Documentary

A documentary is an audio/visual presentation that uses multiple source types such as images, video, and sound to communicate your historical argument, research, and interpretation of your topic’s significance in history.

DOCUMENTARY ELEMENTS

• Your documentary must be an original production.

• To produce your documentary, you must have access to equipment and be able to operate it.

• Your documentary must conform to all general and category rules.

TIME REQUIREMENTS

• Documentaries may not exceed ten minutes in length.

• Timing of the documentary begins when the $rst visual image appears or the $rst sound is heard. Timing does not include time used to test sound or video

• Timing of the documentary ends when the last visual image or sound concludes, including source credits.

• You will have up to $ve minutes to prepare your documentary for presentation, adjust volume, etc.

• You will have $ve minutes following your documentary to remove your equipment and participate in an interview with the judges.

CONTEST RULE BOOK

DOCUMENTARY INTRODUCTION

• You must announce only the title of your documentary and your name(s) before the start of your documentary.

•  Additional comments before or during the presentation, including live narration, are prohibited.

STUDENT INVOLVEMENT AND OPERATION

• You must be able to provide, open, and run the fille containing your documentary.

• Once the documentary begins, it must run on its own. No interaction of any kind with judges or the audience is allowed.

• Some contests require you to bring your own equipment. Check with your Contest Coordinator regarding equipment requirements.

•  Internet access may not be available.

• Judges are not permitted to run any equipment.

NOTES:

1. You may be given reasonable accommodation with technical problems beyond your control.

2. Different equipment may affect how your documentary appears on the screen. Be prepared at competition with backup copies in different formats and/or bring your own equipment.
You will not be penalized for displaying your documentary on a laptop computer, if necessary.

ENTRY PRODUCTION

• You must create and produce your entry.

• You must operate all equipment, including recording and editing equipment, used in the production of your documentary.

• Only you may write and narrate your documentary’s script.

• Only you and the person(s) you interview may appear in the documentary. See Oral History Interviews versus Interviews with Historians (Section 4.3, p. 9) for guidance in conducting interviews.

• Using materials created by others specifically for use in your entry is prohibited.

• You may use professional photographs, film, recorded music, etc. in your documentary, following the guidelines for source credits in Rule C6, below. 

SOURCE CREDITS

• The last portion of your documentary must be a list of acknowledgments and credits for sources of moving footage, interviews, music, and images that appear in the documentary. These source credits must be brief—not full bibliographic citations and not annotated. Items found in the same collection can be included together in one credit. See Figure 5 (p. 29) for an example.

• The list of source credits is included in the ten-minute time limit. They must be readable.

• All sources (e.g., music, images, $lm/media clips, interviews, books, websites) used in the making of the
  documentary must be properly cited in the annotated bibliography. See nhd.org/annotated-bibliography.

REQUIRED WRITTEN MATERIALS

• Provide your required written materials for judging. C7.

•  Bring additional copies to contests, as they may be needed.

•  Refer to your Contest Coordinator for submission instructions.