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Another type of documentary, mock documentary, or mocudrama, parodies certain documentary conventions by calling attention to and exaggerating the use of these genre conventions. In their book, Faking It: Mock Documentary and the Subversion of Factuality (2001, Manchester University Press), Jane Roscoe and Craig Hight describe the characteristics of the mock documentary:
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They use the same codes and conventions as documentary, such as an authoritative narrator, ‘real’ footage of events, archival photographs, interviews with apparent ‘experts’ and ‘eyewitnesses,’ and so on.
Mock-documentaries ‘work’ because of the assumptions and expectations that we have of documentary. When we see a text that looks and sounds real, we tend to naturally believe it.
Because they demonstrate how easily all of these codes and conventions can be faked, mock-documentary can often cause us as viewers to consider why we place so much faith in documentary itself.
Mock-documentary, then, is a fictional form which can encourage us to reflect on the nature of the documentary genre, and on the ‘privileged’ position that we give such factual texts.
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One of the recent popular directors of mock-documentaries is Christopher Guest. His
first mock-documentary was Waiting For Guffman, in which he stars as a Broadway actor who is in charge of producing a play the commemorates the 150th year of the small town of Blaine, Missouri. He finds some local townspeople to play various parts in the play resulting in a spoof of an amateurish small-town theater company’s production.
| His next mock-documentary was Best in Show, a parody of a dog show at the upscale Mayflower Kennel Club Dog in Philadephia.
| His most recent 2003 production was A Mighty Wind
that spoofed the musical documentary about series folk singers engaged in the production of a large reunion concert.
| Examples of other mock-documentaries:
| Under Cover-Brother, a parody of Blaxploitation crime films
Galaxy Quest, a spoof on Star Trek
This Is Spinal Tap, a mock documentary about a rock band
Forgotten Silver, a mock documentary about a filmmaker’s production of silent films
Man Bites Dog, (original title: C’est Arrivé Près de Chez Vous): a mock documentary about a serial killer that parodies the cinema verite style
Return of the King, spoofing of Elvis sightings
The Blair Witch Project, plays on documentary interviews with townspeople about their experience with witchcraft
Zileg, Woody Allen’s parody of a celebrity figure, Leonard Zelig, during the 1920s, who could behave like other famous people (shown in actual newsreel clips)
The Rutles, a spoof on Beatles films
Bob Roberts, a political satire on a campaign documentary about a conservative senatorial candidate that include s songs by director Tim Robbins
History of the World: Part I, Mel Brooks’s parody of history documentary films that explains the actual events of history
For further reading: | Barnouw, E. (1993). Documentary: A history
of
the
non-fiction
film.
New
York:
Oxford
University
Press.
| Stam,
R.
(1989).
Subversive
pleasures.
Baltimore:
The
Johns
Hopkins
University
Press.
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