Conclusion

Abstract

Abstract The conclusion provides a critical analysis of current trends in documentary practice, arguing that contemporary documentary films and television shows are mixing and matching forms and styles at will and creating hybrids that challenge some of the categorization and analysis provided in the book thus far. Documentary film language is a living form, making it difficult to give a timeless or definitive account of its workings. It has been through many stylistic revolutions and counterrevolutions. Among the conventions that have undergone rapid recent evolutions are the direct-to-camera interview, which is much more common than it used to be and thus no longer holds the same confessional feeling that it used to; the increasingly prevalent references within the film to the act of filming itself, such as when the subject steps into frame for an interview at the beginning of the film; and the blurring of the lines between fact and fiction via reenactment segments that do not announce themselves as reenactments. These trends mark a moment when it is becoming harder to identify the source of the images and sounds in a documentary; this is exacerbated by the instant streaming environment, which collapses the boundaries between different types of films and makes it harder to distinguish what institutional norms pertain. However, despite these confusions, documentary analysis is more necessary than ever to dissect the complex flows of information in a documentary.