ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that a documentary film is fundamentally a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. There are two basic types of endings for a documentary, a closed ending and an open ending. In most documentaries, the scriptwriter knows the ending ahead of time and often will draft the script with that ending in mind. However, not all documentaries are so neat; a conclusive ending is not always possible after all, life is sometimes a roller coaster. Documentary authority Alan Rosenthal acknowledges that not all documentaries have a nice, neat conclusion. The beginning must immediately capture the audience's attention, create curiosity, and draw the viewers into the documentary tale. In the beginning of the production, the documentarian introduces the subject and establishes the message around which the documentary is built. The scriptwriter defines the 'problem', the 'crisis', or the 'issue' that is at the heart of the documentary.
