Online Documentary

The problem hindering documentary film makers is the difficulty in getting their work "out there". "out there" being the public sphere. The Internet is a great platform for documentary film makers to get the greatest number of viewers. Documentary's have never been a extremely profitable part of the movie industry, they are often low budget and make little profit, it at all. There are some exceptions to this with documentary film makers such as Michael Moore making films on relatively large budgets for documentary films and making considerable profits. The point of documentary films is not to make profit, it is to inform. But a lot of documentary's wont get the chance to inform, due to limited distribution.

Documentary film makers don't command the huge budgets that Hollywood blockbuster directors use. This is due to the fact Documentary film makers are filming events that are happening naturally, not creating scenes full of expensive pyrotechnics with A-list actors and actresses. This does not mean that Documentary film makers don't need money to tell their stories. Putting production costs aside, the cost it takes to market a film to allow the largest possible audience, is a lot of money. Along comes the internet which allows documentary film makers to distribute their films for a pittance.

I have noticed the trend for more established documentary film makers, has been not been making their movies for the Internet, but for other mediums such as cinema or television and using the Internet as a secondary form of distribution. The Internet is a great platform for documentary's that have already been released in other mediums, to be archived, so as to be viewed by people who may not of been able to view the documentary otherwise. A example of this is the ABC program Four Corners. Four Corners which has been on Australian television since the 60's, presents 45 minute documentaries on a rage on issues on Monday nights at 8:30pm. The short documentary's are from a range of local and international reporters on local and international issues. The website offers an archive of past programs as-well as supplementary material free of charge. This allows for a larger audience for the stories as people can download and watch the documentary's on demand.

Another example is the film Slacker Uprising by Michael Moore. The film is primarily based around the issue of the youth vote in the 2008 American Presidential Election. Along with a DVD release Michael Moore offered and is still offering the the entire movie on his website for free for download, for Americans. This is a clever move by Moore, as young people are more likely to download movies then pay for them, so offering it for free, he can maximize his viewers, viewers who are the the people he is targeting the movie. There is a statement on the website from Moore explaining this "This is being done entirely as a gift to my fans. The only return any of us are hoping for is the largest turnout of young voters ever at the polls in November.".

This is such a large topic that I will be talking about it again in my Final Blog.