| In the late 1990s the documentary hit it big with the | | | | festivals, like it's proud but serious parent the |
| huge successes of A&E's Biography, and the History | | | | documentary. Three day long festivals are held |
| Channel. Now the not-so-serious offspring of the | | | | throughout North America and the UK showcasing |
| documentary is all the rage as mockumentary rules | | | | the latest indie mockumentaries attracting cult |
| the comedy scene. | | | | followings. |
| Mockumentary is a film genre of fiction calculated to | | | | Some of the most famous and ground breaking early |
| parody the non-fiction documentary. The crux of | | | | mockumentaries to come out are "The Blair Witch |
| mockumentary humor is usually centered in taking | | | | Project" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous," one being |
| trivial matters very seriously, and mocking those who | | | | humorous and the other scary. |
| feel strongly about inconsequential issues. | | | | Drop Dead Gorgeous is an irreverent parody of a |
| Mockumentaries are presented as if they were | | | | Minnesota beauty pageant and follows the traditional |
| documentaries recording real life using stereotypical | | | | over the top people-are-stupid mockumentary line. |
| documentary techniques such as narrated footage, | | | | The Blair Witch Project capitalizes on the current |
| interviews, talking heads, etc. | | | | obsession with reality TV. It combines elements of |
| The roots of mockumentary go back to the 1950s | | | | show everything documentary with the urban legend |
| when radio programs would stage fictitious | | | | horror stories traditionally told around the campfire to |
| explorations of foreign planets, but the term | | | | produce a truly frightening effect. These movies |
| mockumentary was not widely used until coined by | | | | helped to define the mockumentary genre as it is |
| Rob Reiner, who used it in interviews to describe his | | | | today. |
| 1980s film This Is Spinal Tap. | | | | Some other notable mockumentaries include All You |
| To give a mockumentary the authentic, true to life | | | | Need Is Cash (aka The Rutles), parody telling of the |
| feel like that of the documentary, mockumentaries | | | | Beatles' story, while also parodying documentary |
| are often unscripted and improvised. The organic | | | | makers themselves, 1979. Believe, story of multi-level |
| structure of the film production is unpredictable, but | | | | marketing and a failed pyramid scheme US, 2007. |
| is part of what gives it charm. Usually there is no | | | | The Big Tease, a Scottish hairdresser's journey to |
| laugh tract in a mockumentary, as they tend to lend | | | | the US for a hairdressing competition. And God |
| a canned, prepackaged feel that mockumentaries, like | | | | Spoke, about a director-producer partnership trying |
| documentaries, avoid. | | | | to create the definite cinematic version of The Bible |
| The new mockumentary genre has become so | | | | on a shoestring budget US, 1999. |
| popular in recent years it has spawned its own film | | | | |