no matter what kind of documentary can achieve a purely objective grasp. In order to meet the needs of TV market operation, it is not necessary to rule out the necessary theme first; Third, adhere to and carry forward the spirit of recording, adhere to the non-fictional aesthetic bottom line, and adhere to the authenticity of the documentary style. " [7]

The changes in the selection of social education programs in China Radio and Television Awards and in the selection of social education programs in China Radio and Television Awards also reflect the confusion of the industry and academic circles on the definition of TV feature films and TV documentaries.