Talk:Docudrama

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Contents 1 Roots 2 Accuracy 3 Docudrama does not equal documentary presented with "drama" 4 Oil Storm 5 Merge with Docu-fiction 6 Borat 7 The Day Britain Stopped 8 An Inconvinient Truth

[edit] Roots

In what way was "Roots" a docudrama? I only remember the drama part. Deb 15:58 Apr 21, 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Accuracy

I don't think the definition in this article of Documdrama is fully accurate. Maybe the definition is changing. A docudrama used to mean (and I thought still meant) "A television or movie dramatization of events based on fact" [1]

Notice how the term is used in this book review: [2]

So it used to mean any tv show or movie that dramatizes actual events; but now it also means, a documentary that also has actors playing parts. Maybe the new meaning is taking over? Kingturtle 22:37 Apr 21, 2003 (UTC)

I don't think it was ever as broad a term as you're suggesting. I admit I'm not familiar with most of the examples given, so I'll pick something I have seen. The film, "The Battle of Midway", is a dramatisation of real events, but it's not a docudrama, because it doesn't have that documentary element implicit in the word "docudrama". I thought the concept of docudrama was a relatively recent one, and that Culloden was an early example, ground-breaking in the way it used the documentary style, "interviewing" the actors rather than having them speaking dialogue, and so on. But as usual, I'm ready to be proved wrong. Deb 18:15 Apr 22, 2003 (UTC)

I agree that the definition may be shifting. But for a longtime docudrama was used to describe "fact-based representations of real events." [[3]...that is, taking facts, and basing a drama around it, like Roots or the Amy Fisher story. Note the way docudrama is used here: [4]. I don't think there is an official definition, and what it may have meant before might not apply now. Kingturtle 18:38 Apr 22, 2003 (UTC)

Yes, you're right. I notice that in that last reference, they say the programme "could have been a virtual docudrama", not even that it "could have been a docudrama". We'd probably need to trace back the term "documentary" as well, in order to get to a more acceptable definition. I'm happy with what's there now, except that I would say "describing" events rather than "showing" them. Deb 18:52 Apr 22, 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Docudrama does not equal documentary presented with "drama"

I disagree with this definition, and particularly with some of the examples.

A docudrama is a drama that recreates actual events in a theatricalized (live stage, film, video, audio) form. Most content in docudramas is not footage of actual events, although some actual footage may be used at times.

"America's Most Wanted" and "Hollywood True Stories" are not docudramas--they are (possibly bad) documentaries--they show (or purport to show) actual events. Even if they show actors reproducing events, they are not dramatic plays.

Evem something like "From the Journal's of Jean Seberg", a documentary that uses an actress to portray the (dead) Seberg, is simply a documentary that uses dramatic techniques.

"Roots" is also not a docudrama--it is a historical drama based on a novel.

"Peal Harbor" or "From Here to Eternity" are not docudramas because, although they concern true events, their main content is completely fictional.

"The Laramie Project," both the play and the film, is a docudrama. It is a recreation of actual conversations and events. There are also some written journals and transcripts that are performed, but still convey the facts as recorded.

[edit] Oil Storm

Was this a Docudrama? If so, I think it was noteworthy.

[edit] Merge with Docu-fiction

Docudrama and docu-fiction both seem to be dramatizations of real events. The articles ought to be merged. Docudrama is the more popular term, so it should stay. Ace of Sevens 12:36, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Borat

Borat is not a docudrama. It's more of a mockumentary. And why isn't "Good Night, and Good Luck." on here?

Agree entirely with regard to Borat. As for Good Night..., I suspect it doesn't meet the article's criterion of "A strict focus on the facts of the event being treated, as they are known". As the earlier discussions on this page show, there is some vagueness about the exact cut-off point for determining what is or isn't a docudrama, but I would suggest that an essential aspect of it is that it depicts ONLY known events, without adding anything from the imagination. Thus, not all films based on true stories are docudramas - e.g. All The President's Men is not a docudrama. Barnabypage 14:53, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Day Britain Stopped

I don't understand why The Day Britain Stopped is listed as a "film docudrama of note" [5]. It is not a docudrama but a false documentary. There's a big difference! Also, Touching the Void and The Road to Guantanamo are listed as docudramas, when they are in fact documentaries (albeit including extensive footage of staged re-enactments). Moreover, the whole list of "TV series that utilize a docudrama style" is a bit odd. Shows like America's Most Wanted and Rescue 911 obviously owe a lot to the docudrama genre but it is going too far to have a list of them in this article. A filmed reenactment of one or two scenes is quite different from a docudrama. --Mathew5000 23:28, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Italic text"When we wish there's a hope that it may come true along with the hope is the luck to be chosen among thousand wishers with this once in a lifetime luck is the faith that whether our wish will come true or not we will still survive from the test of life...

[edit] An Inconvinient Truth

Is this considered a docudrama, or is it not considered a docudrama because of its references (scientificly supported) to predictions in the furture?

It's a doco. If it was a docudrama it's be like a normal movie.