DOCUMENTARY SOUND: More Than Just The Narrative

When we think of documentaries, we think of interviews and voice-overs. We think of a narrative driven story line. Music and post-production seem like they belong only to the world of TV and Film. There are reasons for us to think so. The music and post-production services used to cost a lot back in the day. The documentaries were "usually" not backed by a big budget and thus lacked some elements that marked a clear difference between them and films (and TV).

In today's world, creating music is very much affordable. The post production softwares these days are way accessible. These services can be provided from your home studio setup. And so even the low budget films and documentaries have access to some great music and post production services.

Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable which is a story of a girl who won many championships even after losing one of her limbs to a shark attack as a 13 year old. This documentary defies all the norms and has a great music score by Kris Bowers.

Another documentary with a great post-production work and background score is No Greater Law. This is a documentary by British filmmaker Thomas Dumican and the music is composed by Stuart Miller. This a story of a community in Idaho. The community is devastated by the state's "religious shield law". The law prevents prosecution related to any death that stems from a faith healing. It has led to the deaths of up to 183 children since the 1970s [1].

The key takeaway from this article is that there is so much more to documentaries and indie films and there is so much that can be achieved and delivered through music and sound design. These are really essential parts of any story telling apart from the visual content.

Towards the end of the article I would like to draw your attention towards a regional marathi film called 'Sairat'. Marathi is a language spoken in the Maharashtra state of India. It's a very regional language and the film industry is limited to the people who understand the language. In the history of Indian cinema (including Bollywood), Sairat was the first film to record background score and music at the Sony studios in Hollywood. The music composers Ajay and Atul won National Award for their music and it did wonders for the film. The marathi film industry never had such elaborate use of music in their films. Sairat's music delivers emotions in a way no regional film has.