Features Of Documentary Film -There are three elements of film ‘language’

 

Documentary deals with fact, not fiction.

 Most importantly, documentaries delve into a non-fictional world with real events, real issues, real conflict, real people and real emotions. Everything seen and heard on screen is grounded in accuracy and has no element of fiction. 

Documentary is flexible. Documentaries have no fixed visual and conceptual guidelines per say.  There are fewer ‘rules’ to be followed, which reflects the fact that there are few rules in the real world as well. This makes it more challenging but infinitely more exciting. 

Documentary inspires movement and action. At the very heart of documentary, there is an issue and a message at hand. Documentaries have long been used as an instrument to inspire change in their audience, be it social change or inner change.

 Documentary involves less control. Unlike fiction films, documentaries must be shot in the real world and show real events happening. Often, the filmmaker is unable to control the event he is shooting as well as the circumstances surrounding the event. It’s difficult to think about lighting when in the middle of a sniper shootout! There is less control over the subject in documentary; however this unmodified, improvised element is often the very charm of non-fiction films. 

Documentary subject is paramount. Documentaries are inherently bound to their subject matter. The subject is the most important aspect of documentary films and is given precedence over other aspects, 

    for example: entertainment value. 

Credibility is key in Documentary. 

The trust of the audience in the veracity of the image as an authentic representation of the real. 

Form is more important than formula. 

Every subject and issue is specific and is showcased on film in its own appropriate manner. Form and the layout in which a subject is showcased in a film are important as they add value to the film. 

Documentary Drama

This style mixes the techniques of drama and the factual elements of documentary. Real events are acted out by professional actors in controlled settings in an obviously constructed style. 

There are three elements of film ‘language’ that should be studied by a script writer and incorporated into a script: 

1.   Visual Elements

 The visual elements of film, or what the audience ‘sees’ on screen is one of the most integral aspects of writing a script. It’s important to understand, firstly, how a film is composed structurally from its smallest component. In a script, this is usually a shot. · 

The Shot 

A shot is a single ‘take’ on an image. It starts and finishes at a ‘cut-point’, which is an editing break in the image. In a script, a shot is the smallest visual unit of structure. 

visual way of communication or language has evolved through the years and has three basic elements: 

1. Icon is showing an object or emotion through its likeness – it is what it is and what the audience sees. 

 For example, a face on screen showing fear is a face showing fear. There are no other meanings, no ‘reading between the lines’. This is the most straightforward approach to a shot. 

2. Index measures a quality not because it is identical to it, but because it has a direct and inherent relationship to it. For example, to show heat, or the idea of heat, as a visual, the shot could show a thermometer or heat waves over an empty road or perhaps even a man sweating profusely that way the scriptwriter can translate an intangible object, like heat, into a tangible and visual reality. 

3. Symbol or Metaphor is an arbitrary sign in which the signifier has neither a direct nor an indexical relationship with the signified, but rather represents it through convention. For example, a rose could be shown to signify love or romance, falling calendar pages could denote time. This technique  should be used with caution and with a view to the audience’s ability to ‘read between the lines’. 

The Sequence 

A sequence is a collection of shots put together that tell a story continuously. A sequence is an autonomous piece of the larger story of the film. Each sequence has a visual and audio aspect to it. If a shot is made up of action, a sequence is made up of events. 

Events mean change in action. These events are built up by the action in the shots to make some sort of sense to the audience and pass along information to them. Sequences usually fall into one of two categories:

1.    A Continuity Sequence: A continuity sequence in filmmaking refers to a series of shots that maintain a logical, fluid, and smooth transition between each scene, preserving spatial and temporal coherence. The primary goal of a continuity sequence is to ensure that the audience remains immersed in the narrative without becoming distracted by jarring edits or abrupt transitions. These sequences are designed to keep the story progressing in a way that feels natural and coherent, guiding the audience through the events as though they are unfolding in real time.

2. A Compilation Sequence: A compilation sequence is a film editing technique where pre-existing footage is edited and assembled together to create a new narrative or thematic context. Often used in documentaries or experimental films, compilation sequences can blend various sources such as archival footage, photographs, newsreels, and clips from other films. The purpose is to present information, create visual metaphors, or evoke emotions, all while communicating a specific idea or message. 

The Montage 

A montage is a sequence of sorts. It’s a process of combining a number of small shots and weaving them together to communicate a large amount of information in a short time. 

Talking heads 

One of the most common features of a documentary is talking heads. This includes either interviews of people on camera or people talking directly to the audience on camera or both. Since documentary is non-fiction, the idea of people talking to the camera, or a filmmaker seated behind the camera is an acceptable story-telling/information giving technique. Often these talking heads are experts, people involved in the stories or people who are directly or indirectly related to the subject matter in some form. For example, a film on Therikadu conservation in the Tuticorin district may have interviews with officials from the government forest dept, with villagers who live in the forests, with conservation experts, people involved with logging and maybe even people protesting against logging

Colours, textures and Lines Elements of line, texture and colour all carry their own weights in a film, counteracting, reinforcing, counter pointing and balancing each other within frames in a complex system. These are read by the senses of the audience on a sub-conscious level and are used extensively by filmmakers to add new dimensions in film. 

Colour Symbolism is when colour is used deliberately as a symbol on film. Colour speaks and the language of colour, harnessed in a film, is a powerful one.

Sound Elements Sound is as important as the image. Unfortunately, this fact wasn’t realized until quite recently. Sound has always been an extremely underrated aspect of filmmaking and, consequently, sound syntax and even technology developed quite slowly compared to its visual counterpart. One of the reasons this may have happened is because the audience does not ‘read’ sound in the same way that it does the visual image. Sound is not only omnipresent but also omni-directional and this pervasiveness led to it being traditionally discounted as an important medium of film.

 

Normally, there are six types of sound in a film: 

1. Narrative commentary : Voice over Narration is the sound-track commentary that sometimes accompanies a visual image in a documentary. It’s also often called a ‘voice-over’ and it can be spoken by one or more off-screen commentators.

 The commentator can be virtually anybody, from a character in the film, the filmmaker to even someone completely unidentified, whom the audience only relates to by his/her voice. Voice-over narration has always been a very popular tool in documentaries because it is an easy and effective way to communicate verbal information in the absence of dialogue between actors. However, many filmmakers choose to do away with narration, preferring to communicate verbal information to the audience through talking heads. 

2. Talking heads: The speech element of talking heads, or interviews, is an important element of the soundtrack and also an effective way to communicate information to the audience. In documentary, filmmakers often choose to discard narration completely in favour of talking heads, as they come across as more credible and in keeping with the non-fiction nature of documentary. The audience is able to identify the person talking, thus making their experience more organic for them. The filmmaker is then also able to show the interviewee talking, cut to visual images while continuing the voice of the interviewee over these images, which may support or supplement what he is saying. This provides a smooth flow of sound for the audience, who will ‘know’ the voice they are listening to and thus feel more empathy with it. Narration and talking heads are not exclusive of each other as audio communication techniques. Even though some filmmakers prefer only using talking heads these days, many documentaries have a bit of both and they work quite well together.

 3. Music Feature films have traditionally always relied heavily on music as part of the soundtrack. Music directors and composers would create masterpieces, which sometimes carried entire visual sequences. Some films were even defined and identified by their trademark musical soundtracks. It is often said that the musical theme of the feature film Jaws (1975) created an entire generation of 

 4.Ambiance sound : The sound that is naturally present in the atmosphere surrounding the visual image and is recorded simultaneously with it is called ambiance sound. Traditionally, this sound was referred to as ‘noise’ and speech and music were given more attention. This type of sound is essential to the creation of a location atmosphere. In documentary, ambiance sound is a necessary part of the soundtrack as it establishes the film’s visual in reality and gives the audience a realization of space and time.

5. Sound effects : Any sound that is not speech, music or ambiance and is artificially injected into the soundtrack to enhance it is called a sound effect. This could be a natural sound like a bird chirping to a digitally created or distorted sound like microphone feedback etc. These days, sound effects are used to enhance the film’s subject or mood, during recreations or when the required sound is missing from the recorded ambiance.                                                                            For example: sounds of horses galloping, men screaming and the clang of weapons against each other could be used while showing a recreated sequence of an ancient battle; or the sound of a helicopter could be injected into a shot of a helicopter flying that was shot 

6. Silence It may sound odd to add the lack of sound as a type of sound element, but in the world of film, where everything is deliberate, even silence within the film means that the filmmaker has chosen to put it there. However, unless it is a silent film or silence plays a thematic role in the film, this element should be used sparingly. Too long a gap between sounds will struggle to hold audience attention.

 

Film story has three broad structural elements: · A beginning · A middle · An end

The beginning The importance of a good beginning cannot be stressed enough. The beginning sets the audience up for all the events about to occur in the film. It sets the tone and mood for the film and hints at surprises that lie ahead by raising the right questions in the minds of the audience.

 In documentary, the beginning always addresses the issue at hand and introduces the subject to the audience.

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https://subslikescript.com/movie/The_Elephant_Whisperers-23628262script of The Elephant Whisperers(2022)

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I am Kattunayakan.

Kattunayakan means "Kings of the forest."

This is my home, where I belong,

where the wild animals roam free.

This is also the land

where my ancestors lived for generations.

Oh, my dear. Did you sleep, my child?

How are you?

Come, come here.

Come closer.

Come here, my dear.

Come, come here. Come closer.

Oh, my dear.

Raghu! My baby.

Come.

Hey, come.

Hey, lie down here.

Bomman. Bomman!

I am trying to light the fire!

I am not going to marry someone

who's going to be covered with ash.

When I arrived,

the baby elephant was in a very bad state.

He was in a lot of pain, his tail had been

bitten off by stray dogs

and his open wounds

were infested with maggots.

Raghu's mother got electrocuted

and died instantly.

Due to a prolonged drought,

his herd had wandered into a village

in search of food and water.

They tried to reunite Raghu with his herd,

but they were not successful.

Before this baby elephant,

I wasn't officially a caretaker.

When I first met the baby,

he was tugging at my clothes like a child,

and I felt his love.

I decided I would give

this motherless baby a chance.

I am very happy

that the Forest Department assigned Bellie

to work with me to care for Raghu.

She is the only woman currently assigned

to care for baby elephants in Tamil Nadu.

Look over there

beneath the tree, there it is.

There is one more walking down there.

When Raghu arrived here,

he was in bad shape.

Everyone thought he wouldn't survive,

but that is what

gave me faith that he would.

No one knew if Raghu would even survive.

He was in such a bad state.

It was a long

and difficult process to cure Raghu.

But now it feels great to see him healthy.

We've been looking after our baby Raghu

for almost three years now.

This place is an elephant

rehabilitation camp.

Orphaned, abandoned and displaced

wild elephants are brought here.

And we take care of them.

My grandfather looked after elephants,

my father looked after elephants,

and I became an elephant caregiver

the day my father died.

Raghu! I've been looking for your bell.

How did you lose it?

You dropped it in the water?

Luckily, I found it in the river!

Don't lose it again!

They wear a bell

so we can hear them

if they get lost in the forest

because we would lose them and they

will not be able to fend for themselves.

Raghu has a friend called Krishna.

Look, Raghu is going over to Krishna!

Raghu can't pluck grass on his own,

and is learning from Krishna.

Raghu got a thorn stuck on his tongue,

and Krishna took it out.

Elephants are meant to be wild.

Watching him with Krishna

brings us much happiness.

There is only so much we can teach them,

and there are things they can only learn

from one of their own kind.

Are you eating soap?

Haven't you tasted soap before?

Hey! You are putting water on me.

Don't splash like that!

Oh, my dear.

Who is it?

What do you want?

Oh, my dear child.

Who is the best elephant? Is it you?

Oh, whose darling is this? Who is this?

We have become a family around Raghu

and we think that's why he survived.

While bringing up Raghu,

we forget about all our other worries.

I have experienced many losses in my life.

My ex-husband was killed by a tiger.

This left me

feeling scared of the forests.

I get scared when I see a tiger.

I am a tribal woman, and our people

come from the heart of the forest.

For us Kattunayakans, the well-being

of the forest is all that matters.

We walk barefoot within it.

This is our way of showing respect.

We're going to climb down that rock there...

We live off the forest,

but we also protect it.

We only take what we need.

Our people do not fear elephants,

that's why we've been

working with them for generations.

I have learned over the many years

of working with elephants

that they are very intelligent

and emotional beings.

But working with elephants

is dangerous in so many ways.

I got stabbed

by my big tusker a while ago.

I cannot work

with large elephants anymore.

There it is. Open it!

That is why I feel getting Raghu

was a gift from God.

I want to do my best for him.

I feel like I am his mother.

Drink from here...

Everything about him is like a human,

except that he cannot talk.

He does everything else.

Recently, my daughter died.

Losing a child... the pain is incomparable.

When I cried,

Raghu wiped my tears away with his trunk.

And this small gesture comforted me.

I feel he really understands everything.

I remember what my daughter

was like at Raghu's age.

Taking care of Raghu reminds me of taking

care of my own daughter in so many ways.

It's like she has come back into my life.

Look how naughty you are today.

See how naughty you are.

Bring all the sugarcane here.

I don't think he wants

the millet ball today.

But we have to first give him the millet.

If you give it to him like that,

he will eat it.

He has his eyes

on that dried coconut and jaggery.

I really don't like your habit

of putting your hand in the bucket!

He's not going to eat any more

because he's only looking at that coconut.

This is what he was like

when he was young,

both of us had to take turns to feed him,

only then he'd eat.

Come here, try to feed him,

he isn't eating.

Aye, why aren't you eating, naughty boy?

Why didn't you eat properly

when she was feeding you?

The rains have come.

This will make the grass grow for you.

Raghu will get so much grass to eat.

Come.

Raghu, come here under the umbrella.

Tomorrow when I receive my salary,

I'll go buy some fruits.

You feed me and I'll feed you.

What if while I am feeding you,

you bite my fingers?

Don't talk like that.

Raghu, my child.

Wait, I will give you some, I am coming.

I am so full.

Let's light the fire

and bring the water to boil.

He is sleepy.

Wait, it is almost ready!

Don't try to pull the tube, it will break.

Are you sleepy?

Stand still!

Are you trying to eat the garland?

Stop eating all the flowers!

Let go of them!

On a special ceremony day,

elephant calves are taken

to seek their blessings

from Lord Ganesha.

I am proud of being

both a priest and a mahout,

both bring me immense happiness.

We pray to Lord Ganesha.

Seeing an elephant, to us,

is equivalent to seeing God.

God and elephants are one for me.

The way I serve God

is the same way I serve the elephants.

We take care of Raghu every single day,

which in turn puts food

on my table every day.

This is God's presence in my life.

Without him, we'd have nothing.

Early morning, 5am, Bomman got a call.

The Forest Department asked me

to come to the camp immediately.

When I went to see it,

it was a tiny thing with a snotty trunk.

The camp managers said

we have to take charge of baby Ammu.

They said,

despite everyone else's efforts,

all the other elephant babies died.

"You successfully managed to raise Raghu."

For a whole week, Raghu was very upset.

If Ammu was standing close to us,

he would come and push her away

so that he could stand beside us.

Slowly, he got used to Ammu's presence.

Hey, wait.

Now, we are all a family.

By working together with Bomman,

the bond between us has grown so much.

Look at all of you dancing without me.

Here I come.

Come! My dear ones, run and come!

Run a little faster to me. Come!

Hey, stop eating the flowers!

Sanjana is my granddaughter.

Ama, I'll wear that dress!

She loves me so much

and helps me in everything.

Sanjana has always

loved elephants very much.

Even now, as she is growing up,

she loves them.

I take Sanjana along with me

to help take care of the elephants.

I want her to learn from me.

We are their parents.

We do whatever it takes

to provide for them in all their needs.

Looking after two elephants

means giving them milk,

cleaning out their room, bathing them...

Alongside all the hard work and care,

elephants also require a lot

of love and affection.

It's just like raising human babies.

- Hey.

- Take it.

The cup is empty now!

Water.

Sanjana, let me tell you a story.

Three blind men went to the jungle

and they came across an elephant.

One of them touched the trunk

and said it felt like a serpent.

Another touched the ear

and said, "It's a sieve!"

The third touched the tail

and said, "It's a broom!"

In the same way,

many believe that elephants

are dangerous and they raid crops.

But only people

who live close to elephants

know about elephants.

That they show love when you show love.

Just like Ammu and Raghu.

Shortly after our wedding,

we got a call from the Forest Department,

telling us Raghu would be assigned

to another caregiver.

We begged the forest rangers

not to take Raghu away from us.

Raghu hesitated a lot

while being taken away.

He kept turning around,

looking back at us and Ammu,

and walked very slowly.

Then Ammu cried out to him

and he came running back to touch her

and they came back to take him away again.

My wife and I couldn't even

eat properly for a few days.

We had put in everything

into raising Raghu.

We've been through so much.

There wasn't a single God left

who we didn't pray to.

After all the difficulties we faced

in raising Raghu,

it brings tears to my eyes.

No.

I feel the same intense pain I felt

when my daughter died.

I took as much care of him

as if he had been my own child

because I had to ensure his survival.

We love them so much.

We have brought them up

as our own children.

It was so painful for us and also Ammu.

Ammu was very upset and didn't even

drink her milk for a few days,

because she was separated from Raghu.

What are you searching for?

I don't have any.

Lie down here.

If you lie on me

then you will get a spanking.

Lie down here.

Ammu. Do you want your milk?

What?

Do you want milk?

Leave me, let me go and prepare milk.

From being scared of the forest,

now I'm not.

I had so much loss and sadness,

but now I've found my way through it.

I've found my voice.

I have raised two baby elephants.

Now everyone knows me

as the mother of elephants

and that makes me very proud.

It is the actions of us humans

that is causing elephants

to enter villages these days.

Our mistakes are very harmful,

both for us and for elephants.

We were able to save Raghu and Ammu

because they were brought to us.

Baby Ammu!

But we are not able to save all of them.

Every time I see Raghu, I feel great joy.

Even today he still comes

running to me when I call.

Aye, here, come to me, come!

I see the love he has for me,

and I feel love for him too.

This is me when I was a young boy.

These children are our future.

We want the younger generation

to learn from us.

They learn by watching

and helping us work.

After me, this younger generation

will carry on the tradition

of working with elephants

and they will do it well.

I cannot imagine a life without elephants.