다큐멘터리 스토리텔링에 대한 고찰

A Study on Documentary Storytelling

Dramatic structure and storytelling in documentaries are often expressedwith a modifier called ‘dramatic’. The dramatic structures in <OldPartner>(2008) and <Nanook of the North>(1922) have also beenconsidered to have borrowed from the genre of drama. However thisview results in taking storytelling in documentary as a taboo. This isbecause it implies that these films are not considered to have thecharacteristics of documentaries any more. However it is unavoidable totake narrative and a narrative structure when a documentary is a film. <Nanook of the North> which lies in extended line of travelogue wasclearly differentiated from the traditional travelogue in aspect ofstorytelling. Even though the first full-length documentary was stemmedfrom storytelling, a narrative is still considered as dramatisation or fictionas long as the general concept of documentary excludes a narrativecomponent. However those understandings make the relationship betweendocumentary and narrative rather ambiguous. Storytelling is not anexclusive property of fiction. Therefore it is required to reconsider theview, recognizing the storytelling in <Nanook of the North> as anintroduction of dramatisation in documentaries. No matter what Griersonmeant by ‘creative treatment of actuality’, which has been a subject ofdebate, the documentaries after <Nanook of the North> have beenheading towards ‘dramatic -structure storytelling’. The premise of the actuality and aesthetics of drama contradicting eachother would restrict fundamental debate of documentary. Consequently, itmight lead us to unproductive debates when there is no clear answer towhat documentary is. There have been discussions on the need ofaesthetic extension in documentary, and also a question has been raisedon how the aesthetic component comes into conflict with the actuality ofdocumentary. If we do not convert this dilemma to another angle, thediscussion on documentary will be returned to the same point constantly. Hence this study brings up that there are various views on storytelling indocumentary mixed together, and has the means to re-evaluate thestorytelling as not only a dramatic aesthetic component, but also as atraditional way of representing documentary. By comparison, <Oldpartner> and <Nanook of the North> points out the backlash of <Oldpartner> towards dramatic film device represents the attitude fromprototype realism which means documentary records as it is. Documentaries are not simply a recording of what has happened. Ultimately the discussion is caused by confusion from dichotomousthinking. The study will contribute to give storytelling a meaning indocumentary by studying the possibilities and limitations of storytelling indocumentary.