Thursday, November 19, 2015

What A Mockumentary Really Is

By Mattie Knight


In a nutshell, mockumentaries are actually fictional documentaries that would mock a certain issue or a certain event. A mockumentary is actually a parody that would make use of a fictional setting and characters to depict an existing issue. These types of shows are actually quite popular because they would offer viewers a fresh perspective on certain issues unlike what regular documentaries would usually show.

Now there are usually two kinds of mockumentaries that one may be able to watch on television. The two types of mockumentaries are the comedy type as well as the drama ones. These are the two genres that one would usually see if he would watch these kinds of documentaries on television.

Now the first one, which is the comedic one, is the more common as as it is actually the more popular one because it shows real events in a very funny light that is somewhat ironic. Now the presentation would appear to be quite serious in nature but there would be a lot of funny punchlines and dialogues that would really make people laugh out loud. Now to add to the effect, there are not any laugh tracks which would make the documentary even more real that it is supposed to be.

Now the second type which is the drama type would usually have some kind of message that it would want to show to the viewers. Although it may seem real, everything in the film from the story line to the characters are purely fictional. There are a lot of drama elements that are being used in this particular type of documentary in order to capture the attention of the viewers.

Now exactly like in documentaries, these mockumentaries would also have a specific time line that they would follow when showing the events of the film. The same would go for the mockumentaries that would be showcasing the life of a person and the events in his life. There is a sequence that should be followed so that it will look as realistic as possible.

Now the only time when the term was actually coined was when a director by the name of Rob Reiner told reporters about his film This is Spinal Tap in an interview. Of course because of this little show, mockumentaries really took off as people enjoyed watching them. There were actually a lot of them that turned into real movies that were shown in cinemas.

Now one of the most popular comedic mockumentaries would be none other than Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan which portrays cultural differences in a funny way. Another film that made its way to the cinema was Bruno which depicts the life of a flamboyant gay man. There are many more others out there like Confetti, Im Still Here, and many more.

In the drama section, there would be none other than the popular Blair Witch Project which is a horror documentary. After that, many others followed like the The Last Exorcism and Paranormal Activity. There would also be action themed films like Cloverfield and Into the Storm.




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