Codes and Conventions
The word 'mockumentary' has come from a combination of documentary that has been mocked by the producers of a film or TV show.
A mockumentary is a type of film in which fictional events are presented in the same style as a documentary to create a parody. They can either be comedic or dramatic in form, however the comedic approach is much more appealing to the audience and tends to be much more popular within the genre. Mockumentaries tend to add over dramatic effects to add comedic value to the film. In order to create the overdramatic and comedic effect to the mockumentary, they are often improvised in order to maintain the aspect of reality. Dramatic mockumentaries can often be confused with Docudramas. These types of films typically feature unrealistic situations/scenarios which are very out of the ordinary.
Some examples of mockumentaries would be 'Bruno' and 'Borat', which are both produced by Sacha Baron Cohen. These are both incredibly popular in the film industry, possibly because of their shock factor, as much of the content in the films are very controversial and have crossed the line of being very offensive. Mockumentaries aren't only produced in the form of films. The popular US sitcom 'The Office' definitely fits into the mockumentary genre, and is a great example of a mockumentary themed show, as it adds a comedic value and unrealistic situations to an otherwise very boring, basic office job.
Mockumentaries 'work' because of the expectations we have of a real documentary. When we see a text that looks and sounds real, we naturally tend to believe it. Mockumentaries use a lot of the same codes and conventions as documentaries and related media, such as an authoritative voice-over narrator, or interviewing the cast as if the film is surrounding their real life situations. The narrator usually encourages the audience to believe that they have some sort of specialist knowledge over the subject in question, such as narrators like David Attenborough and Liam Neeson; the voiceover can either be a 'voice of God' where they are only heard and never seen, or a 'voice of authority' where they are seen and heard.
They usually include apparently 'real' footage of events and all events presented to the audience are meant to be perceived as 'real' events. Documentarians also often go to great lengths in order to convince the audience that the content in the documentary is true. Interviews with supposed 'experts' or 'witnesses' are used to authenticate the views expressed in the documentary. Sometimes, they may disagree with the message of the documentary or other opinions that have been presented in the documentary.
Non-diegetic sound is often used in documentaries as a bridge between two scenes, as in documentaries there are often lots of location changes, so smooth sound transitions are often very difficult to do.
Mockumentaries tend to have a 'feel good' nature. Many popular shows focus on characters facing serious, stressful, high risk situations, however, the general tone is positive and light-hearted. Mockumentaries also seem very natural which helps the audience to relate to the action and the characters. There is no laugh track on shows like The Office, Modern Family or Parks and Rec, so we aren't constantly reminded that the show is fictional. The character's speech often comes across as unscripted, due to casual and occasionally awkward dialogue.
As there are usually interviews conducted throughout mockumentaries to give the film a similar feel to a documentary, the subject will usually be framed to the left or right of the screen, following the rule of thirds, meaning that the audiences eyes will always be immediately drawn to the subject in the frame. Close ups are the most common type of shot used in mockumentaries to enable the audience to focus on the character's face and concentrate on the emotions displayed on their face. The interviews are usually static with the camera placed on a tripod, because there isn't really a need for the camera to move around a lot as the purpose of the interview is for the audience to concentrate and focus on the character involved. However, it is common for the camera to make cutaways to things around the room to give an insight into the character's surroundings.
Adding to the 'natural' feel of mockumentaries, the shots taken are usually a lot more of an amateur style than other genres, such as including clips where the camera is still focusing on the subject, or more shaky and sudden camera movements or zooms, to add to the fact that these films are more of a one-on-one setting, with real life characters going through day to day situations. This also makes it more believable to the audience that the events occurring are true, as the film isn't shot as a professional film would be filmed, and seems like a much more low budget, amateur job rather than a high profile Hollywood film.
Still images are often used to assist in what the narrator or interviewee is talking about, which encourages the audience to not just watch the film, but also think about what is actually occurring on the screen. There are usually minimal graphics used, the only time they're really used is to introduce characters involved in the mockumentary so that the audience is aware of who they are.
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