DOCUMENTARY COMMISSION; AN INTRODUCTION

What is factual programming?
Factual is the over-arching term for non fiction programming and filming. There are many varied genres, devices and formats within factual filmmaking. Each have their own conventions (habits/cliches in style/format/delivery/content). Fictional and factual programmes borrow from each others style and treatment.
All films - fictional and factual - are constructed to some degree, i.e. whether it is in pre, production or post production stages - human intervention is unavoidable. Different genres of factual programmes, in particular documentary films, involve different degrees of intervention.

Truth and Controversey
In 2007 the BBC's reputation was seriously damaged by revelations of 'Fakery', competition winners in particular had been 'faked' (e.g. blue peter and radio one), the BBC were eventually fined £400 000 by Ofcom, this led to more revelations and a complete review of the BBC's handing of competitions and factual programme making. This element of 'fakery' came up again in 2015 with the programme 'Human Planet' where they faked some scenes using a semi domestic animal.

Factual programmes can be divided into a number of genres;
-Current affairs
-News
-Documentaries
-Reality TV
-Factual Entertainment

Current affairs programmes are often 'reporter led' and deal with weighty subjects with a harder news edge, they have a less observational feel to them and are more obviously constructed, the journalism and the story is at the heart of these films, relying less on character and actuality.

Documentaries defined - 'Artistic representation of actuality'. Their job is often to inform us about our world and even about ourselves, but also to entertain and hopefully to engage us. Documentaries speak about or allow others to speak for themselves, the filmmaker often acts as a representative of the public.

Conventions
 - Style - shooting and editing - different factual genres utilise different conventions in terms of style
- Structure - varies according to style and content
- Format - varied factual formats
- Narrator/Presenter/Reporter e.g. dignified male voice of authority within a programme
- Experts - used to add 'intellectual weight and authority to a film and its arguments
- Conventions are often subject to lots of satire - exposing the established methods by which stories are told but possibly also limited.

Factual Devices
Particular types of factual programme rely on particular storytelling devices, these various formats become established mothers available to makers of factual programmes. For example. engineering 'tension' is a common technique, by bringing together through careful casting opposites a film gains tension.

Viewing - "Dreams of a life" 
Narrative ; to allow us to move through the narrative we were provided with a range of different devices - Interviews/testimony - timeline of her life (chronologically) - dramatising the narrative through reconstructions of both her seat and her whole life. Investigation to find out what happened, 'tension'. Singing and music was giving the audience a sense of the time.
A big challenge in a documentary is permission, within this, the family of the real character chose not to take part and didn't want to be involved.