A Study On Narrative Strategies Of Chinese Documentary Films

The creation and production of Chinese documentaries has been booming in the new century as the governments offer more policy support and funding.The national and provincial documentary channels broadcasting those documentaries appear in succession,the number of documentaries that are allowed to put on big screen increases rapidly and new records are set in the box office year after year.However,Chinese domestic documentaries only enjoy “prosperity at home”,and they hardly have any big win in international market.The entire documentary industry in China is improving,but its production capability and international influence are not optimistic.At the same time,a group of overseas Chinese documentary directors who “still maintain their Chinese hearts regardless of their foreign nationalities” show up.With the lens focusing on the reform and opening-up policy and the fast developing China after that,those directors have filmed a series of documentaries touching upon China in all respects,among which there are many extraordinary works winning international documentary awards one after another.By introducing the images of Chinese people to the western world truly and directly,these outstanding overseas Chinese documentaries have excellent performance in transcultural communication,effectively changed the image of mystified and demonized China in the western world,and received a good reputation from audience all over the world.They outperform many domestic big-budget documentaries in telling Chinese stories with the narrative strategy of combining Chinese and western elements and set a good example for the documentary industry in China.After a general introduction to the development history and genre of documentary,the dissertation turns to documentaries about China filmed by overseas Chinese and analyzes their characteristics.Besides,the research points out several issues that Chinese domestic documentaries are confronting in reality,demonstrates the positive effect of narrative thinking and strategies on documentary production,and proposes solutions from theoretical and practical aspects so as to realize the creation concept breakthrough for Chinese domestic documentaries.The main body of the dissertation analyzes the representatives in overseas Chinese documentaries,which are mainly televised documentaries,independent documentaries,and cinema documentaries,and summarizes their narrative strategies and techniques.In the last chapter,the dissertation puts forward a series of suggestions for the development of Chinese domestic documentaries concerning narrative strategies and techniques.The dissertation makes a comprehensive and in-depth analysis on the narrative strategies of the eminent overseas Chinese documentaries in recent years.Based on the experience of some leading documentary producers in China,the dissertation explores the application of narrative strategies and “narrative chain” in all aspects of documentary creation,which offers theoretical and practical guidance for the development of the documentary industry in China.