With the general found footage film rules out of the way I can now focus on the rules for the faux-documentary films/mockumentary films. The core rules are the same with both types of movies but there are a few specific ones that sit wholly with the faux-doc/mockumentary.
Now, these are not always horror as movies like SPINAL TAP show you the power of this type of film. It’s both a lampoon of the staid, boring documentary and a poke at the rock gods of old. Movies like LAKE MUNGO show though that horror is just as powerful when done in this style. It lends a reality to the affair that isn’t there necessarily with a standard camera held by a scared person routine. The doc pulls back a little and gives a wider view and shows more of the story and puts it in context.
A film like THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES could come out now and be thought to be real with the prevalence of murder docs these days.
And it’s powerful enough to convince people of its reality.
Making one of these sorts of films is a much bigger undertaking, to be sure, but there’s an interesting twist to it all that may better fit the story you want to tell.
So…
MAKE THE FOOTAGE FIT
The core of the film is still the footage and you have to make that footage fit what you are saying. It seems simple but isn’t. If it’s a movie with footage of a Sasquatch then don’t have a psychologist speaking unless it’s relevant to the characters. You start with the footage and build out from there.
REMEMBER THAT THE FOOTAGE HAS TO FIT
I recently watched an FF movie where they showed a sex scene between two ‘underage’ characters and that’d NEVER be part of a documentary. Or anything. They also showed explicit violence as part of the doc. Naw, dawg. You have to be making two movies when you go this path. You’re making found footage but ALSO a ‘documentary’ and as such, some things don’t fly. It has actually brought me back to POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES and there’s some stuff in it that wouldn’t be in a doc THOUGH you can argue that that is more of a high-level work that’s not for the public, so, eh, it’s a little gray for me. Try to be believable is what I am saying.
ACTING MATTERS
On these sorts of films acting really matters. You have to have talking heads that have gravity and believability. You have to have background ‘B’ roll that fits the documentary. If the documentary aspect isn’t believable then the rest won’t be either. If you are going to go after more established actors then you want to put those resources behind your talking heads.
MAKE IT REAL
You also need to have your ‘assets’ look realistic. In that, if there is ‘news’ footage then it has to look like a news set. You have to have things that are in the background feel genuine. Essentially, you are making a documentary it’s just that it’s fake.
I am SURE that there are more if I thought about it but this hits all the main points. Done well, these films stick with you for a long time. Done poorly and they are just more eye-rolling fodder.
Safe filmmaking, friends.
Read – So You Wanna Make a Found Footage Movie – Part 1
The Spooky World of Chris Ringler 