What do you mean by the story?

The birth of the film has brought a revolution to the way of telling stories: once relying on abstract symbols, oral singing, and stage plays confined to a specific time and space, the speed and breadth of story spread were prevented, but the film quickly spread a story all over the world. The appearance of TV once again refreshed the speed and breadth of storytelling, and the live broadcast showed one thing to the villagers scattered around the world and shared it at the same time. Hollywood cultivated the most absurd myth in the 20th century with the help of movies, but the documentary is unwilling to admit this explosive brother with deep pockets. In order to avoid customs, it is willing to give up the right to tell stories, but like Kong Yiji, wearing that dirty and old gown, it sticks to a lofty position and covers up the shy reality with gentle words such as "A gentleman is poor" and "What's more".

What I want to discuss here is: Do documentaries need stories? If so, what kind of story is it? What are the similarities and differences between documentary stories and feature films? How to tell the story of the documentary?

I want to make it clear that the documentary discussed here is not an academic documentary specially used for scientific research, a historical archive specially made for major political activities, or a documentary edited by a special topic, but a documentary with little people as the observation object and humanistic care, which is a art media used by human beings for communication, exchange and understanding.

Let's take a look at the changes of feature films in China:

1996 "The Story of the Police" directed by Ning Ying started with non-professional actors and shot a lot of real scenes.

During the period of 1998, Zhang Yimou directed "None Can Be Less", all of which were shot by non-professional actors.

During the period of 1999, Xiao Wu, directed by Jia, used a large number of non-professional actors to shoot in real scenes.

These three films are made by directors of different ages and genders, but they all adopt documentary shooting techniques directly, and their aesthetic forms are close to documentaries. And its authenticity is far better than some documentaries, although these are indeed feature films, and the plot has been completed before shooting.

Feature films are free to use documentary techniques, and Zhang Yimou is not worried about being "misunderstood" into a documentary. Why do documentaries avoid feature films? Someone may have moved out of the definition of documentary, saying that "documentary can't be fictional". Is there no story in life or does the documentary turn a blind eye to the story of life?

Every alley, every tile and every door hides a story.

Every ear, every mouth and every eye is spreading stories.

Think about the folk jokes and jokes scattered at the dinner table, in the poker room and in the carriage. They are witty, humorous and full of passion. Stories are everywhere in life, and the key lies in the way documentaries handle life stories.

Documentaries, like feature films, are not self-expression stories, but works of art for people to see. It is also necessary to study the psychological structure of the audience, and the requirements for telling stories are no different, because this is the most basic psychological desire of human beings. When it comes to documentaries, American documentary director and theorist Michael Rabiger uses the incredible concept of "screenwriter": "Where does the sense of drama come from? My own feelings come from the collective subconscious, which is one of the eternal human nature. As we all know, it has been the driving force of mankind since ancient times. We are eager to tell and listen to stories over and over again. You can think about how many versions of the existing Arthurian legend story have been adapted: the story itself is a product of the Middle Ages, but after thousands of years, it has been adapted and updated, which continues to give people fun. " Since the story conforms to the psychological structure of the audience, why must it be excluded from the high wall of the documentary?

There is not much difference between feature films and documentaries in the narrative mode of stories, such as suspense, details, bedding, repetition, conflict climax and so on. This is not only a patent for feature films, but also can be used in documentaries. Generally speaking, the ratings of documentaries shooting detective stories are higher than those of ordinary documentaries. For example, the shock wave caused by Sword of China, and the unknown elements in the story constitute the suspense of life. Life stories contain the most common and true emotional forms in life, including characters' personalities, emotions and destinies. Even ordinary life stories will cause people's emotional shock, because it projects the audience's emotions. Not long ago, "Our Life in Studying Abroad" created a documentary viewing miracle-for some people who only follow the cultural guidance, this may be nothing; But for me, good-looking is the first principle of documentary. The deepest touch of this work is the vividness and vividness of the characters' stories. Instead of dramatic violent conflicts and legendary changes, it weaves emotional secrets with details, because the story brings the audience into the character, emotion and destiny of the characters, and only by touching these fundamental elements of life can it trigger spiritual shock. Whether it is a scholar or an ordinary person, the dialogue between emotion, body and image is far more direct and essential than cultural exchange, and it has more aesthetic charm in the sense of life aesthetics. Just like this, the innocence and simplicity and innocence in the eyes of Nanuk in the north still move today's audience. Our study abroad has injected a stimulant into the emotional organs that have been numb to the citizens in the impetuous Millennium: after being tortured repeatedly by crazy space, strange and magical martial arts and Hollywood suspense, the international students in Tokyo have attracted attention.

The way of telling stories can be used for reference, but the storylines of feature films and documentaries are obviously different:

From the truth of the story, the feature film may have factual basis, but it can be fictional according to the theme and story development, making the loose story in life more dramatic; Documentary stories must take place in real life, can not be fictional, and can not adjust the relationship between time and space according to the director's subjective opinions. Evans is used to writing scripts before filming-this is incredible to people who are engaged in documentaries today, and he wants to revise them until he throws them away. Because the playwright lives in new york and Evans filmed the Spanish battlefield, the playwright never thought that the bullet would go through Hemingway's ear and hit the back wall.

In the expression of stories, feature films are played by non-professional actors, and stories generally do not happen to the actors themselves; Documentary can't be played, it must be an image record of real people and events in life. The protagonist of "None Less" even has the same name as the actor. Wei Minzhi plays Wei Minzhi and the village head plays the village head. The story may be true, but this does not change its feature film attribute. If it is a documentary, Wei Minzhi will film everything he does, instead of letting Wei Minzhi play the rural teacher.

From the design of the story, the story of the feature film is preset, the context and direction of the story are known before shooting, and the ending is closed; The story of the documentary is unknown, and even the parties don't know what happened. Only when the development of the plot is recorded in the time flow, full of changes and accidents, the ending is open. The same is No Child Left Behind. At the end of the film, there is a typical Chinese happy reunion: the TV station came to Shuiquan Primary School with donations and teaching AIDS, which is close to the poverty problem of rural primary education. This is how feature films are handled. However, in the documentary "Mountain Ridge", Taomugeda Primary School did not arrange any artificial ending at the end of the film, because the director has no ability and can't change the reality-life is always developing and changing, and no one can predict what will happen.

From the structural form, the story of the feature film is continuous and complete; The story of the documentary is fragmentary and incomplete.

From the way of shooting, feature films are based on storyboards and have a predetermined order. If at first you don't succeed, you can try again. Documentary is to observe, wait, capture, complete at one time and cannot be reshaped.

Documentaries and feature films complement each other in expressing human life. But if the documentary gives up the story, it will undoubtedly shrink its territory automatically. Michelle Ruoman, a film professor at the University of Southern California, said that documentaries and feature films are mutually inclusive. "Documentaries and feature films enjoy the same status in subject matter and image expression. Documentaries can use many methods and means of feature films. Although the title of' non-feature film' is a meaningful category, it may actually lead us to despise its imaginary creative factors. Therefore, it is unwise to think that only feature films need the audience's imagination, idealized spiritual space, fantasy, discrimination, time reversal and various logical choices. If you exaggerate the plain and non-fiction characteristics of documentaries when talking about non-feature films, you often cannot understand the source of the deep-rooted attraction of feature films. " In his last Story of the Wind, Evans arranged the Monkey King, Chang 'e, Li Bai and himself in the same time and space, which completely broke through the category of documentary in skills-perhaps even today, there are still people who are hesitant about the attributes of The Story of the Wind. But I want to say that after the story of the wind, the vision of the documentary has been broadened.

, ellipsis and bedding, suspense setting, cross narrative and parallel narrative, rhythm, etc. And the core of the story is the plot and details. Nowadays, many documentaries show the characters' state. Without the plot, there will be no conflict and climax, resulting in a slow pace and loose structure, which cannot arouse the audience's psychological interest. No matter how profound the connotation is, a documentary is not a successful work without aesthetic charm. As the writer Chi Li said, "In essence, a novel is a novel, and the first thing is whether it looks good or not. Novels are like all works of art, like flowers, dances, paintings and sculptures. The element is, is it beautiful? Did it attract more people? " Documentary is not an academic paper or a philosophy lecture. Why can't it be better In fact, Flahardy has been using the narrative method of feature films in North Nuuk. Eric Barnouw, a documentary historian, said, "Flahadi obviously mastered the' basic principles' excavated in the feature film (unlike documentary producers before). This development not only changed the technology, but also changed the audience's appreciation habits. Nowadays, being able to watch an episode continuously from different angles and different distances (which is unmatched by human experience and completely unique to surrealism) has become an indispensable part of watching feature films, and it has been inadvertently accepted as a' natural thing'. Flahardy completely absorbed the technique of feature films, but he applied this technique to subjects that were neither created by writers or directors nor performed by actors. This not only maintains the touching power of the drama scene, but also combines with real people. "

From the narrative way, documentaries tend to be too formal, attach importance to abstract connotation, ignore the sensibility of images and the richness of details, and highlight the characteristics of fables. It tells stories to illustrate abstract themes, not for the vividness and fullness of characters. At this point, the story of the documentary is too weak to carry a strong sense of culture. For example, some documentaries seem to pursue grand momentum or cultural taste, with a long time and magnificent structure, but they are empty to read. The reason is not that you don't work hard and are unprofessional, but that there are many scenes, few details of life and no stories, and the philosophical significance is greater than the aesthetic value. For example, the documentary "Mountains in the Wind" tells the story of a farmer contracting barren hills in Hebei. It's not hard to shoot for three or four years, and the editing ideas and themes are quite grand. This is a theme of world significance. However, this work only has a big framework, lacks rich emotional details, and the characters are relatively weak. Fundamentally speaking, the story is not well told. Similar cases exist in batches in the field of documentary creation, especially some works with a great sense of culture. They are afraid of no culture, not no story. This is the misleading of the elite consciousness to the documentary. Joyce, an Irish writer, wrote a book called Ulysses, which, according to him, is for those who do nothing but study him. It is not a mistake to have Ulysses, but if all documentary writers are like Joyce, documentaries will really become art in the ivory tower.

Like other excellent works of art, documentaries leave details in people's memory, which is the most full embodiment of the story. The expression of a little girl tasting castor oil in Nanuke in the North, the scene of a woman tying herself to a tree with a chain in Li San Tomb, the scene of playing Elaeagnus angustifolia in Sand and the Sea, the scene of fashion show and conductor in Ship's World, the emotion of Ku Lan Shu returning to his former residence in time, the scene of passing cigarettes in sesame sauce and reading glasses are all typical.

Telling stories, documentaries are not inferior to feature films. Of course, people can use the drama, exaggeration and absurdity of feature films to imply the fictional imagination that documentaries can't achieve. The authenticity, vividness and synchronicity of documentary stories are beyond the reach of feature films. When people watch documentaries, they will also think about their future life, and they will think that the protagonist is breathing, sleeping and living somewhere on the earth like himself. When Our Life in Studying Abroad was replayed in Beijing, the subtitles at the bottom of the screen told the audience that Li Zhongsheng, one of the protagonists in the film, had just passed the defense of his doctoral thesis in Japan. The distress of Li Zhongsheng's failure to pass the doctoral thesis defense in the film and the impact of real news are a kind of feeling that the audience can only get by watching a documentary-the people in the film live and die together with the audience and encounter fate, but the feature film cannot give the audience such an experience. Perhaps it is for this reason that Zhang Yimou filmed No Child Left Behind by documentary-the documentary style is more likely to arouse people's true impression of rural primary education, which is confirmed in the documentary describing rural education: Dragon Ridge, Mountain Ridge and Village Teacher Xu Mingyu show the real village education in China, but the ending of No Child Left Behind is too romantic, which solves the dilemma of replacing reality with imagination.

That's the question. Why are these more authentic stories that record real people's stories less attractive than None Less? Perhaps the story is the core difference. One is the excavation of the story itself, and the other is the narrative strategy of the story. There are more touching stories about Mr. Shan Liang and Mr. Xu Mingyu, a mountain village teacher, than No One Can Be Less. However, the visibility and internal conflicts of these stories are not described, but only show the moral demeanor and dedication of mountain village teachers in one direction, and can not construct the moving elements of the stories: conflict or suspense. At the same time, the way the story is told is too rigid. For example, the dramatic details of Xu Mingyu's serious illness and his daughter's disappearance are too slow to express the tension at the scene. Even from the perspective of real life, this description is too calm-whose child is not nervous about getting lost? Documentary clearly failed to record the real atmosphere in life.

The fundamental difference between documentary and feature film is not the story, but the truth of the story itself and the true story. If you abandon the story because you keep your distance from the feature film, it is undoubtedly a replica of an old folk story: even the children are thrown away in order to pour foot washing water.