documentarists
Reality cinema creators
Documentarists are filmmakers who make documentaries—nonfiction films that explore real events, people, or issues.
The term emphasizes the craft and tradition of documentary filmmaking: The documentarists captured everyday life in the village over several years.
Some prefer documentarian, which is more common in American English.
Recorded video material
- screeningEvaluative selection process
- premiereFirst public performance
- festivalOrganized public celebration
- cinematographyMotion picture visual craft
projection · celluloid · 35mm · 70mm · art-house · indie · auteur · montage
News gathering and dissemination
- reportageFactual news writing
- chronicleOrdered historical record
- memoirWritten personal recollection
- biographyWritten life account
ethnography · history · research · evidence · verification · fact · truth · authenticity
Those who lead organizations
- producersThose who create goods
- editorsContent revisers and correctors
- cinematographersMovie camera operators
- videographersThose who capture footage
crew · composers · researchers · archivists · colorists · post-production · shooting · budget
Unvarnished documentary style
- fly-on-the-wallUndetected observer status
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
- candidHonest and direct
- unstagedNot theatrically presented
immersive · unobtrusive · realism · spontaneity · slice-of-life · fieldwork · everyday · intimate
Recounting events aloud
- voiceoverOff-screen recorded speech
- narrationVerbal account delivery
- arcCurved line segment
- structureArrangement of interconnected parts
interview · testimony · subject · protagonist · plot · compilation · reenactment · dramatization
Intended to educate
- informativeProviding useful knowledge
- expositoryServing to explain
- didacticIntended to instruct
- scholarlyMarked by serious learning
academic · lectures · seminars · curriculum · knowledge · learning · enlightening · PBS
footage
Recorded video material
- screeningEvaluative selection process
- premiereFirst public performance
- festivalOrganized public celebration
cinematography · projection · celluloid · 35mm · 70mm · art-house · indie · auteur · montage · feature
journalism
News gathering and dissemination
biography · ethnography · history · research · evidence · verification · fact · truth · authenticity · witness
directors
Those who lead organizations
- producersThose who create goods
- editorsContent revisers and correctors
- cinematographersMovie camera operators
videographers · crew · composers · researchers · archivists · colorists · post-production · shooting · budget
vérité
Unvarnished documentary style
- fly-on-the-wallUndetected observer status
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
- candidHonest and direct
unstaged · immersive · unobtrusive · realism · spontaneity · slice-of-life · fieldwork · everyday · intimate · handheld
storytelling
Recounting events aloud
structure · interview · testimony · subject · protagonist · plot · compilation · reenactment · dramatization · juxtaposition
instructional
Intended to educate
- informativeProviding useful knowledge
- expositoryServing to explain
- didacticIntended to instruct
scholarly · academic · lectures · seminars · curriculum · knowledge · learning · enlightening · PBS · BBC
documentaristsscreenwriters
Authors of film scripts
dramatists · storytellers · fantasists · animators · auteurs
documentaristspropagandists
Spreaders of biased messaging
fabulists · mythmakers · fiction writers · hoaxers · spin doctors
document, documents, documentary, documented, documentation, documenting, undocumented, documentaries, documentarian