What is a Documentary ?

Google defines a documentary to be;

1. consisting of or based on official documents.
2. using pictures or interviews with people involved in real events to provide a factual report on a particular subject

Both definitions are correct but do not desrcibe what a documentary really is. Yes everything is true or official that happens in them, nothing is staged, but a documentary is still a genre of film. Which means the film still has features that create meaning and help the audience to relate to the people that are involved in the documentary.

Documentary's will film/picture every minute of every day during a time period or until they have enough footage to achieve the goal, whether thats to tell a story through other people's lives or to show the audience the struggle and battles they have to go through on a day to day basis which in a way could also rest in a story from how they live. Usually documentaries have a certain effect on an audience, that they walk away feeling grateful for what they have or they feel sympathetic towards the lives they have just witnessed as they did not realise how bad some people had it until a film maker had to show them.