Mockumentary
Mockumentary, a portmanteau of mock documentary (also fictional documentary or false documentary), names 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 cinema verite 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.
Comedic examples
- A Mighty Wind, story of three groups of folk singers who come together at a tribute concert in honor of their recently deceased manager. (US, 2003)
- All You Need Is Cash (aka The Rutles), Beatles parody telling of the Rutles' story, while also parodying documentary makers themselves. (UK, 1979)
- Arrested Development, a television program on Fox.
- Auto Destruct: One Man's Obsession with William Shatner, award winning mockumentary by director James Wilkes about an obsessed William Shatner fan. (Canada, 2005)
- Best in Show, story of some contestants at a national dog show (UK/US, 2000)
- Big Tuna, mockumentary about Max Tuna Schreiber, who was the first candid camera film-maker in Israel. (Israel, 2003)
- Bob Roberts, a Tim Robbins satiric film about a right wing folksinger's crooked election campaign. (US, 1992)
- Brass Eye, an entire series of mockumentaries by Chris Morris (UK, 1997)
- The Bronswick Affair, a mockumentary about a brand of television sets which makes watchers impulsively buy advertised goods in grotesque quantities.
- CB4, a parody rapumentary that follows the story of CB4, a fictional rap group that is loosely based on N.W.A. and 2 Live Crew.
- The Canadian Conspiracy, about a supposed Canadian plan to subvert the United States by taking over its media. (US, 1985)
- The Comic Strip Presents... Bad News Tour (and its sequel, More Bad News), following an incompetent rock group on tour.
- The Comic Strip Presents... Eddie Monsoon: A Life?, the life story of an offensive talk show host.
- Curb Your Enthusiasm, about the bad luck of Larry David.
- Dark Side of the Moon tries to portray the moon landings as a creation in a movie lot by Stanley Kubrick. (France, 2002)
- Drawn Together, a mock-cartoon-reality show on Comedy Central.
- Drop Dead Gorgeous about a beauty pageant in Minnesota. The battle between the good and the bad is bound to get ugly. (US, 1999)
- The Earth is Flat, a short comedy about the sole member of the Seattle International Flat Earth Society, and his exploits.
- Fear of a Black Hat follows the fictional rap group, "NWH", as it evolves with the genre from its popular origins to the advent of gangsta rap. (US, 1994)
- The First People on the Moon (Perviyje na lune or Perviye Na Lunye), Venice Film Festival winner. A mockumentary about the first Russian spaсe voyage, supposedly accomplished in 1938. Mixes archival footage and fake KGB materials. (Russia, 2005)
- Forgotten Silver by Costa Botes and Peter Jackson, parody of a historical documentary about a "forgotten" filmmaker. (New Zealand, 1995)
- FUBAR by Michael Dowse, a mockumentary that has achieved high cult status about head-banger subculture, especially within Canada. (Canada, 2002)
- The Games, an Australian TV comedy that follows the mayhem and bureaucratical snafu faced by the organisers of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. (Australia, 1998 and 2000)
- Get Ready to be Boyzvoiced, a film following fictional Norwegian boy band Boyzvoice (Norway, 2000)
- G-SALE by Randy Nargi, scripted mockumentary about garage sale fanatics in the style of Christopher Guest. (US, 2003)
- Hard Core Logo, following in the tradition of This Is Spinal Tap, this film traces the final tour of an overaged punk band, and serves as a model for the death of "true" punk rock. The film's associated album, A Tribute to Hard Core Logo, has several notable bands performing cover versions of Hard Core Logo songs, and is packaged as if Hard Core Logo were a real band. (Canada, 1996)
- Incident at Loch Ness the tale of all hell breaking loose as famous filmmaker Werner Herzog attempts to make a documentary about the nessie myth while a documentary about his life is being filmed and a pigheaded producer (Zak Penn) tries his damndest to make Herzog's film a mindless high-grossing blockbuster. (US, 2004)
- Jimmy MacDonald's Canada which are lost episodes of a mid-1960s public affairs show hosted by Jimmy MacDonald who was played by Richard Waugh. The show combined new segments with authentic news and human interest archive footage. (Canada, 2005)
- Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO Special about the making of an HBO Special
- LolliLove, a story about a husband and wife team, played by James Gunn and Jenna Fischer, who form a charity to give each homeless person a lollipop with a cheery slogan on the wrapper, but who are really only serving themselves. (USA, 2004)
- Man Bites Dog, black comedy/satire in which a film crew follows a serial killer documenting his crimes. (Belgium, 1992)
- Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful, a "behind the scenes" exposé of pop singer and sex symbol Medusa, on her "Blonde Leading the Blonde" concert tour. (US, 1992)
- A Mighty Wind, story about a group of folk musicians who reunite to pay tribute to their producer. (US, 2003)
- Mike Bassett: England Manager, is a satirical comedy in documentary style following the fortunes of a lacklustre England football manager in the World Cup (UK, 2001)
- The National Scream, about the investigation of the disappearance of the official beaver, the national symbol of Canada.
- The Office, a British TV comedy about an everyday office with a horrible manager, David Brent. (UK, 2001 to 2003)
- The Office, an American remake of the British show, also about an office place. (USA, 2005)
- The Old Negro Space Program, mockumentary about the fictional "NASSA" or "Negro American Space Society of Astronauts," lampooning far-reaching racial segregation in the United States; subtitled "the shocking but false story of America's blackstronauts". Link to the movie
- On Edge, a mocumentary about figure skating (US, 2001)
- Operation Good Guys, a British TV comedy focusing on a group of Undercover Policemen. (UK, 1997)
- Otaku no Video, an anime film by GAINAX featuring live-action news segments of events past the film's 1985 release date. (Japan, 1985)
- The Progressives - The Film, satirical documentary about London band The Progressives, 2005.
- People Like Us, a British radio and TV comedy, featuring an inept interviewer (played by Chris Langham), who interviews people in various jobs. (UK, radio from 1995 to 1997, and television series 1999 to 2000.)
- Real Life, Albert Brooks directs a documentary about a year in the life of an average American family (headed by Charles Grodin). (US, 1979)
- Rock-U-Mockumentary, The Really Spontaneous Theatre Company creates a live theater show which is a spoof of VH1's popular show Behind the Music. (US, 2005)
- Reno 911! Comedy Central parody of COPS about a very inept police force in Reno, Nevada.
- Run Ronnie Run! a humorous look following a redneck Ronnie on his rise to public fame through his arrests, by the folks who created Mr. Show. (US, 2002)
- Sweet and Lowdown, Woody Allen faux documentary about a jazz guitarist. (US, 1999)
- Take the Money and Run, Woody Allen film chronicling the mis-adventures of a bankrobber. (US, 1969)
- The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human, is a Discovery channel style 'nature program' starring a young Carmen Electra. (2003)
- This Is Spinal Tap, follows a British rock band on tour long past their salad days. Also coined the term rockumentary. (UK, 1984)
- Trailer Park Boys, a Canadian TV comedy focusing on the misadventures of ex-cons living in a trailer park near Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Canada, 2001 to 2005)
- Waiting for Guffman, story of a small Missouri town's celebration of its sesquicentennial. (US, 1996)
- We Can Be Heroes, an Australian TV mockumentary about five fictitious candidates nominated for the prestigious Australian of the Year Award. All five protagonists are played by the actor and show's creator, Chris Lilley. (Australia, 2005)
- Where Are They Now? - A Delta Alumni Update, a John Landis-directed follow-up to his "documentary about one semester in the life of the Delta Tau Chi fraternity at Faber College, Pennsylvania", released on the Double Secret Probation Edition DVD of National Lampoon's Animal House, (US, 2003)
- Zelig, Woody Allen movie telling of a chameleon-like individual who blended in wherever he went. (US, 1983)
Dramatic examples
- David Holzman's Diary (1968) is among the earliest examples of false documentaries. In it a young man creates a film "diary" of his life falling apart.
- 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.
- The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan is a 2004 film which aired on the Sci Fi Channel as part of a guerilla marketing campaign for the film The Village. The film alleges that filmmaker M. Nigh Shyamalan had drowned in a pond as a child and, after thirty minutes of death, returned to life.
- Countdown To Looking Glass, a 1984 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 featuring alternate history where the Confederates won the American Civil War.
- The DVD release of Independence Day included a fake newcast covering the arrival of the aliens and their subsequent attack.
- The Last Broadcast, another 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, a 2005 fictional documentary on FX depicting a near-future of America's over-reliance on foreign oil.
- Special Bulletin, a 1983 TV movie commenting on the nuclear arms race, which is presented as a mock-TV news broadcast involving a terrorists with a homemade nuclear bomb.
- Series 7: The Contenders, a 2001 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 uncovering a political conspiracy to establish a settlement on Mars (television)
- We Interrupt This Program, an DVD extra on the 2004 Dawn of The Dead, depicting a newscast covering the growing zombie epidemic.
- Without Warning (1994) , a simulated news broadcast of an alien invasion.
- 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.
- Wesker's Report A dark retelling of the first three Resident Evil games, relased as a bonus with Resident Evil: Code Veronica: Complete, as narrated by the series' antagonist, Albert Wesker