Documentary or Feature Films / Photo Credit: Slide Player
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
DOCUMENTARY AND FEATURE FILM? (In the Entertainment industry.)
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DOCUMENTARY AND FEATURE
FILM?
Whether or not a film is a feature film depends on
its runtime. Whether or not a film is a documentary film depends on its content.
A feature film is a film with a runtime of 40 minutes
or longer, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Films
that run for less than 40 minutes are called shorts.
A documentary film is a nonfictional motion picture
intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of
instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record.
A documentary film that runs 40 minutes or longer
would be a documentary feature film. A documentary film that runs for less than
40 minutes would be a documentary short.
1. Escape vs. Reality
In general, the main reason feature films get made is
to entertain the audience; to give people an escape. Documentaries are meant to
inform; to confront people with reality: and sometimes to promote a point of
view.
Documentary makers certainly want to engage and
captivate their audience, and some feature films can be very informative, but a
key difference between the documentary and feature film is in the filmmaker’s
motivation.
2. Fact or Fiction
Feature films are mostly fiction, sometimes total
fantasy. Some may be based on real events or people, but the director and
screenwriter will be adding drama and impact with their creative license.
Genres include comedy and musical, action and western, romance, crime, horror
and science fiction, among others.
Documentaries are non-fiction films. Directors and
writers help structure the film, rather than creating characters or taking
liberties with the facts of the story. Documentaries can take on social,
political and economic issues, or profile a person, place or thing.
3. Format
Feature films take care in introducing complex
characters and spinning an intricate storyline over a running time up to three
hours. There’s an ebb and flow to the action, with carefully timed and
structured mini-climaxes and dramatic highlights. The scripted story,
characters and actions all are pointed in the same direction, leading the
viewer through events with a sense of beginning, middle, dramatic climax and
end.
In documentaries, often the action leads the way.
People don’t have scripted words to say or scenes to enact; handheld cameras
might be the only way to follow the story. Even the director doesn’t always
know what happens next. Documentary makers often say that discovery and
surprise is a big part of their job.
4. Production Costs
Documentaries are usually less expensive to make than
feature films, with less elaborate production frills. Documentaries can cost
only a few thousand dollars, with small crews, single camera set-ups and few if
any paid talent. The result is often raw, unpolished but effective
nevertheless.
Feature films can cost millions, even hundreds of
millions of dollars, thanks to top stars with top salaries, directors and
scriptwriters, music scores, exotic locations and costumes. A top feature film
often has its “money on the screen” with lush cinematography, gorgeous actors
and actresses, big bang special effects with large and talented production
teams in the background.
Of course, big-name actors sometimes do participate
in documentary-making, often with a reduced fee and a strong belief in the
project. And some low budget or “indie” feature films turn out to be huge
successes.
In fact, documentaries have become big box office,
with serious Academy Award weight sitting with them. Often very entertaining,
they can be as controversial nowadays as the subjects they cover.
And some feature films today are taking on very
serious topics, with some post-911 war-themed movies seeming more real than the
stories they relate. The difference between documentary and feature film can be
obvious or subtle.
Sources, References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, WikiBooks,
Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New
York Film Academy, The Balance, Careers Hub, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide
Magazine, Blurb, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Chron, Investopedia,
Variety, No Film School, How Stuff Works, WGA, BBC, Daily Variety, The Film
Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Bright Hub, Career Trend,
Producer's Code of Credits, Truity, Production Hub, Producers Guild of America,
Film Connection, Variety, Wolf Crow, Get In Media, Production Beast, Sony
Pictures, Warner Bros, UCAS, Frankenbite, Realty 101, Liberty Me, Careers Hub, Sokanu,
Raindance, Film Connection, My Job Search, Prospects, David Mullich, Video
University,
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Documentary or Feature Films / Photo Credit: Slide Player
