Mockumentary

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Mockumentary, a portmanteau of mock documentary (also fictional documentary or false documentary), is a film and TV genre, or a single work of the genre. The mockumentary is presented as if it were a documentary, though it is not factual. It is a commonly used medium for parody and satire.

Mockumentaries are often presented as historical documentaries with b roll and talking heads discussing past events or as cinéma vérité pieces following people as they go through various events. Examples of this type of satire date back at least to the 1950s (a very early example was a short piece on the "Swiss Spaghetti Harvest" that appeared as an April fool's joke on the British television program Panorama in 1957), though the term "mockumentary" is thought to have first appeared in the mid-1980s when This Is Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner used it in interviews to describe that film.

The false documentary form has also been used for some dramatic productions (and precursors to this approach date back to the radio days and HG Wells' The War of the Worlds).

Mockumentaries are often partly or wholly improvised, as an unscripted style of acting helps to maintain the pretense of reality. Comedic mockumentaries rarely have laugh tracks, also to sustain the atmosphere, although there are exceptions - for example, Operation Good Guys had a laugh track from its second series onwards.

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Comedic examples

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Dramatic examples

  • Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County (1998), a horror-mockumentary that presents an "unedited" camcorder recording of a rural American family's encounter with aliens.
  • The Blair Witch Project, a horror film in the form of a documentary about a vanished film crew. Also see Curse of the Blair Witch.
  • Cannibal Holocaust (1980), perhaps the first horror mockumentary and an undeniable predecessor of the Blair Witch Project series. It tells the story of film students who take a trip to the Colombian jungle and end up eaten by revenge-thirsty cannibals.
  • Countdown To Looking Glass (1984), a cable-TV docu-drama presented as a series of news reports concerning an escalation in the Middle East between the US and the USSR, that eventually lead to nuclear war. (This film, however, isn't completely a documentary as it included dramatic interludes).
  • C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America, an alternate history where the Confederates won the American Civil War.
  • Culloden (1964), a BBC "documentary" of the battle from 1746, presented as if cameras had been there to film it.
  • David Holzman's Diary (1968), one of the earliest examples of false documentaries. In it a young man creates a film "diary" of his life falling apart.
  • The Day Britain Stopped, detailing a series of events leading from a nationwide train strike in the midst of winter, forcing all Britain's motorways to become gridlocked. The lack of employees able to make it to work in turn leads to two aircraft colliding over London.
  • Fandom: A True Film (2004), a blend of documentary and mockumentary footage. Tells the story of an obsessed fan who travels to meet Natalie Portman and loses his mind along the way.
  • Ghostwatch (1992), a BBC television special in which a ficticious "live" paranormal investigation goes awry.
  • The DVD release of Independence Day included a fake newcast covering the arrival of the aliens and their subsequent attack.
  • The Last Broadcast, a horror film in the form of a documentary about a vanished film crew.
  • Nothing So Strange, a fictional documentary about Citizens for Truth, an organization seeking further investigation into the 1999 assassination of Bill Gates.
  • Oil Storm (2005), a fictional documentary on FX depicting a near-future of America's over-reliance on foreign oil.
  • Special Bulletin (1983), a TV movie commenting on the nuclear arms race, which is presented as a mock-TV news broadcast involving terrorists with a homemade nuclear bomb.
  • The Second Renaissance, a two-part animated short in the Animatrix series, presented as a documentary about the war between humanity and machines that ultimately leads to the events of the Matrix films.
  • Series 7: The Contenders (2001), a satire of reality television, depicting a marathon viewing of a game show in which random individuals kill one another.
  • The War Game, a fictional, worst-case-scenario docu-drama about nuclear war and its aftermath in and around a typical English city.
  • Supervolcano, a documentary about the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano.
  • Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon, a docu-drama that reports on a (fictitious) attack made by terrorist using the disease of smallpox to attack the world.
  • Alternative 3 TV movie of a political conspiracy to establish a settlement on Mars.
  • We Interrupt This Program, an extra on the 2004 Dawn of The Dead DVD, depicting a newscast covering the growing zombie epidemic.
  • Without Warning (1994) , a simulated news broadcast of an alien invasion.
  • Wesker's Report A dark retelling of the first three Resident Evil games, released as a bonus with Resident Evil: Code Veronica: Complete, as narrated by the series' antagonist, Albert Wesker.
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Filmographies

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See also

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External links

fr:Faux documentaire he:מוקומנטריה sv:Fiktiv dokumentär

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